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In The Moment

Page 3

by Alison G. Bailey


  I tried my best to focus on the information instead of how my body reacted to the sound of Luken’s voice. I thought the drinks and the atmosphere in the club were partially to blame for my lapse in judgment Friday night. I’d convinced myself that I’d just got caught up in the moment. But each time he looked at me or walked behind my chair, my body vibrated with excitement. I still wasn’t a hundred percent positive he recognized me which was fine. I didn’t really want him to. Our brief moment was in the past, and it needed to stay there.

  AS THE MORNING progressed, I was pleasantly surprised at how user-friendly the software turned out to be. Luken was an exceptional trainer. Very knowledgeable and patient. He limited the technical mumbo-jumbo and made things relatable.

  “Oh, Mr. Schaffer,” Grace said.

  He looked at me briefly before turning his attention to my friend. “Luken. Please.”

  “Okay. Oh, Luken.” I could hear the smile in her tone.

  He came over, positioning himself between my chair and Grace’s. “What can I help you with, Ms. Grace?”

  “I’ve tried to input these figures twice, and it’s a no go.” She looked up, batting her eyelashes at him.

  I knew my best friend like the back of my hand. She didn’t need any help. She just wanted an up-close and personal view of our teacher. She was a flirt, plain and simple. She couldn’t help herself. It was in her DNA. But knowing that didn’t make it any easier for me to sit beside her and watch it happen.

  Out the corner of my eye, I saw Luken turn slightly and lean forward. This brought his flawless ass into view. The magnetic force of nature had my head turning in that direction until I was double eye-balling it. With my mind drifting, I wondered if he wore boxers or briefs. I liked boxers on a man. Briefs always struck me as something a young boy would wear. Luken was young. Oh god, what if he still wore briefs? And what if they were Batman briefs or came from the Garanimals collection?

  A sudden shift in movement caused my head to whip forward. I tapped the keyboard furiously hoping he didn’t notice me checking out his ass. His large hand and toned forearm came into view as he leaned on the table, his chin almost touching my cheek.

  “Is everything working well for you, Cadence?” Luken’s warm breath floated over my neck and cheek, causing goose bumps to appear over every inch of my body. Every inch.

  “Um… yes, everything is working great.”

  “Good, I’m glad to hear you’re satisfied.”

  I squirmed in my seat, pushing my knees together. Struggling to keep my eyes focused ahead, I continued to work, waiting for him to back off. He didn’t. Just the opposite. He was so close, I swore I felt his lips brush over the shell of my ear.

  “How much longer are we going to pretend?” Luken whispered.

  I shifted away, kept working, and acted as if I didn’t hear him.

  “Apparently a little longer.” He stayed in this position for another second before leaving my side.

  The rest of the morning Luken left me alone. No more flirty comments or intense stares. Even though I knew it was for the best, I did kind of miss the attention. I made sure to reel in my wayward thoughts and retain my professionalism. I was here to learn and upgrade my skill set. Not to fawn over the hot trainer who moved around the room with confidence and humility. The enthusiasm in his voice and expression when he talked about the software was nothing short of adorable. Adorable in a strictly professional sense, of course.

  Now that I knew for sure he recognized me I felt like a complete fool. My nerves were frazzled. I was afraid he’d say something about our first meeting in front of my co-workers. I could tell Grace and Clayton were already wise to the energy between Luken and I. And knowing those two, they were chomping at the bit to corner me and begin their interrogation.

  When lunchtime arrived, I knew I needed a plan of escape. Being that there were only four of us made it hard to sneak out unnoticed. My only option was to finish early and leave before the others. By this time, I felt confident Luken wouldn’t spill the beans about us in front of the others. I shut down my computer and grabbed my cell phone. I was just about to stand and make a beeline to the door when Luken thwarted my plan.

  “I think this is a good place to stop for lunch.”

  I quickly made my way to the door while everyone else was shutting down their computers. My hand was almost on the doorknob when I heard my name.

