Keepin' The Faith

by Beth Rinyu

“Oh, yeah, I better get a move on.”

  “Actually we can find a seat together,” Max intervened. This guy just wasn’t getting the hint.

  Gabe caught on to my tortured look.

  “Max, you need to back the hell off. Faith came here with me.”

  I bit back a smile over Gabe’s nobleness.

  Max revealed his over-whitened chicklet teeth. “Dude, I happen to know she didn’t come here with you. Just a few minutes ago she said she was here with her girlfriend.”

  I stood in between the two of them, feeling like a referee in a boxing match. “Actually, I did come here with Gabe. I just didn’t want to say so because we didn’t want it getting out to everyone at work.” My knees turned to limp spaghetti when I wrapped my arm around his waist. “So if you don’t mind keeping it to yourself, we’d really appreciate it.” I rested my head on his chest, inhaling his intoxicating cologne, happy to see he was playing along as well when he pulled me closer.

  Max held up his hands in defense. “Sorry, my bad.”

  Breathing a sigh of relief when he walked away in defeat, I removed myself from Gabe’s embrace, but not before two of the girls from the accounting department looked our way. “I cannot thank you enough. That guy is relentless.”

  “He’s such a dick.” Pure and utter disgust dripped from his every word as his eyes pierced into Max, who was now taking a seat.

  “I really better go and find a seat. Thank you again.”

  “No problem.” He winked and time stood still for one brief moment. “Faith?”

  I turned around and pushed my hair behind my ear. “Yeah?”

  “You look really pretty.”

  My head was spinning, my stomach dancing, and my heart was beating out of my chest.

  “Thanks,” I managed to get out before heading to my seat.

  Gabe Samuels said I looked pretty. My boss. That godly looking man who commanded respect just by his mere presence said I looked pretty. Little old me in my five-year-old dress and clearance-rack shoes. I was feeling a lot like Cinderella at the ball. I only hoped I didn’t suffer her same fate at midnight.

  Chapter 26

  Faith

  Gabe offered to give me a ride home when Natalia had gotten a migraine, and she and Darius had to leave early. We may have not been each other’s dates, but it sure felt that way for most of the night. I was so thankful to him for keeping Max at bay. I ignored the stares and whispers of my co-workers when they caught a glimpse of the two of us on the dance floor. I didn’t want their idle chatter to ruin my Cinderella moment. I would endure the backlash on Monday in exchange for the feel of Gabe’s arms holding me close. My head was resting on his chest, and I didn’t want the music to ever stop. Much to my dismay, it did, too quickly, and so did the night. Before I knew it, I was sitting in front of my house in Gabe’s car, readying to say my goodbyes to him. Where’s that damn fairy godmother when you need her?

  “Thanks for the ride home. It was a really fun night.”

  He nodded in agreement.

  My hand was on the car door handle when my mind began to wander. “Hey, do you want to come in to see the place now that I’m semi moved in?”

  Bad move. Very bad move, Faith. You’ve been drooling over this man all night long. The same man you promised not to have any more impure thoughts of. Yet here you are inviting him into your home when you know your daughter is at your parents’ for the night and it will be just the two of you alone.

  “Umm…yeah, okay.” He threw the car in park, and we walked inside.

  “Don’t mind the boxes,” I said as I flicked the lights on. I was slowly but surely getting there. I gave him another quick tour, pointing out some changes I was planning on making to each room along the way. Last stop was my bedroom. “I think I’m going to paint this one wall here a different color—”

  His lips were on mine mid-sentence. I didn’t even get to tell him the color I had chosen. He pushed me against the wall with our tongues colliding and my hands covering the sides of his face, pulling his head closer, wanting to devour every last inch of him. I worked my way up to his thick wavy hair, feverishly running my fingers through it while his hands gripped my ass and he roughly pulled me into him.

  Faith, pull it together. You’re seriously going to regret this in the morning. He’s your boss, and you need your job. Think before you do something you can’t undo.

  “I can’t. I can’t—” My words were barely audible through my panted breaths.

