My eyes darted from the team back to Lena as I processed her bold words of endearment, her wild confession catching me off guard as she slid slowly off of my lap.
Her tempting words were only loud enough for me to hear but they rang continously in my head as I poorly attempted to discreetly adjust the bulge she effortlessly caused between my legs.
She tugged at the bottom hem of her red dress, making sure it was adjusted properly as she sank down lazily into the seat next to me.
"You guys are home early." She said as she glanced the rose gold watch wrapped around her wrist.
I did a short double take, my eyes slightly widening as they became drawn to the sparkling jewelry that I hadn't seemed to have noticed before.
Wait, was she wearing that all night?
And more importantly, is that a Rolex?
I couldn't help but squint my eyes as I stared at the watch, almost becoming detached from the awkward scenario that Lena and I helplessly found ourselves in.
"Shit- yeah, we're um- we're so sorry for interrupting." Vanessa jumped in, saving us all from the uncomfortable silence as she clutched onto a bright pink cardboard box.
There was an slight smirk at her lips and I couldn't help but notice Adam and Smitty had the same look plastered across their obvious grinning faces.
In fact, when I really studied everyone's individual expressions a little closer than before, I came to a realization they didn't seem as surprised as I was expecting them to.
Chris on the other hand, had an almost disgusted look on his face before he swiftly disappeared into the kitchen while Natalie almost immediately bolted up the lengthy staircase as the remainder of the team scattered the living room, voicing their drunken apologies.
I watched as Lena tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, her beautiful face only barely flushed from embarrassment as she seemingly put on her best act, brushing off the fact that we had been caught red handed by the entirety of my team.
I couldn't help but find her carefree attitude refreshing, barely even phased from the indecent position we were interrupted from.
My mind was much too occupied, secretly admiring my dream woman despite the unanticipated presence of our friends, that the sound of my name repeatedly being called simply entered one ear and exited out the other as my gaze fixed on Lena.
"Austin."
I finally snapped out of my daze and slightly shook my fogged head to clarity before I finally processed Dre's voice who had been repeatedly calling for me.
"Oh- uh sorry." I mumbled a pathetic apology, not even bothering to come up with an excuse of why I was heavily distracted.
"We need to talk."
I met the serious expression fixed on his face and I instantly groaned to myself internally as I realized Dre probably was going to scold me that in fact dating my employee was not such a good idea and we were taking things entirely too fast. But I was ready to stand my ground and fight to my wits end to prove to him that getting myself involved with Lena was not a mistake.
I had somehow convinced him earlier this evening that it was a completely acceptable idea for me to treat Lena to a special evening for her birthday to make up for the fact that I still couldn't seem to fully remember her.
But he was going to have my head for the utterly compromising position Lena and I found ourselves caught in when the team unexpectedly bursted through my front door.
Dre never liked any of the girls I ever dated or slept with or even talked to come to think of it, and he was going to be simply livid at the fact that the new hire was straddling my lap while my tongue was shoved into her mouth for all to see.
He was going to probably kill me and try to fire Lena and on her birthday no less. I murmured a slur of curses under my breath as I prepared to stand up for the woman of my dreams as I followed Dre into the dining room.
His eyes glazed over the remnants of our dinner as I opened my mouth to defend whatever it was that I had going on with Lena.
"Look Dre, before you say anything, I just want to tell you that Lena is unlike any other girl I have ever met. Nothing you say or do will make me stay away from her-"
Dre shot me a strange look as he slanted his eyes and shook his head just before he cut me off.
"What? Austin what are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about me and Lena. That's what you wanted to discuss isn't it? Well I like her Dre and I don't care that she works for me. I'm going to-"
"Woah buddy hold on, that's not what this is about. Lena is a lovely girl, and actually I think she's good for you." Dre chimed in, stopping my rant in its tracks as I stared at him with nothing but disbelief.
Dre was my main manager and one of my closest friends. I looked up to him as a mentor and he always held my best interest at heart.
But not once has he ever approved of any woman that had managed to find their way into my life.
He always found something wrong with them and insisted they weren't good for me and to be quite honest, most of time, he was usually right.
So to hear that he was willingly accepting the fact that I wanted to be with Lena without me having to twist his arm behind his back felt nearly like a goddamn miracle.
"Oh." I chuckled, feeling almost stupid for my outburst. "Then what did you want to talk about?"
Dre's expression remained serious and the smile on my face immediately dropped.
"I've been working nonstop all night to get these stupid fucking articles unpublished from every tabloid website on the entire fucking internet."
