Anything For Grace

Chapter 23

I watch Penelope closely as she marks up more summary sheets. Her hair falls over her face, agitated she pulls it behind her ear. She bites her bottom lip and crosses her leg, trying to focus on her project. I loved seeing her intrigued by her work. Her calf popped out and her long legs were revealing under her short skirt. Her neck was exposed, pulsing a vein that looked delicious.

I watched her intently from the island, holding my mouth in balled fists to not make a sound. She marks more spots with a highlighter, flipping and setting the marked papers aside. Her eyes were glued to the papers and her eyes skimmed every word. How daring she was to present herself, but not know her powers of making me ravish for her?

She kicks her leg, trying to get some energy out. She circles another figure.

The silence was making me crazy as my thoughts had a voice. I was being unproductive and that made me insane. All I could do was watch her find errors in plans.

"Elijah." She calls, while still looking at the pages. Her chocolate brown eyes peer up to me as I didn't respond back so quick. I snap out it and she continues, "You should come and see the budget."

I get up from the bar stool and join her on the couch. "What is it?"

She flips to her previous pages and retracts her process. As she speaks, I couldn't focus. Her skin was flawless and her beauty distracted me. If I could touch her again, to overstep another boundary, maybe I could satisfy this hunger for her. She didn't take notice of my stares as she spoke fluently and clearly. I peered down at the paper every now and then, just to make it seem like I was interested. However, my eyes would go to her mouth and my eyes would line her perfect lips. How I imagined feeling them again.

"Got it?" She asks, squinting her eyes.

I squinted my eyes, nodding. "Yeah."

She scoffs, leaning forward. "What did I say?"

"Something on the line about the budget."

She groans tiredly, tossing her head back. Her thriving neck was mouth-watering. "You're not focused. Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Where's your head at?"

"I'm here." I leaned back on the couch. "I'm sorry. It's hard to focus sometimes."

She takes a deep breath and sets the file on the table. She twists her body to me. "OK, when I was in school, I had a hard time focusing too. What helps is just centering your body and releasing your mind of any distractions." She clears her throat and holds onto my shoulders. "Have you tried meditating?"

She meditates? I never would've assumed she did. I've only seen her smoke a cigarette to relieve any stress. Her eyes fall shut and she inhales and exhales deeply. "Try it." A beautiful smile spreads across her face.

Trusting her, I follow her orders. My eyes close and I breathe.

She nods, "Once again."

We inhale and exhale together.

She removes her hands and picks the file back up. "Now I'm going to go over it again."

"It's OK. I wouldn't want you to repeat yourself." I grab the file and look at her scribbles. I'll decipher her codes later. "I appreciate you putting extra work in."

Her shoulders bounce. "It's all good." She places her hand on mine, smiling. "You're paying me." She stands up and goes to grab her coat. "If there's anything else you need, wait until Monday please."

"You're going?"

"Yeah. Shit," she curses, holding her head. "I should tell you. Grace has a doctor's appointment tomorrow. I might be coming by late."