“I’ve heard a lot about you, Mr. Burrow. Graduating with honors. In two majors.”
I smiled, but a response seized in the back of my throat. I felt a nudge from beside me. I turned to look at Douche McLean who quirked a brow. Holy shit, I was tongue-tied by this woman. That hadn’t happened since I was a teenager.
“Ah, yes. I knew I was interested in the tech industry.”
“Shall I show you and Mr. McLean around?”
“You can take me anywhere, honey.”
I cringed inside at Douche McLean’s response.
“Perhaps now is a good time to explain that we have a no-fraternization policy here.”
Douche McLean grinned. “Rules are made to be broken.”
I frowned. Didn’t he know he was in a workplace?
“It depends on how much you want to risk your job.” She looked from him to me, and in that moment, I’d risk anything to spend time with her.
By the end of the first week, I’d finally made my tongue function when I was around her. She and I worked well together. She was creative when it came to problem solving and wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. More than once I saw her outmaneuver Douche McClean and he had no clue he was being played.
The best times were when Terra and I worked alone. Like me, she was willing to stay late, and it was during those quiet work sessions alone that I knew I had to have her. I was adept enough in the language of sexual tension to know that Terra was intrigued by me as I was by her. The problem was that pesky no-fraternization rule.
One evening a few weeks into the job, we were working in her office. I was at the work table while she was at her desk.
“Come look at this, Brayden,” she said.
I went to her, standing beside her as I looked over her shoulder at her work.
“Could work,” I said of her idea. While I’d found my tongue, that didn’t mean her intoxicating scent didn’t fog my brain and leave me capable of only two-word responses.
Doing my best to keep from revealing too much of my desire for her, I leaned over, supporting myself with one hand as I pointed with the other.
“But what about this?”
She turned her head, looking up at me. It would have been so easy to close the foot-long distance to kiss her. And I wanted to. It would be worth losing my job. What I wouldn’t be worth was offending her. So I ignored my desire and instinct, and somehow held back my groan of frustration.
“I find you quite distracting, Brayden.”
“It’s not me,” I said, as my heart picked up the pace. “It’s you.”
She smiled, and it was the most fucking beautiful thing I’d ever seen. “Do you like working here?”
I couldn’t decide if she was asking about working with her or reminding me of the no-fraternization rule.
“I do, except for one thing.”
“Oh?” Her lips rounded to a perfect O and I couldn’t stop my brain from wondering if that’s how they’d look when she had an orgasm. God, I wanted to find out.
“It seems wrong that I can’t kiss you.” Okay, so I hadn’t meant to step that far out of line, but then again, it was only a matter of time before we had to deal with this.
A slight blush came to her cheeks. “It is after hours, now.”
I quirked a brow. “So, the rule is only for work hours?”
She shrugged. “I’ll have to reread the policy, but the powers that be can’t dictate what we do when we’re not working.”
“But we are working.” I kicked myself for saying something so stupid.