by Hamel, B. B.
He grins at me. “Something like that. We’re using them to model the most efficient routes.”
“Ah. That makes more sense.”
He laughs and takes the bus back from me. Our fingers brush for a second and I swear I feel a sharp pang in my chest.
He puts the bus back down and motions for me to join him.
“See, we move them like this,” he says, pushing it along, “and there are cameras in the ceiling tracing everything it does.”
I look up and, sure enough, I spot a couple cameras.
“This is pretty cool.”
“We have a digital map and we’re using the algorithm to map out the most efficient routes that way. Or that’s how the engineers dumb it down for me.”
I laugh a little and marvel at the table. It looks like just another map but it has serious, real-world consequences.
This is the city, turned into a table. The real city, with real lives at stake.
“We want to get it right,” he says and I can hear the sincerity in his voice. “I love this city. Always have. Public transportation is such a big part of its lifeblood and I want to make sure everywhere is accessible for everyone.”
“That’s admirable.”
“I also want the city to give us a shitload of money in contracts.” He grins and I laugh again.
I reach out and trace the route of a bus, pushing it along. He watches me carefully for a second before reaching out… and this time, our fingers touch, but he doesn’t pull away.
I feel my heart leap into my throat.
“Do you like this?” he asks, his voice nearly a whisper, and I’m pretty sure he isn’t referring to the model.
“Yes,” I say back, tingles running all over my skin.
He holds my hand tight and pulls me against him. I let out a little gasp, the breath leaving my lungs as my body contracts against his. He’s tall and broad and hard, so hard, muscular and intense. His eyes gaze down into mine as his other hand reaches up, fingers curling into my hair.
I let out a groan as he pulls ever so slightly just before kissing me.
This shouldn’t be happening. This is my brand-new boss, the head of the company, the man that just poached me from my old boss… and now we’re kissing. It’s not right, it’s so, so not right.
But it feels so good.
God, it feels good. His tongue slides into my mouth and I push myself tighter against him. I love his taste as it comes cascading into my mouth, all grass and bitter leaves. It’s earthy and right, just like his smell.
I breathe him deep and taste him, falling into the kiss, letting my body lounge against his. I can feel that pulse between my legs going wild and my mind completely blanks, forgetting everything, forgetting where I am and what we’re doing here.
None of it matters, it’s only this kiss, that’s all I care about, all I can taste.
Slowly the kiss comes to an end. He lingers there a moment, our breaths intermingling, his fist tightening in my hair before slowly letting me go.
“That’s enough for tonight,” he says, his eyes twinkling.
I nod stupidly. “Right.”
“Why don’t you go home? I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Right. Okay.” I turn away from him.
“And Taylor?”
I turn back, expecting him to fire me or something.
“Good work today,” he says with a grin.
I blush a little bit, turn, and leave the room as fast as I can.
That was insane. Holy shit, that was insane.
I’ve heard about stuff like that happening. I mean, people end up hooking up at work all the time, it just happens when you are in close quarters. But I never thought I’d end up kissing my boss, not like this… not at all.
It felt good, so good, and that’s the scary part.
There are so many reasons not to do this. So, so many reasons. He’s arrogant, for one, and totally out of my league. I shouldn’t be interested in a man like him, let alone my own boss.
And yet here I am, pining for him…
I get to my desk, grab my things, and leave before I can turn back and do something stupid.
That kiss is on my mind the whole way home. I get to my apartment, turn on the light, slam the door, and practically collapse onto the couch.
I kissed my boss. I seriously kissed my boss.
My phone’s out before I can think too much about it. My best friend, Lisa, should be home from work by now. Maybe I should wait and keep this to myself, but I don’t think I can.
Me: I did something insane today at work. Like seriously insane.
Lisa: Yeah? Dish. I’m so bored right now. I just watched Malcolm in the Middle for an hour. I’ve seen this whole show twice.
Me: You’re going to think I’m horrible.
Lisa: Already do. Just tell me.
Me: I made out with my boss.
Lisa: Uhhhhhhhhhh what?
Me: I know.
Lisa: Look, sweetie, I love you, but I didn’t know that was your thing? No judgment, if this is you coming out, I’m so proud of you.
Me: Oh, no, you idiot. I mean, okay, I’ve had thoughts… but no, my new boss is a guy, remember??
Lisa: omg, that’s right! Sorry.
Me: Doesn’t make it any better.
Lisa: He’s the hot rich one, right? Sounds great to me. My boss is an overweight asshole.
Me: Seriously, Lisa, I made out with my boss. Like, what do I even do now? Do I mention it? Do I ignore it? What do I do??
Lisa: Demand a raise.
Me: You’re the worst. He already doubled my salary.
Lisa: And you get to make out with him?? You’re so freaking lucky, I hate you.
Me: You’re no help.
I go to bed that night with a smile on my face. Lisa isn’t helpful but it does feel good to unload that a little bit. And hey, she doesn’t think I’m evil, which is nice.