  “Cadence, can I have a word with you, please?”

  Closing my eyes, I inhaled a deep breath and turned to him. “Can it wait? I’m starving.”

  He clicked around on his laptop, not looking at me. “It won’t take long.”

  I stepped away from the door so that the others could leave. Susan passed without comment.

  “I wouldn’t mind if Professor Sexy held me after class,” Grace whispered before giving my ass a quick pinch.

  “Mmmhmm… Teacher’s pet.” Clayton purred on his way out.

  What I had been trying to avoid all morning then happened. Luken and I were alone. My stomach slowly twisted into a tight knot as I succumbed to cottonmouth. Sucking on the inside of my cheeks, I desperately tried to get even a dribble of moisture, but my salivary glands had ceased to exist.

  Still not looking at me, he continued clicking on his computer. “Would you close the door, please?”

  Clearing my dry throat, I croaked. “I’m pretty sure it’s against company policy for a male and female to be behind closed doors unless the room is clearly visible, like through a glass wall or door.”

  I had no idea if there was an actual rule. I was just babbling nonsense. All I knew was that no good could come of this situation.

  Luken held my gaze as he walked slowly toward me. Reaching around my body, he grabbed the edge of the door and pushed it shut. “I’m quite the rule breaker.”

  He stood in front of me, blocking the door, and stared with an unreadable expression. After what felt like a lifetime of silence, I figured he was waiting for me to make the first move.

  Nervous laughter bubbled out of me. “Awkward.”

  “Have lunch with me.”

  “I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”

  “Then have dinner with me.”

  “I feel sharing a meal of any kind would be inappropriate in our situation.”

  “We have a situation? Huh. How about that. I just thought you’d want to explain why you ran out on me Friday night.”

  “We don’t really need an entire meal for that.” I paused for a second to gather my thoughts. “I’m sorry about the other night. The past two years have been difficult, to say the least, and I’m not used to… Let’s just say I was way out of my comfort zone. Going to the club was actually Grace’s idea and…”

  “This is definitely going to require a meal, Cadence.”

  “I can’t go out with you.”

  He took a step toward me, putting us less than a foot apart. “When I walked in here this morning and saw you, I wanted to jump across that table, grab your face, and kiss you hard.”

  My knees wobbled. “Well, that certainly would have raised some eyebrows.”

  “So what time can I pick you up tonight?”

  “We’re not doing this. We can’t do this.”

  “Give me one good reason why you won’t go on a date with me? Because I know you want to go on a date with me, Cadence.”

  At the moment my ego couldn’t handle the subject of our obvious age difference. Luken wasn’t stupid, he could tell by looking at me that I was older than him, especially under these fucking fluorescent lights. I just felt the actual number of years that separated us was irrelevant. So, I flipped through my mind for other possible reasons besides age to make my point.

  “Because you’re my teacher and there are rules against student/teacher fraternization.”

  Grinning, he said, “You’re really cute.”

  My cheeks flushed. “Well… um… thank you.”

  Leaning in, his body heat mingled with mine, ca
using the temperature in the room to skyrocket.

  “There’s a bit of a flaw in your reasoning.” His gaze dropped down to my lips then bounced back up to meet mine. “I’m not a professor, you’re not a student, and we’re not standing on the quad at the University of Who Gives a Shit.”

  “Granted, there might not be an official rule, but I’m sure the company would frown upon it.”

  His fingertips ran down the side of my face, barely touching my skin. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you the entire weekend.”

  Things were getting blurry—my head, my vision, and the reason why I shouldn’t kiss him.

  “I thought about you too.” The words were out before I could cram them back down my throat.

  Luken cast some type of spell that caused all my common sense to fly out the window. I needed to go and clear the haze, but my feet stayed glued to the floor. I bit down on my bottom lip and tried to decide what to do. He must have taken this as the green light because before I knew it, his lips pressed against mine. My eyes were closing, and my lips were parting, when suddenly, the door swung open, and Clayton came barreling through talking on his cell phone. I jumped back as Luken turned away.

