She couldn't believe what was happening, she thought as she swirled her tongue inside Noah's mouth the following Tuesday. He nibbled on her bottom lip making her moan and lean her body more into him against the bookcase of Noah's office.
There was a knock at the door and Alissa immediately pulled away. Her heart racing, she pretending to be looking at one of Noah's awards on his shelf.
Noah quickly adjusted his slacks before he said, "Come in."
Adele popped her head in, "Sir, Mr. Regent is holding on line one. He wants to go over the numbers from yesterday's tracking report."
"Get me the report, then," he said as he made his way to his desk "You can go, Alissa."
Alissa turned around just as Adele came walking back in with the report. She paid no attention to Alissa, which Alissa was grateful for as she left Noah's office. Instead of heading back to her desk, she decided to head to the bathroom to freshen up. Her heart rate was still beating a mile a minute.
At the bathroom sink was Sarah. She leaned against the marble countertop with both hands and stared at herself in the mirror.
"You okay?" Alissa asked.
Sarah jumped before looking her way, "Yeah, sorry. I just have a meeting with this potential client and don't want to mess it up."
"What are you talking about? Since when have you ever messed up anything? You'll schmooze this guy until he's swept off his own two feet by you." She chuckled.
Sarah nodded, "You're right. I don't know. I think it's just because this is a high profile client and I can just see one of the guys making a fool out of himself, which results in me looking like a fool."
"Has this happened before?" Alissa asked as she checked her reflection in the mirror.
Sarah sighed, "Unfortunately."
"Well, you need to stand your ground. Lecture them. Teach them right from wrong. Tell them if they don't have anything nice to say, then they shouldn't say it at all."
Sarah let out a laugh. "Yeah, okay. I'll just become their mother hen. Brilliant," she muttered the last word.
Alissa sighed, "Seriously, Sarah. I don't know why you're so unsure of yourself. You've always kicked ass on our old team. I don't see what's stopping you from kicking ass on a team that you run."
Alissa just couldn't see where Sarah's insecurity was coming from. After a few months of this, she was starting to get annoyed by it. She wanted to be there for her friend, to reassure her, but after a while, it was getting old.
Before Sarah could respond, Alissa stepped out and went back to her team's cubicle.
~~~
It was Friday evening and Alissa was finishing up the day's work when Noah stopped by her desk.
"Here are my notes on your report," he said as he handed her a folded piece of paper and sat on the corner of her desk.
She opened it up, but instead of constructive notes, there was one word: Dinner?
Her stomach flipped until she looked around and saw Hwan's eyebrow arched her way.
Alissa sighed, crunched the paper into a ball, and tossed it in her trash bin.
"Have a good weekend, Mr. Wilmington."
~~~
It was Wednesday of the following week and Alissa found herself in another steamy situation in Noah's office. This time, he was leaning over her on his leather couch as he ran his tongue down from her ear to her jaw to her neck.
She giggled as it tickled at the end, which made Noah let out a growl and pull away. She looked up at him and bit her lip in anticipation for what came next.
He wore a devilish smirk as he leaned back in and landed his lips on her collarbone where he bit, hard. She moaned as she arched her back.
~~~
On Friday, just like last Friday, Noah came by Alissa's desk with his 'notes from her report,' and just like last Friday, she declined.
"So, how're things at work? You have that new cannabis client, right?" Trevor asked as they sat on her couch after dinner and flipped through the options on Netflix.
"Yeah, things are going really well. The numbers are rising just as predicted and I think some good is really coming out of it. Earlier this week Hwan and I proposed to Noah the idea of spotlighting a cannabis user who started out recreational, but then ended up needing it for medical purposes and has used Stoned Tech for both."
"Who's Noah?"
"Oh, sorry. That's Mr. Wilmington," Alissa said as her mouth dried.
"Since when did you start calling Mr. Wilmington Noah?" Trevor looked away from the TV and looked at her.
Alissa shrugged her shoulders while she grew queasy.
"How old is Noah, anyway?"
