Short stories revolving around a shy woman and hotheaded man.

Lucy typed away at her desktop at a spread sheet that had to be introduced soon. She needed a cover page, charts, and she also needed to create a power point presentation for the next board meeting. All while doing this, her focus was starting to waver.

She couldn’t stop thinking about Hiro. He plagued her thoughts and dreams. She thought about what he could be doing right this moment and she thought about if he was thinking about her. After their one night of passion, he was a man of his word and promptly took her out for lunch in a fancy restaurant at the eleventh floor of a building. Lucy felt nervous because she wasn’t no where near dressed for the expensive place and she even spotted some celebrities dining there.

Hiro allowed her to get anything she wanted from the menu against her protest about paying him back. She looked at the menu and paled. A salad was $45. She opted for a burger and fries which was nearly a whopping $60! And it wasn’t even made with all the good diabetes juiciness that promised a short life and painful death.

Afterwards she gave a hasty goodbye before leaving, not even giving him so much as her phone number before hopping in the first cab she saw. She sighed, maybe it was for the better, she wasn’t in his league anyway.

As she rode home, Lucille realized she was back to her mundane life. A life that revolved more around her work than anything. When she got to her apartment, she kicked off her shoes and began to shed her clothes from the party, she realized one key detail.

She left her panties!

Great, she cringed. Now he probably thought she was some vixen or something. Like that was her special mark for him to remember her by.

Lucy drew a bath and took the time to admire herself in the mirror. Purple bruises dotted across her caramel skin and she also took note of the bite mark on her inner thigh. Geez, she breathed. When her bath was ready she relaxed into the warm water and allowed it to soothe her aching muscles.

She closed her eyes and allowed her mind to wander to anything or anyone in particular.

~

It was approaching her lunch when a tall familiar figure emerged from the door behind Lucy’s desk.

“Miss Valentine!” Her boss boomed happily as he came to the side of her desk. Lucille stood from her desk, alarmed by his boisterous manner. She had almost thought she did something wrong when he came out. Did she forget something in the spreadsheet proposal?

“Yes, Mr. Wolfe?” She addressed him. Her boss was a young guy- probably early thirties with dirty blond hair slicked back with a grin that made most of the women in the office swoon. He looked as if he use to be an all American man and popular jock in college and high school. Frankly, Lucy wouldn’t be far off to say that the company currently in his hands was a small baby given to him from his father’s company- their parent company. Overall, her boss was a fun loving guy with a big heart and an uncanny knack for business he inherited from his father. Current man was brimming ear-to-ear in front of her.

“I have a promising meeting coming up in about….-Now. It’s your lunch, right? C’mon and bring your notebook too, I need you to take notes.” Lucy hastily gathered her things and clocked out for her lunch. She trailed behind her boss to the company limo where he babbled away to her over how excited he was to see his old friend.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Lucille took note of how fancy it looked. It oddly reminded her of the restaurant Hiro took her to. The driver opened the door for both of them and they entered the establishment. Lucy didn’t realize how hungry she truly was until the smell of food hit her nostrils and her stomach replied in demand.

They were ushered to a table in the far back of the restaurant, a section reserved mainly for important guests and Lucy’s sparkling brown eyes clashed against sharp charcoal ones. She nearly dropped her writing pad at the sight of the man she never thought she’d see again. Standing in all his beautiful glory was the man that not even 24 hours ago, was ravishing her body like she was his source of nutrients (the way he ate her out would’ve thought so). Standing next to him was his assistant, a beautiful pale woman with dark hair and brows and thin lips coated in a red lipstick.

Hiro’s eyes were glued to her. He wore an impassive look on his face but she could see the mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Hiro Kaneshiro! Long time no see!” Her boss shook hands with the man and clapped his arm with his other hand. Mr. Wolfe stepped back to introduce Lucy but he was stopped by a wave of Hiro’s hand.

