We devour our lobster rolls, then head back to Luke’s car. It’s getting late and he looks kind of exhausted. It occurs to me that he woke up at god knows what time and has been working pretty much nonstop ever since. And it’s Sunday, for god’s sake.
“Don’t you ever take a break?” I ask him as he turns over the engine.
“Never,” he replies. “I like to be active.”
“When is the last time you took a vacation?”
“I don’t know. Maybe 2005.”
“What’s the point of having so much money if you can’t enjoy it?”
His glances at me for a second. He’s pushing his way through the traffic in Harvard Square, being his usual aggressive self. I don’t know how he can drive like this. I’m having palpitations just watching. “I enjoy working,” he says simply.
How could that be? Even if he likes his job, everyone needs a vacation every once in a while. He must miss going to Greece. But maybe it isn’t as much fun if you don’t have someone to go with.
Somehow the drive back to my apartment is quiet, other than the honks of horns as Luke barrels through traffic. Every minute or two, I steal a glance over at Luke, although I’m careful not to stare. He’s really incredibly good looking, more so than any other guy I’ve ever known. Certainly more so than any man I’ve dated. I notice that his temples are starting to gray a bit, which only gives him more character. Men are lucky in that respect. My gray hairs just make me look old, which is why I yank them out.
He parks behind my building on a quiet street, under a large tree. “Thanks for dinner,” he says to me. “I had a great time.”
I laugh. “My pleasure.” I felt a little ridiculous forking over $20 when Luke had paid so much for my outfit yesterday. “Thanks for the dress. It’s really beautiful.”
“You look just as good in this one,” he says earnestly. “Or… in anything, really.”
I can see the way he’s looking at me and I swallow a thick lump in my throat. “Luke…”
“I’m sorry, Ellie,” he says in a low voice. “You do something to me. I can’t…” His eyes meet mine and suddenly he leans forward and presses his lips against mine. I remember the lustful, drunken kiss (my first) that he and I shared almost fifteen years ago, but this is so much better. I wouldn’t say Luke is out of practice or anything, but I can tell it’s been a long time for him by the way his hands shake a bit as he touches me and how his tongue explores my mouth eagerly, like a man who’s been in a desert for months and finally got a sweet taste of water.
On my part, I don’t push him away. I know I should, because of all the men I’ve ever met, Luke is the most wrong for me. He’s too rich, too high class, and just… I don’t know, wrong. But for reasons I can’t entirely understand, I’m ridiculously attracted to him. I always have been. And now that he’s disabled and not perfect anymore, I’m somehow even more attracted to him.
He pulls away from me for breath. “Ellie,” he whispers in my ear. “Are you okay?”
I hesitate for a moment, then nod.
He smiles and shrugs off his jacket. In his plain white shirt, I can tell he still has fantastic shoulders. I reach out and touch his deltoids as he leans forward to kiss me again. “Ellie,” he whispers again. “Your apartment?”
I shake my head. “Third floor, no elevator.”
“Shit,” he mutters. I see the frustration on his face. “Okay, so… here, I guess?”
I can’t! My three month rule!
Except somehow I can’t say no to this man. Plus it’s becoming fairly obvious that no matter what else he’s going to do, he’s not physically capable of fucking me in this car. So I nod and I kiss him, and I allow his lips to slide down the side of my neck as his hand slides under the hemline of my skirt. As his fingers caress my thigh, it occurs to me that while he hasn’t been out on a date in three years, I haven’t had sex in two. I haven’t had fingers exploring up my skirt in quite a long time and it leaves me kind of breathless.
He pushes me down so that my head is stuck in an uncomfortable spot between the seat and the door. I’ve never fooled around in a car before, maybe because I didn’t date back in high school. Once you get out of high school, there’s usually a bed available. And honestly, I’m not sure I’ve ever been with a man who wanted me so urgently that he had to have me in a car. But Luke wants me that bad right now. He’s pushing my skirt up, kissing my belly just above my panties. His breath is hot and every time he kisses me, I feel tingling in my clitoris. Thank god I wore somewhat sexy red bikini panties today, not some granny panties with holes in them. I must have had an inkling we’d end up like this.