  He braced his hands against the wall and stared down at me while taking a deep breath. “I can’t either. I’m sorry for that.”

  I swallowed hard as our eyes remained locked. You can and you will, Faith. I stretched my neck and my lips skimmed his forehead. Resting my elbows on his shoulders, I placed my hands on the back of his head, pulling him into me until we were in a lip-lock once again. He didn’t resist, lifting me off the ground and spinning me around in his arms before placing me down on the bed. Gabe was the only one who could stop what was happening now. I was past the point of no return. He threw his jacket off while I frantically worked to unbutton his shirt. He helped me out with the last of them, exposing his perfect rock hard chest to me. In one effortless move he lifted my dress above my head and off my body as our tongues continued to clash. Reaching behind me, he unhooked my bra, throwing it on the floor, leaving my naked breasts exposed to him. My braless boobs were pressed against my boss’s beautiful bare chest. Pure adrenaline coursed through my veins with just the mere thought. A hushed gasp escaped me when those lips that owned my mouth seconds ago made a downward descent, now staking claim to my breast. His hands skimmed under my panties while his tongue teased my nipple, leaving me breathless.

  “Gabe?” What the hell am I doing? We’re in the throes of passion, and I’m going to ruin it by asking a stupid question just to satisfy my own insecurities.

  “Yeah?” he whispered, his voice low and raspy.

  I took his face in my hands and stared up at him. My entire body tingled. All the times I had thought he couldn’t be any sexier paled in comparison to how he looked at that very moment, hovering on top of me with pure desire in his eyes. Pure desire for me. Me. It was still all so surreal. There was no way I was going to plant that seed in his head and question what was about to happen. I might be regretting it in the morning, but right now my body needed him like an addict needing their next fix.

  “Don’t stop,” I pleaded.

  And with that request, his mouth crashed down on mine. His fingers moved in and out of me until the need for him became unbearable. It was as if he sensed the ache I was feeling for him as I lay there breathless while he finished undressing. He lay back down beside me and removed my panties, allowing his fingers to continue their pleasurable assault once again. My heart raced, my stomached flopped, and my panting breaths became heavier when I stroked his erection, and he let out a groan.

  Do you see what’s going on, Sister Antoinette? I have my boss’s dick in my hand. His beautiful, perfect dick that I’m hoping he’ll do some very naughty things with.

  But there were no inner voices to be heard. No one telling me to stop. No one telling me to keep going. Just the heavy breathing of two people filled with want and desire.

  After spending some time familiarizing ourselves with each other’s bodies, I was almost begging him to take the plunge…inside of me. He pushed my hair from my face and rested his head on the pillow.

  “I’m on the pill,” I blurted out, hoping I didn’t sound too eager. I was breaking my number one rule. I’d always used double protection in the few times I’d had sex within the last few years. But I was so beyond sticking to the rules with this one. What would breaking one more matter?

  His gaze was penetrating, and I was hoping he wasn’t having second thoughts. He pulled me closer and kissed me hard, taking me by surprise when he pinned my arms above my head. He groaned when he found his way inside of me. I tilted my hips, and he thrust himself deeper. As he crashed
into me again and again the burning desire for him ignited through every inch of my body. He got me to the brink of no return several times, bringing me back down just before I was about to lose it only to build me back up again. What had I been missing all these years, settling for mediocre sex? Gabe was setting a standard that was going to be impossible for any other man to match.

  Our bodies moved in unison, creating a perfect rhythm that was ours and ours alone. We reached our high together with my body trembling from the powerful orgasm he had created inside of me. The sex I had with him was like with no other man. I was definitely feeling like I was in an alternate version of Cinderella with my naked Prince Charming lying next to me. But who needs a fairy godmother with a magical wand when you’ve got a boss with a magical dick?

