by Mia Ford
“I definitely missed your sarcasm.” Suzie checked the clock. Thirty minutes until her meeting in front of all the managers and then a staff meeting. Of course Jared was a manager so he would be there. Usually that helped her feel calm, today it just added to the chaos. Her position was the first of its kind as her work was overlapping three different departments. Her usual manager did not like it so she had to work twice as hard to prove herself, especially because the financial manager did not approve of her and Jared seeing each other. She had made a big fuss when she found out, before they were official. It had almost cost them both their jobs and they were on a trial basis of sorts.
“You forgot these.” Laura handed her the report Suzie needed for her meeting, she left them in the printer. At least the report was positive news. Everyone would be happy with the results and they could quickly move on. Suzie was looking forward to the staff meeting where she could zone out.
Suzie smiled goodbye to Laura who was answering phones during the staff meeting. As she sat down in the room full of managers, she looked down at the report and gave herself a silent pep talk. She knew she could do this and her report justified her assertions. Smiling, her confidence raised, Suzie gave her report to a satisfied management team. Afterwards, everyone stepped out to refill coffee before the staff meeting. Suzie stayed in her chair and let out a sigh. Jared pulled up a chair beside her and covered her hand with his. The warmth of his touch sent a shiver throughout the rest of her cold body.
“You did great. I am so proud of you,” Jared said, and then he took a quick look to see if anyone was watching. The room was empty so he kissed her gently.
Hearing footsteps, Suzie pulled away and got up to get coffee herself. The meeting began as everyone sat down. A few minutes later, Laura knocked on the door and interrupted the meeting.
“Sorry. Jared, your brother is on the phone, it is urgent,” she said.
Jared excused himself. “I’ll take it in my office,” he said to her.
“Okay, line one,” Laura said and returned to her desk.
The meeting continued though Suzie did not hear a word of it. She knew the brother was Jeff, so what? She was not going to live her life frightened of what might happen, she knew that much. It was ridiculous to worry about what everyone else was doing. Suzie doodled on her paper to make it look like she was taking notes. She was giving herself another little pep talk again. It still bothered her that she hadn’t told Jared what happened with Jeff. What bothered her more is she knew she would never tell him and would downplay it if he ever found out. It was just a little lie. If Jeff told him he had kissed her, she would admit that she had not initiated it and she had ended it. Innocent accident was all it was. Then Jeff kissed her again, in her mind and she saw his painting.
“Thank you Suzie for volunteering to be the chair of the committee. I will send over all the relevant files later today.” The grouchy financial manager was actually smiling. The downside was, Suzie had volunteered to take on an additional project and she was already swamped.
Suzie felt exhausted and could not wait for the day to be over. It was going to be a shower and bed kind of day and she almost wanted to walk, except her stuff was in Jared’s car. Finally the day was over and Jared came to the makeshift door in her cubicle, ready to go.
“Want to get something to eat before I bring you home?” Jared asked.
“No, I am too tired. I just want to go home and go shower and go lie down,” Suzie said.
“Okay sweetie no problem, I will get you home. I have a few things to do anyway,” Jared said. “Jeff is coming a bit early and he needed to talk to me.”
Forcing every inch of her body to not flinch, she followed him out, got home, showered and immediately went to bed. She slept dreamlessly.
A loud knocking woke her up suddenly. It was dark and she did not know what time it was. Stumbling to the door while rubbing her eyes, she peeked out to see Jared standing at her door with flowers, pizza and beer. Her stomach growled. She had not remembered to eat lunch. Quickly, she opened the door. Jared came in with a flurry handing her the flowers and juggling the pizza and beer. Suzie watched Jared set up the table while she put the flowers in water and set them on the table.
Jared was sitting and serving them pizza and beer. She kissed his head and sat down next to him. He always knew just what she needed. She was famished.
“I thought you were busy tonight. What time is it anyway?” Suzie asked between bites.