  “I’ll call you back,” Clayton said into his phone.

  Luken turned and slapped our surprise guest on the shoulder. “Perfect timing, dude.” Sarcasm clung to each word.

  With my wide eyes looking directly at Clayton, I said, “Lunch?”

  Slowly, a Grinch-like smile spread across Clayton’s round face. “Looks like you’ve already been nibblin’.”

  “Yes… well… Looks can be deceiving. Different angles and shadows have you seeing all kinds of things that aren’t really there. Besides, the lighting in this room is horrible.”

  “Seems nice and bright to me.”

  Before they made further comments, I bolted out of the room without another word. I was almost safely inside my office when I heard the pitter-patter of Manolos and Armani loafers. Grace shoved me inside and into a chair while Clayton shut and locked the door.

  “Spill.” Grace ordered, leaning back on my desk.

  I acted as innocent as possible. “Spill what?”

  “The beans. What the hell do you think? Clayton told me he saw you and Mr. Schaffer in a lip lock.”

  I sneered at Clayton. “You know the speed at which sound travels from your mouth to her ears is astonishing.”

  “What can I say? It’s a gift.”

  Grace snapped her fingers to stop our bickering. “I want to know about the kiss. Were his lips soft? Did they taste like mint? Because I detected a minty freshness when he was helping me. Did he get har…?”

  “That’s enough! Clayton didn’t see anything because there wasn’t anything to see. I told you the angles and shadows were playing tricks on your eyes.”

  “Bullshit!” Clayton blurted out as he took a spot next to Grace. “Cadence, sweetheart, these baby browns cannot be tricked. So why don’t you just give us the scoop and we can all go enjoy a lovely lunch. I’ll even buy you an ice cream.” He smiled.

  “Just so you know, the ice cream line followed by that smile is pretty creepy.”

  “Oooh, Caddieee, just tell us.” Grace whined.

  Looking up into their curious and determined gazes made me feel like I was in the principal’s office. I was hungry and knowing these two wouldn’t let up until I gave them something, I did just that.

  “Today wasn’t the first time I met Luken. We met Friday night at the club, and we shared one dance. That’s it. Let’s go eat.”

  I was halfway out of the chair when Grace placed both hands on my shoulders and gently pushed me back down.

  Her perfectly arched eyebrow rose. “Where was I when all of this was happening?”

  “Shimming your ass against a barely legal blond.”

  A wistful expression crossed her face. “Ah, yes. He was yummy.”

  Clayton huffed. “We’re getting off track.” He glanced at Grace. “FYI, we’ll be circling back around to yummy blond.”

  “What you saw in the conference room was him helping me get something out of my eye.”

  “Your eyes were closed,” Clayton said.

  I was trapped and out of excuses.

  Reluctantly, I finally confessed. “We may have kissed while we were dancing.” I cleared my throat. “And maybe almost in the conference room.”

  Clayton’s hand flew to his chest as he gasped. “Lady Marmalade!”

  Grinning, Grace said, “I knew it! I could feel the heat between the two of you. This is fantastic! Yay!” She threw her hands up in the air.

  I shook my head from side to side rapidly. “It’s not fantastic. There’s no yay. Nothing happened… Well, something happened, but it’s in the past. Moving forward nothing will happen.”

  “Are you out of your mind?” Grace asked. “You have a young, hot guy wanting to fuck you and you’re going to toss the opportunity away? Are you completely mad?”

  Clayton tilted his head to the side, giving me a sympathetic look. “What Gracie said.”

  Glancing down, I fidgeted with my cell phone. “He’s very nice…”

  “Eeeps!” Grace squeaked.

  “And sexy…”

  Clayton fanned himself with one hand.

  “And very young.”

  “He’s the fucking trifecta!” Grace said.

