After Hours by Stephanie Swallow Page A

second set of plans. “Compare the two,” he says. “If you were the
clients, which would you go for?”
    His cheek is so close to mine, I could swivel to kiss
it.
    There’s another knock at the door and Cody steps to the
side, instantly throwing on his professional face. Joel, one of the other senior
architects pokes his head around the door.   His hand is on the jamb and he eyes us up and down before
speaking. “You coming down to the bar for a drink, Cody?”
    Cody doesn’t flinch.   “Nah.   Thanks.
I’ve got some stuff to finish up here.”
    “Claudia?” Joel questions.
    “No thanks.   I’m just doing this for Cody, then I’m off home. I’m shagged.”
    Joel gives me a strange look and I realize what I’ve
said.
    “Okay.   See
you tomorrow, then,” he says, pulling back from the door.
    “Yeah. See ya .”
    Cody turns back to me.   “Are you really shagged?” he asks.
    “No. Do you really want my opinion on these plans?”
    He moves a little closer.   He’s standing behind me again. “Among other things.”
    Fuck.   He’s
making me quiver.   How can I give
an honest opinion if he’s making me quiver?
    I bend closer to the pages, perusing the changes he’s
made with a keen eye.   I’m excited
that he’s asking me, that he’s obviously recognizing the fact that I, too, have
a degree in architecture, that I’m not a personal assistant but an associate.
I’m also excited by the fact that he seems to be taking this somewhere
else.   Or am I imagining his cock
pressing against the muscles of my bottom?
    I lean my elbows on the desk to get a closer look. Chin
on hand, I point to the second set of drawings.   “I prefer this view. The layout seems to flow more
naturally.”
    Cody is bending over my body again.   His breath is in my ear.   His left hand has slid from the desk to
my hip. He’s trying to make it appear as if we’re still looking at drawings but
the message he’s sending with his hand, slowly circling my hip and bottom, is
clear.
    “I prefer this view, too,” he replies, cheekily.
    And that confirms it.
    My breath catches in my throat.
    “What do you want from me, Cody?” I ask. “Do these
bigger accounts you’re promising come with strings attached?”
    “Not unless you want them to. You can walk out of here
right now and I’d still push a few bigger jobs your way. No frills.”
    I frown at him.
    “Or you can stay.   It’s up to you.”
    I turn back to the plans, trying to concentrate but I
can’t. Cody’s voice is in my ear. “I’ve seen you watching me, Claudia.”
    Shit.
    “I know you want me as much as I want you.”
    He does?
    He shifts against my back.   His cock is pressing into the crack of my ass through our
clothing, but it feels as if we’re naked.
    “The way you swish around the office in those tight
little skirts of yours, your hips swinging, is very distracting, you know.”
    Not as distracting as his stance when he stands, staring
out the full-length glass windows of his office, looking for inspiration. The
way the muscles tighten in his back and bum at those moments are enough to send
me over the edge, right there in my desk. The other day I almost stapled my
finger to a book, I was so distracted.
    I feel my breathing quicken as he leans closer, his
chest pressing into my back.   He
raises his hand from my hip and slides it along my neck.   He flicks my hair around my other
shoulder to reveal my skin.   I feel
his warm lips come to rest in the place he’s just caressed.
    Oh God. This is too much.   Never in my wildest fantasies did I ever think a man like
Cody would want an ordinary girl like me.
    “I don’t do it on purpose,” I whisper.
    “Oh, I think you do.   I think you know exactly what you’re doing with those
skirts.   You’re being a prick
tease.   You’re making me want to
fuck you.”
    My breath is stuck in my throat and I swallow it.   “I am?”
    “Yes.”
    “What? Now?”
    “Definitely