By Chance Page 9

  His weight returned. “Still with me?” he asked her timidly.

  Emma forced herself to open her eyes, and the shock that rocked her body when they collided with his was something she was not prepared for. The heat in her body seemed to have melted a part of her; she was liquid and seemingly floating as she nodded.

  Seth moved between her legs, caressing her as he shifted. Emma held her breath and cried out in a mix of pleasure and pain—she couldn’t tell the two apart anymore—as Seth entered her slowly. He breathed deeply against her neck and stilled within her, filling her completely.

  All that was happening more than overwhelmed Emma; she felt everything and nothing all at once. One minute she was being overtaken by a tidal wave and the next she was floating on a nimbus. Seth’s scent swirled around her as his body claimed hers, creating a heady mixture that, when combined, could cause a girl to explode. And explode she did as Seth shifted just enough that her clit lit up with glorious friction. She gripped Seth’s shoulders tightly and bit down on his collarbone as her climax took over.

  Seth roared as Emma’s channel squeezed his cock through her orgasm. He thrust harder and faster, reaching for his own release. Finding it a few moments after her body started to slowly quake, he let go completely, letting the darkness swallow him as he collapsed beside her in his sheets.

  They both lay in complete silence and stillness for a long while. Seth was breathing into the mattress, trying to hide how out of breath he truly was. She’d rocked his world … and thinking that made him laugh. He was such a geek. He was incredibly lucky to have a girl in his bed at all, let alone the amazing Ms. Emma Dixon. He propped himself up with an elbow and watched her closely for a moment, trying to memorize every curve, every freckle, staring in awe of her beauty. He knew exactly how lucky he was.

  “I can’t believe I let you get off that train without asking for your number.”

  Emma smiled, eyes still closed, lying on her back, her body freely displayed. Seth ran a finger down her side so he could watch the gooseflesh pop up on her skin. He was completely amazed he could have that sort of affect on this particular woman. He’d been with women before, but this was different. Emma was more than any of those girls had been. Gideon had been trying to teach Seth how to talk to girls and occasionally it would work. A lot of the time Seth assumed they’d just taken pity on him and dated him a few times to boost his confidence. They’d all been really nice, and the sex had been wonderful. But this … this was something different.

  Emma opened her eyes, letting them bore into his. “Everything happens for a reason.” She smiled.

  Seth smiled back. “I need a drink. Can I get you something?”

  Emma sat up a tiny fraction. “Water, please?” she asked as Seth’s weight left the bed.

  Thirteen

  “Do not think for even a moment the fact that neither you nor Ms. Dixon returned yesterday escaped anyone’s notice.” Aaron had come into Seth’s office, and plopped himself in the chair across from him at his desk. He leaned forward and gave Seth a cheesy wink. “So … how it’d go?”

  Seth scoffed and shook his head. “No way, man. Let it go. I’m not going there.”

  “Sorry, bro. No can do. You see, you’ve upset the delicate balance of our working environment, and now I must know details.”

  Seth turned his focus to his friend, rather than the listing report the real-estate agent had emailed him just moments before. “How so? Emma doesn’t even technically work here.”

  Aaron made a face that Seth couldn’t quite place, but made him feel like an idiot just the same. “Shannon, man. Come on. She was once the only female on this floor, both you and Gid had eyes for her, and now you’re both giving her the shaft. Oh, wait … technically neither of you are, so she’s out of the zone.”

  Seth kept a straight face even though Aaron had laughed a little at his tasteless shaft joke. “Wait, what do you mean no one is? I thought her and Gid …?”

  Aaron shook his head. “You know Gid. He has dates, not girlfriends. The fact that he slept with her more than once is proof of just how hot she really is.”

  Seth let his rising anger push him from his seat. “I can’t believe him. That shit was one thing when we were in college, but fuck. This is our office. She’s an amazing asset to this company. Why would he do that?”

  Aaron stood and placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “I talked to him about it. He said the two of them had an agreement. It was sex. Nothing more. They both were attracted to each other, and even according to Julie, Shannon is a lot like Gideon. Julie wasn’t surprised in the least that the two of them had been hooking up.” He pushed on Seth’s shoulder to get him back in his chair. “Shannon is a beautiful woman, and she’s used to being noticed. The idea that the only single men she sees all day have no interest in her is probably hard for her to swallow.”

  Seth sat, but was still angry. He couldn’t stop shaking his head. “Well, maybe the two of them can work something out while they’re at the conference.”

  Aaron made another face. This one Seth understood. “What?” He asked. “I can tell by your face that I’m missing something. So just spit it out.”

  Aaron looked directly at Seth. “He’s not taking her.”