  Clayton continued to fan himself. “Melting into his arms would be like taking candy from a baby.” I glared at him. “Sorry, that’s probably not the best analogy being that he’s on the young side.” He frantically waved his hands. “That’s neither here nor there. All that matters is he’s legal, and you’re free.”

  “But not ready.”

  The air shifted and the joking came to a standstill. My friends were well aware of how the past two years had affected me. Besides cancer, just the idea of a new man in my life was something I hadn’t considered and it scared the hell out of me.

  “Caddie, don’t let fear keep you from living your life,” Grace said.

  Squatting in front of me, Clayton looked up into my eyes. “And don’t let something silly as the age thing stop you from having fun. He’s a big boy who looks like he knows what he’s doing.”

  Out of nowhere, I felt the sting of tears behind my eyes. It was stupid getting upset about something I didn’t have with someone I didn’t know. But it had been such a long time since I’d felt wanted. Hell, it had been a long time since I’d felt anything. No matter what Luken’s motives were, I’d already become addicted to that feeling. If I were just a few years younger and he were just a few years older, I think I could fall for him. It made me sad and pissed off that after all this time, the one person I felt a connection with was off limits.

  I SPENT THE next two days not making direct eye contact, not swooning, or engaging in any flirting with Luken. And most importantly, I was never alone with him. It was hard, but I’d been through chemo for god sake. Resisting an intelligent, charming, hot young guy would be a piece of cake. Simply a little self-control, no matter how strong the pull to him was. During lunch, I locked myself in my office and waited until the last minute to go back to training.

  After work when I was by myself safe at home, my thoughts drifted. I’d picture what he wore that day and the ease with which he carried himself. I was impressed with his knowledge and humor. But with all of his obvious attributes that would make any female fall under his spell, there was still something different that I couldn’t put my finger on. I felt connected to him and didn’t understand why.

  At the end of day four, I was able to slip out of class while Susan occupied Luken with questions. After a quick stop at my office, I’d be free and clear. Tomorrow was Friday. My plan was to get my head out of the clouds over the weekend. Seeing him every day made it hard to completely block him from my mind. My hope was to spend a couple of days away from him, and by Monday morning I’d be back to my old self.

  Sitting at my desk, I was checking my emails whe
n my phone buzzed with a text.

  Grace: Are you still here?

  Me: Yep. Just checking emails.

  Grace: Stop by my office before you head out.

  Me: Will do.

  Ten minutes later, I was walking down the hall to Grace’s office. As I approached, I could hear her unmistakable throaty laugh. Once at the door, I saw the reason for her good mood. Luken was sitting across the desk from her.

  Waving me in, Grace said, “Caddie! Come in. Sit down.”

  I took the chair next to Luken and stared daggers into Grace.

  Her gaze swung between him and me before she stood. “Caddie, Mr. Schaffer has requested an uninterrupted word with you.”

  In silence, she gathered up her things and walked out of the office, closing the door behind her. My soon-to-be ex-best friend had single-handedly ruined all the work I’d put into avoiding a situation like this. Focusing on the large painting over Grace’s desk, I felt a rush of blood throughout my body.

  Luken appeared in front of me, causing my gaze to travel to his piercing eyes. I knew he was a lot younger than me, but there was a maturity behind those eyes that made me forget about the number.

  “Why do you keep avoiding me?” he said, a tinge of sadness in his voice.

  “Because this isn’t right and we don’t need to delve into it any further.”

  “You’re just hung up on the age difference. I’m twenty-five, Cadence. How old are you anyway? Thirty?”

  I took a moment to enjoy his miscalculation.

  “I’m forty.”

  I expected to see the look of shock and horror cross his face, but I never did.

  “So what. The number doesn’t matter to me.”

  “Don’t you find it ironic that your business is numbers and you don’t care about the big one between us?”

  “Don’t try to get me off track by being adorable.”

  A long sigh seeped out of me. “Sixteen to twenty-five is considered adorable. Not forty.”

  “I’m drawn to you, I don’t know why but I want to find out. I know you feel it too.”

 

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