All of Me (All Series Book 2) (11 page)

Great Minds

Thursday afternoon, Sophia was driving back to her office after a successful client meeting. She was so proud of herself she wanted to reach around and pat herself on the back. Only to do that she would have to take her hand off the steering wheel.

Oh what the hell, she did it anyway. She had been preparing for days for this meeting with the school district. It would be a huge coup in her favor if she stole them away from a local firm.

The Wells Group came highly recommended. Between their reputation and her sales pitch and knowledge, she had them all eating out of her hand. The Superintendent and Business Manager of the district were going to bring all her information to the Board of Education next month and asked if she could be available to attend if need be.

Absolutely she could. She even had it marked in her calendar.

Now that that was out of the way, she could breathe again. Get back to her business at hand and start interviewing for more staff. That thought brought her mind back to Phil and his dry comment about not wanting to interview for their new position.

He was so antisocial. It was actually funny when she thought about it. They were complete opposites. It didn’t seem to matter though—they clicked. They always had.

She remembered the first time she let her guard down around him. She’d always been friendly and cordial. She’d never even really flirted with him. Partially because whenever she was around him her palms got all sweaty and she felt light-headed. During those encounters, she forced herself not to let go and give anything away. He’d had a girlfriend after all. And she wasn’t that type of woman. She never went after another woman’s man.

But the first time she slipped she didn’t even know it. She didn’t think he did either.

Phil had come down to stay with Kaitlin for a few days. He had a consulting job he was working on and decided to extend his trip to visit. He had picked up dinner for himself and Kaitlin and was approaching Kaitlin’s door when Sophia stepped off the elevator.

Kaitlin had always said he didn’t smile much, or not as much as Alec and Ben, but Sophia never noticed that. Phil always looked happy to her. And that day, he sent her one of his famous grins. His eyes were kind and sweet, and her heart kicked into gear. “Hi.”

“Hi, yourself,” he said.

Normally he came back with “Hi, Sophia,” never something so chipper as what he said that time. She shot him back a grin, lost the wall she always put up and said playfully, “What’s for dinner?”

“Chinese takeout. A little bit of everything.”

“Isn’t that best way to eat it?”

“You, too?” he said, his eyes shining like they were sharing some deep, dark secret. “Kaitlin always complains about buying so many things and having all the leftovers. But I can never decide what I want.”

“That’s funny. I do the same thing and she complains to me, too.”

He hesitated for a minute and then tried to get his key in the lock. He was struggling for some reason, which was odd. Then again, his hands
were
full of multiple bags of food.

“Here, let me help,” she said, reaching for the key. Their hands touched and she forced herself not to yank back from the burn. Then an odd tingling shot up her arm and back down to her fingers. If it weren’t so fanciful she would have asked if he shocked her, only neither of them jumped back. She never heard the click, but she felt the spark.

Instead they stood there, both of their hands fighting for the key, staring at each other. They could have stood there for a minute, for all she knew. She had lost complete track of time. Only the sound of his phone ringing had him stepping back.

She took that opportunity to pull the key out of his grasp while he shifted the cartons of food and answered it. Then she unlocked the door, pushed it open and held it for him. Following him into Kaitlin’s apartment, she set his key on the table and heard him say, “How late are you going to be, Kaitlin?”

Sophia had made it back to the doorway and stood there waiting for him to end the call so she could say bye—she didn’t want to be rude and walk out—when he said, “No problem, we can warm it up when you get home in a little while.”

Another minute went by while the two of them good-humoredly argued back and forth over whether he would eat or wait for her, when he said, “Fine, I’ll eat. Now let me go. Sophia is standing in the doorway waiting to say bye to me.” He laughed for a second then said, “No, she helped me unlock the door. My hands were full of food.”

A moment later he hung up and turned to look at her. “Want to join me for dinner? Kaitlin’s going to be at least an hour or more. No reason to let hot food go to waste. There’s plenty.”

