Chapter 4

"Holy Shit, Zoe." Abby practically screamed it as Zoe walked into Rodrigo's."I mean, holy fucking shit! You look like you walked off the cover of Cosmo. Did anyone know Zoe could look this fucking hot?"

Zoe walked up to their usual table on the outdoor patio at Rodrigo's to find Abby, Lexie, and Kelli already into their second pitcher of margarita's. Zoe had been expecting some kind of reaction from the girls on her new work attire but after the day she had she was hoping for something a little more low key.

"Boss-lady was right about that outfit, there isn't a guy in this city who wouldn't rent an apartment from you now. Is that why you were late? Were you making out with a client in the penthouse or something?"

The girls broke into fits of laughter at Lexie's comment. Zoe laughed too, hoping that she wasn't blushing as much as she thought she was. They were right to laugh, Zoe thought. The idea of Zoe hooking up with a random client was far-fetched. Or at least it was until about an hour ago. The image of him flashed through her mind. She could almost taste his salty skin and his memory made her ache in a way she had not felt before.

But that wasn't Zoe. Zoe was all professional at work. She had risen to Assistant Manager of the companies flagship property because of her professionalism. When Cheryl told her she needed to change her attire to fit the upscale clientele it was her professionalism that forced her to put aside her personal taste and opinions and put on the short black pencil skirt that hugged her shape and showed off her hour glass figure. It was her professionalism that told her to suck it up when her feet ached in three inch stiletto heels and it was her professionalism that put $500 worth of new low cut silk blouses and push-up bras on her credit card.

"Ha Ha Ha - you are hilarious." Zoe said with playful sarcasm, "Now hand me that glass and the pitcher, I need a drink." Kelli obliged and soon Zoe was sipping the cool refreshing margarita and listening to the girls talk about their jobs and the usual workplace drama. Zoe felt comfortable here and she lived for feeling comfortable. She was never the center of attention and that was how she preferred it. She liked it best when her life was comfortable, predictable, and ordinary.

Zoe had known Kelli, Abby, and Lexi since college. They had taken all their freshmen classes together and just clicked. They had taken turns being roommates, even sharing a house together at one point, and they had seen each other through college and the treacherous reality of adulthood that followed. They met every Thursday at Rodrigo's for Happy Hour margaritas and tacos. And every Thursday, conversation would inevitable fall to their love lives.

"Tristan is proposing this weekend." Kelli squealed with delight.

"Are you sure?" Lexie exclaimed, bright eyed.

"Very sure. He booked us rooms at the Cosmopolitan in Vegas and sent me shopping with his credit card yesterday for a new outfit. This is the weekend." Kelli would never openly admit it but her dream was to become a pampered housewife and Tristan was her Prince Charming with a trust fund. She was tall, blonde, and addicted to Spin classes and tall, muscular, beach blonde, Tristan had inherited a fortune giving him all the money to make all her dreams come true. Zoe loved Kelli but this was the part of her she would never understand. Zoe did not believe in fairytale romance and certainly did not need a man to provide for her.

"Matt!! I am so glad you made it!" Abby jumped out of her seat and threw her arms around a tall blonde in black slacks, a crisp white button up, and black tie. "Ladies, I would like to you meet Matt. He is Junior Partner at the firm. Matt this is Kelli, Lexie, and Zoe." The girls all smiled and said hello as they were named off. "Zoe is the one I was telling you about." Abby said as she pushed Matt closer to Zoe.

Cornered, that is exactly how Zoe felt. She hated when the girls did this. They had serious committed boyfriends and it was not that Zoe was single because of a lack of trying. She had profiles on three different dating websites and regularly went out on first dates. But that was just the problem. She regularly went out on first dates because there never seemed to be the need for a second. The girls were constantly trying to set her up and lately Zoe had been taking them up less and less on their offers. So now they resorted to tricks like this.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Abby has told me so much about you." Matt said as he moved in closer. She couldn't blame Abby for trying, Matt was handsome. He was just over six feet tall and clearly hit the gym daily, his shirt could barely contain his muscular build underneath. "Should I grab us all another pitcher?"

And in unison the three girls Zoe had hoped to spend the night laughing and chatting with were suddenly listing off reasons they had to leave Happy Hour early that night. The chorus of good byes would have only been more obvious if they had actually rehearsed it ahead of time.

Abby's excuse came last, "I'm so sorry but Zack is working late and I have to go home and walk Jagger. Have a great night you two." Just like that, the three girls walked out the door of Rodrigo's and left Zoe and Matt alone. Without hesitating, Matt pulled a chair across from Zoe and called over the waitress to order another pitcher and a plate of tacos. As she walked away with his order he turned and smiled at Zoe, "Might as well make the most of it, right?"