Ignoring the second question, Jared covered her hand with his. “I am never too busy for you. Besides I was hungry and I figured you hadn’t eaten yet either. You looked so tired when I dropped you off I knew you would go right to sleep.”
Suzie squeezed his hand and drank for a long moment from her beer bottle. Watching Jared swoop in and take care of her, bringing over supper and flowers, she knew how lucky she was. Everyone wanted a man like him and she was not about to lose him over a small lie. Finishing her bottle of beer and getting herself and Jared another one, Suzie steeled her determination to get back in the groove with Jared and forget Jeff altogether. Who cared if he was going to be in town. She would be with Jared anytime she saw him; there would be no reason for them to be alone together.
“Thank you,” she said, looking Jared in the eyes. “This is exactly what I needed.”
Jared stared back at her before moving her hand to his lips. “The beer might have been a bit much since we have an early day tomorrow and I have to get some work done tonight, but pizza without beer just doesn’t fit. Besides, we need to ease back into the work week.”
When they finished, they cleaned up together, until Jared grabbed her to him. Spinning her in the kitchen, he stopped when her face faced his.
“The only problem with working with you is I have to look at you all day and not touch you,” Jared said and then he kissed her. Bringing his hands to her face and then hair, he pulled her to him for a deeper kiss. Then, he gently guided her towards the living room where they sat on the couch. “You rocked that meeting I knew you would. In fact, afterwards in the managers meeting everyone said that they no longer had misgivings about the position and…”
“Wait. No work stuff,” Suzie interrupted him and put her finger on his lips. “I do not want to know what happened at the managers meeting. We should not even talk about work when we are together. Isn’t it a violation of our work agreement?”
Jared laughed. “Okay, miss policy. No work talk.” And he tickled her. And it tickled. Suzie shrieked with laughter begging him to stop but he kept going until she grabbed him by the belt buckle and pulled him into her. She kissed him sucking his tongue and changing his focus.
“Stay here tonight,” she whispered.
“Oh,” Jared started, mentally arguing with himself.
“Don’t say no to me. I need you to myself tonight. I need to fall asleep in your arms like I did last night.” Suzie felt like if she let him go, she would never see him again. Slightly hysterical she wanted to shout at him to stay with her, let his brother stay by himself at Jared’s house and far away from them.
“You know I can’t say no to you,” he said and kissed her nose. “Means I will be busy tomorrow but I finally have you to myself.”
Suzie ran her hands through his hair and kissed him again. Slowly she led him to the bedroom where she undressed in front of him. He took his clothes off and joined her in bed. Sliding between the sheets, their skin was prickly from the cold. Jared gently rubbed her body with his hands, warming her up. She pressed her lips to his chest and nibbled on his shoulders. Suzie rolled on top of Jared as she warmed up. She leaned over him, holding him tight and smelling his clean aroma. Reaching between his legs she grabbed him and thrust herself upon him. Urgently possessing him she moved with increasing speed, building up rhythm as she grasped his hair. Moaning into his ear and then kissing him full on the mouth, she let the waves of passion wash away all the tension and leave her completely satisfied.
Jared lo
oked at her with wide eyes. “Wow.”
Snuggling up against him with contentment Suzie sighed, “I needed that.”
Neither of them expected to fall asleep that way, both had left their phones/alarms in the other room and eight hours later they awoke to simultaneous ringing from multiple devices. Sticky and tangled, they removed their arms from each other. The beeping, buzzing and ringing continued. Jared got up and got dressed while Suzie immediately sauntered into the living room to silence the offending racket. She looked at the clock and shrieked. They were both very late. A quick kiss and Jared took off. Suzie sent a quick message to her manager that she was running late and would be there soon. Not arriving late with Jared would be essential. They did not need the attention.
Arriving breathless to work, Suzie plunked down at her desk and opened her inbox. Laura walked over and handed her a cup of coffee.
“Trouble this morning?” she asked.
“Yeah…long story. What did I miss here?” Suzie changed the subject.
