Endless Obsession

“Oh! Hey, Poppy.”

“Hi, Eric.”

Eric is one of Silver Technologies’ most valued design gurus. From what I can tell, Mr. Knight is more than just a boss to him, he’s also a close friend. There’s been several times I walked into Mr. Knight’s office to see them not only working, but laughing at something one or the other said. I’ve also heard them a few times making plans for after work. Eric has always been more open and friendlier than Mr. Knight. He smiles at me and will stop and make small talk with both Liv and I on his way to Mr. Knight’s office. I’ve always enjoyed his company.

Mortification floods my face at unintentionally attacking him with my cart.

“I’m so sorry. I wasn’t watching…”

“Don’t mention it. I shouldn’t have been loitering at the end of the aisle.” He smiles at me and some of my embarrassment fades away.

“I didn’t know you shopped here,” he says, looking in my cart.

/> “Uh, yeah. I live a few blocks from here. It’s more convenient than trying to fight for a parking spot at one of the chain stores.

I look down to what he has in his hands and heat creeps up my face again at the box of Magnum XL condoms. Seeing my blush, he follows my line of sight. Pulling up my big girl panties, I look back at him to find him smirking at me.

“Any plans for the weekend?” he asks.

I don’t know if he’s purposely trying to embarrass me, or if it’s just an innocent question, but the implication isn’t lost on me.

Before I can stop myself, I blurt out, “It’s obvious you do.”

My hand slaps over my mouth and my eyes go wide.

Shit. I need to take my own advice and learn to use a filter in public.

He chuckles, his eyes dancing in merriment. “That I do.”

“Sorry,” I mutter and start picking at a sticker a kid must have stuck on the bar of the cart.

“No worries, Poppy. Sex is a natural thing.”

“I still shouldn’t have said that. It’s none of my business.”

“It’s not, but it really doesn’t bother me. Actually, I’m kind of glad you did.”

I glance up at him, my brows pulled down.

“It brought a lovely little blush to your face,” he explains. “You should do it more often.”

“Blush?” At his nod, I wrinkle my nose. “No thanks. I try to avoid any and all embarrassing moments as much as possible.”

He laughs again, causing wrinkles to form at the corners of his eyes. I’ve never really noticed before, but Eric has a nice laugh. Actually, everything about him is nice. From his dark brown hair, high cheek bones, chocolate colored eyes, and his tightly muscled body. Of course, I’ve never seen his body, but anyone could tell from the way his dress shirts mold across his chest that he does indeed have a nice one. I’ve already discovered he has a nice personality and a good sense of humor. As the work day just ended, he’s still in his work attire, minus the tie, which I’m sure he took off as soon as he got to his car.

“Back to my original question. Any plans this weekend?”

I nod. “I do, in fact. I have a date this weekend.” I stuff my earbuds back into my purse. I’m done shopping anyway.

“Nice,” Eric says. He holds the box of condoms up, jiggling it. “Well, I better get going. As you’ve already guessed, I have plans myself, and I have a few more things to get.”

Face flaming hot once more, I bid him good-bye and he turns and walks away.

That was strange.

Just as he turned, I could have sworn I saw a flash of something in his eyes. I’m not sure what exactly, but it made me shiver.

Shaking off the feeling, I push my cart to the front of the store to check out. It doesn’t take the cashier long, as I only got a minimal amount of items. I hate grocery shopping. It’s tedious and if I didn’t have to eat, I wouldn’t do it.