by Katie Kyler
“Mostly?”
“Well, I still wish I could just declare to the world, ‘This man is taken!’ but I don’t want people to think everything I’m doing at Scintilla is because I’m dating the CEO, you know?”
She snorted. “If they knew you at all, knew how damn brilliant you are, they wouldn’t think that for a second.”
“You know just what I need to hear, don’t you?”
“That’s my job as your best friend, right?”
“Definitely.”
“I have to go in a minute, but I just wanted to let you know, Jeremy and I will be coming back in a few weeks. I want to meet Joshua. I think it’s time, don’t you?”
I tried to sound upbeat. “Yeah, definitely! You guys would get along really well.”
My stomach sank. With Joshua being so cagey about showing the world we were together, how would he feel about meeting my friends? Maybe we could just get dinner in or something. Probably at his place, since it was the biggest. And—I looked around my apartment—the cleanest.
“Okay,” Jess said. “Let’s do dinner. We’ll go to that new Thai place at Penn’s Landing.”
That wasn’t what I’d had in mind at all. I heard Jeremy’s deep voice in the background, telling her it was time to go.
“Oh, I gotta run,” she said. “We’ll talk again soon!”
She hung up before I could think of a way to redirect her plans. Crap. I looked Bub in the eyes, but he didn’t have any answers for me. I’d have to talk to Joshua about this.
Chapter 2
Joshua
Bright strips of morning light made my office glow. It was pleasant, but I’d give anything to go back in time and relive the weekend. I’d had the best mini vacation with Allison at Bushkill Falls. I’d been there before, but it hadn’t seemed like anything special. With Allison, though, and the rustic cabin we’d rented, the hikes we went on—everywhere she went, she made it seem magical. I could easily see why it was her favorite place on earth. I scrolled through real estate listings, thinking maybe I’d buy us a weekend lodge. Something on the edge of the woods, with lots of space for hiking and walks.
I found one with a huge kitchen, with one of those island counters. The granite reminded me of the counter in my yacht where we’d played “doctor.” I highlighted the link and pasted it into an email to my real estate agent.
Another property had a long, meandering path moving through the rear acres. Allison would love that. I copied that link, as well.
I was clicking through photos on a third property, when Chris knocked and poked his head in.
“What’s up?” I said, waving him inside.
His eyes widened in exaggerated shock. “Wow, no ‘enter, minion’ command?”
I shook my head. “Don’t be a dick.”
“That’s the Joshua I know and love.”
“Do you actually need something, or did you just come in here to torture me?”
He laughed. “Don’t act all pissy. I’ve been watching from my cubicle. You’re sitting there grinning like a freshman girl who just got asked to the senior prom. What gives?”
I shook my head again, and tried to keep my face blank. “Nothing.”
“Did you just get laid or something? You haven’t given me the girl report in a while, so I didn’t know if you were going through a dry spell after your birthday or what.”
“Nope,” I said.
“You didn’t actually answer any of my questions.”
I folded my hands behind my head and leaned back, propping my feet on my desk.
He sat on the edge of my desk, jumping up when I gave him a look. “So,” he said. “That Allison Mahoney sure has been showing a lot of initiative.”
“Mm-hmm.” He was just trying to bait me. He hadn’t been able to shut up about her since he noticed that I’d noticed her, a couple of months ago. I pretended I didn’t know what he was talking about, every time.
He turned to face the rest of the sea of cubicles through my window. He stood on his tiptoes and craned his neck, as if he was trying to look for her. “She’s showing a lot more than initiative, if you know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t know what you mean,” I said.
“Well, you will when you see her today.” He gave a low wolf-whistle. “She just walked past, going to the break room.”
“Fuck off, Chris.”
He backed out of the door, but not before flashing a knowing grin. He obviously suspected something. I wondered if he was the only one, or if other people in the office had their own suspicions. I’d deal with it later, if I even needed to. Sometimes this kind of gossip was best left ignored.
But then I thought of how Allison would feel if I just came out with it. I wasn’t as scared of us breaking up anymore. Things were going great. The only real disadvantage to going public would be if she got shit from her coworkers about how fast she was moving up in the company. She deserved every bonus and promotion she got, because she was working just as hard as I was, and coming up with great ideas. But they might not see it that way if they knew we were together.
I shook the thoughts away. This didn’t need to be dealt with today. Instead, I dialed my real estate agent. She picked up on the first ring. “Joshua, hello!”
“Hi, Virginia. I’m looking for some property with a cabin, near Bushkill Falls. I’m emailing a couple of locations that I want to look into. They sort of embody what I’m after—lots of space, a nice cabin home, close to the woods.”
“Sure thing,” she said. “I’ll get right on this.”
I smiled, imagining Allison’s delight when I surprised her with a permanent retreat.
After I hung up with my real estate agent, Craig knocked on my door. “Coffee?” he asked.
“Nah, I’ll get it myself.”
Coffee wasn’t what I really wanted, though. I really wanted an excuse to get out of my office and catch a glimpse of Allison. As I walked down the hall, I tried not to look too eager. Chris popped his head over the top of his cube and gave me a huge thumbs up. I pretended to rub my nose and gave him the finger.