He’s taunting me a bit, going lower and lower with his mouth, but really taking his time. I lace my fingers into his hair and squeeze my hands into fists as I moan with a combination of anticipation and pleasure. I know I must be hurting him, but he is completely focused on his task. He’s pulling my panties down with his teeth, lowering his head, and then….
There’s a tap on the window.
What. The. Fuck.
I can hardly catch my breath, but when I look up, I see who just knocked on our window. It’s a cop.
Luke straightens up, also breathing hard. His face is very flushed and he’s grinning, despite the gravity of the situation. He fumbles for the button to open the window and then addresses the officer with a sheepish look on his face. “Uh, hi,” he says.
The officer frowns. He looks really pissed off. Oh god, am I going to get arrested for having sex in public? I’ll never live that down. I’ll have to move. “I saw what you were doing in there,” he says. “You know, this is a residential neighborhood.”
“Right,” Luke says. “I know. I’m really sorry, Officer.”
“You think just because you have a Mercedes, you can get away with anything?” the officer says. Shit, he’s really angry at us. Damn, Luke, why do you have to have such an expensive car?
“I’m terribly sorry,” Luke says again. He looks completely unconcerned. I’m amazed.
“All right, get out of the car,” the cop says.
Luke obligingly opens the door to the car. He grabs his wheelchair out of the back seat and the officer watches in shock as he pops the wheels into place. When he transfers into the seat, the cop is white as a sheet. I would have laughed if I wasn’t still shaking. Luke pushes his palms into his thighs to straighten out his posture and he looks at the officer questioningly.
“Oh, um…” the cop says. His jaw is hanging open. He peeks into the car at me, probably wondering if I need a wheelchair too. “Well, um, I guess… I can let you off with a warning.”
“I really appreciate that,” Luke says politely.
The officer still looks a little stunned as he goes back to his own car. Luke looks at me in the car and winks, “I never get tickets.”
“Jesus,” I say. I wipe my sweaty palms on my dress. “I think I better go.”
His face falls. “Oh.”
“It’s getting late,” I say, “and… well, like I said, I’ve got stairs.”
Luke nods. “All right,” he says. “Will you come to my office for lunch tomorrow?”
“Lunch, huh?” I smile.
“Totally innocent,” he assures me with a grin.
That would actually be a pretty big disappointment.
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The next morning, when I’m supposed to be working, I instead find an article online about the top 25 most influential people in Boston. Luke is number 19.
I’m pretty excited that the nineteenth most influential person is my… well, I’m not entirely sure what we are, but we’re definitely something. Even if we were just friends, it would be pretty exciting.
As I read the blurb on Luke, I notice that there’s absolutely no mention of his disability. The photo of him is from the shoulders up and he looks fantastic, of course, with his broad shoulders, perfect hair, and straight white teeth. I wonder if he intentionally keeps any information about his disability out of the media, so as to project a particular image of himself. I am guessing the image he wants to project is not that of a quadriplegic.
I show up at Luke’s office at a quarter to noon, but he’s caught up in some meeting. His assistant Michelle’s eyes light up when she sees me. “Ellie,” she says. “Luke’s just about done. Just wait here.” She gestures at a chair by her desk.
“Um, all right,” I say, settling into the chair. I cross my legs somewhat awkwardly as Michelle stares at me.
“I just want you to know,” she says in a low, confidential tone. “Luke is a really great guy.”
Oh god, does she know about us? “Hmm,” I say. “Is he?”
“Oh, yes.” Michelle nods eagerly. “I’ve worked for him two years and he’s a great boss. And really just… great. And I can assure you that none of the rumors are true.”
“Rumors?” Huh?
Michelle’s eyes widen like a deer in headlights. “Oh, well… you know. Just in case there were any rumors, I just wanted you to know that they’re not true. But I don’t, like, know about any rumors.” She’s babbling now. “I mean, if there were any rumors, I’m sure you would have heard them, so obviously there aren’t any. Rumors, that is.”