His eyes scanned Zoe from head to toe and she could tell by the ways his eyes lit up that he was pleased with what he saw. The pitcher arrived and after he poured them both a round he leaned in closer.

"Abby did not mention that you were a model." Do not roll your eyes, was all Zoe could think. He was so stereotypically good looking with his blonde hair, tan skin, perfect smile, and clearly chiseled body that he probably never had to perfect the art of the pick up line.

"Thank you, but I'm not. I work in property management." Zoe took another sip of her Margarita and looked out across the patio. The girls always liked it here because you could see all the way down Main Street, you could see the entrance to every major bar, club, and restaurant in town.

"Cool." He said after guzzling down an entire margarita. He poured himself another. "Yeah, Abby mentioned you work at one of the fancy high-rise apartments in Newport. I've heard the views there are sweet. I've been thinking about renting there." As Matt took over the conversation, Zoe watched three black SUV's pull up to the front of a new bar that was opening later that week. She watched as the men in suits all got out and shook hands, the universal greeting of businessmen. "Maybe you could give me a tour?"

The weight of his hand on her thigh got her attention and she turned to meet his stare. He was close, too close for someone she had just met. She could smell the salt of the margarita on his breath. She looked down at his hand and glared back up at him. "What do you think?" He removed his hand and grabbed his drink, finishing off his second margarita and pouring a third.

"What do I think of what?" Zoe said bluntly.

"Giving me a tour of the apartments." Matt said, oblivious to her irritation.

"Oh, yeah, of course." Zoe took another drink of her margarita and looked back out across the patio.

"I've heard that place is going to be the next big thing." Matt said using his drink to indicate the bar with the black SUV's out front. He was right, all anyone at work was talking about was V the new bar that would host the top mixologists from all around the world. She looked at the entrance and almost spit out her drink as she saw him. Standing in the light of the neon sign with his cell phone in his hand was David Moore. But he wasn't staring at the phone he was holding. He was staring straight at her. David Moore, the client from the penthouse, the man she had inside her just over an hour ago was across the street staring straight at her. All at once her skin felt hot and she felt an ache rise from deep within her. How could she long for someone she didn't know?

"So, do you want to?" She was so consumed by the man across the street that she hadn't noticed Matt's hand on her thigh or how he leaned in so close he was practically whispering into her ear. She looked at Matt and looked back at David across the street, his eyes were still locked on her. He still stood frozen.

"Ok." She nodded, if only to be able to move away from Matt. "Sure." Zoe said, almost breathless. She met Matt's smile.

"Cool. I'll pick you up around 6? The invitation says black tie, will that be enough time for you to get ready?" Matt was smiling from ear to ear as he took another drink of his margarita. Shit, thought Zoe as she realized that she had just agreed to attend the Opening Gala of V with Matt, the almost overly hunky lawyer with zero romantic potential.

"That'll be perfect." She lied through her smile and took another drink. When she looked back across the street David was gone.

Chapter 3

And just like that, they were in the elevator riding down to the lobby in complete silence. Zoe did not know what to say when it was all over. He smoothly cleaned up and got dressed again, looking as though nothing had happened. She had frantically remembered that security would be walking the units any minute and she would be out of a job if they had any idea what just happened. He stood, watching her fumble through getting dressed, but he never said a word.

If he wasn't going to say anything, neither was Zoe. She had never been in a situation like this before and probably never would be again so it was best to just pretend nothing had happened. The elevator ride was the longest of her life. 25 floors to the bottom and she had never been so relieved to hear the ring of the bell indicating they were on the first floor.

She stepped out of the elevator and stopped. From here, he could go back to his car and she could go back to her office. There was no way he was going to rent the penthouse and there was no way she could make it through the usual sales spiel that happened at the end of these tours. So she stopped and turned to look at him, anxiously waiting to see what he would do.

He looked just like he did when she first saw him in her office: calm, serious, all business. He looked down to meet her eyes and Zoe felt it again, the ache for him, the longing.

"Thank you for the tour." He said and then he turned and walked towards the parking garage as if everything was completely normal, as if nothing had happened. She watched him walk through the glass doors to the parking garage, not that she expected him to turn around or say anything else. She just watched in disbelief that anything that had happened in the last thirty minutes was real.

She shook her head and turned towards her office. As she sat down to finish the data entry for all the clients she saw that day, panic set in. She didn't know his name. She didn't get a number. Cheryl, her boss, would be expecting to see his information in the computer system first thing in the morning.

"Shit." Zoe said to herself, shaking her head in frustration. He was long gone by now and this was the sort of rookie mistake that got people fired. What had she been thinking? Everything she had just done was wrong. She had sex with a stranger in the penthouse apartment. But she had never felt so alive. Nothing had ever felt like when he was inside her.