It was a simple enough invitation. She had eaten plenty of times with Kaitlin and her family over the last year. She had even talked with each one of Kaitlin’s family members alone, but never in a setting like this. And definitely not with Phil.

Alec, she would have said yes to in a heartbeat, but Phil, he had her hesitating.

Her hesitation brought a look of embarrassment to his face. “Sorry, you probably have plans. No worries.” And he turned to start unloading all the food. “I’ll just grab a plate and get some work done. It was nice seeing you again.”

She wasn’t sure what possessed her—oh, who was she kidding? She knew. She wanted to be around him. Wanted to see what her body’s reaction to his really meant. If it was just a physical attraction, or more. What harm would it be? It was only dinner with a friend. “What kind of person would I be to let you eat all alone? Besides, I’m hungry, and everything smells delicious.”

That night, for the hour before Kaitlin came home, they talked and laughed, and she realized that even though he wasn’t her type upon first glance, he was much deeper than she thought he ever was. He was funny and cute and smart. Everything about him warmed her.

Not to mention they constantly went to reach for the same things and bumped hands repeatedly. She said there was no need for plates, they could use their chopsticks and eat out of the containers. She and Kaitlin always did.

Each time their hands touched, her heart raced, and she yanked her hand back then laughed like it was some silly joke. Except it didn’t seem funny to her at all. He felt real. And he felt good.

At one point he wasn’t even looking and went to reach for his water and grabbed hers by mistake—they were sitting on the floor around Kaitlin’s coffee table—which was another odd thing. She’d never sat on the floor to eat in her life. Yet for some reason she made the suggestion. Still, he grabbed her water, brought it to his mouth, took a sip, then almost immediately realized what he did once he lowered it and saw the remains of her lipstick on the top.

He flushed. It was so cute. But she laughed, patted his hand and said, “No worries. Kaitlin drinks out of my bottles all the time. What’s a little DNA between friends? Besides, we keep putting our chopsticks back in the food afterward, kind of like double dipping. You’ve gotten some of my spit by now.” Never would she have said anything like that before to anyone. It was completely uncouth. She didn’t even know where her mental lapse came from to have it slipping from her lips.

That wasn’t true. She talked like that to Kaitlin. When no one was around and she felt free to relax and not worry about everything that came out of her mouth. When she didn’t have to worry about turning someone off.

But he didn’t mind at all. He blushed a little bit more, awkwardly handed it back to her, apologized and grabbed his own bottle for another drink. When he set it down, he sent her the sweetest look.

That night was forever branded in her brain. Just a frivolous night. A night that wouldn’t mean anything to anyone else. But that night sitting on the floor, eating Chinese food out of containers with chopsticks—that was the night her heart slowly drifted toward Phil Harper.

Lost in her thoughts, she passed by Harper Construction, saw Phil’s truck in the parking lot and turned around, heading back. She hadn’t seen him since Sunday afternoon when he left to go home after spending the night.

They had talked twice since then, but both of them had been busy, which was okay. It was working for her. She guessed it was working for him too.

Either way, she was there. Why not stop in and say hi?

***

“Hi, it’s Sophia, right?” Phil heard Mary ask from his office. He was a few doors down from the reception area, but his door was open and it was surprisingly quiet in the building at the moment.

“Yes, it is.”

Phil was walking down the hallway, when Sean popped out of his office, having heard Sophia’s name also. “Are you here to see Sean?” Mary asked.

“No, actually. Is Phil around?”

“He’s right here,” Phil said, coming around the corner. “This is a pleasant surprise.” He walked up to her, slipped his hand around her waist and gave her a kiss.

When he leaned back, she eyed him with a smirk. Caught. He didn’t care that she figured out the kiss was for Sean’s benefit. Or anyone else’s for that matter. It served two purposes. One, he had to get his hands on her—he was missing her more than he thought he would. And two, Sean could see from the source and not have to be warned off.

“Do you have a few minutes?” she asked.

