LAYTON“They were,” she agreed, which surprised me until she said, “They were invented to make me feel nauseous. I can’t stand the things. Everything just hanging there waiting. Nothing where you need it to be.”“Nothing where you—” I trailed off. “Did no one ever teach you how to use a filing cabinet? Everything in it is exactly where you need it to be. It hangs so as to ensure it doesn’t just lie around in an indecipherable mess.”I gestured around her office, because it was the very picture of an indecipherable mess. Marissa shook her head, arching a brow. “You don’t believe that I know where everything is.”Allowing my head to hang forward in what I was sure would soon be shame, I just had to challenge her assertion. Even if I was about fifty percent certain she was about to prove me wrong. “I’m sorry, but no. I just don’t see how anything about your filing system can be in any way, shape or means systematic.”“It is,” she said, confidently. Placing her elbows on her desk, she for
MARISSALayton surprised me when he came to my office after making the announcement about the party. He hardly ever ventured over to my side of the building. My heart rate kicked up a notch when I saw him approaching, looking dapper as ever in another one of his impeccably tailored suits.Even if they were the only thing I’d ever seen him wear, they never got old. He looked too damn good in them. And since I’d copped a feel at what lay underneath the expensive layers of material, it was hard to look at him and not imagine what he might look like without the corporate suit of armor.A powder blue shirt brought out lighter flecks in his green eyes, especially since the tie he was wearing matched his eyes but had an intricate paisley design in the exact color of the shirt. I briefly wondered whether it had been made especially for him to wear with that shirt and if it was, whether the person who made it had chosen the green of the tie based on the color of his eyes.I nearly swooned over
MARISSA“What do you say to finally getting around to some much overdue sightseeing, then?” As he asked, the tiniest, barest hint of nerves had crept into his voice.It was clear he wasn’t used to having to convince women to go out with him. While I totally understood why others might have said yes right away, I didn’t have that luxury.The first time he asked me out, the only reason I said yes so fast was because Denise was right next to me. Before I could agree to any nighttime activities, I had to check with her about her schedule. And since it was Valentine’s freaking day we were talking about here, I couldn’t just assume Denise had nothing planned.I had to talk to her about it before I could commit. “I’ll have to see about some things.”“What do you have to see about? Come on, it’ll be fun. I promise. Fun and educational. It’s a double whammy. How can you say no to that?”I couldn’t, but unfortunately I also couldn’t say yes. “It shouldn’t be a problem, but I’ll need to get back
LAYTON“Happy Valentine’s Day everyone,” I announced from my spot at the front of the room. The atmosphere was electric, with the excited faces of my staff smiling at me. “Thank you for being here. I hope you enjoy the party. The social committee has outdone itself this year, let’s give them a hand.”A round of applause sounded and the two self-appointed members of our social committee flushed happily. Both women worked on the design team, but they consulted on interior decorating from time to time.It showed whenever they were tasked with transforming the office into a jollier space. This year they had opted for a less garish theme than big red hearts. Fairy lights twinkled overhead, attached to the light fittings and walls.There were white flowers on every surface. I briefly wondered what their allocated budget had been, but then I let it go. My people worked hard. We didn’t have parties very often. When we did, it made sense to spoil them a little.There was an open bar set up alo
LAYTON“Let’s do it,” she agreed, falling into step beside me as we made our way out of the office.The Freedom Trail was an iconic two and a half mile walking tour that featured sixteen nationally significant historic sites. Traditionally, the tours took place during the day.On days like Valentine’s Day though, they offered tours starting later and ended with a historic pub crawl. Marissa and I talked about the trail on the way to the starting point. I would’ve liked to have surprised her with the pub crawl at the end, but I figured this way she knew I wasn’t just taking her on a long, snowy walk for our date.“We have a tour guide who will be dressed in an eighteenth century costume. They’ll take us to a couple of sites before we visit four pubs on Blackstone Block. According to the website, that was where the Revolution was brewed and where the players got their courage and inspiration.”Marissa laughed, a sound that was like music to my ears. “Figures no one would’ve been able to
MARISSALayton paused for just a fraction of a second and I was sure he was going to put a stop to our heated kiss. I still wasn’t sure who had initiated it or how exactly it had happened. I only knew that as soon as we stepped inside his apartment, we crashed together like magnets which had no choice but to join.His tongue swept into my mouth and I let out a moan, trying to store the way he tasted and the feel of his lips deep in my mind in case he stopped. In case I never got to kiss the man again.Suddenly, his moment of hesitation vanished. He let out a sound somewhere between a low groan and a needy growl and deepened the kiss.One of his hands came to my neck and cupped it at the nape, holding me to him. The other came to my cheek, his fingers brushing the edge of my hair. He tilted my head to where he wanted it, devouring me as he started walking backward and bringing me to him.Having never been to his apartment before, I kept expecting us to crash into something. But we didn
MARISSA“You’ve been dreaming about me?” I asked, struggling to keep my train of thought from running away with me when his lips closed over a hardened nipple.“Mmm,” he hummed, causing ripples of goosebumps to raise on my flesh. When he released me, it was to look up into my eyes from my chest. “So many dreams. So many dirty, filthy dreams.”I didn’t know if it was simply something he said in the heat of the moment, but I would be damned if it didn’t turn said heat up to mercurial levels. As he kissed a path down my stomach to where I was wet and achy for him, I could only whisper, “Show me.”“Oh, I’m planning on it,” he breathed, gripping my thighs to spread them to make space for his shoulders. There was a beat where his eyes closed and he took a deep breath, almost as if he were savoring the moment, then he leaned forward and expertly licked and sucked me into two orgasms before finally relenting.I was spent, but somehow still needy. There were tiny droplets of sweat dotting his
LAYTON“Yeah? I bet you can get it in two tries.” Marissa giggled, crumbling two sheets of paper into her hand and shooting them one after the other in the general direction of the trash can in the corner of my office.Both pieces of paper landed way short of their target. I laughed and gave her a pat on the back. “What did we bet again?”She shot me a playful glare, elbowing me in the stomach. “Double or nothing.”I motioned for her to go ahead, desperately wanting to wrap my arms around her. It had been a week since our date at the Freedom Trail and the night that followed. It had been, without a doubt, one of the best nights of my fucking life.Marissa agreed to stay and after what turned out to be a series of naps instead of a decent night’s sleep, neither of us could get enough of the other. After our first relatively frenzied romp, we hit the shower, the bed again and eventually ended up on the kitchen floor.Our relationship had changed since then. We spent more time together,