Working Romance

by Susan Kohler

  “That’s not it. Forget Laura. I mean, her news is great, but when you said the word ‘baby’ it reminded me of something. I just remembered that we forgot to use any protection.” Bob looked guilty.

  “Oh boy, some responsible adults we are.” She counted in her head, “I should be okay, as far as pregnancy, and I’ve been tested, I’m healthy.”

  “Me too.” He looked a little embarrassed. “The thing is, I came prepared. I have protection in my pocket where it does no good at all.”

  “I stopped and bought some, today, just in case you forgot.” She laughed ruefully, “They’re in the bathroom, also doing us no good at all.”

  “Kate, how did you know it was going to be tonight?” Bob asked softly.

  “I could feel the tension, the waiting in you at work today, and knew I was feeling same. I knew you were as tense as a coiled spring, like I was, and you had the same need for it to be released.” Kate kissed his chest.

  “Well, at least some of the sexual tension was released,” Bob stroked her hair, reveling in the touch of her mouth on his nipples, “but that’s not all I want from you. There’s more to my feelings than sexual tension, and you know it.”

  “Mine, too,” she muttered, her mouth busy trailing slowly down his chest.

  “As far as the sexual release, though, it was pretty darn spectacular,” Bob pulled her up for a kiss, “definitely worth another try.”

  “Well let’s see, first, Sarah interrupted us and next, we forgot to use protection. If we can be spectacular together with all that going on, what else can go wrong?” Kate was more bemused than anything else.

  “I could tell you that twins run in my family, too.” Bob planted a quick kiss on her smooth shoulder.

  “Great.” She sighed dramatically, “Well, we’ll just hope for the best and remember to be more responsible next time.”

  “When is the next time going to be?” he asked expectantly.

  She reached over and grabbed his jeans off the floor and threw them at him. “If you dig into your pocket, now, would be good.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that.” He got the necessary item out of his pocket and put it to use, then reached for her. “Works for me.”

  The minute he touched her, the magic began again. This time, like the first time, they found their rhythms were perfectly matched. Feelings of love and tenderness merged magically with fire and passion, and once again they were transported towards an explosion of pleasure.

  They cuddled in the afterglow, talking about themselves. Kate told him more about her plans and dreams, and how empty her life had been from the time she’d been widowed. Bob discussed his desire to get out of Southern California and into a more rural area where he could have several acres of land. He wanted horses and a swimming pool, and lots of room to raise a family.

  “And dogs, of course,” she added in a matter-of-fact tone.

  “Love you, love your dogs, is that it?” He kissed her. “Of course, dogs.”

  She found out that he was ticklish and he learned that she loved to have her back scratched. She discovered that running her foot down the length of his leg had an instant effect on his libido. He realized that she had a special, sensitive place, between her breasts that drove her to frenzy. They both knew that there was still plenty to be explored and discovered. Finally and very reluctantly, Bob decided that he’d better leave.

  She lay on the bed watching him get dressed. It was like covering up a beautiful statue and she told him so; to her surprise he blushed, just the faintest shade of pink, but it was there.

  “Bob, I hate to bring this up,” Kate said, “but I’m really nervous about tomorrow. I hate the idea of being thought of as a thief by my friends at work. “ “Don’t worry, Kate, you know we’re in this together.” He leaned over to kiss her tenderly.

  “I know, and I trust you.” She pulled him down for another kiss. “I don’t want you to leave.”

  “I have to, there’s a lot of work to do tomorrow and there are your kids to think of,” he said reluctantly.

  “You’re right, but I don’t like it,” she pouted, and then reached up and pulled him down for a kiss.

  “If you keep kissing me like that you make it hard for me to go,” Bob admitted.

  “I’d like to make it damn well impossible.” Her expression looked like a cat that had gotten into the cream.

  Just before he left, he sobered for a minute, “Kate, if anything happens, please, no abortion?”

  “I’m not the type. If anything happens, it happens,” she replied. “But, if twins run in my family and in yours, that means we might have quadruplets.” She laughed so hard she almost fell off the bed at his facial expression.