So when my head hits the pillow and I turn out the light, I let myself think a little bit… I let myself fantasize.
I think about my new boss’s arms around me… his lips against mine… his tongue in my mouth… between my legs… my hands on his back digging my nails into his skin as he thrusts deep between my legs…
I let myself fantasize about my new boss even though I know it’s such a massive mistake.
In the morning, I’ll forget about it. I’ll pretend like it never happened. It was just a one-time thing, just a stupid little mistake.
But right now, alone in my bed…
I let my imagination run wild.
5
Baker
I should have better self-control.
This isn’t how I’ve gotten so far in life. I’m usually so regimented, so restrained. I think before I act and I only do things that will benefit me in the long run.
I’m not impulsive. I’m not stupid.
And yet being so close to Taylor like that, my hand on hers, I knew I had to taste her. I couldn’t help myself.
It was a moment of pure insanity.
I fell for it. I fell deep into that moment and let myself kiss her. She liked it, at least she seemed like she did. She pressed herself tight against me and I swear she let out a little moan as we kissed.
No, she liked it, all right. She fucking loved it.
But I don’t know if that makes it any better.
Maybe I’d be happier if she hated it, if she pulled back. Things would be simpler at least. I could tell myself it was just a dumb mistake, she’s not interested. I could move on.
Instead, I’m thinking about what I want next… and that’s a huge, huge mistake.
There can’t be anything beyond that one kiss. There just can’t.
I get into the office early on Monday, well before Taylor arrives. I just kept thinking about her all weekend, like some song stuck in my head or a dream half remembered but nagging. I can still taste her on my lips, still feel her pressed against me. I’m still half hard just imagining what I want to do
with her.
Fuck, it’s wrong. It’s so damn wrong. I thought the weekend would clear her out of my system, but I think the distance only made her that much clearer.
I try to lose myself in work, but soon Taylor arrives and knocks on my office door like she’s supposed to.
“Good morning,” she says tentatively, coming into the room.
She’s been thinking about the kiss. I can see it the second she steps inside.
I sigh and lean back in my chair. “Morning,” I say. “Had a good weekend?”
She just nods. “What’s the plan for today?”
I watch her carefully for a long moment. I can’t decide if I should address what happened or just ignore it. Probably the latter, just move on, pretend like nothing happened. I should be strong.
Instead, all I want to do is pull her down onto my desk and fuck her tight little cunt until she screams for more.
“I have your plane ticket,” I say, reaching into my drawer.
She brightens a bit. “For Alaska?”
“That’s right.” I slide it across the desk. She walks over and picks it up.
“First class?” she asks, surprised.
“Of course. You’re sitting with me and I’m not riding coach.”
She laughs. “Right, forgot. You’re rich and famous.”
“I have a certain reputation to uphold, you now.”
“Naturally.”
She’s smiling and I can feel some of the tension ease.
So, of course, I decide to fuck things up.
“We should talk about Friday.”
Her eyes go wide.
Yep, she wasn’t expecting that.
“Ah, uh, sure, okay. Which part?”
I grin and stand, shaking my head. “You want to pretend like we didn’t kiss, right?”
“That was my plan,” she says slowly, ticket clutched in her hands.
I come around the desk toward her. She looks up at me, eyes wide, and I swear there’s a longing in her expression that I didn’t expect.
I lean against my desk. “Look, we’re going to be working in close quarters next week. I don’t want what happened to affect our working relationship.”
“It won’t,” she says quickly.
“Just because you kissed me doesn’t mean things can’t be totally normal.”
She blinks and then her eyes narrow. “Excuse me?”
“You kissed me. Threw yourself at me, really.” I grin at her huge, trying not to laugh.
“Okay, that is totally not how that happened and you know it.”
“I do?” I frown a little. “No, I definitely remember you throwing yourself at me. Begged a little bit, too.”
“No way!” she says, getting pissed. “You kissed me, you asshole!”
I can’t help but laugh now. She glares at me as I lean back. “Okay, okay. Fine, maybe I kissed you.”
She relaxes a little. “Sorry I called you an asshole.”
“That’s okay. I was being one.”
“Look, things don’t have to be weird, okay? It happened. We can just move on.”
I look into her eyes for a long moment… and I really want to believe her.
I really, really want to.
This would be so much easier if that were the case. If we could both just move on and forget what happened completely.
But as she says the word I know she’s lying.
God damn, she’s lying.
“Okay,” I say softly. “We’ll move on.”
“Great. Yeah. No big deal.”
“Right. So I guess that means you don’t want to make out a little bit before you go back to your desk?”
She hesitates a second, looking surprised, and I just laugh. She sighs and shakes her head. “You really are an asshole. I take my apology back.”
I laugh more a she leaves the room.
God, she’s right. I’m an ass.
But I can’t help myself.
She’s so sexy, so damn cute, and it’s not hard to rile her up.
I shouldn’t press. I mean, we really do have to work together. I just can’t help myself.
