Dane,
We’re all on the trading floor. You should come down here so I have something interesting to look at.
Selena
Dane got back to his office to find a backlog of emails. He paused on Noelle’s and Selena’s. It had been a pretty good couple of weeks. Where to go, where to go?
He considered the layout of his board. He was easily circling in on check. Could he make it check mate?
It was nearly three o’clock. The interns would be on the trading floor for another hour at least. Dane left his office and took the stairs to the third floor. He passed the now empty training room and knocked on Noelle’s office door.
She opened the door and stepped back to let him in. Her finger went straight to her mouth where she started to worry her ring fingernail with her teeth. She’d chewed it to the quick. “Thank you for coming up. I needed to see you.”
She turned away to walk back to her desk. Dane closed the door and came up inches behind her, a breath away from her neck. He refrained from touching her, but she had to feel his presence. She stopped, and her shoulders rose and fell.
He laid a hand on her waist and slowly slid it around the front of her, drawing her into him. She leaned her back against his chest, and he breathed in her hair, her fear, her awakening desire. Before she could gather her resistance, he stepped around her so he faced the door—and more importantly the small window embedded in the door—so he could be sure nobody witnessed him wrapping his arms around Noelle. When she didn’t resist, he kissed her with the confidence he hadn’t shown on that first date.
She didn’t pull away this time, but he stepped back. “Noelle, is this what you want?”
She nodded, but her face registered surprise and uncertainty. He pulled her to him, kissing her, pressing his body hard against hers so she’d be in no doubt of his physical desire. He didn’t have to pretend he wanted her. She’d denied him for too long, and now she was on the verge of giving herself to him. He nearly lost himself in the intoxication of her kiss.
His sole intent had been to break through the rest of her barriers and make her confront her desires, make her get a taste of him, make her want him, and make her know she wanted him. When he walked out of here, he wanted her unsatisfied, hungry, desperate. From this moment on, she could try, but she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from ruining herself for him.
But he couldn’t get enough of her. He ran a hand up her thigh, along the hem of her dress, up to the edge of her underwear. She gasped, and he relented, but he didn’t retract his hand altogether. He clamped tight onto the back of her thigh and ground himself into her. When she moaned, he heard himself echo her.
A small voice he didn’t recognize urged him to step away from her and give her a chance to survive him. He nearly heeded it, but the protest came too late; he’d already committed himself to this course of action. He needed her.
He unfastened his belt. When he unzipped his pants, she finally came to her senses. “Dane. Stop.”
He dropped his hands and stood back, studying her confusion with an interest that was no longer merely calculated. He licked his lips and watched her eyes. She was fighting against a primal desire to fuck him in her office and a need to remain above such base desires. Part of him wanted her to give in right now. He wanted her more than ever.
But his wager with Val required more than a shag in Noelle’s office. An inter-office romance was a gray area ethically, but it would be flimsy proof of harassment. If he was going to satisfy Val by compromising Noelle, he needed Noelle to pursue him. He’d never conquer Val until she believed she’d beaten him at his own game. Until he’d definitively sacrificed Noelle.
He’d known it from the start, but standing on the precipice, he found himself unable to do what was necessary. His mind and body warred for control.
This was the price of getting to Val.
It was almost a relief when Noelle shook her head and said, “I’ve made a mistake. I’d like you to leave.”
Almost. His willpower faltered, and he stepped closer again, inches from her face and sensed the goosebumps prickling her skin, the shuddering of her breath, the heavy beating of her heart. “Noelle,” he whispered. “You know you want this.”
She backed up. “I told you I wanted to take things slow.” With a trembling finger, she pointed toward the door. “Please leave. Now.”
“This isn’t a game.” He almost wished he’d been recording this conversation for that line alone. Val would be amused.
He considered kissing her, making her change her mind, but he didn’t want to take her against her will. He wanted her to crumble and give herself completely. Taking a step away, he said, “When you’ve decided to commit one way or another, I’ll be waiting.”
He left her office wondering if he’d crossed a line. What if she never wanted to see him again? He swallowed down regrets. He’d known going in he’d never beat Val without losing almost everything else.
Before he’d hit the stairwell, his confidence returned.
Of course she’d want him still. He’d felt her body melting into his. He’d felt her resistance breaking.Patience. She’d be running to him before the end of the week.
With renewed confidence, he sauntered to the trading room, still buzzing with energy when he crossed the threshold. He scanned the room, locating the various interns watching the action. Most of them appeared dazed by the reality of trading. For the past two weeks, they’d gotten a crash course in the tools, and many of them took their lessons with a bored nonchalance, like they’d been studying a textbook. Now the cold possibility of losing someone else’s money froze them in place. They watched and learned, but many of these kids would go back home and change majors. Understanding the markets and developing a stomach for the never-ending stress of predicting and second-guessing were two different things.
Selena sat in the middle of the room, arguing with one of the traders named Alan. She pointed at the Bloomberg monitor and then put her finger back in Alan’s face. After a minute, Alan shrugged and backed down. He held the phone headset out to Selena, and her face fell. She reverently took the headset and put it on. Then she started talking fast. Dane leaned against a wall and enjoyed the show. After a few minutes, she looked over and saw him, and her face lit up. She stood the entire time she negotiated with the broker on the other end of the phone, typed in some numbers, then victoriously punched the enter key. She took off the headset and dropped it to the table. Alan clapped her back, looking as proud of her as Dane felt. And he had no idea what she’d even done.
He crossed the room. “How’s it going?”
