by Hazel Keys
“Hey Tristan,” Rachel called, poking her head out of the office door.
Tristan stopped midstep and turned around. “Hey Rachel. What’s up?”
“Nothing! Why? What’s up with you?” She asked, paranoid.
Tristan chuckled, leaning against the doorframe. “It’s just a greeting Rache. What can I do for you?”
Rachel felt a flood of color stain her cheeks. She felt like an idiot. Flinging her hair over her shoulder, she forced out a laugh. “Right. I knew that. Um, I was just trying to ask where Brad was. He’s usually here before me in the mornings. Have you seen him?”
Tristan nodded his head. “Yeah, he came in for a few minutes, but he said he had a lot of meetings today upstairs, and that he’d be working mostly there today. Why? Do you need some help? I promised Brad I’d assist if you needed anything.”
Rachel shook her head, feeling antsier than ever. “Thanks for the offer Tristan, but I got it covered.”
Tristan looked a tad disappointed, but nodded his head respectfully. “Okay. Well, I’ll be in my office if you need anything.”
Well, Rachel thought, sitting back down at her desk. That’s that. Needing something else to focus on, she picked up the list Brad had typed out for her and looked it over. It would definitely take her all day to finish, probably even into a little overtime. That was all right though, she needed a distraction.
~
A knock on her office door made Rachel jump, and she looked up to see Brad standing in the doorway of her office. She felt her heart begin to flutter as she looked at him. The rest of the office had left not long ago, maybe twenty minutes earlier. They were all alone nonetheless, and Rachel realized suddenly that she was thankful for that.
“Hey there,” he said casually, as if everything was normal.
“Hi,” she rasped. Rachel suddenly felt like she was in high school again, talking to her crush for the first time.
“You didn’t answer any of my calls,” he said. He didn’t sound angry, or even upset. It was as if he was stating a fact during a presentation.
“No I didn’t,” she agreed.
“How come?”
Rachel shrugged. “I had no idea what to say,” she said honestly. “I still don’t.”
Brad walked into the office, but kept his distance. Instead of coming close, he took a seat in the chair on other side of her desk. “I know what I want to say,” he said after sitting down.
“What’s that?” Rachel asked, hoping her voice wasn’t shaking. Her stomach was alive with butterflies and she couldn’t seem to get them to calm down. Thoughts of curling up in Brad’s lap and kiss him silly were running rampant in her mind, making it impossible to focus on anything.
“I liked kissing you,” Brad stated. It was the truth; Rachel knew it. She could her it in his voice and could see it in the way he stared straight into her eyes as he said it. When she said nothing, he continued. “I liked it, and I would be lying if I said I don’t want to do it again. Something happened when we kissed, Rachel. It was electric, magnetizing. Tell me you didn’t feel it.”
“I felt it,” she whispered, feeling the heat grow between her legs, remembering the headiness of the kiss.
He leaned forward, his blue eyes gazing into her soul. “Did you like it?”
Rachel nodded her head, her mouth suddenly very dry. “Very much,” she rasped.
Brad stood up, and she made no move to stop him. His eyes never left hers as he came around the desk and leaned down until their faces were only inches apart.
“I should be mad at you,” he said, his tone betraying his words. “I kept losing focus all day today, wondering if I was going to get to see you, or if I would have to wait to until tomorrow.” His eyes left hers, only to roam down her body and right back up it again.
“You look beautiful today,” he told her. His voice, dark and deep, brushed against Rachel’s ears like black velvet, and she trembled in her chair from it.
“You don’t look so bad yourself,” she told him. And he didn’t either. Fitted charcoal gray suit, white shirt, and black tie with his hair pulled back. He looked sexy as hell, she couldn’t deny that.
Brad gave her an amused smile, and his gaze flickered down to her lips. “I’m going to ask you this time,” he told her. “If you say no, on my honor as a gentleman I will back off. But if you say yes…” His voice trailed off, and Rachel didn’t need him to finish the sentence. She was a woman after all.
“Ask me,” she whispered, trembling.
Brad tilted his head, his eyes looking over hers, her lips, and the line of her neck. It was a slow perusal. A tease. “Can I kiss you?” He finally asked.
“Yes,” Rachel breathed, already rising out of her chair. He took her into his arms immediately, pulling her close so that when their lips finally met so did every other part of their body.
Rachel moaned as his lips caressed and molded over hers, taking her breath away. Expertly his tongue slid over her lips, parting them so that he could find hers and massage it with his own. She sighed in pleasure as his masculine taste filled her mouth and robbed her of her senses.
A low, throaty moan escaped from Brad’s throat as he held her close, and Rachel felt a new wave of moist heat splash across her thighs. It was the sexiest sound she had ever heard, that moan, and she wanted to hear more. Boldly, she slid her hand between the two of them and cupped the rather impressive bulge between his legs. Brad growled in response, and lifted her up so he could spread her legs and sit her on the desk.
“Careful sweetheart,” he warned, pulling her hand away from his crotch. “You’re not ready for that just yet.”
His hands buried into her curls at the side of her face, and he drew her in for another head spinning case. He seemed so rough, Rachel thought, and yet every single action landed on her with a surprising gentleness. Even the way he held onto her hair was somehow sweet and kind. He kissed her for several more minutes, their passion rising until, suddenly, Brad stopped, and pulled away to kiss her forehead.
“What’s wrong?” Rachel asked, realizing that the situation was perfectly in reverse.