  “That’s not how it works!” he protested, then he looked at her full of a man’s uncertainty. “Is it?”

  “Had you going for a minute there, big guy, didn’t I?” Kate laughed and threw a pillow at him. He leaned over kissed her again, then left.

  The next morning she called Laura at home very early, long before work. “Hey, do me a favor? If Bob asks you any weird questions about how when twins run on both the mother’s and father’s sides of the family it might mean quadruplets, say yes.”

  “Does this mean you’ve been doing something I should know about?” Laura sat up in bed, instantly alert, but the line was already dead.

  Chapter Six

  The next morning Kate was an hour late getting up for work. Somebody sneaky had turned off her alarm clock. She lay there in bed, stretching and feeling languid and luxuriant. She was very conscious of the tiny aches and pains from muscles that had been unused for so long. She knew she had to get up and get moving fast, but she couldn’t seem to do it. She sighed; she would be late for work again for the second day in a row.

  It wasn’t part of her reckless, irresponsible employee act, and since her mom now came over to baby sit, it wasn’t getting the kids dressed and ready to go. This time the reason for her tardiness was simple, she just couldn’t work up the energy to get out of bed.

  She felt wonderful but her enthusiasm and energy was sadly lacking. She managed to call to Laura from the bed, but the idea of getting up and feeding the kids seemed like an insurmountable chore. Finally, she forced herself to get up and into the shower, hoping it would help.

  Luckily her mother was downstairs already feeding the kids by the time she made it to the kitchen. She did have an awkward moment when her mother took a good long look at her. She was so relaxed, peaceful and curiously content that she couldn’t hide a small, wistful smile and her mother was instantly suspicious.

  “Is that what you’re wearing to the office?” she asked in a slightly disapproving tone.

  Kate had on her yellow sundress, but she had replaced the insert at the neck, and put a crisp white blazer over it. It was only moderately successful, but for some reason she wanted to wear Bob’s favorite dress to work that day.

  “Yes, Mom. It’s a fairly casual office and I just wanted to wear it today.” She poured herself some orange juice. “May I say you look very nice today?”

  Her mother did indeed look good, cool and comfortable in crisp tan linen slacks and a melon colored camp shirt. At fifty, she was trim and neat, with very few signs of age except for laugh lines at the corners of her mouth. Her dark auburn hair was shoulder length and carefully styled. All in all, she was still a vital, attractive woman, a fact that Kate’s father was extremely happy about.

  “Of course you may say I look nice today, even if it’s just an excuse to change the subject. You, however, look tired. Are you working too hard dear? Eating right? Getting to bed on time?” Her mother questioned her closely.

  She couldn’t help herself, at her mother’s last question Kate flushed. “Mom! I’m okay. If there’s something bothering me it’s just, um, the strain of getting used to a new job.”

  “Kate, you never could lie to me,” her mother said sternly. Then her voice softened, “If I had to take a guess, I’d say you’v
e finally found a man. A good sexy man, judging by the glow on your face. You’ve had a romantic evening, haven’t you? No wonder you’re so lazy today. Didn’t you remember that today is a work day?”

  Kate’s slight flush became a full-blown blush. “Please, Mom.”

  She felt like a teenager again. Her mom had lectured her the same way when she stayed out too late on a school night. She looked over at her kids, but they weren’t paying any attention to the adults’ conversation. In fact, they were sneaking food to the dogs.

  “Suzy! Sarah! Sam! Eat your food.” She got up and put the dogs outside, fastening the doggie door shut behind them. “The dogs have food of their own.”

  “So tell me about him and I’ll get off your back,” her mother prodded gently.

  “Okay.” Kate gave up all pretenses. “He’s my new boss, and he is so sexy and gorgeous it’s hard not to swoon at the sight of him. And he’s got the, um, forget that part, Mom. But he’s not just a pretty package, he’s also a great guy.” Kate’s eyes glazed over as she described Bob to her mother.

  “It’s usually a bad idea to get involved with your boss.” The voice of maternal reason.

