LAYTONSex had never gotten in the way of my work. Not until today, anyway. Early in the morning, I called my second in command and had her handle the staff meeting. There was no real reason for me to be there anyway.Staff meetings were knit one, slip one to me. I attended them when I could, but I was often out in the field. Being hands on in overseeing our projects was a necessity for me, sitting in on meetings about those projects, not so much.I met with those involved in each project personally and on a regular basis. There was no need for me to rehash those meetings with the entire staff contingent.Usually, that was why I skipped the weekly meetings sometimes. Today, however, I was simply avoiding the office. I meant what I said to Marissa about not having any regrets, but I didn’t want things to be awkward either.I figured we both needed a little space to process what had happened before we fucked things up between us for good. It was inevitable that I would see her around th
LAYTONFor such a big guy, Craig was surprisingly in touch with his instincts. I considered coming clean to him, but this wasn’t an episode of some girly rom-com. He didn’t need to hear me recapping my night with the sexy new employee any more than I needed to know all about the last girl he fucked at the gym. Or wherever it was the big man went to get his rocks off.The sex wasn’t really what was on my mind anyway. What really was, he might actually be able to spitball possibilities with me about. I took a breath and fisted my hands in my pockets, eyes tracking on a bird about to take a shit on a delivery truck. I wondered if that bird was my dad, and if I was the delivery truck.“Why do you think he made me hire Marissa?” I asked Craig, hoping to all that was holy he would have a better answer than my truck under the bird scenario.A line appeared between his eyebrows before he threw his arms out to the side and shrugged. “I don’t know, man. She saved you a shit ton of money on her
MARISSA“Have a good weekend, Sean.” I waved at the burly security guard at the front entrance. A friendly giant with dark red hair, he had eyes the color of spring grass. I wouldn’t have wanted to cross him by trying to get into a building he guarded for any nefarious purposes, but he was nice enough to me.I was finally starting up something of a friendship with a couple of people who worked in the same office building I did. Sean was one of those people. It made me feel just a little bit more like I belonged, like I could fit in. Lifting his hand in a wave, Sean flashed me a friendly smile that I was getting used to ending my days with. “See you on Monday, Marissa. Enjoy it.”Returning his smile, I tightened my scarf around my neck and stepped through the revolving doors onto the icy sidewalk outside. Gusts of wind swirled around me, picking up my hair and winding it around my face.I jammed a pink tassel hat down on my head and stuck my hands into the pockets of my cerise pink c
MARISSAAnnie and Denise were in the kitchen nibbling on a tray of freshly baked cookies that sat between them. It smelled divine in the house, like chocolate, butter and home.“My kingdom for a cookie!” I proclaimed dramatically, hanging my scarf and coat over one of the kitchen stools.Annie laughed, holding out her arms for a hug. I swept her up, spinning her around as I kissed the top of her head. Denise shook her head at us, but giggled as she held up one of their creations. “You don’t need to give us your kingdom for one, but I do want to hear all about your day later on.”As always, my bravado hadn’t fooled Denise. She saw right through my ‘buck up and believe it will be alright’ facade. Setting Annie back down, I swiped the cookie and nodded to Denise. “Fine, but later.”Casting a sidelong glance at Annie, she inclined her head and picked up the tray, wagging her finger at us. “Right then, no more cookies for either of you. You’ll spoil your dinner.”“Yes Mom,” I teased, thank
LAYTONGetting dressed for dinner with Marissa was more nerve racking than it should have been. I stood in front of my closet, staring at rows of neatly hung suits. They were ordered by how recently I’d worn them, and by color, though they were only gray and black.I liked rotating them, making sure none got more wear than any other. Once they started looking worn, I replaced them. I couldn’t stand the thought of a frayed or discolored collar.The rotation also made it simpler for me to get dressed every morning. I never had to decide on what to wear, the next option was already ready for me. Right there, hanging on the opposite side from where the freshly laundered ones were.Suits hung on one side of my walk-in closet, shirts on the other. There was a little more choice for color on the shirt rail, but not by much.All of these things meant dressing for dinner should have been a no brainer, but it wasn’t. Shrugging out of a white button up shirt, I hung it back up and opted for a bl
LAYTONI wondered if she would even have noticed my absence. Strangely it felt kind of good that she had. “I had to visit a couple of our sites. I like keeping my finger on the pulse, and seeing the designs come to life.”I didn’t know why I’d added that last sentence. It was out before I could even think much about it, much less stop it. Somehow, I’d felt compelled to add it. It was true, even if the site visits yesterday had largely been more about avoiding any post-sex awkwardness between us.The waiter delivered our drinks, filled our water glasses and took our food order. Marissa leaned forward, tilting her head slightly as she visibly relaxed. “I heard you liked visiting the sites, now I know why. I get it, though. The appeal of seeing what you dreamed up becoming a real part of the skyline must be incredible.”“It is.” I hadn’t expected her to get it so completely, so accurately. Knowing now that she was designer as well, albeit of a different kind, it made sense. I guess I had
MARISSADinner with Layton had surprised me so far. When I got dressed earlier, I was stuck between thinking I might be fired or that he was only in it to get to round two in bed. Or against the wall, in our case.I wasn’t getting that vibe from him at all this evening, though. He seemed to be genuinely interested in just talking to me. Throughout dinner, we’d talked about everything and nothing. There hadn’t been a quiet minute.We kept circling back to design and regrets about my life choices in choosing my current job over designing, but in between we’d discussed everything from the weather to our bucket list of countries to visit.The reason I was surprised was because I hadn’t thought I’d been as attracted to him as a person as I was to his, well, person. He was easy to talk to, a great and interested listener and all round actually more fun to be with than I had expected.For all my suspicions about ulterior motives for his invitation to dinner, he’d been nothing but the perfect
MARISSAWell—I wouldn’t have known what to say to that even if he had hung around to hear my answer. I felt the tops of my cheeks and ears heating.Two conflicting trains of thoughts sped through my brain. Layton Bridges had just told me that he liked me. Okay, he liked that I’d eaten—which, on a side note, seemed like a strange thing to say to someone you’d invited to have dinner. Wasn’t dinner typically a meal where people ate?The point, however, was that he’d said he liked something about me. Which made me strangely happy, if for no other reason than making me feel slightly more secure in my job—after Sexgate the other night and all.The second train barreling through my brain was one carrying a fresh cargo of steaming humiliation. Had I eaten so much that he’d actually noticed? I did a mental check. I was full, but not stuffed. My plate had been cleared, but it wasn’t like I’d gorged myself on a dozen rolls or ordered seconds or something.No. I shut that second train down immedi