"Stop it." She said to herself, grabbing her cell phone to check if the girls were still at happy hour, she needed a drink. If she was going to get fired tomorrow she might as well have a few whiskeys tonight.

5 missed calls. 

15 missed texts. 

She scrolled through quickly to find the normal "Stop working! Come get a drink!" texts from the girls but of the missed texts and calls 10 of them were from her boss, Cheryl.

Cheryl:  David Moore is on his way to see the Penthouse RIGHT NOW. Check yourself in the mirror and call me as soon as he leaves. He is the biggest client we have ever had and if he rents here we will become the new "IT" property so make sure you are dressed to impress and call me!
Cheryl: Call me as soon as he walks out the door! I need to know how it went!
Cheryl: Corporate knows he is on his way, I need a report ASAP.
Cheryl: Call me.
Cheryl: You better not be calling me because he is signing paperwork. Call me as soon as he is gone! 

Zoe picked up the office phone and called Cheryl while entering the much needed name into the computer system: David Moore.

"Did he rent it?" Cheryl didn't even let the phone ring once before answering.

"He did not." Zoe said as calmly and professionally as she could. Panic rising in her that some how Cheryl would know from the sound of her voice that she had not exactly shown him the apartment but instead had the best sex of her life with him.

"Why not?" Cheryl practically yelled it into the phone. "Dammit, Zoe! As soon as I got the call I should have driven over and shown him the place myself!"

"He didn't have a lot of time, he seemed very rushed." Zoe lied. She couldn't exactly say that he was more interested in entering her than in entering a lease agreement.

"I'm sorry to snap. I am sure you did great. There are just a lot of people watching him and waiting to see where he moves in this neighborhood. Corporate has not stopped calling or texting me as soon as they found out he was there. Finish up the paperwork and head home. We will talk about this more in the morning." Zoe felt a flood of relief at the words "in the morning." She had time to make a plan and find a way out of this with her job and dignity intact.

"Thank you, Cheryl. Have a great night." Zoe almost sighed the words and then set the office phone down. She finished adding the name David Moore to the list of clients for the day and texted the girls as she grabbed her things to walk out the door.

Happy Hour Group Text: Ladies, I am on my way & I need Whiskey NOW!

Chapter 2

Zoe tried to catch her thoughts up with everything she was feeling as the words he said made her drunk with lust. She had never done anything remotely close to this in her entire life. No night of passion or one night stand had ever felt anything near this. But they hadn't actually touched yet. Layers of clothing separated them and she knew nothing about this impeccably well dressed man who had said so little and been so arrogant. And yet, she had never felt an aching want like this. She had never wanted someone inside her like this. She had never felt desire like this. 

She stood up and turned around to face him. He moved his hands away and she took a step back to keep space between them. He did not move, he just watched her. They stood in silence, the only sound was their breathing. Her rushed panting, his quick quiet breaths. She looked him over, from his head to his toes and saw that he truly wasn't moving. He had stood straight up when she turned around and just lifted his hands from her hips and they were still there, hovering in air just above where her hips had been. The only thing that moved were his eyes because they were following hers. 

She met his gaze again, his face giving nothing away as she searched it for answers. She looked away. 

"What's Next?" He said so softly she almost thought it was a memory but when she met his gaze she saw that his face had softened, he almost looked concerned. And that was her tipping point. 

With eyes locked, she pushed him back on to the bed and hitched her skirt up as he sat back so she could straddle him. He firmly grabbed her hips and she straddled her legs around him. She could feel him underneath his pants, thick, hard and she could swear she could feel his aching. He reached in his pocket and gave her a condom. She reached down and undid his pants as he lifted her by the hips to move her panties out of the way. He held her there just above him as she pulled his pants down and saw him for the first time. He watched her face as he lowered her onto him. He watched her face as she gasped at him entering her. 

Zoe had never felt anything like it. He was so deep inside her, so hard and thick that he made all of her ache with pleasure. She could barely breath as he lifted her up again and brought her down slowly. She had had every intention of riding him and taking control of the situation but she was lost to him when he was inside her. She let his strong arms lift her and bring her back down slowly. She could feel herself dripping on him, she could feel him pounding inside her, she could feel ache and lust and pleasure through every part of her as he slowly began to move her faster, deeper, and harder. 

And he just watched her. He watched as she threw her head back and moaned in ecstasy. He watched her as she arched her back in pleasure. He watched as she could barely control herself as waves of pleasure brought her closure and closure to orgasm. 