  “I know. But it would be total insanity to pass up a man like this and my mom didn’t raise any crazy daughters.” Kate grinned, “Besides, it’s too late, I have no choice in the matter. Let’s be serious here, I’m a goner, Mom.”

  “Is this just a romance or could this lead to marriage?” Her mom hugged her closely.

  “Truthfully, mom?” She considered the idea. “It’s way too soon to be sure, but I’d be surprised if it didn’t end in marriage,” Kate grabbed her car keys, “if I don’t get fired for being late to work.”

  “So go. What’s holding you up?” She gave her daughter a push out the door.

  “Keep a close watch on Teddy today, Mom. Her temperature was down a little last night. Will you watch it for me today?” Kate stopped at the door. “I’ll call you from the office to check on her and go over last minute details for your trip to Grandma’s with the kids, okay?”

  “I’ll watch her, but remember, if she seems to be doing okay around noon, I’m going to leave early. I’ve arranged to have my friend, Martha, come over so that I can run some errands. I have so many things to do in order to get ready that I think I’m going to go nuts. Martha will play with the kids until you get home and she can also keep an eye on Teddy for you. Okay? I have the vet’s phone number right next to your work number. Don’t worry.” She hugged her daughter. “Have a good day.”

  When Kate arrived at the office, she barely got past her curious co-workers and to her desk before her phone rang. She sat at her desk and answered it.

  Laura was on the line. “Kate, get in my office, now!”

  Kate just started to stand up when her phone rang again.

  This time it was Bob. “Kate, my office, now!”

  Kate hurried into Laura’s office. “What did you two do, work out a script? Bob called me after you did. He wants me in his office, too.”

  “I’ll let you go to him, then. I just wanted to find out what that early morning phone call was all about.” Laura questioned, “I mean, have you got any reason to worry about having quadruplets? Twins? Even one? There are a few steps in that process, you know.”

  “Really?” Kate acted incredulously. “Tell me about it.”

  “Somehow I think it’s too late.” She laughed. “Sarah, Suzy and Sam are evidence that you already know how to make babies. So get going, but come back when we can talk. And yes, I did notice you’re wearing your sexy yellow sundress.”

  Kate grinned at her, “This old thing?”

  She hurried to Bob’s office. She walked in and shut the door behind her. She looked at him, noting the slight signs of fatigue, the tired eyes and lack of energy in his movements, the stifled yawn. She was secretly pleased that Bob seemed to be worn out too.

  “What took you so long?” He yelled loud enough to be heard all throughout the office area.

  He took her in his arms and sank to the leather sofa, pulling her down on top of himself in a passionate embrace.

  She pulled back just enough to answer, “Laura paged me first.”

  “What did she want?” He kissed her and stroked her hair.

  “She had dual purposes, the brat.” Kate nuzzled his neck. “She wanted to make it look like I was being called on the carpet for being late, and she wanted to ask me, ah, some personal questions.”

  “About me?” he asked. “About us?”

  “Why would we talk about you?” she answered, being evasive. “A little conceited today, are we?”

  “Come on, what questions?” Bob persisted, somehow sensing that he was the subject of this mysterious conversation.

  “Girl talk, about babies,” Kate said firmly. “Personal stuff.”

  “Does she know that we made love?” He decided to use kisses to persuade her to spill the required information.

  “Well, I never actually told her.” Kate smiled at him, matching his kisses with her own. “I did not say the words, ‘Bob and I made fantastic love over and over last night,’ but the CIA could use her for interrogating spies.”

  Kate paused for another delicious kiss. “Except for figuring out who the thief is, she’s got a real blind spot there.”

  “But why were you late today?” Bob teased, “Didn’t you get enough sleep last night?”

  “Funny thing, that’s just what Mom asked me when she came over to watch the kids. She didn’t know that some wonderful,” she kissed him, “devious, sexy person turned off my alarm clock. By the way, you look a little worn out, too. Are you sure you weren’t up too long last night?”

