Daydreamer
Chapter 37

Felix

She was here.

For the last two weeks since that dinner at my parents, I thought I’d better give Lucy a bit of space, but it had been hellish. After apologising to the Mayweathers for the shitshow that was that evening, I’d left for London. What Lucy did for me, standing up to my father for me like that… I was totally overwhelmed by it, to be honest. And I realised that I still had to work on myself before I could deserve her properly. I had to become a better man for her. I couldn’t just continue to bulldoze her into forgiving me and being with me, or I was just as selfish and controlling as my father.

But if being around her and showing restraint was difficult, actually being completely apart from her was worse. At least when I was with her I could have some sort of Lucy fix without going cold turkey. Kissing her at the signing to snap her out of her funk had backfired on me spectacularly. I was craving her before the kiss, but feeling her in my arms again, having her soft body melt into mine and having her taste in my mouth made everything ten times worse. I barely slept at night and when I did I dreamt of her. I was an addict. So, when I saw her through the glass, right here in my space, my next move was automatic. Screw this meeting, screw these investors. Lucy was here. She was here and she was looking at me with that hope in her eyes again. Looking at me like she used to.

“Felix?” Paul, the head of a multinational investment company we were negotiating with, said. “You alright, mate?”

There was some confused muttering around the table as I rose to my feet, my eyes locked with Lucy’s still. I’m not sure if I even managed to mutter an apology as I strode away from the table and out of the room.

“Oh shit,” I heard Tabitha mutter as I walked directly to them. “Felix, you pillock. Can you please go back in there and finalise the deal before you snog your girlfriend? We’re just showing her round the… oh bloody hell, never mind.”

I hadn’t even spared her or Lottie a glance as I made my way straight to Lucy. To be honest, I wasn’t aware of much else at that moment. I just went to her as if on automatic pilot. All I knew is that I had to taste her again. I had to have her in my arms again. So, I didn’t even pause as one hand went to her jaw, the other arm wrapped around her back to lift her off her feet and I kissed her.

“Felix!” Tabitha snapped and I heard Lottie giggle. I lowered Lucy back to her feet and reluctantly broke the kiss to smile down at her.

“Hi,” I said through my smile. She blinked up at me in shock then the corners of her mouth turned up.

“Hi,” she whispered.

“Right, well, shall I actually save the bloody deal or what?” Tabitha said, but I’m afraid I was still beyond registering her.

“I missed you,” I said to Lucy. Tabitha huffed and I heard her stalk off to the conference room muttering about lovestruck weirdos.

“I missed you too,” Lucy said back.

“Er, Felix,” Lottie said, her voice shaking with amusement. “You know how you got rid of all the walls and put glass in instead? Well, pretty much everyone in the office is watching you right now.”

I managed to pull my gaze from Lucy’s and glanced around to confirm Lottie was right – everyone was indeed watching us. Some were pretending not to, but most were fairly blatant about it. Employees no longer worrying about pissing me off because I wasn’t a growly bastard anymore had its drawbacks. I shrugged, but then when I looked down at Lucy, I realised she was not quite as at peace with our public display as me. Her face was bright red, and her smile was faltering. I couldn’t have that.

“Right, come with me.” I grabbed her hand and led her away from Lottie and the rest of the office.

“Have fun kids,” Lottie called after us as I headed for the lift.

“What are you doing?” Lucy said as the lift doors closed after us. I looked down at her and smiled, still so ridiculously happy that she’d come here. That she was in London. That she came to replace me. “You can’t just walk out of that meeting. Felix, you’ve worked on that deal for months. It means everything to you.”

I frowned and squeezed her hand which was still in mine. “It doesn’t mean everything to me. Not even close.” I turned to her and reached for her other hand, pulling her closer and fixing her gaze with mine. I took a deep breath. It was time to lay it out for her. Time I was honest. “Lucy, I don’t know if you’ve worked it out by now, but you mean everything to me. I think you always have.”

Her mouth fell open and her eyes went wide as she searched my face.

I squeezed both her hands to reassure her. “It’s okay if you don’t feel the same way. I know I haven’t earned that yet. I’m not pushing for anything more than you’re willing to give. We can take things slow, and I⁠—”

“No,” Lucy said, cutting me off and my heart sank. Right, I was a strong negotiator. I’d fucked up, yes but I could claw this back.

“Lucy, baby please just give me another chance. We don’t have to⁠—”

Lucy was shaking her head back and forth, a frown on her face, her freckled nose wrinkling. “No, I mean… no to going slow.” I blinked at her, lost for words and it was her turn to squeeze my hands. “That’s why I came here, Felix. You’re driving me crazy with this wait until you’re ready malarky. I’m ready, goddamit! I can’t concentrate anymore. I think about you all the time. I can’t sleep and when I do I dream about…” she trailed off and her eyes went to the side, a blush staining her cheeks. When she spoke again it was in a whisper. “I need you.”

From then on my body took over. There was a roaring in my ears as a wave of white-hot desire swept through me. On instinct, I released Lucy’s hand to punch the lift emergency stop button. We came to an abrupt halt. Lucy’s eyes shot back to mine.

“What are you—? Ompf!”

I’d reached down, lifted her up to balance her on the rail next to the lift control panel so that her face was level with mine and her legs were wrapped around my hips, then pulled her skirt up around the top of her thighs. My hand that wasn’t supporting her against the wall came up to the side of her face to tilt her head back, and my mouth slammed down on hers. Her lips had parted in shock, so it was easy for me to deepen the kiss. After a moment, her soft moan into my mouth threw off the last of my control. One of her hands went into my hair, the other under my suit jacket to pull at my shirt and get to the skin of my back. I rocked against her as my mouth moved down her neck.

