by L. D. Davis
In reality, I knew exactly what he needed to sign, where it was, and it really didn't need to be signed right then. After a half a minute of this, I started to worry that my dumb blonde plan (and I'm a total brunette) wasn't going to work, but I suddenly realized how quiet he was. After another moment, I felt his fingers raking through my hair. I pretended this was okay, didn't even acknowledge it, and magically found the paperwork he needed to sign.
"Here. Sign these, please, Mr. Sterling." I handed him a pen and stood up straight.
He stared up at me for a few seconds before he started signing. He looked a little calmer, but I couldn't be sure until he opened his mouth.
"Feel better?" I asked when he stood up and handed me the folder.
He reached out and entwined his fingers in a few wavy locks, leaned in close to me and inhaled.
"Yes," he said simply. His hand slowly slid down the length of my hair, the back of his hand lightly brushing my neck before he let go.
The skin on my neck felt like it was on fire, and I actually stood there with my dumb mouth hanging open for several seconds before I was able to collect myself and leave the room.
When Kyle came out of his office a short time later, his demeanor was pretty relaxed. He made sure to find a reason to visit several areas of the office so that his new mood would hopefully rub off on everyone else. I was shocked by this, and thought maybe he had been paying attention after all that night at my house. Of course, my awesome scented hair was a big contributor.
As he passed by my desk, he smiled and winked before disappearing into his office. I smiled, despite myself, and then got mad at my smiling mouth and bit hard on my bottom lip as punishment. Dumb mouth.
***
Every now and then, I went with Kyle on business lunches, depending on the clientele. While I understood much about the business, I wasn't there to participate. I was there as eye candy. Kyle told me so directly early in our professional relationship. I was slightly offended, and was tempted to beat his face in, but I knew appearances meant a lot to many of our clients. It was absolutely ridonkulous, but I understood that fact. If Jess wasn't available, and she often was not, I would go. The Wednesday after the hair smelling thing was one of those occasions.
My hair was pinned up that day, but in the back of the company car on the way to the restaurant, Kyle insisted that I let my hair down. He helped me unpin it, and didn't hesitate to take a whiff when I was finished fixing it.
"Do you have earrings in your purse? Put them on."
"I feel like an upscale whore," I grumbled, digging out a pair of small gold hoops.
"But I pay you so well," he smiled and took the earrings from me. It was true, I did get paid extra every time I did this. He put the earrings in my ears, letting his fingers linger a little too long on my skin. It took everything inside of me not to gasp.
Much attention was paid to me by the two clients at the beginning of the meeting. I played along, flirting lightly and smiling too much, until they finally got down to business.
Even though Kyle had the tendency to be a dick, from the beginning, I liked watching him talk when he was negotiating. He spoke passionately, expressively, and with a conviction not even the hardest ass business man could ignore. As usual, I watched him as he spoke, watched him flash his million dollar smile, and watched his muscles move under his dress shirt.
Oh shit. When did I start paying attention to that? I also watched his lips, and would find myself daydreaming about the places his lips had been on my body. I tried really hard to redirect my attention elsewhere, but it was a long meeting. At some point, I gave up, and let myself go a little wild in the head, remembering how his fingers felt on me, and in me. I looked at his hair, recalling how it felt to run my hands through it. When he looked over at me, my own face must have given me away, because I immediately saw something like lust form in his eyes before he reluctantly looked away.
A few minutes later, while the client was on a telephone call and his partner was speaking to the waitress, I jumped when I felt Kyle's hand on my upper thigh. He didn't look at me, and his other hand was out in the open on the table. He traced small circles on my thigh, slowly moving down my leg until he hit my stockinged knee. He paused for a few seconds before moving his hand to the inside of my leg and traced circles up, under my skirt, as far as his hand could go without making noticeable adjustments.
I froze, shocked and incredibly turned on. I didn't know if I should move away, move his hand, pinch him, or shove his hand further up my skirt. Before I could figure out what to do, he pinched me, kind of hard, and I started in my seat. The motion somehow closed the distance between us, and his fingers were under my garter straps, following them up my thigh until he reached pay dirt.
I cleared my throat to cover the moan that started to escape my lips. The meeting was coming to a close, and Kyle reluctantly removed his hand. When he shook hands with the men, he used his "clean" hand. When they departed, I slumped in my seat and noisily exhaled. I took the straw out of my girly drink and downed the thing in a few swallows. I then reached over and drank the rest of Kyle's drink, too. He watched me with amusement.
"It's not funny," I growled.
"Why are you so mad?" He asked, draping an arm around me.
I sputtered some incoherent words before growling in frustration.
"What?" He asked in a low, velvety voice. "You mad at me? Did I violate you?"
He was making a joke of it, which set my head on fire. Our booth was in a back corner and no one sat close by. He felt free to put his hand back up my skirt.
"Do you want me to stop?" He whispered in my ear.
I couldn't answer, because I was in the middle of an intense (very quiet) orgasm. I allowed myself two more, before I shoved him away.
"We agreed not to go there again," I said, breathlessly.
"You started it."
"I did not!"
"Oh no?" His eyebrows went up.
"No!"