  Seth got out of his chair, and there was no way Aaron was stopping him this time, though he tried. Seth’s chest collided with Aaron’s as his friend tried to block his exit from the office. “Dude, get out of my way. He and I had a deal, sort of an unspoken agreement. He can’t do this. He’s fucking everything up.”

  Aaron stood his ground. “He’s just being Gid. You know that what you think was going on really wasn’t. He was completely clueless you had a thing for her. He takes. That’s what he does. I’m sure all of this will blow over.”

  Seth stopped listening. He had seen Gideon do this too many times. He wouldn’t allow it to come into their business, though. He needed to keep his personal shit personal. He stepped around Aaron and left his office to find Gideon.

  “What the fuck were you thinking? You can’t play with people like that. You knew how I felt, but you slept with her anyway, and now you’re just dropping her? Not even taking her to the conference? What the fuck is up, Gid?”

  Gideon was in the chair behind his desk. Seth hadn’t been back in Gideon’s office for some time because every time he thought of it, he would see her, sprawled out and heavily panting with the pleasure that Gideon had provided, and it had made his gut hurt. He suddenly realized that it didn’t do that anymore. Shannon was an attractive woman, but she wasn’t even on his radar anymore. Emma clouded his every thought. As a matter of fact, he was thinking that he should go see her as soon as he was done with Gid. Maybe they could create some scenes for him to have in his memory bank of the research room.

  Gideon looked up at Seth. Seth could feel how red his face was. He knew he was yelling. For whatever reason, all his emotions seemed to be on his sleeve these days. He was constantly blurting out things he shouldn’t, doing things that were way out of character for him.

  Gideon smiled. “Come on man, you know that’s not true. I had no idea you had a thing for her. You’re always so quiet about that kind of shit. She’s hot. She liked me. I liked her. We hooked up a few times. It’s all good though. She’s fine. I’m fine.”

  Seth shook his head. “What about Con? You know she needs to go. She’s the best one to go.”

  Gid shook his head. “Things will get too tangled if she goes. I have to be there to get under Lily and Oaks’ skin, but I have to be able to be me to do that. I don’t want to have to watch what I’m saying or doing.”

  Seth felt is face get even hotter. “So, you’re basically saying you’re not taking her because you need to be able to freely fuck whoever you’d like, and you can’t let something like a potential complication with Shannon come in the way of that.” He paused and glared at his friend. “But it’s all for the sake of the business, right?”

  Gideon stood and walked aro
und his desk. The two men stood toe-to-toe. “Exactly.”

  Seth couldn’t help himself. Before he realized he was even doing it, he put both hands on Gideon’s chest and pushed. “Fuck you. Don’t do that. Don’t use us, this business and this lawsuit, as excuses to dismiss your asinine behavior. You can’t treat people, especially her, like shit.”

  Gideon recovered from his slight stumble from Seth pushing him and got right back in his face. “What do you care? You’re fucking the wannabe lawyer now anyway.”

  Seth lost it completely. He pulled his hand back, curled it into a fist and let it fly to Gideon’s face, connecting with his cheek just below his left eye. “I care about you. You dick.”

  Gideon put a hand to his face where his best friend’s fist had landed. He stared at Seth, who was fighting to catch his breath. Anger had been welling up inside him for so long, and he hadn’t realized it could explode out of him so quickly. He opened his mouth to apologize. Gideon held up his free hand to stop him.

  “Don’t you dare.”

  “But …”

  Gideon shook his head. “No. Don’t. Because you’re not sorry. Plus, I deserved it, and you needed to do it”

  Seth relaxed his shoulders a smidge. “But still.”

  Gideon dropped the hand that he had been holding to his face. “No worries. We’re good.” He stepped closer to Seth and Seth took a chance, pulling Gideon in a for a short hug and pat on the back, like men do so they don’t seem like they’re really hugging. Seth almost lost it in a much different way when Gideon whispered quickly in his ear, “I can’t take her. I need her out of my head.”

  Seth nodded against Gideon’s shoulder just enough that he knew Gideon would feel it, and let his friend go. “We’ll figure it out,” he told him as he turned to leave the office. “Put some ice on that or you’ll be no good to us at AVN, pretty boy.”

  Seth stood before the entrance to the research room. The object of every thought he’d had for the day was just behind the door, and he couldn’t help the things that were running through his head—dirty but beautiful things that made his cock twitch.

  He knocked, but got no answer so he pushed the door open. “Hello?” he called softly, thinking maybe she was on the phone. When he still received no answer, he crept into the room to find that Emma wasn’t on the phone … she was at her desk with tears on her cheeks. Seth immediately rushed to her side, attempting to take her hands in his own.

  She pulled her hands back sharply and turned away from him.

  “Emma? What’s wrong?”

  Emma shook her head, but let out a small squeak that made Seth think she was crying harder. “Emma, please. Please, tell me what’s wrong.”