“You’re so beautiful,” I muttered against her skin, my voice hoarse with need. “I missed your taste, missed the feel of your skin.” I pushed her dress off her shoulder and then cupped her breast with my free hand over her bra. “This has to go,” I said as I kissed down from her collarbone to her chest, pulling down the cup of her bra so that my mouth could close over her nipple. Lucy had been making needy little suppressed sounds until then but when I pulled her nipple into my mouth, she started moving against me as she cried out.

“Felix, please.”

The desperation in her voice and the way she was grinding into me made me forget where we were. Forget that I was taking things slow with Lucy and building her trust. Christ, I forgot my own name. The roaring in my ears intensified as my hand went to the soft skin of her thigh, sliding up and taking her skirt with it until I was at the edge of the lace of her underwear. She gasped as I slid in the waistband and down. My finger slipped into her heat as my thumb pressed on her core. She rode my hand with jerky movements before reaching around and tackling my fly. I let out a deep groan as she freed me, and as her small hand encircled me I felt a rush so intense it almost felt like I might pass out. Her other hand came up to my jaw and she pulled my face down to hers.

“Please,” she repeated, her voice so saturated with need and near desperation that any control I had been exerting was a thing of the past. I stepped back just far enough to grasp her underwear and yank it down her legs, letting it fall to the floor as I lifted her a little higher, pushing into her hard and fast. I closed my mouth over hers to swallow her scream. Her hand was clutching at my hair now, the other digging her nails into my back as she jerked with each thrust. My head shifted back slightly so I could look at her. Her eyes were rolled back in her head, her hair had fallen out of its ponytail to frame her face. Her incredible breasts were bouncing as I powered into her. “You. Are. So. Fucking. Beautiful,” I ground out in between strokes. Her eyes came to mine, only a thin rim of blue around the dilated pupils.

“I love you,” she gasped then tensed as if realising what she’d just revealed. I couldn’t have that, so I moved my hand between us and pressed where she needed as I continued to thrust, angling to what I knew would hit the perfect spot. She moaned again, losing herself as she flew over the edge. As she spasmed around me, my movements went out of control, and sparks went off behind my eyes as I followed her in the most intense orgasm of my life.

Lucy was limp in my arms, staring up at me with a dazed, sated expression before she blinked a couple of times and came back to herself, stiffening when the realisation of where we were, what we’d just done, and what she’d just admitted to me swept over her.

“Oh my God,” she whispered as I lowered her to her feet.

“Is everything okay up there?” a voice came over the tannoy and Lucy’s eyes went wide. I cleared my throat and pressed the intercom to reply.

“We’re fine. I think the emergency system triggered itself. I’ve nearly sorted it.”

“I can override the⁠—”

Lucy squeaked, and I quickly cut him off to reply. “No need.”

“But—”

“Leave it,” I snapped.

“Yes sir,” came the reply and I thought I could hear a suppressed snort of laughter in the background.

“Oh my God,” Lucy repeated. I’d now managed to rearrange myself back into my trousers and tuck my shirt back in. My tie and jacket were still in place so, apart from maybe my hair being tousled where Lucy had been grabbing onto it, I was pretty much back together. I turned back to Lucy, who was still very much not back together and felt a huge wave of protectiveness crash over me. She was still blinking at the intercom in horror. Her dress was hanging off her shoulder, her hair was all over the place, half her skirt was still rucked up near her waist, she was only wearing one shoe and her cardigan was lying next to us on the floor. Then she shivered and I flew into action.

“It’s all fine,” I said in a low, reassuring voice as I gently lifted her bra strap back onto her shoulder, pulling the cup over her breast, then settling the dress back where it should be and smoothing her skirt back down.

“They know what we were doing,” she said in a horrified whisper. I tried and failed to hold back my smile. “Felix,” she snapped as I bent down to pick up her cardigan. “This isn’t funny!” I put her cardigan on her, then buttoned up the front, picked up her shoe, lifted her foot so she had to balance holding onto my shoulder and slipped her shoe back on. Then I stood in front of her, my hands going to her hair to finger comb it back from her face. Despite my efforts, Lucy looked exactly like she’d had a good seeing to in a lift, something I did not want my security team to witness. I pulled her into me, enclosing her in my arms and kissed her forehead.

“No, they don’t,” I lied, and her eyebrows went up.

“Yes, yes they do!”

“Well,” I shrugged. “I own the building, and I pay their salaries, so if I want to shag my gorgeous girlfriend in the lift, they can suck it up and jog on.”

“Ugh, you are impossible.”

I grinned down at her and went to the control panel, punching in the code for the car park so we could avoid the staff seeing her. The lift started moving and I pulled Lucy into my side, kissing the top of her head and feeling more content than I had in months.

“Where are we going?”

“I’m taking you home.”

“Felix, you’ve got to go back up there. What about the meeting?”

“Baby, if you think I’m going back into a bloody business meeting after that you’ve totally lost it.”

“B–b–but⁠—”

“I’m taking you home.” We were next to my car now. Lucy looked from it to me in surprise as if she couldn’t quite work out how she got there. Then she shivered again, and I frowned.

“Felix, you can’t⁠—”

I pulled open the passenger side door and pushed Lucy forward by putting pressure on the small of her back.

“Get in the car. Now.” I used that commanding tone and watched her eyes glaze slightly.

“You’re so bossy,” she muttered as she slid into the car but there was no heat behind it. Lucy liked a little bit of bossy in her life. I smiled as I slammed the door after her.

On the drive back to my house Lucy was quiet. I could feel her tension build even as I took her hand in mine and held it on my lap, driving with one hand to keep it there as if she might slip away from me at any moment.

But after what she’d just revealed to me, after everything, Lucy Mayweather was not slipping away. Not ever again.