Unrequited

Chapter 20

"You were pretty quiet on the ride over," Pippa comments while smoothing out the skirt of her dress. Emerald green with an A line skirt and halter top, her hair pulled up into a soft bun, Elliot couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked when she answered her door. He complimented her politely and she returned the favor.

Elliot holds the door to the hotel open for her. "I guess I'm just a little tense. It'll pass."

The hallway is pretty empty to say there is a party going on despite the loud music and low roar of chatter just down the hall. The affair is much more swanky than he imagined and he sighs loudly as they approach the door.

"We don't have to stay long," Pippa says walking a few paces in front of him to check them in with the hostesses posted at the entrance. Instantly he feels bad. Before everything got out of hand he agreed to accompany her and now he's being a bit of a buzzkill, lost in his own hangups about the situation.

Elliot hangs back while she gives the two older ladies their names. Curious, he leans to the side just to peek inside. Although there are a lot of suits and a few ballgowns, he's thankful that he doesn't recognize anyone he knows yet. But the view is about 15% of the actual population that awaits him inside. The thought alone is daunting.

He closes his eyes for a fraction of a second and instantly flashes back to the scene in Olivia's apartment. The feel of her satin robe against his eager fingers, her warm soft skin. When the tip of his fingers touched her bare mound, his heart jumped into his throat. Somehow he needed to reel himself in. He had come there with a purpose. And as Neanderthal as it sounded he just needed to stake his claim. Make sure he would be the only man on her mind. But once he touched her all bets were off.

It took everything in him not to strip her from the corset that strained against her full breasts and pull off that poor excuse of underwear she was wearing. The way her walls spasmed around his fingers. So tight, so wet. He longed to feel that around his thick erection.

Elliot shifts his weight back and forth between each leg. His hand scrubbing down his face stopping around his mouth trying to calm himself down. The feel of his pants are getting tight and he groans in frustration.

Focus.

Focus on anything but the perfection of her body. The smooth supple curves, the way goosebumps broke out across her smooth olive skin.

He is so wrapped up in the memory of her that he doesn't register Pippa walking up.

"Hey," she pats his shoulder to jar his attention. "We are table thirteen."

The smile doesn't quite reach her eyes as she fastens the snap on her black clutch.

"What's wrong?" He asks, his hand gently touching her elbow.

"I know you really didn't want to come," she sighs and begins to look around everywhere but at him. His eyes follow hers thinking that she spotted something or someone and he tries to locate them as well. Instead he just sees more older men in dark suits, clashing against the cream colored walls and neutral colored decor of the lobby. "Good thing is there's another friend of mine at the table too so it's not all bad."

His forehead wrinkles with concern. "What are you talking about?"

Pippa sighs again, this time her green irises that match her dress more than he realized initially meets with his cautiously. "Tucker and Olivia are seated at our table too."

Ten minutes. It had been only been ten minutes since Olivia walked into the oversized doors of the grand hotel carefully holding the skirt of her dress that had a longer train than she realized.