He turned and saw Sean’s surprised face but answered Sophia. “Of course. Did you need something, Sean?” he asked first.

“No,” Sean said, recovering fast. “I thought she might have been here for business. After all, we all know how much you love accounting.”

Phil laughed, looked at Sean’s retreating back and made a mental note to talk to him when Sophia left. He liked Sean and didn’t want any awkwardness from this, so it was best to clear the air. “Follow me,” Phil said, placing his hand at the small of her back.

“That was a bit awkward,” she said once she shut his door.

“I’ll talk to him. He’s a good guy. Regardless, I don’t share,” he said, chuckling.

“That’s good to know, because neither do I.” She tilted up and gave him another kiss. Pulling back, she looked around his office and wrinkled her nose. “It’s a little boring in here.”

His eyes moved around the room, trying to see it through her point of view. It
was
a pretty boring office. Three computers set at different locations for his use. An architect table in the far corner, plus blueprints stacked everywhere. Though a lot of work was done on the computer, he still liked to sit at the table and manually draw too. He was old fashioned that way. It brought back fond memories of drawing as a kid.

Still, aside from all the work, there was no color on the walls, just a plain white. No pictures, nothing personal at all. It was a workspace for him. It didn’t need to be comfortable. That was for home. “It’s only for work.”

“I understand that. I guess I like my workspace to be more cheery.”

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, held it up and told her to smile. Of course she did. “There, I can put that on my computer screen. It will brighten my office up.”

“That’s ironic. I did the same thing. I thought I would put it in a frame but put it on my screen instead. Now I see your smiling face every time I minimize a window.”

He paused and studied her more. He was still surprised she took his picture at all, but more shocked it was on her screen. “Great minds, right?”

“I think you’ve got a great mind. Not to mention a great body.” She moved in close and whispered, “And some great moves.”

He flushed. Wow, where did that come from? This was a whole new side of her, one he liked. “I could say the same thing.”

“Flattery will get you points,” she said, batting her eyelashes.

“Points, huh? What do I get to redeem those points for?” Damn, they were so easy with each other. He never achieved this level with Linda at all. They never connected like this. They never could even jest with each other. She either took everything literally, or got angry if he teased her. He had long ago stopped doing that with anyone outside of his family. With the exception of Sophia.

“If you play your cards right, maybe you can get lucky.”

OK, well, that was simple and to the point. “I can bring dinner over tonight,” he offered.

“That’s a good start. Depends on what the meal is,” she said, bantering back with him.

He thought for a minute, then said, “Chinese takeout.”

Her eyes went wide, and she let out a little gasp, thoughts of their first meal together all those years ago, no one but the two of them, flashing through her brain again. Quietly, she murmured, “Great minds.”

She heard the knock, and then the door opened just as she walked into her living room. Phil’s arms were loaded down with a large bag and a six-pack of beer. He kicked the door shut behind him.

“I have beer here. You didn’t have to bring any,” she said, reaching to transfer the food from him.

“I thought I finished it off over the weekend.”

“You did, but I restocked. I’ll always have it here, no worries. Unless you want something special or different. But let me know either way. I know you and Alec like drinking different things too.”

She stopped talking and watched him unload all the food on her coffee table. “What are you doing?”

He turned, looked at her and said softly, “I thought we’d eat in here.”

“That’d be nice.” She took the remaining beer from him, went to the kitchen to put it away, then returned with a bottle of water for her and an empty glass for him with the bottle opener.

When she went to sit on the couch, he instead grabbed her hand and pulled her to the floor, the thumping in her heart turning into a full-fledged gallop of horses down the track. She followed his lead, sat beside him on the floor, then grabbed her chopsticks and a carton at random.

It was like that first night all those years ago. Every time she went to grab another carton, he reached for the same. They were laughing more and teasing each other. Only it was different for her. Maybe it was different for him. She couldn’t tell.

She wasn’t even sure he remembered that night so long ago. Though, it seemed so if his actions tonight were any indication, but he hadn’t mentioned anything.