  “Are you very sure you don’t want to rethink the way you phrased that question?” he teased, watching the flush spread over her face. “I thought I was, um, up just long enough.”

  “And so you were. But back to my mother, she thinks I’m having an office romance,” Kate laughed.

  “Did you tell her about us?” he asked softly.

  “I tried not to. I wanted to keep it to ourselves, just to savor the feelings, for a little while. Do you know what I mean?” She looked up at him, Bob nodded. “But heck, she’s my mom. She read between the blushes.”

  “What did she think?” he asked, interested in the dynamics of this mother-daughter relationship.

  “I think she’s thrilled, but she’s also going to reserve final approval until she checks you out. After all, she’s never heard a word about you before today. My dad will be the one to give you a really hard time.” She pulled away from him and stood up. “They haven’t met you yet, remember.”

  “Are you ready to go into action?” he asked. At her reluctant nod he kissed her and then raised his voice, “Well Missy, a thousand dollars is a lot of money to be short, and it’s in your area. It had better turn up soon. Remember I’ve got my eyes on you!” Then his voice dropped, sexy and low, “And my mouth, and my hands and my . . .” He punctuated each phrase with a kiss, then raised his voice again. “Now get back to work and this better not happen again!”

  “We’d both be disappointed if it didn’t,” she said as she stood up and walked over to the door. At the door she turned and looked back over her shoulder and smiled at him. Then she left his office trying to look angry and defiant.

  “What a jerk!” she fumed as she stormed across the office. “As if I’d ever . . .” She looked around and quickly stopped talking.

  Instantly Cheryl put an arm around Kate’s shoulders. “How do they ever expect you to get anything done? All they ever do is yell at you,” she said with concern in her big brown eyes. “Both of them.”

  Rita came over. “What’s up?”

  Cheryl answered, “Laura and Bob both have had her on the carpet already, and it’s only nine-thirty.”

  “You poor kid.” Rita enfolded her in her ample arms. “I just don’t understand it. Bob and Laura used to be so nice. They never lost their tempers with anyone else. I mean
, you may have been late a couple of times, but you’ve really done a good job on catching up on the backlog in Accounts Payable.”

  Mary stated angrily, “I’m going to go in and talk to Laura. Even if they do have a legitimate reason to complain about your tardiness only one of them should lecture you about it. You don’t deserve to be given two tongue-lashings.”

  She stormed off, a petite dynamo, looking like she was ready to storm hell with a glass of water.

  Kate kept her face buried in Rita’s arms to keep herself from laughing out loud. She remembered all too well exactly how it felt when Bob gave her a tongue-lashing, and she’d take one from him anytime she could.

  A short time later Laura entered her cubicle. “We have to talk. Let’s go to my office.”

  The two friends went to Laura’s office.

  “Whew!” Laura sat down. “I really got yelled at. Remind me never to underestimate Mary. She told me that the gang thinks Bob and I are too hard on you and it had better stop if we want to have anyone working for us. Only she used a lot of real interesting words to get her point across. I can’t believe she talked to her boss like that.”

  “I never realized that it might be as hard on you as it will be for me. At least I get sympathy, you get to be an ogre, and you’re getting so good at it.” Kate laughed as Laura stuck her tongue out at her. “I hope you don’t wind up with a revolution on your hands. Maybe I’ll try to smooth their ruffled feathers.”

  “It wouldn’t work, and it might blow your cover. I’d better warn Bob he’s going to be getting dirty looks all day,” Laura said. “Hell! Mary may even chew his cute tush all the way off.”

  “Go protect him, I can’t love a man with no tush!” She laughingly shoved Laura towards the door.

  Laura looked back at Kate, her eyes wide. “Love? Are you admitting you’re in love? You did spend the night together? Come on, tell all.”

  “Interrogate me later; go rescue my man from the revolt of the aggravated accounting staff,” Kate laughed.

  “Sounds like a B movie,” Laura quipped. “The kind of thing where the controller and his beautiful assistant are both in danger of being found hacked to death, with a hatchet sticking out from one of their bodies.”