“What are you blushing about now, Susanna?” he asked. She gave him a heated look then shook her head.
“You can’t be stopping in like this all the time. It’s a distraction,” she stated as the elevator doors opened. He gave her an intense look.
“We’ll talk about this later,” he promised as she was greeted by Paula and several other employees who needed her assistance.
Glancing back, she gave him a look. She hoped by seeing everyone waiting for her he understood why she needed to be focused at work.
* * * *
“I didn’t mean to cause any trouble between you and BJ,” Paula told Susanna as they both bent over the electronic equipment and tried to find the problem. Susanna looked awfully serious when she came out of the elevator.
Susanna glanced at her, appearing frazzled.
“We weren’t doing anything. I was trying to get some paperwork done.”
Paula chuckled.
“What?” Susanna asked, sounding exasperated.
“Fucked you on the desk again, didn’t he?” Paula asked with a smile.
Susanna shot her a shocked look then glanced around to be sure no one could hear. It didn’t matter, Paula knew that the band’s music was loud. The house band, Cowboy Up, had one more set and then the DJ would take over. She needed to fix this wire problem quickly.
“No one can hear us. Don’t worry. What’s the problem, anyway? Those two men of yours have it bad for you.”
“I need to work, Paula. They come in here and I’m supposed to drop everything for them?”
“Whoa, sounds like you’re feeling a bit smothered. Not that I would mind being smothered between those two. Shit, Susanna, they’re great men and they love you.”
Susanna swung her head around to stare at Paula in shock.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“They don’t love me,” she stated firmly then bent lower to fix the wiring.
“Honey, they sure do. I can’t believe that you can’t see it. They show up all the time. They worry about you and get all jealous. They love you so much and you love them.”
Susanna jumped and hit her head on the lower table.
“Ouch!” She rubbed her head. She looked up to Paula, and Paula covered her mouth with her hand.
“You have got to be kidding me. You’re scared? You’re scared to love them back and accept their love?”
“First of all, Paula, I do not love them, and they do not love me. We’re dating and having great sex and good company. I am not falling in love with them. They are dominating, superior men whose jobs and personalities are sexually stimulating, and they make me happy and they drive me insane, and I love being with them and they drive me insane. Oh fuck!” Susanna blurted out, and Paula laughed as she saw the color drain from her face.
Paula laid her hand on Susanna’s shoulder.
“Shocked the shit outta ya, didn’t it?”
Susanna nodded then covered her face with her hands.
“Oh God, Paula, what am I going to do?”
Paula pulled Susanna’s hands from her face.
“You’re going to accept their love and embrace it. It’s the real thing, and you deserve it, so stop fighting them.”
Susanna stared at Paula and looked her over.