“Only in your dreams,” he stage whispered.
“Get a new comeback,” I whispered back.
Allison was clearly visible through the windows of the break room. Chris was right. Damn. She had on a sleeveless scarlet top that reminded me of the dress she wore when we’d gone dancing at Illicit. The night we first made love. Her dark gray skirt was short, but nothing inappropriate for work. It just hugged her ass in the perfect way, showing it off. Her legs looked longer than ever, and she wore adorable scarlet pumps.
I had to hide the bulge in my pants somehow, so I quickly sidled into the break room. Luckily, Allison was alone and facing away from me, so I could adjust myself without much of an audience.
Her hair was up, and her back was to me as she fixed her coffee. I wanted to run my tongue over the nape of her neck, taste her skin there. I wanted to trace the outline of her bra, faintly visible through the silk of her blouse. I wanted to crush her to me and take her right here in the break room so there’d never be any more doubts—from her, or me. No more holding back. We’d both know that I’d completely bought into our relationship and fuck office politics because she was mine.
Mug in hand, she turned around. “Oh! Hello. I didn’t see you there.”
Cordial. Polite. The same way we always were at the office.
“Good morning,” I said. This was getting too hard, all of this subterfuge. The ridiculous small talk.
She bit her lip. “Getting some coffee?”
“Oh. Yeah. Excuse me.” Every word felt forced, fake. I’d never liked all the pretense, but today it felt like a form of torture when all I wanted to do was hold her in my arms and kiss her breathless.
She moved to walk past me, twisting slightly because I was standing in the way like a fucking Neanderthal who didn’t know anything about social norms and personal space. I told myself to give her room, to move so she could get past.
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But I couldn’t move. All I could see was her taut stomach, encased in its charcoal, high-waisted skirt.
“Well, have a nice day,” she said, still squeezing past me.
“No.” I stopped her with a hand to that perfect waist.
“Joshua?” Her eyes were wide with questions. Almost hidden in their bright blue depths was hope. Hope that I would do the right thing.
I could do this. I could take us to the next level with one swift act. I could make both of us happy.
I took her coffee and set it on the counter behind her. Then I pulled her into my arms. She gasped with shock, as I pulled her close, resisting any urge to hide or not be seen.
“Telling everyone is a risk for both of us,” I whispered in her ear. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
She knew exactly what I was talking about, and she didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
I leaned forward and covered her mouth with mine. She tasted of fresh coffee, of cinnamon, of chances taken, of sweet acceptance. I tasted her, mingling our breath together, getting as close to her as I could.
A buzz of whispers could be heard outside of the room.
“Yeah!” Chris’s voice. Pretty soon the whole office was applauding and buzzing with chatter.
Allison pulled back, her face an endearing shade of pink.
“Embarrassed?” I asked, leaning close so she could hear me over applause.
“Not of you,” she said. “Never of you.”
I waved out of the break room window, and eventually they quieted down. I took Allison’s hand and led her from the room. Her eyes were wide, and I couldn’t tell if she was nervous, or excited at being finally “out” to our workplace. From the smile on her luscious lips, I guessed she was excited.
I kissed her once more, looking into her eyes. The fear of what anyone may think was gone. It wouldn’t be gossip anymore, if they knew it was the truth.
Chris met us in the hallway. “It’s about fucking time you admitted it. Everyone here knew you were together.”
A guy from marketing handed some cash to a woman over the top of their adjoining cubicles. He gave me a mock glare. “I lost that bet,” he said, laughing. “I thought you’d wait at least another week before coming clean.”
I shook my head. I’d thought we were being so sneaky, keeping up professional appearances.
Looping my arm around Allison’s waist, I walked her toward my office. “Let’s go talk some more about your ideas.”
Chris nodded, smiling at Allison. He fell into step beside us. “You’ve had tons of great ideas for that app. It’s going to do great.”
A couple of people nearby nodded in agreement. “We’re looking forward to that launch. It’s going to take Scintilla to the next level,” one of them said.
“Thanks,” Allison said with a shy smile.
I made a mental note to give Chris a bonus, because his support meant everything to the office. Even though I was the CEO, he had the social pulse of the workplace. If he accepted the fact that Allison and I were together, everyone else would, too.
As Allison and I walked into my office, everyone went back to work. Everyone except Jamie. He must’ve been visiting around the cubicles. He stared me down. I couldn’t understand the look of hurt and anger on his face. He’d already known about Allison, so why did he look so pissed? Was it my public acknowledgment of her coming up with the app idea? I had to remove Jamie from my mind right now. It was time to enjoy the moment. Something I had missed from my life for so long.
Chapter 3
Allison
Joshua’s hand was firm on my lower back, as if protecting me from the crush of people pushing toward the doors, waiting to see the newly released movie. It was the most hyped-up sequel of the season, and with the promise of a full-frontal nudity scene with the lead actor, the public was flocking to the theaters.
Although I didn’t like the press of people around us, I didn’t mind too much. All the more people to see me and Joshua together. There was no more secrecy or hiding. We were a couple, and even though the new knowledge didn’t really seem to rock the world in general, it rocked my world.
