There With You by Samantha Young
Thane
The computer screen before him was a blur of lines, his mind somewhere far beyond. With Regan. He could still smell her perfume, feel the slide of her silken hair across his skin, feel the tight, hot sheath of her. His want for her was driving him to distraction. While he was a man, and there was a part of him that got off on sneaking into the annex each night to be with her, Thane couldn’t rid the dread that had settled over him since they’d agreed on their sex-with-no-strings arrangement.
In fact, the dread had only worsened since that first night. The only reprieve he had from it was when he was inside Regan. Nothing else penetrated his thoughts but the overwhelming need that consumed him in those moments.
“Thane!”
Jarred from his now daily daydreams about his kids’ nanny, Thane turned from his computer screen to see Keelie standing in the doorway, frowning at him.
“Sorry for shouting, but I said your name a few times and you didn’t respond.”
Fuck.
This was getting out of hand.
“Sorry about that.” Then it occurred to him Keelie was in his office. On their floor. “What brings you down here?”
She closed his door and walked over to his desk.
Thane felt awkward. When he hadn’t called Keelie back, he’d presumed she’d understand what that meant. That was how the dating game worked. Unless she was here about something else.
Keelie perched on his desk and gave him a somewhat self-deprecating shrug. “My friends told me I should leave it alone, but I like to know for certain where things are at. I can’t play the usual bullshit dating games. I’m not very good at understanding the rules.”
Oh, boy.
“I thought we had a really nice time at dinner, but … you haven’t called. So … I just thought I’d check if maybe I was supposed to ask you out next? And if so, would you like to go on a second date with me?”
Thane admired her courage and straightforwardness. To be fair, her self-involved nattering on their first date could have just been nerves. And in another life, maybe he would have gone on a second date with her. But she deserved honesty. “I had a nice time, Keelie, but I think we’re better off as friends.”
Disappointment darkened her eyes, but she smiled through it. He felt like shit. “Oh. Of course.” She pushed off his desk, smoothing her skirt. “Well, I appreciate you being up-front.”
“I’m … sorry.” Thane winced as she winced. An apology was the wrong move. It was pitying. Fuck. “I mean—”
“It’s fine.” She backed up toward the door. “I need to … I need to get back to work.”
Keelie fled his office as if the hounds of mortification were nipping at her heels.
Thane buried his head in his hands and muttered a string of curse words. Regan was right. He’d used Keelie and hurt her. What an arsehole.
The rest of the day passed painfully slowly. Now he was distracted by his own bad choices. Even Regan noted at dinner he seemed troubled. He waved off her concerns as he pondered what the hell he was doing with his life. With Regan. The chances he was taking with his family with this affair. But when she gave him a sultry look before she left the house for her annex, his addiction to her took over.
And when he let himself into the annex that night to find Regan lying naked on the bed, waiting for him, everything else ceased to exist.
Regan Penhaligon had seduced him past the point of no return.