The ice is broken. And now I know I need to taste her again.
It’ll happen sooner or later… it’s just a matter of when.
* * *
We manage to make it through the week. One normal week, leading up to the Alaska trip.
It helps that we’re immensely busy. The bus launch is coming up and the Alaska trip takes a ton of extra planning and work, even last minute. We don’t have time to mess around, even if I wanted to.
Finally though, the week finishes, and Monday rolls around again. Instead of our usual routine, we meet at the airport.
She comes walking down the terminal with her little suitcase rolling along behind her. She’s wearing her normal work clothes, which can’t be the most comfortable thing in the world. I’m in jeans and a button-down, casual but not too casual. She smiles a little when she sees me.
I stand and I give her a kiss on the cheek almost instinctually. The kiss lingers for just a moment longer than it should.
“Morning,” she says, a bit bashful.
“Morning. You look nice. Planning on doing some work today?”
She shrugs. “I’m always working.”
“Right. You’re a material girl in a material world.”
She laughs. “That’s a very outdated reference.”
“I know. Call me old.”
We sit down next to each other. “You’re not really that old, though.”
“Sure I am.”
“You’re, what, thirty?”
“Thirty-four.”
“That’s young.”
“You’re, what, twenty-two? That’s young.”
“Okay, good point.” She stretches her legs out and I can’t help but glance down at them. I need to get myself together. “Still, you’re not old enough to be quoting Madonna.”
“Okay, fair enough. I’m an old soul then.”
“There we go. That makes more sense.”
It surprises me how easily we drop into a little banter together. Working with her this past week has been great, but I have to admit, I was a little concerned that we wouldn’t mesh so well outside of the office.
Clearly, I was wrong. If anything, now that the workplace barrier is down, things seem even more natural.
We don’t have to wait too long for the flight to board. We walk beside each other, chatting naturally, until we find our seats in first class.
“This is nice,” she says, leaning over toward me. We’re sitting side by side and I gave her the aisle spot. “Did you know I’ve never flown first class?”
“Most people don’t. It’s a total rip-off. Except you do get drinks.”
“I like drinks,” she says, nodding to herself.
I chuckle. “You can order one before we take off, but be careful. They don’t let you keep it. Gotta drink it all and fast.”
“Oh, okay. Guess I’ll wait.”
“Your call.” I flag down the waitress and ask for a whiskey. She brings it to me neat and I sip it while the others start to board.
There are a few members of our team on this flight. I nod at them as they pass. I think most of the others are coming tomorrow and the day after, but we need to make sure we’re both there first thing to help make sure everything’s all set and ready to go.
Taylor watches me drinking for a second. “I’m tempted to get one.”
“It’s a long flight. You’ll have time.”
She chews her lip. “How long, exactly?”
I raise an eyebrow. “You don’t know?”
“I guess not.”
I laugh and knock my drink back. “Long.”
“Right. Long.”
The plane starts to taxi and I can tell she’s starting to get anxious. Once the wheels are up and we’re in the sky, I lean over toward her again.
“It’s going to be fine,” I say softly.
“Right
. I know that.”
“You just, you look like you might throw up.”
“I’m fine.”
“Sure, sure. Do you fly much?”
“I’ve flown plenty.”
“Okay. Well, don’t worry. You’re with an old pro.”
“Yeah?”
I nod. “Yeah. I did an interview with this in-flight magazine one time, too.”
She giggles a little girlishly. It’s completely endearing.
“I forget you’re famous sometimes.”
“I’m not really.”
“Sure you are. People know your name.”
I shrug a little bit and lean back in my seat. “I’m not famous like a rock star or something. Just business people know who I am.”
“That’s still pretty famous.”
I give her a sideways grin. “Yeah, okay. I’m famous. How’s it feel to have kissed a famous man?”
She blushes and it sends a pulse of desire through my chest. Before she answers, she flags down the flight attendant and asks for a gin and tonic.
“I thought we weren’t talking about that,” she says.
“Now we are.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Tough.” I lean closer. “Tell me how much you loved kissing a famous man.”
“Baker.”
“I’m just saying. I’m a superstar. And you enjoyed it.”
She glares at me. The waitress arrives with her drink and she sips it. “Look, I don’t want to do this, okay? Let’s just try and be civil.”
“I’m being very civil,” I answer. “It’s just, this is a long flight and we’re in close quarters. Maybe we could, you know, pass the time.”
She lets out a long, weary sigh. “Baker.”
“Fine. It’s your loss. If you change your mind, I’d be happy to take you back to that first-class bathroom and—”
“Baker!”
I laugh at the look on her face and get the flight attendant’s attention. I ask for my own gin and tonic. When it arrives, I hold it up in a toast to Taylor.
“To a good week in Alaska.”
“To you not being an asshole.”
I laugh and shake my head. “No way I can toast to that, not in good conscience.”
She sighs and sips her drink. I lean back and taste mine. The alcohol feels good on my tongue and I think it might help me get some sleep.