"So, you didn't purposely lean over me on Monday? Exposing me to your cleavage and the scent of your hair I love so much?"
I stared at him. "I didn't mean to show you cleavage."
"Ah," he smiled. "But you meant for me to smell your hair."
I looked away, my face burning. "You needed to get a grip and calm down. Your attitude sucked and was fucking up the morale of the entire office."
"But you did start it..."
I looked at him with what I hoped was a hard expression. "Now I'm ending it. Again. Now move so I can go to the bathroom."
***
A couple of weeks after the restaurant incident, it had been snowing on my way into work. By the time I got into the building, I looked like the abominable snow woman. On the elevator, Luke from legal also looked like a snow beast.
"You're melting," he pointed to the puddle growing at my feet.
"I feel like the Wicked Witch of the West."
He did an impressive impression of the witch during her watery demise, making me laugh.
"Do witches eat?" Luke asked me after we reached his floor. He held the elevator doors open.
"What?" His question caught me off guard.
"Do you want to have lunch with a warlock today?"
It wasn't the first time he's asked me to lunch and I have only gone a couple of times. I didn't have anything against Luke. He was a nice guy and we had a similar sense of humor, but I was usually too busy to have lunch anywhere but my desk. My mom was right, although I would never tell her. My job kept me from a lot of things. Not that I had considered rolling around in bed with Luke or even dating him, but I haven't even opened myself to any possibilities. And what happened with Kyle was ridiculous behavior not to be repeated, and we were supposed to be moving on. Therefore...
"Lunch would be great. 12:30?"
"Perfect." He grinned. "Meet you at your desk? I will bring something."
"Sure. Now get out so I can get to work." I gave him a small shove and the doors closed.
"So, I guess I should have asked you this before," Luke said on our lunch date.
"Asked me what?" I said, through a mouth full of salad. I knew it wasn't lady like to talk with my mouth full, but I never claimed to be a proper lady.
"If you were seeing anyone. I ask you every now and then and most of the time you say no."
"Oh." I swallowed my food before speaking again. "The answer is still no."
"Cool."
"I mean..."
"Yes?" He looked at me warily.
"I'm not seeing anyone. I..." I hesitated. Luke was a very good listener and good at keeping secrets, something I learned a long time ago, soon after meeting him. I was having some family issues and during one of our very first lunches together, I unloaded on him; but I didn't know if I could tell him about Kyle. At least not directly.
"I had a fling...thing...with someone not that long ago," I admitted.
"And you want more than a fling," he guessed.
"No, no. I mean, maybe if circumstances were different, but..." I sighed. "He's had a steady girlfriend for a long time. It should have never happened."
"Wow."
"Yeah, I'm a horrible person."
"No," he sat up straight. "I didn't say that, and I don't think that at all. I'm just surprised."
"Well, it's over."
"Do you...have feelings for this guy?"
"Not really," I lied. "It doesn't matter anyway. He's not mine to have and even though I hate his girlfriend, I'll never feel right about screwing her over. I don't like the guilt I feel."
"Hey, we all make mistakes," he said softly, giving my hand a quick squeeze. "But are you sure it's over?"
"For me it is."
"What about him?" Just as he asked that, Kyle walked in. His eyes immediately fell on Luke's hand resting on mine. He boldly stared at me as he passed by.
"I hope so," I whispered.
Luke looked at Kyle's back with a thoughtful expression. If it connected in his head, he didn't let on. He turned back to me.
"I had a motive when I asked if you were seeing anyone," he said, with a sly smile.
"Oh?" I cocked an eyebrow.
"Would you like to go out on a real date with me?"
He's asked me out before, too, and I always gently declined, but looking at him now, I didn't understand why I had always said no before. Luke was gorgeous, super smart, and he made me laugh, and he was very single, unlike Kyle.
"I would love to," I smiled warmly at him.
Later that night while I was reading in bed, my phone rang. I knew who it was before I looked. Kyle had been calling or stopping by a few nights a week just to shoot the breeze. I liked talking to him like this. He was only half as obnoxious as he was at work, and the conversation came easily. It was a compromise of sorts. We could carry on this friendship, but it had to stay out of the office, and it had to stay platonic, and the last part was the hardest part.
"What was up with the hand holding?" Kyle asked after I answered the phone.
"It was a friendly gesture," I answered in a bored tone.
"You two looked really cozy."
"Yeah. I suppose we were."
"Are you sleeping with him?"
"Wow. Not that it's any of your business, but no. I'm not. What if I were?"
"There's rules against that kind of relationship at Sterling Corp," he said smugly.
"There's no rule against me sleeping with Luke."
"Yes, there is."
"No, there's not," I rolled my eyes. "He's not my boss, but I guess you should fire me, because I did sleep with him."
"He doesn't count."
"Neither does Luke. Is that the only reason why you called me? To question me about Luke?"
"Maybe. I was curious, but I feel better knowing you're not dating him."
"I said I'm not sleeping with him. I didn't say I wasn't dating him," I said.
"You're dating him?"
"Kind of. He's taking me out Saturday."
"I don't like it."
"I'm not asking you to, and I don't really care," I lied. "You're stepping over that platonic line again."
