It was easier to do than face the truth.
Chapter Six
“Are you all right Janelle? You seem distracted.”
Janelle nodded, pushed a stray hair out of her eyes. She smiled at Marnie, inwardly upset she let her boss see how foolish she was. Letting a man occupy her thoughts when she should be focused on her work wasn’t good. “I’m fine, sorry. Just tired.”
Marnie smiled in return. “You’ve been working so hard lately, of course you’re tired. You should leave early this afternoon, go have some quality me time.”
“But don’t you need my help?”
“With all of your efficiency these last few days, I think we have a much better handle on this event than we did last year at this time. I think you’ve earned an afternoon off.” Marnie snapped her notebook shut, then checked her cell phone, which rested by her elbow. “Sometimes we all need to escape from life and forget our troubles.”
“What do you do to forget?” Janelle would love to be able to forget her troubles but they’d multiplied by about one hundred thousand since she had mind blowing sex with Nate last night.
God, could she have done anything stupider than fall into bed with the sexy detective?
No, she really didn’t think so.
“Oh, sometimes I go to the bookstore and browse the magazines. Especially the travel or home improvement ones because with those I can daydream. Or I’ll go do a little retail therapy and look around some of my favorite shops, maybe haunt the mall. I don’t know, I just try and slow down my normally hurried pace and relax for a bit. And I definitely think you need to do that. Relax, let your mind wander. You’ve been awfully focused lately.”
“I want to do a good job for this fund raiser, Marnie. I want everything to be flawless.” Janelle worried her lower lip, looking over her to do list for what felt like the millionth time. Marnie was right, most everything that needed to be done up to this point was handled. The remaining items on the list couldn’t be taken care of until they got closer to the date.
Marnie laughed. “These events are never completely flawless, let me tell you. There’s always some sort of screw up like the lighting company not showing up until two hours before the show, or one of the models broke her foot right as she’s going onto the runway. Trust me, I’ve seen it all.”
“Gosh, I would freak out if any of that happened. Did they really? What did you do?”
“Yes they did actually happen. What could we do?” Marnie shrugged. “These are things out of our control. We have to roll with the punches, find a quick solution and move on.”
The idea alone of anything crazy happening on the night of the Passion for Fashion event made Janelle want to break out in a cold sweat. She did not want to disappoint her boss. This was her moment to shine. She’d be devastated if it was ruined in any way.
“Janelle sweetie, seriously.” Marnie’s hand rested over hers. “You need to calm down, take a chill pill. I can see the panic in your eyes and the event is still a ways away. Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be fine.”
Janelle took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She was being ridiculous, she knew it. Overreacting because she didn’t want to face the truth of what was really happening in her life. She didn’t want to think about Nathan Banks and what she was going to do.
What could she do? Ignore him? Pretend what happened between them last night never happened? Sure, it sounded easy.
But the reality was, not so much. The sex between them had been amazing, though she didn’t want to admit it. He’d been so caring, so sweet, then rough and sexy just when she needed him to be.
Nate had been almost...perfect. And she’d never been able to say that about any guy she’d slept with before.
“I think I will take you up on the afternoon off offer, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course, I don’t mind. I’ll get someone to cover the phones and you go ahead. It’ll do you some good.”
“More than anything, I want a nap. Sleep sounds the most relaxing to me right now.” Janelle stood, pushed her chair back under the table. They’d met in the company conference room to discuss the plans for the event.
“Do whatever it takes to refresh you, Janelle. Everything will be waiting for you here in the morning. See you tomorrow.”
Janelle left work minutes later, unable to push the away the guilt that swamped her. Since she started working at the agency, she’d never taken one sick day, had never arrived late and certainly never left early.
This was a major moment.
Of course, maybe it had been a mistake, leaving hours before she was normally off. Now she was alone with her thoughts, all of which focused on the delectable Nate.
A shiver moved through her as she climbed into her car. The man had magic hands, magic fingers, magic lips. Magic everything. He’d been able to bring her to climax in minutes, over and over again, until she thought she couldn’t come anymore. They’d literally gone at it all night long. The man had been insatiable.
She’d been just as bad. Worse. It was almost embarrassing, how eager she’d been for him, for his touch, his kisses…