  Chapter 27

  Gabe

  A million muddled thoughts raced through my mind like an out of control freight train when I awoke in Faith’s bed. I didn’t have any intention of spending the night. Hell, I didn’t even have any intention of having sex with her. But my resistance was low and seeing her in that sexy black dress, holding her out on the dance floor, breathing her intoxicating perfume was all too much for one man to endure. I had broken my number one rule—never mix business with pleasure. And, when I looked down at her sound asleep in my arms, I had broken another one—never stick around afterward. It led to too many presumptions that it was more than just sex, which was how I always viewed it—until last night.

  There was just something about Faith that was so different, and I hated it. Out of all the women I had ever been with, she was the most taboo. What was I thinking to allow this to happen? How were we going to work together on a daily basis now and pretend last night didn’t exist between us? And the most important question of all, why the hell was I having such strong feelings for the girl snoring on my chest? It wasn’t too hard to answer. She was beautiful, funny, and caring. She was also slightly neurotic and at the same time carefree and chaotic. If I had to define her in two words it would be a beautiful mess, but I embraced her flaws. In fact, to me they made her even more attractive. She wasn’t perfect, and she didn’t try to be someone or something she wasn’t. She was just Faith. She wore her heart on her sleeve and wasn’t afraid to tell you like it was, and over the past month or so, in a weird way—she had become my beautiful mess.

  Her head rose from my chest and her sleepy brown eyes widened. “Oh, hey.” She sat up and pulled the sheet over her as if I hadn’t seen and felt every inch of her naked body last night—and what a body it was. The time for modesty was over. That went out the window last night.

  “Mornin’,” I mumbled back as I got out of bed and began to dress.

  “Gabe?”

  I pulled up my pants and turned around. A vacant stare was cast upon her face as she pulled in her bottom lip. No doubt, having an internal battle over what had happened last night.

  “What’s up?”

  “I need to know that last night—what happened…it’s not going to affect us and our working relationship.”

  “It’s fine, Faith.” Really, it wasn’t, but that was the best I could muster to reassure both of us at the moment.

  “Are you sure? Because I know how you freaked out when I kissed you that night at the bar, and this is way bigger than a silly drunken kiss.”

  I managed a smile and took a seat on her bed. “How about this? It never happened.”

  She clenched her eyebrows together. “But it did!” Her voice shook in defense.

  “I know it did, but if we can forget that it did then we’ll be fine,” I explained as I threw my shirt on.

  “Well, maybe I don’t want to forget.”

  I looked up from buttoning my shirt to find her eyes cutting through mine.

  “I...I don’t mean it in that way. I’m not going to become some needy stalker just because we had sex. It’s just…well…I’m sure you’ve been told this before, but it was pretty awesome.” I couldn’t help but let out a slight chuckle. “And well, we’re both adults, so…”

  “So?” I raised my eyebrow.

  “All I’m saying is, I’m capable of sleeping with a guy without attaching feelings to it.” She paused, giving me a moment to catch up with her thoughts.

  What the hell was she saying? She wanted to continue having meaningless sex with me. If she were any other girl, I’d be in total agreement with that deal, but Faith was different. I actually took her feelings into account as well as my feelings for her. Feelings that I never attached to sex.

  “You know what? You’re right. Let’s just pretend it didn’t happen.” She relented, with a half-hearted smile.

  Even though that was my suggestion, I knew it was going to be hard to do. I had tested the waters and I wanted more to drink, and seeing her every day, with her perfect ass, her adorable smile, and her bubbly personality was going to make it so much harder to just forget.

  “Okay. We’re good then?”

  She sighed deeply and nodded. I finished dressing and left her bedroom while she dressed. She came out in sweats and a T-shirt with her hair all over the place and remnants of last night’s makeup running down her face—my beautiful mess.

  “Do you want some coffee?” she asked.

  “Oh, no. I’m good.”

  Her shoulders drooped, a little hurt by my decline of her offer. We reached the front door and her hands were visibly shaking. I didn’t want her feeling this way around me. Why did I have to go and fuck everything up by sleeping with her last night? We had a great working relationship that was teetering on friendship. Now I had to ruin that because I couldn’t keep my dick away from her. I didn’t want to leave things like this between us. I didn’t want her to feel guilty over doing something that I wanted just as badly as she did. Without even thinking, I took her trembling hand in mine and gripped it tightly.