"I don't know... Maybe 30? Why?" Alissa tried to ask innocently.
"No reason." Trevor faced the TV again. "Oh, hey! Men In Black is on here now. Wanna watch it?"
"Sure." Alissa pulled a smile as Trevor wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in.
~~~
Another week went by as mid-April arrived. Alissa was now spending her lunch hour in Noah's office "working." During Friday's lunch hour, Alissa drank a bottle of water after another steamy make out session with Noah.
"Please, Alissa. Let me take you out to dinner tonight."
Alissa stopped drinking and looked over at Noah. In the few months she had known him, he had never once begged.
"It's killing me inside. Only being able to see you, to be with you, inside the confines of these four walls," Noah said, gesturing to his office.
"Why?" she genuinely asked.
"Because you're brilliant, confident, gorgeous, witty, and god damn sexy," Noah responded in a heartbeat.
She wondered how long he had been waiting to use that line.
She sighed, "If I go out to dinner with you this one time, will you stop asking?"
"Only because you'll be the one asking for another time after." He grinned.
Alissa rolled her eyes. She was having lunch with him every day this week. What was another meal? "When and where?"
Noah leaned back in his desk chair, "I'll pick you up at seven."
She nodded and took a bite of her sandwich. She hoped he wasn't going to pick somewhere where people would recognize her. She couldn't let anyone know. Not Trevor, not Hwan, and definitely not Sarah. Sarah would be the first to judge her so harshly based on how she acted towards Samantha before she left.
Alissa couldn't believe she was the new Samantha, but she tried to not think of it that way as she wasn't Noah's assistant. Adele was, and Adele knew her place her.
"Where?"
"Let me treat you, okay?" Noah asked with a smile.
Alissa smiled as her heart fluttered seeing him smile.
~~~
Seven o'clock arrived sooner than Alissa had hoped. She couldn't decide if she was excited for the evening or dreading it. There was a knock on her front door. She quickly glanced at her reflection making sure everything was perfect. The tips of her hair she loosely curled. They rested against her chest which was covered in a tailored navy dress ending at her knees. The dress could have been worn to a business meeting or out on a date. That's why she chose it. She wore nude pumps and had a black clutch in her hand. She went natural with the makeup tonight.
Her heart fluttered when she reached for the doorknob. Noah stood on the other side in a European cut navy blue suit, crisp white button-up, and thin gray tie. He wore brown dress shoes and lifted his wrist to look at his silver watch. He quickly glanced at her after letting his arm hang at his side, then started walking away towards the elevators. Alissa crunched her eyebrows together as she quickly locked her apartment and followed after him.
Noah ended up taking her downtown to the upscale and clubby Capital Grille steakhouse, the same one Trevor took her to during their first month of dating. At that moment, Alissa's heart could outrace any horse from Saratoga.
When they arrived, the hostess smirked at them, "Mr. Wilmington, right this way."
Alissa wondered how the hostess knew him without more than a glance. The hostess lead them to a private table for two in the far corner of the restaurant where the dim lighting hid them well from prying eyes.
Immediately after they sat down on the brown suede cushioned chairs, a waiter came by and poured them two waters and two Proseccos.
"What are we celebrating?" she asked.
Noah finally smirked for the first time that night, "Why us, of course."
Alissa didn't say anything as a menu was placed in front of her. Before she could properly look it over, Noah ordered, "We'll have the prosciutto wrapped mozzarella to start. I'll have the seared tenderloin with butter poached lobster tails, and she'll have the sliced filet mignon."
"I'm a vegetarian." She looked at him as the waiter left.
He looked at her with no emotion, "If you were a vegetarian, you would have stayed away from my meat."
She almost choked on her saliva as he waited for her to respond. She wasn't used to someone ordering for her, first of all. Secondly, he had never been this blunt about their sexual escapades before. All she could do was nod.
Tonight was going to be something, she thought as she bit her lip.
~~~
A/N: I practially died of laughter with that "meat" line. Please tell me it's not as lame as my second-guessing thinks it is! xo