She ran her fingers through his hair and tilted her head back, trying to catch her breath, knowing she was moments from losing herself to him. And he lifted her one last time and brought her down so deep and hard she lost herself in him screaming in pleasure as he grabbed her waist, rolled her onto her back and thrusting again harder and deeper while kissing her neck. She screamed again as her pleasure impossibly increased and yet he was pulling back again, kissing her neck, and entering her hard, deep, and impossibly strong. She was blinded with pleasure, every part of her on fire with it, as he moaned in ecstasy on top of her, filling her completely.   

Chapter 1

She was an hour into overtime trying to finish a client file so she could meet the girls at happy hour. Her feet were killing her from a full day of giving tours of the penthouse in three inch heels. Her boss had told her that she had to dress to impress and that had meant trading in her signature flared skirt and flats for a skin tight pencil skirt and high heels. After the last client left she had let her red hair down from the severe up-do her boss had requested and let it fall in big messy curls as she worked on data entry. Under her desk she had removed her heels, her blazer rested over the back of her chair, and she didn't even notice that the top button on her blouse had come undone when she heard him clear his throat.

Startled, she looked up and all she saw was business. A sharp, clearly custom, business suit and tie draped perfectly over his tall frame. Dark perfectly messy brown hair made a sharp contrast to his blue eyes and his 5 o'clock shadow made him look rugged. Zoe knew his type and hated men like him, overly aware of how handsome and powerful they are. Overly aware of how rich they are.

"I'm here to see the penthouse. Cheryl said there would be someone here to give me a tour." He said with blunt agitation.

"Of course, I'm so sorry.' Zoe fumbled over papers as she stood and reached out her hand to shake his, ready to introduce herself. "I'm Zoe. Would you like a - " He did not take her hand.

"I would like to see the penthouse. Now." Zoe made her way around the desk and held the door open for him but all he did was stare at her. All he did was stare at her feet. When she realized what he was staring at she was mortified, her face turning as red as her hair as she went back to her desk to put on her heels. His face didn't flinch. There was no way she was going to make this sale.

With heels on, she led him to the elevator and attempted to make sales person small talk. He barely responded, Zoe wondered if he was even breathing at times because nothing changed in his demeanor through all the "What brings you to the area? The penthouse is 10,000 square feet and has views of the entire valley, mountains, and even out to the ocean! Our olympic size saltwater pool is the envy of every high rise in the area."

She was thankful when the bell rang, the doors opened, and she was able to lead the way to the front door. As she opened the door for him and gestured for him to enter she saw his eyes run over her body slowly, thoughtfully, and it stirred something deep inside her. "Feel free to have a look around." She said as she walked towards the open kitchen and took in the view from the kitchen, over the lavishly furnished living area, to the floor to ceiling windows with their view of Orange County twinkling in the moonlight.

When she looked towards him again she saw he was staring at her, not the apartment. "I would prefer you show me around." And for the first time, she saw the faintest hint of a smile cross his face.

"Of course, please follow me." She led him to the living room area and stood looking out the window ready to explain the view as he came up right behind her, so close she could feel his breath on her neck. Her knees weakened and her heart rate increased as she pointed out the different landmarks visible from this high up.

"Lovely." He said. He wasn't touching her, but it felt like he was. It felt as intimate as you could be with a person. "What's Next?" He whispered in her ear.

She led him down the hallway to the first guest room, a large white bed sat in the center of the room looking out at the floor to ceiling windows. She walked in and stood at the foot of the bed, she was almost frightened to turn around and look towards him so she kept staring out the window as she described the features of the room. "This guest room is one of three in the penthouse..." before she could continue on he was there again, right behind her, somehow closer than before but still not touching her. She could feel her panties get damp and she had trouble catching her breathe. "What's next?" He purred into her ear, she could almost feel his words on her skin.

She led him down the hallway to the master bedroom. Her legs were shaking, she wondered if he could see how unsteady she was on her feet. She wondered if he noticed. When she entered the room she went straight to the window, and stood staring out again over the never ending view of lights from the city below. He came up behind her, just as he had before, so close that nothing had ever felt so intimate and yet, he did not touch her. She was aching for him, panties wet, and she could not even remember what she was supposed to say about this bedroom or the apartment or the high rise. She could barely breath, she was so overcome with desire and what had he done? Just stood there.

"What's next?" This time it melted her and she melted back, right into him. He was strong and did not flinch or move as she leaned back into his tall, muscular frame. She could feel herself dripping down her legs with want. He simple took one hand to move her big red curls behind her ear and leaned his head in so close as he whispered the faintest "What's next?"

She moaned as her head tilted back and her round firm ass pressed up against him. That's when she felt it, she felt his desire for her strong, thick, and hard. He moved his hands to her hips and pulled her into him so she could feel it even more. She bent at the waist and laid her hands on the glass in front of her. He bent forward to meet his lips to her ear and growled "What's next?"