Addiction

34

When he talked like that to me it was hard to think about anything else. I wanted him. And he knew it.

He smiled at me. "Or maybe I could do it right here. I believe I owe you an orgasm with an audience after the office blowjob incident."

I gulped. "But you liked that."

"I did. And you'd like this." His foot brushed against my leg. "Besides, I promised you I'd retaliate." He hitched his foot on a leg of my chair and he pulled it closer to the table. The chair squeaked against the floor.

"I thought you were joking." My heart rate was accelerating. Just the way he was looking at me made me wet.

"I would never joke about pleasing you." One of his hands left mine and disappeared beneath the table. A second later it was on my knee. His skilled fingers slid up my thigh. His eyes grew darker with each inch his hand moved higher.

"Professor Hunter..."

At that moment our pizza came to the table.

"James! It's so good to see you," a short woman with an Italian accent said. She placed our pizza down on the table.

Professor Hunter removed his hand from my thigh and shook her hand. "It's been ages, Marie. I was in the city for the day and this was the first place I stopped."

"We all miss you here. And who is this?" Marie turned to me.

"This is my girlfriend, Penny."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," I said. I reached out my hand to shake hers.

"No, no, the pleasure is mine." She leaned down and hugged me. "Every Monday James would come here and have lunch. Always alone. Always glum. I'm so glad he has finally met someone. You better make him happy," she said in a voice a little more serious than I expected. When Marie released me from her hug, she smiled at Professor Hunter. "It's so good to see you, James."

"You too, Marie," James said as she walked away. He put his hand back on my thigh. "Another time then. I will get you."

I smiled at him. "Why did you eat lunch alone every Monday?" I asked.

"Just a habit." He picked up a slice of pizza and put it on my plate.

"Why did she think you were single? You still wore your ring when you lived here, didn't you?"

He sighed. "No, actually."

"Why?"

"I stopped wearing my wedding ring the first time I confronted Isabella about her infidelity. I thought she'd feel threatened and stop. I thought maybe the idea of me sleeping around would bother her. It didn't."

"Did you? Sleep around?"

"No." His voice was stern.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

"It's okay. I want you to be able to ask me questions. But I don't want to talk about her. I just want to focus on us."

"Okay." Our lunch had taken a rather quick turn. I wanted to go back to our happy bubble. I wanted people to stop interfering. "So this is the best pizza, huh?" I held up my slice.

"Fold it before you eat it. Trust me."

I followed his instructions and took a bite. Mmm!

"What's the verdict?"

"It's freaking fantastic."

***

Professor Hunter pulled his car up to a tall building. A valet rushed over.

"What's this?"

"Trump International."

I looked up at the gold veranda. It said Trump International Hotel and Tower, also in gold. It was a big glass, modern building. "Why are we going to a hotel?"

"I have a surprise for you." He winked and climbed out of the car.

I loved how mysterious he was. I loved the surprises. I loved him.

Someone rushed out of the hotel to greet us. Professor Hunter handed him the car keys and then opened the door for me. He grabbed my hand and walked with me to the entrance. A man in a suit opened up the door for us.

"Good afternoon," he nodded at us. "Welcome to Trump International."

"Thank you," said Professor Hunter.

The inside of the hotel took my breath away. The floor was marble and the walls were wooden with mirrors and gold accents. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling. The counter, where a few men and women were standing, was also made of marble. Professor Hunter escorted me to one of the plush lounge chairs. I sat down and watched him go up to the counter and start talking to one of the women at the desk.

He handed her a card and leaned on the counter as he chatted with one of the men. It looked like he was completely in his element. I liked seeing him like this. The woman handed him his card back and gave him another card.

"Right this way, sir," one of the men said and stepped toward the elevator.

Professor Hunter turned around to me. I quickly joined him and grabbed his hand.

"James, is that you?"

I looked up at the man who had just stepped off the elevator. He was probably Professor Hunter's age. He was handsome and suave.

"Mason, good to see you." The two of them shook hands.

"I see that you finally took my advice." Mason looked at me. His gaze made my skin feel cold.

Professor Hunter lowered his eyebrows slightly. "No. I thought you would have heard. I'm getting divorced."

Weird response. What advice was Mason referring to?

"Oh, I'm sorry, man," Mason said. And then he started laughing. "Geez, that's a lie. I'm not sorry at all. I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did."

"You two never did get along."

"No, not at all. So, who is this then?" Mason was looking at me again.

Before I could respond, Professor Hunter said, "This is my girlfriend, Penny."

Mason smiled. "Girlfriend? You didn't wait around long. Nice to meet you, Penny." He put his hand out for me.

I shook it. "It's nice to meet you. How do you two know each other?"

"James and I grew up together. Oh, the stories I could tell you..."

"Maybe another day," Professor Hunter interjected and laughed.

"I'll have to hold you to that," I said.

"Well," Mason said and looked down at his watch. "I have a meeting I need to get to. If you ever change your mind, you have my number, James." Mason winked and walked away.