She shrugged and her face got redder. Oops. I’d definitely embarrassed her.
“Forget I said it. Never happened.” She gave me a tight smile and didn’t say anything for a few minutes. Wow, guess she really didn’t want to be set up. Point taken.
I changed the subject to fashion and the new handbag she’d come in with today and how much I wanted to hit her on the head with a stapler so I could steal it.
“It’s probably not a good thing when you have to decide whether to buy a new bag or pay your rent,” she said, laughing. Good, she was back to her normal self.
“You really should hang out with Sloane. You two are peas in a pod.” They’d met before, but had never really hung out.
“Hey, why don’t you come out with us some Friday night? We go to this bar that has open mic nights and mock most of the singers. Sometimes Lucah gets up and sings and so does my friend Chloe, although not much since her breakup.” Poor Chlo. The rest of her closest friends were all attached and she was still single, but not for lack of trying. She was having a grand old time bedding every available lesbian she could find, including one of the wives of another executive at CE. I still hadn’t gotten over hearing about that one.
“No pressure,” I said when she hesitated. “It wouldn’t be this Friday because Lucah is taking me up to Maine, but maybe the week after?” She thought about it and then nodded.
“I always tell myself that I’m going to go out more and then I stay home with my cat and dick around on the Internet, so I’m going to say yes,” she said. That made me snort.
“Hey, don’t let me stop you from a fun Friday night. I’m not going to hold a gun to your head,” I said. That actually didn’t sound horrible at all. I’d spent many a night the same way, minus the cat.
I understood why Lilia was reluctant to go out. As beautiful and smart as she was, she was also shy and took a while to warm up to people. It wasn’t a bad quality, it just put some people off at first. I knew it had put me off and I was so glad that I had been able to get beyond the walls she put up and see the real Lilia, because she was pretty damn awesome.
“You just let me know. You’ve met everyone and I know we can be a bit much,” I said. We finished our lunches and then took a cab back to the office, also on the company’s dime.
“You know if there’s anything you want to tell me, you can, right?” I’d always sensed that there was a whole lot more to Lilia than met the eye and I had barely scratched the surface.
“I know. I really appreciate it. I know you’re my boss and everything, but I really consider you a friend as well,” she said and I gave her a kiss on the cheek. She blushed again and mumbled something that I didn’t quite hear.
~*~*~
When we got back there was a certain redhead sitting at her desk as if he’d never left.
“Um, excuse me. I think you’re on the wrong floor,” I said, grinning uncontrollably at the sight of him. Love made you deliriously happy when you saw your significant other.
“Oh, am I?” he said, standing up and coming over to me. I turned my face to the side for a kiss, but it didn’t come. I looked back at him and found him standing with about three feet of space between us.
“Three feet, remember?” he said.
“Engaged, remember?” I retorted, holding up my hand. He slapped his forehead, like he’d just realized something.
“Oh, that’s right.” I shook my head at him and he finally gave me my kiss.
“You’re terrible,” I said as he put his arm around my waist.
“And you’re beautiful. So, how was lunch?” he asked as Lilia sat back down at her desk and started listening to the messages that had been left while we’d been gone. Lucah still made her a little uneasy and our PDA definitely made her uneasy. She was funny that way.
“It was good,” I said, walking backward and drawing him into my office so we could talk privately. I closed the door and gave him a real kiss.
“Hi,” I said.
“Hello, Miss Clarke.” I squealed as he lifted me off my feet and set my ass on my desk.
“To what do I owe this honor?” I asked as he got down on his knees and ran his hands up and down my legs. I had pantyhose on, but the contact still set my blood on fire.
“You exist. That’s all I need.” He gave me a wicked grin and then snuck his hands up my skirt to where my panties were.
“Lilia could walk in here at any moment,” I hissed at him as I contradicted my reluctance by pushing myself closer to his hands. He moved upward, finding the top of my pantyhose and rolling them down so he could get better access.
Hell, crap, fuck, Jesus. He was good.
“I left her a little note that we were not to be disturbed.” I looked down at him and he was quite pleased with himself. Every now and then we escaped off to have a little sexy time at work, but lately those times had been few and far between.