“I know that look,” Laura laughed. “Fortunately, it has been a quiet day. So, give me some gossip. Heather broke up with her boyfriend, did you hear?”
“No, that is too bad he seemed like a nice guy,” Suzie replied, multi-tasking her to do list while catching up with Laura.
“Nice! Not even. He was sleeping with her sister on the side,” Laura whispered, aghast. “Yeah she was pretty pissed when she found out.”
“No doubt. I wonder why he did it,” Suzie said absentmindedly.
“What do you mean you wonder why, come on, he is a guy. Guys think with their dick. It is her sister who should know better,” said Laura. Then, her tone changing, she asked, “What is Jared’s brother like? Is he as hot as Jared?”
“What brother?” Suzie replied defensively.
“I don’t know, Jared told me his brother was coming to town and wanted to go out. Apparently he is single…” Laura’s voice trailed off as she scrolled through her phone. “Jeff, that’s his name. You met him right?”
“Yeah, I met all his brothers.”
“So, what is he like?”
“Um, I don’t know. Jared has four brothers so, I am not sure.” Suzie hoped she sounded convincing.
“Come on. Try. Picture him and give me a description. Compared to Jared?”
“Okay if you will leave me alone so I can get some work done after. Jeff, now let me think. He is the same height as Jared but with darker eyes and hair. He is built too, like big muscles all over. His hair is long and wavy and he is scruffy and manly and rough…” Suzie said.
“Pretty impressive for not remembering him,” Laura laughed. “He sounds sexy.”
“K now let me get to work.” Suzie turned her back in a huff. Guiltily, she messaged Jared to see how his day was and find out when he would be at work. He was on his way now and was bringing her lunch. She was engrossed and did not look up until she could sense Jared enter her cubicle and with food. She was finishing up and saving the work when he reached around and passed her a white bag of food, it smelled delicious.
“Thanks babe,” Suzie said then grabbed his arm. A sizzle of electricity jolted through her arm and she dropped the food on her desk. Feeling the thick arm she turned around to see Jeff standing there instead of Jared. He leaned against her desk, his groin at eye level. She looked up at his eyes but felt like she was thrusting her chest out. “Oh, it is you,” was all she could speak to him.
“Yeah,” Jeff said, amused. “Jared had some meetings this afternoon, he told me to hang with you while I wait for him. So here I am.”
At that moment Laura walked in, she looked at Jeff and smiled. “You must be Jared’s brother. Wow you weren’t kidding Suzie, he is gorgeous.”
Jeff regarded Suzie and lowered his gaze. Suzie could not breathe and she could not stop looking into his eyes. Fortunately, Laura hadn’t noticed and was still talking.
“…and that is how things are around here. Are you thinking of moving here?”
“No, just have work for a few weeks. Gives me a chance to hang out with Jared, eat his food and make some money.” The two laughed.
Noticing her chance to escape, Suzie encouraged Jeff to stay with Laura while she ran a few errands. While she was gone, Jeff and Laura had decided everyone was going out for supper after work.
Suzie sat through supper in relative silence. Jared held her hand on one side while Jeff sat across from her, beside Laura. The brothers were chatting about their plans, the town and Jeff’s job. Laura was gushing and flirting with Jeff who would return the encounter but always with a backward glance to Suzie. She felt like she was crawling out of her skin. She had to get him alone so she could tell him to say nothing to Jared. She had to get Jared alone so she could feel safe again like last night. Oh, why did Jeff have to come early? Why did he have to come at all?
Everyone at the table was staring at her. “Sorry, I was daydreaming,” Suzie said with a laugh.
“We are going to stay for a few drinks,” Laura said and winked. “You look like you need one.”
Suzie nodded and pretended to be part of the conversation again, after a few rounds and conversations, it was becoming easier to relax and fake it. Jared, polite as always, kept her drinks full and his arm around her. Jeff was telling stories in his animated way and Laura was soaking it up. Jared was laughing at his brother’s antics. Suzie excused herself to go to the bathroom. As usual there was a line up at the ladies’ room. Waiting in line, she debated leaving and just going home but decided in her fuzzy condition who knows where she would end up.
