by Julian Bloom
“I’m sorry,” he said, “I truly had no idea you worked here.” She waved the apology off quickly. “I know, Harper. I mean, how could you have known? If anything, I’m the one who should have put two and two together since I knew we were hiring a musician, I just hadn’t taken the time to look into who exactly it was.”
He looked away for a second before saying, “I know this isn’t the best place to talk about much of anything, but- is there any chance you would still be willing to get dinner tonight? We can talk more then, try to figure out what we want to do.”
Talia nodded in agreement. They weren’t going to sort anything out- about the relationship or about their new professional dilemma- while they were standing around the Bridge, and at least dinner would happen on more neutral ground. “Same time?” he asked, and she nodded again. “Okay,” he said softly, “Thanks.”
Talia resisted the urge to press a reassuring kiss to his cheek and instead led them back inside to finish the tour. They were done by 11:00, and he left for the day after thanking Luna again for giving him the chance to work with the Bridge. As soon as he was gone, Luna dragged Talia into her office.
“Okay, spill,” she demanded, staring intently at Talia. Knowing she was caught out, Talia sighed and said, “I maybe met him over the weekend.” Luna’s eyes widened and she practically shrieked, “Ha! I knew it!” She stopped for a second and then leaned in conspiratorially. “He was totally who you were daydreaming about earlier, wasn’t he?”
Talia rested her head on her arms and nodded miserably. “I don’t know what to do, Luna. I wasn't looking for a relationship in the first place, much less one where they work the same place that I do.” Luna looked at her sympathetically and said, “Well, I can’t tell you what to do. But if you decide to keep going and see where things lead, your secret is safe with me.”
Talia shot Luna a grateful smile. “Thanks Luna, really.”
“Any time,” Luna said, patting Talia on the shoulder before leaving her alone in her office. Letting her head fall forward to rest fully against the cool veneer of her desk, Talia groaned. It was just her luck that the person she connected with would happen to be the same person recently hired by her employer. She could only hope that they would be able to figure things out over dinner.
Chapter 5
Talia took a deep breath in and then exhaled slowly through her nose as she stared at the door to Gigi’s. It was a cute neighborhood restaurant she had been to a million times before, but tonight was different. Tonight, she knew as soon as she walked inside she was going to have a hard conversation about the future of both a possible relationship and her career.
“You didn’t want to go in yet either, huh?”
The voice startled her, and she looked over to see Harper standing just behind her. He had a wry smile on his face, and she blushed a bit at being caught standing outside. When she didn’t respond right away, he said, “I don’t blame you. Trust me, this is not the way that I envisioned this date going either.”
She couldn’t help but laugh at the comment, shaking her head. Harper looked at her thoughtfully and said, “Maybe we could reset, just for a bit. Pretend this morning didn’t happen, talk about whatever we would have talked about if we didn’t have this hanging over our heads.”
Talia weighed the idea in her mind. On one hand, it seemed cruel to get to know each other better when they didn’t know how it could end, and it felt wrong to not address the elephant in the room head on. But on the other hand, she couldn’t deny that the opportunity to have a regular conversation with Harper was enticing, and she rationalized that maybe it would be rash to make any decisions without knowing more about him. After all, if they didn’t mesh, it made her decision about whether to end things much easier.
“That sounds really nice,” she replied, and Harper’s face split into a genuine grin. “Well okay then,” he said. “Would you do me the honor?” He offered his arm to her in an imitation of old-fashioned chivalry, and she laughed as she took it. “It would be my pleasure.”
The next few hours passed in a heady blur of conversation and food, and Talia found herself falling hard. She learned that while Harper could play a multitude of instruments, his favorite was the guitar. He rambled on about a local luthier who was known across the country for the innovative work they were doing with guitars, and gave her a brief music theory lesson to try to help explain what he was saying. Surprisingly, she found that she was actually interested in what he had to say, and the conversation wound around numerous topics.
By the time they were looking at dessert, the topic of conversation had shifted to focus more on her, and Talia was once again surprised to find that Harper was as attentive a listener as she could hope for. She shared bits and pieces of her life, gauging his response, and while he clearly couldn’t relate to some of what he was saying he still made a point of validating what she was saying and asking questions.
It had been a long time- longer than she cared to think about- since someone had seemed so genuinely interested in learning about her, and it was gratifying to see that he was as intrigued by her as she was by him. When they were finished with dessert and had already sipped the last of their coffees, she paused as she realized that she wasn’t ready for the night to end.
“Do you want to go back to my place?” She asked, before hastily elaborating, “Not like that- I mean, we could watch a movie and I’ve got some wine.”
“That sounds amazing,” Harper smiled. They paid the tab and made their way towards her apartment. It was a bit of a long walk, but the evening air was crisp and she was enjoying the walk. Their shoulders occasionally bumped as they walked, and she had to fight back a smile every time. She led him up the stairs to her flat, giving him a short rundown of the neighborhood and who her neighbors were as they approached her door.
