Summer Hire Ch. 03

Melissa's heart accelerated as she realized that he was telling her that he liked her. The pause as he waited for her response lengthened. She found herself responding, "Uh, yeah. It makes sense."

Inside, she told herself, "Oh that was fucking brilliant. Sounded like you're all of fifteen years old there." Erik saw she was flustered. He gently let go of her hands and picked up his portfolio. Opening it, he pulled out another of his cards and turned it over. She saw that this one was blank on the back. He wrote a phone number on the back.

He handed her the card. "That's my cell phone number." She took it, looking at the card without really focusing on it. After waiting a bit, he asked, "Do you have a cell phone number or a way I can reach you?"

"Ah sure, yeah, I mean that would be great," she stammered. Then she gave him her phone number and also added her e-mail address, remembering that the front of his card had his e-mail as well.

He wrote down her information while she looked at his card again. She smiled, realizing that he hadn't already prepared this card with his cell phone number. After he had given Gavin his card with his lawyer's name and number already written on the back, she had wondered just how prepared and sure of himself he was. She told herself, "The guy's not some all knowing, all controlling asshole. He's just a guy... well, a really cute, rich, sexy guy."

Looking down at her, Erik said, "What do we do now?"

Melissa didn't immediately respond. Instead, she distracted herself with the realization that even wearing her heels and with him leaning back against a table, he was still a little taller than she was.

Without thinking consciously about it, she stepped in closer to him. He grinned a little lopsidedly and said, "Okay, I guess we could try to relieve some of that tension."

Standing up, he took the manila folder from her and put it down behind him. Then he took her hands and circled them around her back, so her hands were touching the small of her back. He bent down to give her a chaste kiss on her lips. That kiss, no matter how light, seared straight through her, landing directly on her pelvis, where her sex began throbbing.

As he pulled his head back, she lifted her own head up to meet his lips for a longer kiss, but he didn't kiss her again right away. First, he drew her arms further up behind her, until her arms crisscrossed behind her back, with her hands meeting at the opposite elbow. She gasped quietly at having her arms held behind her. She stood steadfast, not wanting him to think her a coward, but she worried that her gasp had sounded more like a moan of pleasure than a protest.

He smiled at her reaction, clearly pleased. Then he backed her up against the whiteboard until the eraser tray pressed her hips into him. She closed her eyes. Another small, involuntary groan escaped from her parted lips. This time, there was no denying that it signaled her arousal. He chuckled quietly as he pressed himself between her legs. She gasped again. He rained light little kisses over her face and neck.

Before she even realized it was happening, she orgasmed in quick, shuddering bursts.

When she was finished he stepped partway back, looking down at her blissful, post-coital expression. He whispered, mostly to himself, "Oh you are definitely so much more than I had imagined."

Then he laughed self-deprecatingly and told her, "I'm afraid that I didn't really help matters." Taking in the languid way she still leaned against the wall, he continued, "It doesn't look like you're going to be in any shape to meet our next professor... and I'm already late."

He picked her manila folder and his portfolio. "I'll go on by myself. If anyone asks, I'll say you weren't feeling well. That will give you some time to... ah, recover."

Walking to the door, he called over his shoulder, "I'll give you a call later today." Then he was gone.

Finally rousing herself from her stupor, she asked out loud, "What the fuck was that?"

The room replied with continued silence; only the air conditioning whispered.

Shrugging, she answered herself, "Who the fuck cares? It was wonderful."

"So what do I do now? Go home and wait by the phone till he calls?"

The empty room still didn't reply, so she answered herself, "Yep, sounds like a plan."

She walked out into the hallway, much happier than she had imagined being today.

Interlude

Erik pulled out of the parking lot, absently noting the traffic conditions as he reviewed the morning's events. The meeting with Gavin had gone about as he expected. She wasn't going to turn down the money. He know that what made his offer irresistible was his willingness to fund something risky that nobody else would touch. Every professor worth their PhD was certain have some secret passion, some long shot that they never thought would see the light of day.

Erik laughed. It was like throwing chunks of raw meat to starving dogs. While it might turn into a real fur ball, some great ideas would hopefully come out of it. He loved finding people's secret motivations and then aligning their passions to his purpose. His skill in doing that was a large part of his success in turning around failing companies.

For the last few months, however, he had been without an assignment. He was bored. Scuba diving in the Maldives had been fun, but he had discovered that vacation travel without someone to share the experience was lonely. Even though there had been plenty of willing bed partners, none of those women had filled whatever it was that was missing for him.

He came back vaguely dissatisfied and eager to begin the new assignment that had been waiting for him. Once he dug into the numbers, however, it quickly became clear that the owners had been lying to themselves and everyone else. The situation was impossible. He told them that their only option was to close it down and walk away.

Then he went back home and looked for something to do. The next possible assignment would start until the fall. In the meantime, he built a new kitchen table in his wood shop. The Archeology project had been fun to get started, but now he had two months until the proposals came in.

That train of thought brought him back to Melissa. He felt a warm sense of hope that grew bolder as he drove home.

She was very attractive. From the way she had carried herself when she first came into Gavin's office, he had immediately sensed a strong and lively intelligence. Very soon after, he had realized there was a mutual sexual attraction.

He had, however, pushed that attraction away. He needed to focus on the meeting with the department chair. Even though he had been doing his best to ignore it, the intensity of the feeling had constantly nudged at him, hinting at something deeper. There seemed to be some connection, a compatibility of natures, as though there were two parts coming together to make a whole.

He had finally tested the connection he was hoping to find in the room upstairs. Her response had made it clear that despite her headstrong nature, a current of submissiveness ran through her sexuality. What surprised him the most was that she seemed completely oblivious to her hidden passion, even though all her responses had been powerful and immediate.

He took a slow, deep breath to relax the tension that had been building inside. He really hoped that Melissa would be more than a one week fling. It would be nice to have something to do until the next assignment came along in a couple of months.