After a few minutes, still waiting, Suzie felt a hand on her shoulder. Before she could register the tingle of excitement building within, he moved his hand to her lower back and guided her away from the line up and towards the men’s room.
“What are you doing?” she hissed at him.
“Chill, it is probably empty.” Jeff winked at her. And it was. Suzie was relieved to not have to wait in line, and when she exited the stall she went to thank him, until she realized he was standing at the urinal. She froze in place. His eyes caught hers in the mirror and she blushed. With his back to her, he finished off and both moved to wash their hands at the same time. “You’re a bit jumpy today? Or did you just drink too much.”
“I don’t know,” was all she could reply. “When do you start work?”
“Not for a few days but I have some prep work to do first,” Jeff said.
Another guy walked into the bathroom, looked at Jeff and Suzie and turned and walked out.
“We better get out of here before we get into trouble,” Suzie said, then hesitated and finally forced herself to say it. “Don’t say anything to Jared about what happened last weekend.”
“What happened last weekend?” Jeff asked and he raised an eyebrow. His stance shifted and he leaned into her a little.
It was enough that she could smell him, earthy, cologne free. “In the studio…Anyway, just don’t say anything.” Suzie felt flustered.
“I already told you not to tell anyone about me painting. It didn’t happen,” Jeff said.
“None of it happened.” Suzie looked him directly in the eyes.
Jeff leaned in as close as he could without touching her and he whispered, “Then why are you talking about it.”
Following him out the door, Suzie was silent. Laura met them in the hallway to the bathroom. She was in line.
“Hey, follow me,” Jeff said to Laura. “I will help you skip the line.” And he and Laura went into the men’s room. Suzie went back to the table.
“Now I have got you all to myself,” Jared said as she sat down beside him.
She sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder. Closing her eyes and taking a breath she said, “Yes I like it. It is quieter.”
Jeff came back to the table with Laura giggling beside him. By the time they were all ready to leave, Suzie’s buzz had turned into a headache. Jared rubbed her neck.
“We better get you home. We all w
ork tomorrow,” Jared declared.
“Yeah, early morning,” Jeff said in agreement.
On their way home, Jared reminded Suzie he had stuff at her place and she asked him, not caring who heard, if he was staying over. He asked her to come stay with him instead as he had to drive Jeff to work in the morning.
“No, that’s alright,” Suzie said. “I will let you boys have your little sleep over.”
Suzie enjoyed some time to herself and fell asleep quickly. Hours later, she woke before her alarm feeling aroused. A hazy dream was trying to replay itself in her mind. She remembered lying naked on a cold surface but feeling warm and wet. It was coming back to her and Suzie moaned remembering the pleasure of the dream. She slipped back into the dream state and the haze lifted. She saw Jeff painting her. He was shirtless. And he carefully examined her body before putting brush to canvas.
This time it was the alarm that woke Suzie up and she shook the dream out of her head. In her conscious mind, she lied to herself that it had been Jared painting her. And on top of that lie, she told herself that she couldn’t really remember the dream at all.
Ignoring it and moving on with her day, Suzie was pleased to work most of the day on her own. Not stopping long enough to consider current attractions, she kept herself busy enough that work was always at hand. Jared and half the office were out of town for a one-day seminar so the office was quiet.
Towards the end of the day, Suzie received a text from Jared explaining that he would be home late and asking her to pick up Jeff from work. No, she said to herself. Yes, she wrote back. Jared told her to get Jeff and meet him back at his apartment. He would bring supper.
When Suzie arrived to pick up Jeff, he was surprised to see her and looked at her quizzically. Climbing into the passenger seat he smelled like sweat and his tight shirt clung to him. Fumbling through his pockets for his phone, his shirt tugged upwards revealing his rippled abs.
