***
Tossing her purse into the deep bottom drawer of her desk, Allie kicked the thing closed before angrily throwing herself into her chair.
“Hey, you feeling any better?”
Lifting her head to the sound of Grant’s voice, Allie scowled at him. “Huh?” she asked.
“Are you over the flu you had last week?”
“Oh,” Allie finally sighed, remembering the excuse she’d given for taking the latter half of the previous week off work. “Yeah, thanks,” she grumpily added.
“You’re a little late, I was wondering if you weren’t coming in today, either,” he noted good-naturedly.
“You keeping track of me?” she snapped.
“No,” he innocently replied. “No, I was just worried about you.”
Allie had wanted to take another day off. She’d intended to do just that. However, after she’d been unable to convince Reece to get back into bed with her, she felt too depressed moping around the apartment.
He’d left shortly after discovering her bruises, although he’d assured her that he no longer believed he’d hurt her, he still felt responsible for harming her. No matter how many times she told him she hadn’t even known the marks were there, he refused to make love to her again.
He’d gone, leaving her with nothing more than a kiss on the forehead and a promise that he’d call.
“I’m sorry, Grant,” she sighed, leaning both elbows on the desk and massaging her temples with her index fingers. “Things are just…” she stalled, before changing tact. “Anyway, I shouldn’t be taking it out on you.”
“Hey, no sweat,” he replied, beaming at her like a loyal puppy.
Allie had suspected for some time that Grant had a crush on her. She’d brushed it off, because he was too young and she was too busy. His willingness to excuse her bad moods and his eagerness to help with whatever shitty job she called on him to do, were proof of something beyond professional admiration.
As Allie allowed that thought to marinate, an idea came to her. Perhaps all she needed to lift her spirits was a good screw. And Grant, although not exactly the kind of guy she’d usually go for, was someone she knew and would, undoubtedly, be only too eager to please.
“Grant,” she said picking her head up.
“Yeah,” he called back.
Allie opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She tried to picture herself with him, maybe in one of the store cupboards, or upstairs in the morgue, amongst all the dusty old files. However, the image just wouldn’t come. Instead, all she could see was Reece.
“Allie?” Grant probed, noting some kind of conflict behind her eyes.
Shaking her head, Allie dismissed the thought of Grant and tried to picture someone else. Kyle, he wasn’t bad looking. Stephen or Carl. Still, the only face that occupied her brain was Reece’s.
“Are you okay, Allie?”
“Yeah,” she nodded numbly. “Sorry, I just…” she mumbled, pushing her chair back and rising to her feet.
“Did you want something?” Grant asked.
“No,” she responded. “No, thanks,” she assured him, making her way across the open plan office space. “I think I need a coffee,” she absentmindedly tossed over her shoulder, as she plodded towards the break area.
She stood for several minutes, her fingers clamped around the handle of the percolator, as she tried to work out what the hell had happened over the course of twelve hours. Suddenly, her desire to make up for a lack of sexual experiences was narrowed to a desire to simply have more sex with Reece. This was something she hadn’t expected: that one of the men she’d dated over the last few weeks would become a preoccupation. She thought about all of the others fondly, she remembered her time with them as exciting and she certainly didn’t have any regrets. But this was different, the night before wasn’t just another good memory to add to the collection. Was he really that good? She shook her head at the rhetorical question. He was absolutely that good. However, there was much more to it than his performance.
There was no longer any question in her mind: she had to see him again. Whether or not that fitted with the original plan didn’t matter. Whether he had seen bruises on her body didn’t matter. The only thing Allie cared about was spending another night with Reece. She could only hope that one more night would be enough to quench her thirst for him.
3 Book Romance Bundle: "Her Last Love Affair" & "Loving Him Peacefully" & "Unwelcome Reunion" Page 14