I still hadn’t talked to him about meeting Jess and Jeremy, though. It would be easier now that we weren’t hiding our relationship anymore. “So,” I leaned into him. “Jess wants to meet you.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. Obviously she’s been hearing about you for months.” I laughed. “Okay, years, since I started crushing on you immediately after I started working at Scintilla. So I was hoping we could go out to dinner with her and Jeremy. They’ll be back next week.” The words were coming out in a nervous rush. “She’s been wanting to try that new Thai bistro nearby.”
He rubbed his stubbly chin. “I don’t know…I mean, I definitely want to meet Jess.”
“But?” I prompted. I could hear it in his voice.
“But I don’t know about the whole dinner thing, and meeting her boyfriend, too. I’m not always comfortable in groups like that, when I’m meeting people for the first time. Maybe we could just do coffee, and just with Jess at first?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so. Jess will be disappointed, though.”
We got to the front of the line, halting the discussion.
“Sky Power 2?” the bored ticket seller asked. Since everyone else wanted to watch it, he assumed that we did, too. And this movie had been our plan. The crowds, however, were not. I felt like everyone was in our space.
Joshua wasn’t a huge fan of large groups, either. Maybe that had something to do with not wanting to go out to dinner with Jess and Jeremy. At the moment, his hand wasn’t on my lower back only to protect me; he was probably trying to ground himself.
“Actually, Joshua, do you mind?” I asked. “I’d rather see something else.”
“Yeah, good idea. Do you want to pick something?” he asked.
Something not crowded. On a night when the entire city had their hormones and adrenaline up for a sexy super hero movie, who would want to watch a historical romance? I turned to the ticket seller. “How about All’s Fair in Love?”
Joshua nodded, and handed over his card. He grabbed the tickets and followed me inside.
“You bought the tickets, so I’m buying snacks,” I said. There was barely any room to turn in a circle without touching someone else. I touched Joshua’s hand. “What do you want?”
He grinned and pushed his face into my neck. I heard him mumble quietly, “I don’t think it’s on the menu.”
I giggled, feeling like a teenager. “Share some popcorn with me?”
He surreptitiously spanked my ass as I turned toward the concession line. I could feel his eyes burning through my clothes. Hmm, I mused. Maybe we should skip the movie.
When we got into the darkened theater, snacks in hand, it looked like nearly all of Philadelphia had decided to skip this movie. There were only three other couples, each spaced out throughout the room.
The trailers began, so I dug into my popcorn.
“What are you doing?” Joshua asked. “The movie hasn’t started yet.”
“Trailers count,” I said, sticking my tongue out at him. Then I tossed a handful of popcorn into my mouth. It was extra salty and buttery. Just the way I liked it.
Joshua laughed. “Trailers do not count.”
“Do too.” I held up a kernel for Joshua, and he opened his mouth obligingly. Before I could pull away, he grabbed my wrist and licked the butter from my fingers. It did things to my insides that made me squirm in my seat. He laughed quietly.
“I’m surprised at the lack of people,” he said. “I heard this one will be up for an Oscar.”
“Yeah,” I said, “that’s why it’s so empty. It’s the Oscar movies that make me fall asleep.”
His grin shone in the illumination from the trailers playing across the screen. “Me, too.”
The movie was slow. I yawned through the opening scene, and when I sneaked glances
over at Joshua, he looked even less entranced than I was.
“I wish we were seeing some full frontal action,” I whispered in his ear, referencing the selling point of the other flick.
Instead of smiling, he looked regretful. “I’m sorry—I’d wondered if we should wait until next weekend to see it—”
“No, it’s totally okay,” I said. “I’m really, really glad we’re here. But I think I need to liven this movie up.”
He stared at me in question until I set down the popcorn and moved my hand over to his crotch. He narrowed his eyes at me. “Allison…”
“Shh,” I said, feeling a naughty grin on my face. He was already getting hard for me, the outline of him growing beneath my hand. “No talking during the movie.”
I massaged his growing hard-on, and felt it straining against the denim of his jeans. With a quick look around to make sure no one was watching us, I unbuttoned his pants and set him free.
“What are you doing?” he whispered.
“Hmm,” I said. “It looks like I’m going to get my way.”
He gave me a confused look, so I took his hard-on in my hand and stroked it once.
“I want that double date with Jess and Jeremy,” I whispered. “And you’re going to give it to me.” I played and shot him a seductive, yet playful smile.
Chapter 4
Joshua
“I don’t think so,” I said, even as her hand stroked upward again. The flickering glow from the movie reflected on her face, showing playful determination.
“I think so,” she said. “But it’s okay if you’re not convinced yet. We’ve got time.”
She slid her hand inside of my jeans, gently touching me and driving me crazy. I throbbed hard with each movement of her hand, barely able to contain myself. The entire time, she faced forward, as if interested in watching the movie.
The damn movie was the furthest thing from my mind. I looked around at the other couples in the theater, all far in front of us, but no one was paying any attention to us. I leaned back. I may as well enjoy the feeling of her hand on me.