“No need, Lucille and I are already well acquainted.” The way the last word rolled off his tongue was not lost on Lucy but the underlying meaning in his words flew right over her boss’s head and he simply beamed happily.

“Wow, small world. Now let’s sit.” Hiro obliged to pull Lucy’s seat out much to her protest about doing it herself. A waiter came moments later to take their orders. Her boss and Hiro opted for alcoholic beverages and light appetizers to start their time whilst Lucy simply ordered sparkling water. She was so nervous that she seemed to lose her appetite the moment she locked eyes with him.

Lunch was uncomfortable. Hiro’s assistant was seated across from Lucy whilst Hiro took her right side and her boss took her left. At times, Lucy would accidentally brush her leg against Hiro’s and earned a curious quirk of his brow. She hastily apologized but she swore he took her gesture as an open invitation to grab her knee. The simple touch sent volts of electricity down her spine. She turned towards him and felt her eyes get tangled in the dark murmur of his charcoal orbs and felt like a fly in the spider’s web. A secret hung on the edge of his lips as she swore he was aching to say something to her and honestly, she wanted him to. Would he utter a snide remark? A harmless comment? A declaration of his desire to take her again? The questions burned her throat like a glass of warm dark liquor and she hoped he would want to take a sip from her again but just as the heat between them could escalate, a feminine voice broke their trance.

“Mr. Kaneshiro, Mr. Wolfe asked you a question.” The woman seemed pissed as she had to witness their moment. Hiro looked displeased as he regained his composure effortlessly and spoke.

Lucille took that moment to sigh into her notebook. She needed to get a grip. This man foretold trouble for her if she continued to toy with him. His assistant also seemed to have an instant dislike for her and she didn’t blame her. For the rest of the lunch, Lucy kept her nose in her book and took diligent notes all the while trying to ignore the way Hiro’s hand continued to creep a little farther up her leg.

~

“Order 258!” A barista called. A woman with a mane of curls pulled back into a water using, gel slicked, wooden brush, and prayer-made-it-happen ponytail jumped up to receive her order. She grabbed the latte and thanked the barista and made her way back to the table that was filled with her close friends and colleagues.

“So yea, I had to work on a presentation all last night and that new guy- Mr. Kaneshiro? He hated it! He knit-picked everything wrong with my proposal and even after that, he went one to insult my choice in power-point theme!” Her friend, Jackson sulked. They all listened on sympathetically. Jackson was your average, everyday office nerd with a complex to please the man. He rarely ever screwed up, was always on time with coffee and donuts, and was usually favored by Mr. Wolfe himself.

Lucy patted Jackson’s back soothingly. Seems everyone was feeling the brunt of the devil- Hiro Kaneshiro since he’s made his way into town. He’s been demanding and cold to everyone around him. Everyone except Lucy but she ignored all his advances. He would toy with her, say something that would cause her to stutter in shock or walk pass her and his hand would ever so gently grasp the curve of her waist and it drove her wild with desire.

But she refused to give in! She promised herself she would be more professional and would not do a repeat of the night of the party. She was better than that, damnit!

In the midst of her thoughts, a petite young woman plunked down next to another of her friend. Her eyes carrying bags and her hair was not brushed but thrown into a lopsided bun.

“Whoa, what’s wrong with you Rumi?” Asked Lucy, genuinely worried about her best friend.

“I’m so sick of my brother!” She exclaimed loudly to the group, causing some other workers nearby to shoot them questioning glances. Rumi disregarded the stares and continued on her tirade about her sibling. They all nodded in understanding as they listened. This was a bad week for everyone it seemed.

Just then a woman came running towards their table, visibly shook.

“Lucille!” She tried to keep her voice to a minimum but it only caused her to speak in a loud whisper. “Mr. Kaneshiro would like to see you in his temporary office. Right now.” Lucy’s eyes widened. She wondered what could he possibly want with her besides the obvious.

The young woman excused herself from her friends, earning a halfhearted ‘Good luck’ from Jackson. She took the elevator to his floor and parted through the sea of cubicles until she reached his office.

