21
Quentin
What the fuck did we just do?
The second it was over, reality sank in. That wasn’t a fantasy or a dream, it actually happened, and I needed to get out of that office as fast as I could. Fortunately, Merry seemed to have the same thought. Without even a word, we disentangled ourselves from each other and got dressed. Just past the door, I heard footsteps of people showing up to work, going down the hallway, getting coffee. They had no idea what just happened. At least, I hoped with everything in me they had no idea. The last thing I needed right now was for anybody at the complex to know that I had just fucked Merry in her office.
I couldn’t call attention to it. I couldn’t make a scene and make anyone notice me burst out of Merry’s office and rush to mine. Not that it would be out of the ordinary for me to be in her office. Everybody knew we had regular meetings to talk about the social media campaigns and the plans for upcoming posts. They wouldn’t see anything strange about us meeting up on a Monday morning to lay out the week ahead. Especially considering it was a race week and we wanted to drum up as big an audience as possible and let people know about the tailgating event we were hosting before the race itself.
And that’s exactly what I wanted everybody to think. When I walked out of her office, I wanted to look as usual and normal as possible so if anybody happened to be in the hallway or caught sight of me on my way to my office, it wouldn’t strike them as strange in any way. Smoothing my hair and straightening my clothes to ensure they looked in place and not like I had just thrown them on, I turned to Merry. This was one of those moments where I should say something. That would just be the right thing to do. But there were literally no words that came to mind.
What would be the right thing to say at that particular moment?
“I have a lot of work to do,” Merry finally said.
Thankful that I didn’t have to come up with something clever, I nodded and walked out, smiling at Darren when he came out of the breakroom with a cup of coffee.
“Hey,” he said. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, hoping not to sound defensive.
“You’re usually already in your office nursing your third cup by now. Unless Mom is freaking out, then you’re in the breakroom stealing a cinnamon bun or muffin,” he said.
I forced myself to relax and laugh.
“It’s a race week, so I’m sure she’ll be channeling her very best Betty Crocker by the middle of the day. I’m saving myself,” I told him. “Maybe she’ll make that chocolate cherry cake thing she does sometimes.”
“Text me the second you find out,” he said seriously.
I nodded. “You have my word.”
“All right. I’m going to head down to the track. Do a few practice runs.”
“I’ll be down later to watch,” I said.
My little brother held up his cup of coffee.
“You should grab a cup. You look a little out of it.”
He walked toward the door to the outside, and I continued toward my office, keeping it together, not speeding up or letting my expression reveal anything. I managed to make it all the way to my office before freaking out. I considered that a massive accomplishment. By the time I walked through the door, I felt like I was going to crack. When it closed behind me, I did.
I dug my fingers back through my hair and let out a sound somewhere between a growl and a gasp. I couldn’t believe I’d just done that. That morning when I got up, I was on the brink of completely freaking out because I didn’t know what was going through her mind or what I was supposed to say to her. I’d stood there in the breakroom waiting for her to come to work so I could talk to her about kissing her in the bar. I was so worked up about kissing her, just kissing her, I’d thought about it every second until I got into her office to talk to her about it.
Then I stood there and promised her that her job was safe. I reassured her I wasn’t going to do anything to let anybody know what happened and that we could just forget it. That was supposed to be where it ended. She’d looked so happy, and I knew I’d done the right thing. Then she had to come around that desk and touch my arm the way she did. Anybody else would have been able to just deal with it, but not me. I freaking pounced on her. Not thirty seconds after pushing the reset button and clearing the air so we could have just gone on like everything was fine, I grabbed her and kissed her. Five more steps. If I had just taken five more steps, I would have gotten out of the office and could have gone about my day like normal.