"Thanks Dre, I appreciate it. Just cause I enjoy my fair share of Bud Lights, suddenly I'm deemed a drunk driver just because I crash my fucking car. This is ridiculous." I shook my head with disgust as Dre gave me a pained look.
"A friend of mine knows the guy that posted the original article." Dre chewed the inside of his cheek before he swallowed the visible lump in his throat.
"Okay, well did he explain why he published a bunch of bullshit lies to make me look bad?" I rolled my eyes upwards as Dre remained uneasy.
"Austin, he said he got his information from someone on the team."
I stood still in disbelief as I tried to process his words and allow the betrayal to sink it's claws into my back. I was red with fury as the anger seeped into my veins and I was left at a loss of words.
"We don't know who is is yet but I assure you-"
"I know who it is. And I'm going to fire them."
I mumbled quietly under my breath, running my fingers through my curls before I turned away from Dre and slowly stalked my way back to the group in my living room.
I was ready to explode with rage, my blood boiling as I walked seemingly in slow motion though my mind was racing a mile a minute. My emotions were on overdrive and I was just on the edge of losing my usual well controlled temper.
But as soon as I entered the room, the heart stopping smile from my beautiful dream girl forced me to restrain myself from acting on impulse as I swallowed my wrath in one gulp.
She let out a wholesome laugh as she chatted with Vanessa, who was lighting a string of candles that stuck upright from a rounded birthday cake.
"Austin."
Lena's angelic voice grounded me as she gestured for me to come to her, patting the empty seat to her left.
I shook off my seething sour mood and reminded myself that as fuming as I was, it was her birthday.
And I wasn't going to do this right now. Not here, not like this.
I promised her the perfect night and I knew my burning vexation could be tucked away and taken out tomorrow if it meant giving her the best birthday she could ask for. I wasn't going to ruin this for her. I couldn't.
I gave her a warm smile, putting on the best front as I could and sank down next to her as I led everyone in singing happy birthday to the beautiful woman that was the only thing that could tame my fretted mind.
"Happy Birthday dear Lena, Happy Birthday to you."
We all sang in unison as Lena grinned widely, the song dying down as everyone shouted for her to make her birthday wish.
Her soft eyes fell onto me as she gave me an almost saddened look, the happiness still dwelling on her face but not as convincing as just a moment before.
She gave me a weak smile before she turned away, blowing out her candles in one blow, as we all erupted with cheers and applause.
"I can't believe you guys got me a cake!" She exclaimed with joy as she grabbed for a knife to cut the first piece.
"Of course we got you a cake Lee, you think we weren't going to celebrate your birthday with you?" Adam nudged her shoulder as he sat on her other side.
"Even though you two seemed like you were celebrating just fine without us." He mumbled under his breath as he shot us a look of amusement, earning a slap on the arm from Lena.
"Shut up Adam, no cake for you." Lena scowled as she handed me the first slice while I chuckled quietly at their childish antics.
"C'mon Lee, I was just joshing. You're really gonna deny me this expensive ass butter cream cake that Austin payed for with his credit card?" He laughed, catching my attention as I took my first bite.
"Do I even want to know how much you guy racked up on my Amex?" I groaned with fear as everyone besides me began to chuckle.
"Oh it wasn't so bad man. We kept to six figures." Smitty spoke up as he shrugged his shoulders, a slew of profanities escaping my mouth before I dared to ask how much.
"Only $100,000. Nothing crazy." Vanessa shook her head as she tried to hold in her laughter, the majority of the team buzzing with humor.
"A hundred fucking grand in 3 hours, can you believe that groupie?" I rolled my eyes as I muttered lowly only loud enough for Lena to here.
"Well was I worth it?" She raised her brow, shooting me a smile as she placed her hand on top of mine.
From the corner of my eye, I couldn't help but notice Chris's repulsed gaze fixed in our direction as Lena intertwined her fingers with mine.
I slanted my eyes to meet his, giving him a satisfied smirk before I turned my attention back to my dream girl.
"Every fucking penny."
I leaned forward, shamelessly pecking her lips infront of everyone, no longer having a care in the world about being discreet about what was going on between us.
I shifted my eyes back onto Chris as I pulled away from Lena, his glare filled with more infuriation than ever.
I slung my arm loosely around Lena's shoulder, not letting his attitude even begin to phase me though I wanted nothing more than to punch him right then and there.
I pulled a cigarette from my pack of Camels with my free hand and sparked it lit before placing it between my lips.
Oh well, firing him was going to have to wait until tomorrow.