She was glad that she had cleaned over the weekend as she ushered Harper inside, closing the door behind them. “I’ve got sparkling water, wine, beer, and tap water if you’re interested in any of that,” she said as she walked past him to set her coat down on the countertop.
“I’ll have whatever you’re having,” he said, clearly distracted as he took in her apartment. “This is such a cute place, it feels really homey and comfortable here.”
“Thanks,” she said, shooting him a quick smile before turning to get the wine glasses down. “The remote is on the couch if you wanted to look for something to watch.” She poured the wine and turned around before stopping to appreciate the scene in front of her. Harper was on the couch, flipping through options on the remote, and the thought that this could be a regular thing brought up an unexpected swell of emotion.
Clearing her throat roughly, Talia crossed the room to sit next to Harper on the couch, leaving a respectable amount of distance between them. “Thanks,” he said as he took his glass of wine. “Do you have any preference about what we watch?”
She shook her head. “Nah, as long as it’s not the news we’re good.”
“Hey, what about this documentary?”
Talia’s mouth went dry as she looked at the screen and saw the documentary on musicals she had watched over the weekend. The things she had imagined about Harper while watching it rushed unbidden through her mind, and she barely managed to croak out a strangled, “Sure.”
“We don’t have to,” Harper frowned. “No! No, let’s watch it. I actually started it this weekend but got distracted and didn’t get very far into it,” Talia hastily replied. She decided it was unimportant to mention that what distracted her was how turned on she kept getting imagining Harper performing instead of the people in the documentary. It was playing with fire, but as the opening clips filled the screen she decided that she liked living on the edge.
It didn’t take long before she began to question her decision, however, as she found that her arousal was only amplified when Harper was sitting mere inches away. His running commentary on the documentary wasn’t helping matters, and she could barely manage
mumbled responses at the appropriate times.
She shifted in her seat, stifling a groan as the movement put just enough pressure on her core to be torturous.
“You okay?”
The innocent question made her jump, and she tried not to look guilty. “Yeah! Yeah, I’m good, just getting comfortable.”
He nodded and returned his attention to the screen, leaving her to stew and try to stem the tide of desire. A few minutes later, she was startled by him shifting closer and resting a hand on her knee. Trying her best not to pull him fully on top of him right then and there, she settled for covering his hand with her own so that he couldn’t pull away. She nearly crawled out of her skin when his thumb started rubbing gentle circles on her leg, and she cursed herself for wearing pants instead of a dress.
Glancing at him from the corner of her eye, she saw him still intently focused on the documentary. He occasionally rattled off facts or additions to the content, and she internally groaned at how oblivious he was to what he was doing to her. His fingers slid slightly higher on her leg, and she tried not to be too obvious as she subtly moved her legs to give him more room to work. The ascent up her leg continued at a maddeningly slow pace, the circles still slow and with just enough pressure to drive her crazy. Not once did she see him look away from the screen, and Talia bit down hard on the inside of her cheek to try to contain her desire to grab his hand and move it to where she so desperately needed it.
Finally, she shifted her position to try to relieve the building pressure in her core at the exact moment that he went to slide his fingers just a tiny bit higher. The result of their combined movement was his fingers suddenly being pressed against her center, and they both froze. Talia clamped her eyes shut and willed herself not to come, while Harper turned to look at her head on, gauging her reaction.
He went to move his hand away when she didn’t say or do anything, misinterpreting her lack of response as disinterest, and Talia’s legs slammed shut, trapping his hand to keep it where it was. “Please,” she begged, “Don’t stop.” When she got a nod in acknowledgement of her words, she leaned back on the couch and relaxed so that he could move his hand again.
Harper started out slow, watching her every move in fascination as the slightest pressure elicited full-body reactions. Her hips rolled against his hand, seeking more friction, and he suppressed a grin at her neediness. Taking pity on her, he adjusted his own position so that he could slide her pants and underwear off. Talia lifted her hips to make it easier, wordlessly encouraging him to keep going.
When she was bare before him, he stopped what he was doing to drink in the sight. She was so wet he could see the sheen coating her inner thighs, and he licked his lips at the sight. Talia whined, needing him to touch her, and he nudged her so she was propped up against the back of the couch with her legs hanging off. Sliding onto the floor so he was kneeling in front of her, he settled in between her legs and slid his arms under the backs of her thighs for leverage.
Talia tilted her pelvis towards him, the warm puff of his breath driving her mad, and he laid an apologetic kiss on her inner thigh. Licking a trail up towards her center, he groaned low in his throat at the tang of her flavor coating his tongue. He flattened his tongue as he reached his destination, dragging a line up her slit until his tongue was pressed against her clit. She thrashed above him, and he used his hold on her thighs to steady her.