My head is spinning a bit. Obviously, I’m a little curious. What kind of rumors could she be talking about? The only rumors I ever hear about celebrities or what not involve them being gay. Luke is definitely not gay… there’s no debating that. And it’s not like he’s some kind of womanizer either. So what the hell could the rumors be about?
A minute later, the door to Luke’s office opens and two older, stern-looking men in business suits exit the room. Luke has a mildly bored look on his face, but his eyes light up when he sees me standing there. “Ellie!” He grins. “Come in. We need to discuss, you know, business.”
As if anyone here really thinks we’re discussing business.
Once I’m inside the office, he shuts the door behind me. He grabs me by the waist, pulls me onto his lap, and starts kissing me on my neck. It feels so good that I almost lose my train of thought. “Luke,” I say.
He keeps kissing me.
“Luke,” I say, more firmly this time.
He pulls away from me, a wounded look on his face. “What’s wrong?”
“Michelle said something kind of weird outside,” I tell him. “She said, ‘None of the rumors are true.’ Don’t you think that’s weird?”
Luke just looks at me.
“What rumors was she talking about?” I ask.
“Beats me.” He gives me this blank expression that actually disturbs me a bit. Because whether or not these alleged rumors are true, I don’t believe for a second that Luke doesn’t know what Michelle was talking about. But from the expression on his face, I’d never guess he was lying. He’s that good at deceiving people.
“You really don’t know?” I say skeptically. I add, “Keep in mind that if you say you don’t, I won’t believe you.”
Luke studies my face and decides that I’m serious. “Look, Ellie,” he says finally. “Anyone who has any kind of power, there are tons of rumors flying around. There are lots of people who would love to hurt me so they make up shit about me. I don’t know what rumors Michelle was referring to, but I’ve heard some crazy ones that had absolutely no basis in reality.”
I suddenly remember what Lewis said about Luke sleeping with prostitutes. That’s one I definitely do not believe. I can see some bitter individual making that one up for sure.
Luke raises his eyebrows at me. “So do you believe me?”
“Well,” I say, “are any of the rumors true?”
A slow smile spreads across Luke’s face. “Well, there was this one story about my fooling around with one of my very sexy employees…”
With those words, he goes back to kissing me. He’s clean-shaven and his cheeks are smooth and smell like his expensive aftershave. His lips hit the top button of my blouse and he gazes up at my face with his nice brown eyes. “Little help?” he asks.
I smile and obligingly undo the buttons on my shirt. He can’t unhook my bra, but he manages to push it up with his palm and his lips lower onto my nipple. All I can think as he kisses me is how amazing this is and why didn’t I let him do this fourteen years ago?
I start to wonder how far we’re going to go, considering we’re in his office, and I quickly get my answer when he wheels us over to the small conference table by his desk. “Hop up,” he instructs me.
I get up out of his lap and sit on the edge of the table. He runs his hands up the insides of my thighs and I practically die. He puts one hand against my stomach and I take the cue and lie down on the table, and spread my legs, hiking my skirt up. I feel his thumbs hook into my panties and tug them off. He tosses them somewhere I can’t even see, but the last thing I’m worried about right now is the location of my panties. I’m sure they haven’t gone far.
He toys with me, gently kissing the insides of my thighs. I feel his hot breath over my pussy and I hiss, “Luke! Oh, god…”
“You missed out in college, Ellie,” he whispers back, then his mouth descends on my clitoris.
He is good at this, really good. There’s no way he was this good at oral sex back in college. Men like Luke Thayer don’t need to get good at oral sex. At least, not unless they end up paralyzed.
A girlfriend once told me that you can tell how skilled a guy is at oral sex by how much he moves his tongue. Guys who don’t know what they’re doing move their tongue everywhere because it’s the only thing they can think to do. Luke, on the other hand, is barely moving his tongue at all. Maybe just a millimeter or two. But he’s applying a warm, gentle pressure, and each tiny move sets off firecrackers. After only a few minutes, my abdomen is drenched in sweat, and as much as I want to hold off, as much as I want to make this last forever, I explode in orgasm, squeezing his shoulder with my right hand and his hair with my left, biting my lip to keep from screaming.