He set his chopsticks down, took a final drink of his beer, and turned to look at her. He was so handsome. A little rough around the edges, not polished and put together like the men she was used to.

His hair was falling over his forehead, his shirt slightly wrinkled and rolled up at the sleeves. His jeans had more years on them than she could imagine, distressed and worn in more places than others. And, in her eyes, he was flawless.

“What are you looking at?” he asked curiously.

“You.”

“I see that. But what has brought that soft look into your eyes?”

She felt foolish telling him what she was thinking. He would think she was fanciful. She never had shown that side of herself to anyone before. “Just remembering.”

He stretched his hand out, caressed her jaw, inched in and kissed her lips tenderly. “Remembering another night on the floor around a coffee table?”

Slowly lifting her eyes to his, she nodded once and held his stare, those dark eyes of his penetrating right through her.

“I wanted to do this back then, but couldn’t. I beat myself up for months for even having those thoughts,” he confessed, his eyes moving over her face, watching her reaction.

“I’m sure you did. I tried to tell myself it was nothing, just a moment in time. A nice evening with a friend, a little wine, conversation and food. But it wasn’t. Not then, and not now.”

“No, it wasn’t. And tonight I’m going to do everything I wanted to do back then and couldn’t. Wouldn’t even allow myself to fully think about.” He grasped her shirt at the waist, then pulled it up and over her head, tossing it to the floor next to them. “This is real now. I don’t have to imagine it anymore. I can do it and not feel guilty about it.”

“No, no guilt, not for either of us,” she replied, lifting her hands and unbuttoning his shirt one button at a time, pushing it off his shoulders and tossing it next to hers.

He reached in his back pocket, pulled out his wallet and tossed it on the table next to the empty cartons of food, then moved his hands to her shoulder. Tracing her collarbone, dragging his finger ever so slowly around the top of her bra, over each breast, circling her nipples, then down her waist and back up again. “I love your curves. I love every part of your body.”

“Why don’t you show me how much you love it?” she said, challenging him. She knew he would, actually counted on it.

“My pleasure.” He pulled her close, covered her mouth with his, coaxed it open and slid inside to taste her.

Slowly at first, like the first sip, then a taste, then they moved on to gorging. She couldn’t get enough of him and knew the feeling was mutual. His hands came around to her back, gliding up under the clasp of her bra. He released it, dragging it off her body, then tossed it aside.

He shifted back, put his hands on her hips and lifted her to her knees. Then he tackled the button on her trousers, pushed them down and helped her wiggle out of them. Left only in her thong, she moved forward and helped him out of his jeans, then his boxer briefs.

She gave him a little shove—gently, but with enough force to tease—sending him on his back. Slithering over the top of him, she kissed his neck, his chest, his abs and more. She wanted to taste every part of his body.

But he stopped her by sliding his hands into her hair. He pulled her up for another kiss, adjusting her body on top of his, and held her tight. She lost all thoughts of the fact they were on a throw rug over her hardwood floors and that he couldn’t be very comfortable on his back. He didn’t seem to mind and only continued to kiss her like there was nothing else he would rather do.

His hands wandered down farther, over her hips, hooking his thumbs in the edge of her thong and pushing it down and out of the way. She managed to twist out of it without too much trouble—and without leaving his lips.

Bringing her legs forward, she came to her knees, placed her hands on his chest and pushed off, straddling him. Looking down at the desire in his eyes, those same eyes that were roaming over her body with untold secrets of what might come.

Reaching for his wallet, she realized she had no clue where he kept the condom and handed it over. He pulled it out and gave it to her, then tossed his wallet back on the table.

With determination in her eyes, she opened the packet, scooted down and slowly rolled it over him, stroking him on the way down and more on the way up. Touching every part of him, loving the feel of his body in her hands. Wanting to feel it inside of her.