"Sorry." He didn't sound sorry at all.
"Yeah. Do you have anything else to talk about?"
"What are you wearing?"
"Goodnight, Kyle."
I clicked the phone off before he could object.
Chapter Nine
"Wow, you look hot." Luke was standing at my front door, checking me out with a big shit eating grin on his face.
I was wearing short shorts and a tee shirt so riddled with holes it looked as if I had been shot. A lot. The shorts and shirt had matching bleach stains and perpetually smelled like Lysol no matter how many times I washed them. My hair was in the messiest of buns and I was sporting a pair of pink rubber gloves that went almost up to my elbows.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, completely flustered to find him at my door.
"Don't tell me you changed your mind."
"About what?"
"Our date?"
I shook my head. "Our date isn't until tonight. Nine o' clock."
"Let's face it, Emmy. We're both getting a little too old for late night dates."
"You meant nine in the morning?"
"Well, it's nine, and it's morning, and I'm here, so..."
I suddenly felt extremely stupid. Now it all made sense - the pancakes he wanted to treat me to, the trip to Atlantic City, and something about having me home before it got too late.
"I'm sorry," I said, waving him in. "I'm such an idiot."
"Yeah, but at least you're appropriately dressed for our date."
I threw a rubber glove at him. "Make yourself comfortable in the family room or living room, but don't step on my kitchen floor." I wagged a finger at him. "It's still wet."
I took the steps two at a time to go properly get ready for my date. I showered in record time, dressed in jeans, a tight black sweater and a pair of black Timbs. I brushed my hair, pulled it back in a tight ponytail and grabbed my leather coat.
"You look fantastic," Luke said when I found him watching ESPN in the family room.
"Thanks. I'm sorry I made you wait."
"You didn't take long at all, especially for a girl."
"Well, thanks," I said. I snatched my Coach bag off of the couch. "Ready?"
We decided to skip the pancake breakfast and hit up the drive-thru at Dunkin Donuts instead. We drove to Atlantic City talking, laughing, and arguing about what music to play on the radio. We were only forty minutes into our date and I was already finding myself attracted to Luke in ways I'd never thought I could be. Even though we had been friendly with each other for a long time, I was feeling a little fluttering in my chest, something I didn't feel in the past with Luke. I tried to wave off what I was feeling, and nearly succeeded until we were on the boardwalk.
It was late January and the temperature by the ocean was always much cooler, especially with the wind-chill. I should have worn a warmer coat, but I wanted to look cute. Now I was paying the price. I was so cold that my teeth chattered violently, making a loud clacking sound.
Luke took off his coat and put it on my shoulders.
"Oh, no," I said trying to hand it back to him. "You'll f-f-f-freez-z-ze," I managed.
"I will be fine until we get into the casino." He again wrapped the coat around me. His hand brushed against my cheek and the fluttering returned four fold. He took my hand and led me down the boardwalk.
We sat side by side for a couple of hours, leisurely playing the fifty cent slots. At some point, we both turned in our seats so that our legs were entwined while we talked, played, and sipped on the complimentary drinks the casino supplied. We did a little shopping on the boardwalk and ate at the Hard Rock Café before jumping back on the expressway.
In the car, Luke drove with one hand on the back of my seat and the other on the wheel. I leaned in his direction as much as my seatbelt would let me.
"I hope I didn't
bore the hell out of you today," he said.
"Don't be ridiculous. I am having a great time. I have to admit, I've never had a first date at a casino."
"It wasn't one of my better ideas."
"No, it was fine - different. I like different sometimes. If we didn't already know each other, it could have been awkward."
He smiled at me, and we drove in silence for a couple of minutes. Every few seconds he would glance over at me, his smile unfading.
"I'm sorry I kept saying no," I said, breaking the silence.
"What?"
"You've asked me out before, a few times over the years. I said no, and now I regret it."
"It's okay. It took you awhile to realize what a fine specimen I am."
"I didn't say all of that," I gave him a warning look. I looked at the time on the dash. It was almost six, still early. We spent the whole day together, but I wasn't ready to end the date. "So, what are you going to do with the rest of your weekend?"
He looked at me with a slightly guilty expression.
"What?" I asked. When he didn't answer, I pinched his arm, making him laugh and pull away. "What?"
He replaced his hand on the back of my seat and sighed.
"I was hoping that you would have had such a great time that I would have my second date with you tomorrow."
"What if I wasn't interested or what if I were busy washing my hair?"
"I would have to gracefully bow out and thank you for the one good day you gave me."
"Such a gentleman."
"And then I would go back to work and spread ugly rumors and write dirty things about you on the men's bathroom wall."
"Damn. I guess I should go out with you again. I don't need another story written about me on the bathroom wall."
"I'm cool with you accepting a date due to my blackmail."
"I'm sure you are. What are you doing tonight, my blackmailing friend?"
"Whatever you let me do." He raised an eyebrow.
"That sounds dirty."
His eyes widened and he chuckled. "I didn't mean it that way, although if you put on that outfit you had on this morning, I may not be able to control myself."
"You wish you had my pink rubber cleaning gloves."