Talia was gasping incoherent words, but the tone in them was clear: don’t stop. Harper needed no persuasion as he let the tip of his tongue trace circles around her clit, his chin shiny with her wetness. He could feel the muscles in her thighs tensing and knew that she was already close, and he sped up his tongue. With a few more strokes Talia came undone against his mouth, quaking and crying out.
Before she had a chance to finish riding out the orgasm, Harper suddenly thrust two fingers inside of her. The sudden fullness made her tighten instantly, and she reached down and wrapped her fingers in his hair, trying to ground herself. Harper wrapped his lips around her clit and sucked, lashing her clit with his tongue as he did so, and the unexpected stimulation sent her crashing into a second orgasm before the first had even subsided.
She wailed as she came, fingers tightening in his hair until it was almost painful, and Harper tensed as a small orgasm of his own washed over him. He shuddered into her, moaning, and the vibrations made her tremble as aftershocks rolled through her.
When he was sure that she was done, Harper pulled his fingers out and pressed a final kiss to her thigh before climbing back up onto the couch. Lying back, he pulled her so that she was resting on top of him, and she pressed a small kiss against his chin.
“I don’t think I’ve ever come so hard in my life,” Talia panted, still trying to catch her breath. “I’m pretty sure I couldn’t move right now if I tried.”
Harper smiled down at her and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “Good. That was the goal.”
“But what about you?” Talia asked, and Harper felt a swell of affection at the sleepy tone creeping into her voice. “Don’t worry about it,” he said, “I already came, and besides- this was for you.”
Unable to formulate a complete sentence in response, Talia simply nodded and nestled her head in closer to his chest, breathing in the heavy scent of their combined arousal. Harper listened to her breathing even out into sleep and pulled her just a bit tighter against him. He knew they hadn’t resolved anything, and the knowledge settled heavily in his stomach. He could only hope that they would figure things out, because after tonight he wasn’t sure he would be able to walk away.
Chapter 6
Talia lay in bed, trying her hardest not to move. Harper was still asleep, and she didn’t want to do anything that might wake him and break the spell they had found themselves under earlier that night. At some point after she had fallen asleep on the couch they had moved to her bed, but they had both quickly fallen back asleep after cuddling close once more.
She truly hadn’t intended to sleep with him again when she had invited him back to her place. At the time, her only goal had been to stretch their time together for as long as possible, and going back to her flat had seemed the easiest way to do that. But now, the afterglow long gone, she wondered if all she had done was make things harder for both of them. After all, they had carefully danced around the topic of work all evening, and after a second incredible night together Talia knew saying goodbye to Harper wouldn’t be an easy proposition.
A change in his breathing alerted her to the fact that he was awake, but she continued to lie there and pretend she was still sleeping. They laid there for long minutes, both awake and both pretending they thought the other one was still asleep so they could enjoy being pressed together just a little longer. Finally, Harper broke the silence. “Maybe we should talk about things.”
Talia grudgingly nodded against his chest before rolling over so she could look at him while they talked. She immediately missed the warmth and closeness, and rolled her eyes at how clingy she felt. “So about work…” she trailed off, waiting to see if there was a particular place he wanted to start.
“What worries you most about this and work?” He asked, voice serious as he gestured between the two of them. Talia thought for a moment and then said, “Relationships are messy enough as it is. When work is involved too, it makes me nervous. Plus I don’t think they really encourage coworkers to hook up.” She said the last part with a slight smile to ease the sting of the words, and Harper nodded.
“I get that. You’ve only known me for 72 hours, we still don’t really know each other that well in general, and it’s a lot to risk your professional reputation and work environment.”
“Exactly,” Talia replied, but the word felt sour in her mouth. They both fell silent, each wishing for a sign that the other person would be willing to try anyways in spite of the obstacles. Talia knew that it might not be the most logical decision, but she couldn’t help it; her heart wanted to explore things with Harp
er even though there was a risk of it going bad and impacting her work. He was genuinely sweet and funny, and if she was honest it was actually kind of a positive thing in her mind that he was working with the Bridge too. He wanted to do what he could to support young people in the community, and that was a quality that she couldn’t help but be drawn to.
Harper sighed, and there was a clear note of resignation in his voice as he said, “There’s no way we could try things between us and put work on hold, either. That would feel like the most selfish thing in the world for me to put my own personal interests above the promise I made to be there to mentor some of the youth.”
Talia swooned a little at his words, barely refraining from pinning him to the bed and kissing him senseless. While she hated that they were having this conversation, and selfishly wished that he would retract his offer to work with the Bridge, she knew that she wouldn’t have found him nearly as attractive if he didn’t have that commitment to the community. She waited, hoping he would say something else or offer an alternative idea, but he stayed quiet and she felt herself deflate.