Rising on her knees, she hovered over him, then slid down slowly, savoring the stroke of him. The fullness, the heat, the pressure and pleasure. All mixing together, bringing her to a level of ecstasy so soon and so fast.

Once he was fully embedded, she ran her hands up his chest, watching his muscles jerk and twitch with each caress. “You do something to me, Phil. Something I never thought I would ever feel, or ever have felt before.”

His hands went to her hips, urging her to move. She squeezed him tight with her inner muscles. His eyes went wide and she smiled triumphantly, then did it again, only this time rising up while she squeezed. His breath caught and she felt powerful. So powerful to have this control over him.

When his hands went to her breasts to play with her, squeeze her, pinch her—even a bit aggressively—she didn’t care. All she cared about was the man she was riding, the pleasure she was feeling, and his body bringing her to the point of no return. A point she very rarely achieved without some other help.

She couldn’t stop herself. She wanted to see if she could get there on her own, and increased her speed, holding his hands in place over her breasts. She didn’t dare let him move them. She didn’t want to stop anything she was feeling right now. Didn’t want to risk it going away and having to start over.

Her breath was coming in short gasps. She was fighting to keep her eyes open, but she managed it. She wanted to watch his face, watch every movement of his body, every expression he had while she brought them to the end.

“That’s it, baby,” he said softly. “Don’t stop. Keep going.” She did, she moved faster, hurriedly, almost clumsily and didn’t care. His own hips were rushing up to meet hers now. She was there, right there, so close, but she couldn’t make it.

Trying not to get frustrated, she squeezed him inside of her again, he groaned, moved his hips up faster, squeezed her breasts tighter, not even aware of the edge of pain he was causing. But it didn’t matter, because the floodgates finally opened and her body sang right along with his.

She collapsed on top of him, then lay there panting for a minute. He gave her a quick kiss on the lips and nudged her to roll off him. Then he stood up and walked naked to the bathroom. Her eyes roamed over his bare backside—he really was perfection.

***

Phil came back a moment later and saw Sophia laying on the floor, on her side, her elbow bent, head perched in her hand, watching him walk across the floor. She was still naked and looked to not have a care in the world. It suited him fine.

He stood in front of her, reached his hand down for hers and pulled her up, then laid on the couch, arranging her on top of him. Tucking her head under his chin, he stroked his hands up and down her back, content to stay like this…forever.

“Did you really want to do that back then?” she asked.

He chuckled. “Well, maybe not like what we just did. But I’m not complaining.”

“Sorry, did you want to have control just now?”

He felt her lips twitch against his chest, and placed a kiss on her forehead. “Next time. This worked for me. Where did you learn to do that?”

Snorting, she said, “Oh, it worked fine for me too. And a woman never gives away her secrets.”

“Understood. Feel free to take control anytime you want.”

She chuckled lightly. “I may do that. It was a nice experience for me.”

“How’s that?”

She shrugged. He felt her eyes closing a second, then opening back up—the brush of her eyelashes on his chest. “It’s nothing.”

“Sophia, tell me.” When she held her silence, he pushed more. “Don’t be afraid to tell me things.”

“I’m not afraid.”

“Then don’t be embarrassed.”

“Who says it’s embarrassing?” she asked, leaning up and placing her chin in her hands.

“Then why aren’t you answering my question?”

She shrugged again, then waited a second and answered. “I’ve never really gotten a lot of enjoyment out of sex before.” It didn’t look that way to him, but he held his tongue and let her finish. “Sorry. Let me correct that. Sex is always enjoyable, but I never seemed to be able to get to the end, if you know what I mean. Not without a lot of help. But it’s not like that with you. And actually that was the first time ever without any…stimulation below.”

He wasn’t sure what to say. Pleased for sure. Pleased that he brought her to that level, and that she felt comfortable enough to tell him. “Maybe you were never with the right person before?”

“Maybe not.” Her green eyes warmed, then glowed bright. She moved up his body, placed her lips over his and held them there. “Phil, you do something to me. And it’s scary.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling.”