Mid Life Love (Mid Life Love #1)(41)

“I’ve been trying to...The woman I’m currently after is the most difficult woman I’ve ever pursued.”

“She’s probably out of your league. Why don’t you just date a supermodel?”

“Not interested. I’ve done that before.”

Oh...“Well, why not an actress?”

There was a knock at the door.

“I did that before too...There’s not much substance in any of those women honestly, but I can’t really blame them. They become just like everyone else in the industry.” He opened the door and retrieved our lunch. As he carried the boxes back over to the table, he looked at me. “I know this is random, but I’ve been meaning to ask you this: Do you have a fascination with white and red flags?”

“What?”

“Your necklaces and the charm bracelets you wear. All of them have white and red triangle flags.”

“Oh...No, I wouldn’t call it a fascination. I just like flags.”

“Interesting...”

He passed me my salad and tea, and the two of us ate in complete silence.

Every now and then, I would look up at him and he would smile. Despite the fact that I was upset with him for what he’d pulled minutes ago, I couldn’t help but smile back.

It was strange for me to actually enjoy being around someone in silence, but he and I slipped into silence all the time. With anyone else it usually felt boring or awkward, but with him it always felt natural.

“Thank you for lunch.” I stood up once I was done. “It was very sweet of you, but we’re not doing it again.”

“Why not?”

“Because whatever this is between you and I is strictly physical. I get mine and you get yours. That’s it.”

“Okay, Claire.” He smirked.

“I mean it.” I put on my best non-negotiable face. “This is strictly about sex.”

“I’m not doubting you, but if you keep standing there and looking at me like that, you may not make it back downstairs.”

I rolled my eyes and walked out of the room.

Monday was the best and worst day of the week: “Best” because it meant that after a weekend without any sex, it was finally going to start up again. “Worst” because Mr. Barnes insisted on scheduling the bulk of our meetings and presentations on that day.

However, this particular Monday was worse than usual because I didn’t get one second to relax over the weekend.

I spent my entire Saturday standing on the Golden Gate Bridge, shooting three different versions of the sPhone blue commercial: We did take after take after take, and once it was finally perfected, the director realized he’d been shooting with the wrong camera, so we had to do it all over again.

On Sunday, my team and I spent eighteen hours going through stock footage, trying to come up with promotion strategies for Statham Industries’ newest product: the sTablet.

By the time I arrived to work on Monday, I was a walking zombie. I sat through endless meetings—intern contracts, publicity revamps, beta research, et cetera, et cetera. I didn’t bother taking a lunch break because two clients requested me at the last minute to help with their pitches.

When my last meeting was over, I was completely slammed. I tried drinking a few cups of coffee to perk myself up, but there was no effect whatsoever.

It wasn’t until a little after five when I noticed a text Jonathan had sent hours ago: “My secretary went home early so we can use my office today...You can come up whenever you like.”

I packed all my things away and freshened myself up in the bathroom, hoping that a few hours with him would be all I needed to gain some energy.

I took the elevator up to the top floor and knocked.

“Good afternoon, Claire.” He opened the door and ushered me inside.

I looked around his office and tried not to seem utterly impressed. It was ten times the size of my office and there were doors that led to other rooms on all four walls.

On the wall to my right was a floor to ceiling bookcase that was filled with hardcover books. To my left, was a projector screen that covered the entire wall and a seating area for ten. His massive metal desk was centered in front of the floor to ceiling windows, and there was a huge white luxury sofa in the corner.

He put his hands on my shoulders and raised his eyebrow. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Hmmm. No reason.”

He led me over to the sofa and sat down next to me. He held my face in his hands and looked deep into my eyes before kissing me.

I thought he was going to take off my clothes or lay me against the couch, but he pulled me into his lap and began massaging my shoulders.

“How was your day today?” he asked.

“It was ahhh...It was okay...” I murmured.

“And how did your promo shoots go over the weekend?”

“Ahhh...Good. Very good.” I closed my eyes, focusing on the soft rhythm of his hands, and then everything went black.

I felt fingers running through my hair, a hand caressing my face. I opened my eyes and realized I was lying in Jonathan’s lap.

I fell asleep?!

“Is sex with me that boring?” He looked down at me and smiled. “You can tell me, you know. We can work on it.”