  Emma sniffled and finally said, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Seth was more confused and scared than he’d ever been. “Emma, please look at me.” When she ignored him and didn’t turn around he finished. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Tell you what?”

  Seth let out a sigh of relief as Emma turned her chair around. She glared at him. “Her! Why didn’t you tell me about her!”

  Seth watched as Emma’s face turned red and her breathing started coming in shorter bursts. He tried not to notice how it made her breasts rise high and tight, putting pressure on the buttons that ensured they were covered. He wanted so much to release those buttons with his teeth.

  “Why!” she demanded.

  Seth snapped out of his daze. “Emma. Please. I have no idea what you are talking about.”

  Emma stood and started stalking him, like a lioness would her prey. “Fucking Shannon, Seth. Really. I heard you and Gideon. Why didn’t you tell me you had a thing for her, with her?”

  Realization washed over Seth, bringing panic with it. He stopped backing away from her and reached for her hands again. She pulled away. “There never was a with. Please, Emma.” He reached for her hands, this time catching them before she could pull them away. He clasped them tight so he could pull her against him. He held her to his chest with one arm and used the other to lift her chin so she could look into his eyes. He wanted her not just to hear the truth, but to see it, to be able to feel it. “I had a thing for Shannon, it’s true. But I never said anything because it never mattered. Once I saw you, Shannon and all other women that had ever been or could hope to be on my radar ceased to exist. You’re it.” Seth stared into her eyes, begging for her to believe him.

  “You never touched her?”

  He shook his head. “Never.”

  Emma looked around the room before coming back to his eyes. “Why are you so mad at Gideon for not taking her to AVN then? Why are you mad he slept with her?”

  Seth moved stray hair from Emma’s face. “I’m not mad. Mad isn’t the right word. I’ve known Aaron and Gideon for a long time. They’re like brothers to me. I only had an issue with Gideon sleeping with Shannon because it made me feel like Gid didn’t know me as well as I thought he did. I always thought those two could read my mind. Apparently, that isn’t true.” Seth felt like a complete ass as he admitted all of this mushy stuff to her … but looking at her, he knew that he had to. She had to understand. He also knew she wouldn’t think less of him for it, wouldn’t think he was weak like others had always assumed.

  He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “I am upset with him for not taking her to AVN because I think that they’re good for each other. Plus, on a more selfish note, I think she’ll sell the product. But Gid likes to sabotage himself.”

  Emma smiled a little, and Seth wiped a final tear from her cheek with the pad of his thumb. “You don’t love her.”

  Seth sighed and smiled as he shook his head. “No way. No how.” He said softly, as he placed another soft kiss on her forehead. “You wanna know why?”

  Emma looked up at him through her eyelashes. “Not sure that I do.”

  Seth smiled. “Yeah you do.” He paused to kiss her once again this time on the tip of her nose. “I could never love her because … well, because I love you.”

  He held very still waiting, knowing it was really soon to be using those words, but hoping that she wouldn’t panic and run screaming from the room. Emma stood up on her tippy toes and moved her hands between their bodies placing them both on his chest. Before he could take a breath and beg her to stay, she pinned him against the wall and took advantage of his shock, conquering him with her soft lips, kissing him with abandon. Seth wrapped his arms around her, pulling her as tight to his body as possible without hurting her, and she broke the kiss.

  He leaned forward trying to recapture her mouth, but she resisted, fidgeting in his arms.

  “I love you, too.”

  What’s Next

  Gideon Rees has a well-deserved reputation as being both a savvy businessman and a perennial bad boy. Smooth, slick, and devastatingly handsome, he can have any woman he wants - and probably already has. Feeling the pressure of a lawsuit from a former employer, he finds a lucky distraction in his company's sexy new assistant.

  Shannon Potter is not the settling kind. She prefers to live life on her terms with no strings and nothing to tie her down. Thrilled with her new career she intends to help her new employers come out on top of their legal battles. But there’s a hitch in her plan. Her outrageously attractive boss is driving her insane.

  When they come together to face a common enemy will the feelings they didn't expect to have for each other get in the way?

  9/26/19

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  About the Author

  SJ Abbott is the spicy alter ego of Sara Jolene who has been writing sweet historical and contemporary novels and novellas for more than 2 years now. Writing under SJ Abbott is to distinguish between genres.

  Sara Jolene/ SJ Abbott lives in upstate New York with her husband, two children, and two chocolate labs. She has a borderline unhealthy obsession with all things relevant to Irish folklore, Gilmore Girls, and 16th century Britain. Oh, and in her spare time can be found either in a kaya
k or anywhere in the woods. She holds BA degrees in both English and history, has a profound love of nature, and a deep passion for books. Writing allows her to weave her interests and experiences into new worlds, and she is excited to share those stories with her readers.

  www.sarajolene.com

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