I’ve cum three times before Luke lifts his head to look at my face. His lips are glistening and I think I’m in love.
“Good?” he asks.
“Oh god,” I breathe. “I almost blacked out.”
Luke smiles, obviously pleased with himself. You should know that I don’t come that easily. I’m not frigid or anything, but I very rarely have orgasms during sex. And masturbating… well, that just seems weird to me. I mean, I don’t find myself sexy, so why would I masturbate? So anyway, it’s kind of amazing to me that Luke got me to cum three times. It’s hard to believe that a man capable of that is still single.
I prop myself up on my elbows, unable to quite sit up all the way yet. “So,” I say, “something for you now…”
Luke tugs on his tie to tighten it. “That’s all right,” he says. “Maybe another time. I really need to get back to work.”
“Oh,” I say, wondering if I did something wrong.
“Sorry, Ellie,” he says. “I’m really just swamped here. It’s incredibly thoughtful of you to offer though.”
He’s acting like I offered to go buy him a cup of coffee. “No problem,” I say.
I struggle to my feet and button up my blouse with slightly shaking fingers. Luke is back at his desk and working on his computer. It occurs to me that I came here for “lunch,” yet neither of us has actually eaten anything. Well, I guess Luke sort of ate something.
“Are you hungry?” I ask him.
He gives me a surprised look. “Hungry?”
“Well, it’s lunch time.”
“Oh.” Luke smiles apologetically. “I’ll be honest with you, Ellie. I usually just have Michelle order something for me to eat while I work.”
“But for the last few weeks, we’ve been getting lunch…”
“True,” he admits. “But that’s only because I wanted an excuse to spend time with you. To be honest, I really didn’t need to be in this office at all.” He winks at me then wheels over closer to me. He picks up my hand and (sort of) holds it in his. Best he can, at least. “Look, I’m really busy right now, but why don’t we have dinner tonight? I can pick you up.”
“Um, okay,” I agree.
“Oh, crap,” Luke says. “I just remembered, I’ve got a meeting tonight. Tomorrow?”
“You’re a busy guy, huh?” I say.
Luke laughs and runs his hands over my ass. “You knew that about me, didn’t you?”
“So what if I said that I desperately wanted to see you tonight?”
“Well,” he says thoughtfully. “I guess I’d blow off my multi-million dollar deal and hang out with you.”
“Liar.”
He kisses my belly and smiles up at me. “Tomorrow night?”
I nod.
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When I get out of the elevator at my floor, Lewis is standing there, waiting for the elevator. I step outside, my shoulders thrown back, trying not to think about the fact that my boss just ate me out in his office. But I’m kind of disturbed by the fact that Lewis doesn’t get in the elevator. He’s just staring at me.
“Ellie,” he says. He didn’t call me Harvard, which I take as a bad sign.
“Uh huh,” I say, avoiding his eyes.
“You missed a button,” he says.
My hands instantly fly to my blouse. Shit! He’s absolutely right. I somehow skipped a button. I remember that I saw Lewis earlier this morning, so I can’t pass this off as something I did in the morning and have been just walking around like this all day.
“I’m surprised at you, Ellie,” he says. “I wouldn’t think you’d stoop that low.”
“It’s not like that,” I mumble.
“Oh, really?” Lewis says. “So I guess you’re fucking your quadriplegic boss because you’re… in love with him?” He snorts. “Very believable.”
I guess when he puts it that way, it doesn’t sound terribly believable.
“Besides,” he says, “I know who you’re really interested in.”
“You do?” I ask, perplexed. “Who?”
“Me,” Lewis says, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
Oh god. He isn’t serious, is he? How could he possibly really think that I like him? I would have to be blind or something. And it’s not all superficial. Lewis is just a jerk. I don’t even want to be his friend, much less his girlfriend. Is it possible he’s really so deluded that he actually thinks I like him?
“Um,” I finally say. “Look, Lewis, I’m not really—”
“Forget it,” Lewis says. “It’s too late. I’ve lost all respect for you now. You blew it.”
Lewis walks off in a huff and to be honest, it’s all I can do to keep from laughing out loud.