Tapping a few times, she let herself in just to see the glorious face of the business tycoon twisted in annoyance.

“Everyone in your department are idiots.” He tossed a stack of paper her way across the desk and she jumped from the heavy thud of its weight. She carefully thumbed through well thought out proposals and spread sheets.

“That’s not a very nice thing to say.” She wanted to roll her eyes at him.

“I’m not a very nice person, Lucy.”

“I can tell.” She muttered under her breath but audible enough for Hiro to hear. She finished looking through the pile and was just about to grab them and leave when his hand lowered the stack in her arms back down.

She shot him a confused look as she watched the stack of papers get pushed somewhere else on the desk. “Um, what are you doing? I thought you wanted me to take that.”

“I didn’t call you in here for that.” He said evenly as he reclined back in his chair with his fingers laced together in a triangle.

“Okay then, why did you call me in here?” She sat her hand on her hip defiantly but there was nothing defiant looking about her. Hiro was amused as he extracted something lacy from the breast pocket of his coat.

“You left these in my home. Were you trying to give me a parting gift?” Lucy could feel the heat rise to her hairline as he exposed the lacy blue cotton underwear and dangled it from an index finger.

“Thanks for holding onto them, you can give them back now.” She nearly climbed across the desk to grab them, but he took them out her reach with minimal effort since his arm was significantly longer than hers.

Lucy wasn’t going to make a fool of herself by jumping up and falling into his lap like a child. Instead, she put her hands on her hips and gave him a stern look like the one her mother use to give her and said. “Give them back. Now.”

“You have to earn them.” He said teasingly as he examined the panties with mock interest much to her growing annoyance.

“By?” She was red with embarrassment as she watched him appraise her underwear. She had the urge to just jump over the table and grab them from his hand but she knew that was unbecoming of a lady like herself so she will comply civilly.

“Come here and I’ll show you.” He gestured for her to come to him. She was hesitant but moved to stand in front of his chair. She gripped his shoulders for balance as he grabbed her leg leg and situated it on the side of his thigh and worked to do the same to her other leg. Lucy felt her heart beat in her chest like a taut drum as she peered down at his lecherous grin.

“Y’know, if someone comes in, I could lose my job for this.” She gasped.

“I’ll give you a new one.” He murmured back as he harshly ordered her to sit . She glared at his rude tone and complied defiantly, plopping down heavily on his lap and surely pressing herself against his crotch. She could feel him through the thin barrier of her underwear and his slacks and her arousal spiked within her.

“That doesn’t make me feel better.” She whispered with lustful eyes.

“It should.” He shrugged. “Anyone woman would love it.” He raised his hand to caress her adorable face. Hard to believe she was a woman with such an innocent face. The woman could get away with murder with her big brown eyes. He wanted to turned that innocent look into something else, something twisted. He yearned to defile her, but he wouldn’t just yet. A woman like her was a breath of fresh air to him and he wanted to bask in her pure radiance for a while. A hand rose past the waves in her ponytail to the giant puff behind her and twirled one of her luscious spiral of curls with his finger.

Lucille wanted to pout. “I’m not just any woman.” She was more than just one of the girls that fawned over him, she was more than some chick seeing her next big break through him. She respected every woman and their hustle, but she just wasn’t them. That just wasn’t how Lucy rolled.

“You’re right, you’re not like them Lucille.” His other hand traveled up her skirt. Cold fingers brushed over the warm flesh of her ass and he gripped a fleshy cheek.

“Y’know, I can sue you for sexual harassment just for what you’re doing right now.” She said teasingly to him as she used her manicured finger to loosen his tie.

“Would you really?” He had a maniacal look of amusement in his eye that foretold the thrill he’d get from her testing the waters with him. He was a true business man.

“Yep,” She replied back confidently and earned a bark of laughter from the man.

“Well then I guess I have a lawsuit on my hands.” Ziiipp! went her skirt.

~