  “Faith, it’s okay. I promise you, I’m not gonna get freaked out over this. Monday morning will be just like any other morning—before this happened. Everything will be like normal.”

  “K…” She nodded, pushing her hair from her face, still rather uneasy over it all.

  “See ya tomorrow morning, okay?”

  “Yup.” Another forced smile on her part.

  I looked her over one last time before heading out to my car. Everything that had happened last night was so wrong—at least that was what my head was telling me. But Faith had a way of making my heart and body feel otherwise.

  ***

  Monday morning came in a heartbeat. I was going to do my best to act as normal as possible around Faith. Like I had never seen her gorgeous body naked. Like I didn’t know what it felt like to be inside her, and most of all like I wasn’t feeling that it was so much more than just sex. I could do this—easily.

  “Hey!” Faith’s over-exuberant greeting caused me to lift my head.

  Suddenly my plan wasn’t going to be so easy after all when I saw her standing in my office door, wearing a formfitting turtle neck that made her perfect tits look even more perfect. The same tits I had my hands and mouth all over, less than twenty-four hours ago. She walked in further and placed the cup of coffee she was holding in her hand down on my desk.

  “It’s Monday morning, and I always get you coffee on Monday morning.” Her voice cracked, and she paused from her ramble. “So since this is a normal Monday morning just like every other one…there’s your coffee.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Sure, no problem.” She looked like she was on the verge of tears as she began to walk away.

  “Faith, wait. Come here.”

  She turned around, and I motioned for her to take a seat. She sat down and took a deep breath, looking everywhere but at me.

  “I meant what I said yesterday. See, I’m not freaked out. I promised you I wouldn’t be and I’m keeping my promise, but now it seems like you’re the one who is.”

  She shook her head, still averting my gaze. “No, it’s fine.”

  “Then why can’t you
even look at me?” Big mistake. Huge. When her big brown expressive eyes locked with mine everything from the other night came to the forefront of my mind.

  “There, I’m looking at you…okay?” She cracked a hint of a smile, and I had to wonder if I’d see that big, bold, beautiful one of hers that I looked forward to each day ever again. “I’m gonna go get started on the reports you need for your meeting this afternoon. We’re perfectly fine.” Her smile grew wider.

  I wasn’t sure if I was happy or frustrated that she was perfectly fine with forgetting what had happened between us. I had never had so many mixed emotions like this in my life.

  “If you need me, you know where to find me, Mr. Samuels.” She smirked and stood up, and as she walked out of my office my eyes dropped to that perfect ass in that perfectly fitting skirt she was wearing.

  I was dead wrong. This wasn’t going to be anything. It was going to be torture. Pure fuckin’ sexual, self-inflicted torture.

  Chapter 28

  Faith

  Four days had passed since my encounter with Gabe. Four very long days of reliving that night over and over again, feeling my body reveling in that forbidden moment. Gabe kept his promise and acted like nothing had ever happened. I was grateful to him for it, but at the same time I was a little hurt. It was just sex to him, and even though I had told him that was all it was to me…deep down inside, I knew it wasn’t. He had expressed his stance on relationships many times before, and I was foolish to believe that I’d be the catalyst in making him see things differently. I looked for signs each day to see if maybe he was feeling a little bit like me with his feelings, but there were none. It was business as usual. And like usual, he had another deadline to meet, which was putting him under even more pressure.

  My stomach had been growling all morning, so when Dean, one of the sales reps, texted me to see if I wanted to do lunch, I was happy to oblige. “Hey! Just let me grab my coat.” I smiled up at Dean when he entered the office. I stared at Gabe’s closed office door and for a brief second I wondered if I should tell him I was going to lunch or offer to bring him something back, but then thought better of it. I had heard him snapping at people all morning as he tried to stay on task with the project he was working on. I didn’t want to be the next one to get my head chewed off. Dean and I were cracking up over the trouble he was having in helping me get my coat on when Gabe walked out of his office.