No Strings Attached

Chapter Fourteen

She'd fucked up. Alex had fucked up big.

Her mind was going a mile a minute as she drove home from work. She didn't mean to kiss Jonathan, it just happened. Actually, in her defense, he had kissed her. She just didn't stop him. Her day had started off so perfect. So amazingly perfect. She'd been so ecstatic when Jason had suggested she stay over. Not wanting to impose, she asked for the guest bedroom but the moment she entered and realised that Jason was keeping a warm bed in the room opposite, she stripped down and made the excuse that she had nothing to wear. She was perfectly fine sleeping in her bra and underwear. She sighed as she neared her home. It had been such a perfect morning.

Alex didn't remember the last time she'd felt so good. She stretched her arms out in front of her and shifted. She broke out into a smile when she felt Jason's arms around her tighten. "Jason."

"Five more minutes."

She giggled and turned to face him. "I have to go to work and I have no clothes."

"Well then don't go to work. I'm sure we can find a way to pass the time." He ground his early morning desire into her and her eyes drifted shut.

"As tempting as that sounds, I can't." He didn't loosen his grip. "Jason." He whined like a little kid but still let her go.

"Why don't you just shower here so that when you get home, you can just change?"

She narrowed her eyes at him as she reluctantly left the warmth of his arms and his silky sheets. "That's a smart idea but something tells me you aren't suggesting a shower here so that it would make my life easier." He got out of bed, clad only in pyjama bottoms and shrugged.

"I'm not even gonna try to come up with a lie so nope, I'm just suggesting a shower here so that we can have sex in the bathroom." Her mouth dropped at his bluntness and he walked past her towards the door to go to his bathroom. "If you decide my idea is better, you know where to find me." He stepped out and went into the bathroom. Alex didn't even wait a full minute before discarding his shirt and following him into the shower.

Getting to work took a little longer than she thought because of Jason's stamina. By the time she'd reached her home to change, she was already 10 minutes late and she ended up arriving half an hour late to work. "Alex, are you okay? You're walking funny." Noted the receptionist Yvette as Alex walked past her. "Ooh, I know exactly what that means! You had yourself a nice, early morning di-."

"Yvette!" She blushed furiously and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Yep, see now that little blush right there is all the evidence I need."

"Bye, Yvette!" Alex left her and continued to walk to her office, ignoring the loud receptionist's laugh. When she walked in, she found Jonathan sitting in front of her desk with two cups from Starbucks. "Is that a caramel latté I smell or are my nostrils deceiving me?"

He flashed his dimpled smile and handed her a cup. She congratulated herself for not reacting to the knee-weakening action. "Thought you might need one since you were running late." He had to hold back a groan when he saw her moan and writhe in appreciation to the beverage. "Anyway, uh, we have finally got the new financial statement. Although the reduced cost of production wasn't mentioned, everything else is here." He reached into his briefcase and handed her the file it was in. Just as she took it from his hand, Tracey's voice filled the room.

"Alex, you have a call from the CEO of 'Taste Of The Islands' on line 1." Her eyebrows knitted together in thought. The name did ring a bell for her but she just couldn't remember where from. Oh well, if this was a potential client coming directly to her, they were probably willing to pay generously.

"Put them through." Both her and Jonathan shifted in their seats. "Hello, this is Alexandra Armstrong of McKinley&Co, how may I help you?" There was a short silence.

"Damn, your business voice is just as sexy as your bedroom voice." As soon as she head Jason's deep voice dripping with lust, she picked up the hand set.

"Jason, hi. Wh-why are you calling here?"

"Oh just to let you know you left your panties in my bathroom." Her eyes widened when she realised she hadn't pressed the button that takes him off speaker. Her face flushed with embarrassment as Jonathan looked away uncomfortably. "Flatty? You there?" She finally found the button and pushed it frantically.

"Yeah, yeah I'm here. Um," she lowered her voice and turned in her chair. "Can you bring them by tonight?"

"Actually, we may have a problem. I think I jinxed it last night when I said my car won't start because now it really won't start. I had to get my assistant Raymond to pick me up."

"Oh. Well, I'll just come over to your house."

"Alright. And bring an overnight bag." She paused at that. "You know, just in case you stay too long like last time." She didn't mention how suddenly nervous he sounded. Since when did Jason Arden get nervous?

"Yeah, okay. And Jason? Why did you tell my assistant that you were the CEO of 'Taste Of The Islands'?"

"Because I am." He chuckled. "Didn't you ever bother flipping over that business card I gave you?" It finally clicked into her mind. She also remembered a long while ago, Chris getting angry after it had been read in his fathers' will that he was going to take over the company. He'd refused and she'd never heard about it since. Well it all made sense now. The company must have been passed down to Jason.

"I guess not."

"This is a business call as well but we'll talk that over tonight, I have flight reservations to make. Hey, what are you doing for Thanksgiving?" He asked and she shrugged.

"Eating at Mya and Chris'. Everybody's flying out... Why?"

"Cancel your plans. Bye Flatty." He hung up, leaving a confused Alex. What was he up to?

When she turned back in her seat, she found that Jonathan had left. Not thinking much about it, she sighed and logged onto her computer, ready to finish off the work she'd started yesterday.

The hours flew by and it wasn't until she heard a knock at the door, that she looked up at the clock and saw that it was 7pm. "You're still here? Again?" Jonathan said playfully as he walked into her office. She pointed to all the work.

"Somebody's gotta do this."

"True, true." He slid his hands into his pockets and got closer towards her. "So... You and Jason, huh?"

She turned and gave him a warm smile. "I really don't want to talk about that with you."

He shrugged and edged closer to her. "I'm just saying. He's a little... Wild. He isn't your type of man." She leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs.

"Jonathan, I really don't want to talk about my private life with you. You lost the right to know when you cheated on me with my sister. I thought that was pretty clear that we wouldn't talk about my life outside of work."

He stayed quiet for a while. "What if I told you that I regret it?"

She stared up at him in shock for a good minute. "I'm sorry, what?" She sputtered.

"I think I'm having second thoughts. I do love your sister but I'm starting to think that I'm still in love with you." He walked around her desk and she found herself so shocked that she couldn't move.

"Jonathan-."

"Let me finish, a'ight? Seeing you with Jason at your mom's party got me really jealous and I didn't understand the feeling until he called me out on it. Then this week we've been having to work together and my feelings are coming back for you. I forgot just how much of an amazing woman you are." Alex did nothing but blink.

"Jonathan, sto-."

"Shh. Don't say anything." He dropped his head and pulled her bottom lip into his mouth. He kissed her with everything he had, even going as far as to cup her face.

Alex surprised herself when she kissed him back. As soon as his lips touched hers, every single pleasant memory they'd ever had came flooding back. But then a face flashed into her mind and she ripped herself away from him. "Lexi?"

"Jason." She whispered. "I-I have to go see Jason. Goodnight, Jonathan." she rushed to pick up her stuff and raced out of the building. So many questions were racing through her mind.

Why did he kiss her? Did he really love her again? Why had she responded to the kiss? Why did she stop as soon as Jason's face came through her mind?

All these questions and Alex had zero answers.