Brad smiled at her and shook his head. “Nothing,” he assured her. “I just was wondering if you were hungry.”
“Am I- what?”
Chapter 13
Bradley
Rachel had looked at him like he was crazy at first, but once she realized he was serious she agreed to go and get some food with him. Brad held her hand as they walked towards his car, and held it even more as he drove them through the city until they reached a fancy looking restaurant with valet parking.
“You look surprised,” Brad said as he pulled out Rachel’s chair for her.
“You could say that,” Rachel said wryly. “You have to admit, that was quite a sudden change of pace.”
Brad admitted that it was indeed, and promptly turned to the waitress. “Can we get two glasses of water please, and a bottle of your house red?”
The waitress, clearly smitten with Brad’s looks, nodded her head rapidly and walked away without even bothering to check their ID’s. When Brad looked back at Rachel, she had a somewhat bemused look on her face.
“What?” He asked, puzzled.
“Nothing, nothing,” she quickly replied, burrowing her nose into the menu. Brad watched as she pretended to be consumed by choices on the paper, and it amused him greatly. Reaching across the table, he picked up her hand and gave at a small squeeze.
“My body was getting ahead of my mind,” he explained. “I like you, and you feel really good. But I’m not a one night stand kind of guy.”
Rachel’s face softened, and she relaxed her shoulders. “Oh,” she said. “That’s- well that’s actually really nice of you.” She nodded her head. “Okay then, I forgive you for sudden gear change.”
Brad chuckled. “I’m so glad.”
When the waitress came back with their drinks Brad ordered the spaghetti bolognaise and Rachel ordered the Eggplant parmesan. Whil
e they waited for their food they talked about their times in college, both getting their bachelor’s first, then their masters. He learned that RushIt was actually Rachel’s very first job out of college, and that she was just as young as she looked.
“Twenty-seven?” He asked, not believing it.
Rachel giggled and wiped a spot of marinara off of her lips. “How old did you think I was?” She asked.
“I guess I never really thought about it,” he admitted. “But now I feel like a pervert.”
This time Rachel laughed heartily, her beautiful voice ringing like a soft bell all around the table. “Well wait a minute, how old are you?”
Brad admitted that he was thirty-three, and Rachel, being nice, promised him that he didn’t look a day over twenty-eight. For as much as they fought at the office, they got along even more so outside of it. They took their time, savoring their delicious meals, and then ordered the decadent hot fudge brownie sundae to split for dessert.
“You sure know how to spoil a girl,” Rachel said as Brad led her back out to the valet stand.
Before answering, he stopped her in the middle of the foyer, and pulled her into his arms to kiss her. She melded into him immediately, only stopped when the polite host cleared his throat after the third time. Outside, he opened her car door and made sure she was securely inside before shutting it and walking around to his side.
“Where to now?” Rachel asked, once they were driving.
Brad smiled softly, and reached across the center console to grab her hand. “Now? Now I take you home, walk you to your door, and kiss you goodnight.”
From the corner of his eyes he saw Rachel’s eyebrows go up in surprise.
“But”-
“I told you,” he interrupted. “I’m not into one night stands.”
~
At the door he kissed Rachel goodnight, waited until she was safely inside, then preceded to go home. He’d had an intense erection the entire time they’d been together, but now that she was no longer around him it was starting to go away. By the time he reached home, he felt as if he had control of his body again, and sighed in relief when he fell into his bed.
Rachel. She was not the girl he thought he would fall for, but here he was. Beautiful, strong, intelligent Rachel, who looked so damned cute when she was yelling at him. Not that he’d ever thought being yelled at was cute before, even by her when she was just a co-worker. But something had changed over the last couple weeks. In both himself and her.
He wanted to get to know her. He wanted to figure out where her anger came from, where her joy came from, where everything came from! She was fascinating to him, and he wanted to study her like he’d studied all those books that she had studied back in college. He could only hope that she would let him.
The rest of the week went by in a blur. It was filled with meetings and work, and in between those two were the sweet, soft kisses from Rachel. Now that he was her boss, he found that she actually worked very well without him over her shoulder. Which was great, he found, because Ryan was calling him to perform vice president duties more than he thought. Surprisingly, he was calling him up for things that had nothing to do with his job as well. Like Thursday morning, for instance. He was supposed to be on the phone with their shipping warehouse on 6th, but Ryan had called him up for an impromptu meeting.
“You wanted to see me?” Brad asked, walking into Ryan’s office.
Ryan turned from the window overlooking the street below, and to Brad’s bewilderment he saw that the man was actually crying.
“Are you okay Mr. Miller?” Brad asked, taking a few steps closer.
Ryan put his hand out to stop Brad from coming any further. “Fine, just fine,” he told him, wiping a tear from his eye with his other hand.
“No you’re not,” Brad said blatantly, calling his boss out. “What’s going on?”
Ryan tried once or twice more to make excuses, but Brad kept him on track with the subject. Finally, he broke down and told his new vice president what was wrong.
“It’s my wife,” he said, plopping down into his chair. “After months of not hearing from her, she’s finally decided to send me divorce papers.”
There was a moment of silence, and Brad wasn’t sure what to say. What was there, after all, other than the obvious ‘sorry your wife is such a bitch?” Brad’s quietness urged Ryan to talk further though, revealing more of the story.
“I was expecting it you know. Someday. She couldn’t hold out forever. I just thought that by the time she did it I wouldn’t be upset about it, you know?”
Brad nodded his head. “Yeah, buddy. I get it.” He walked over to the beverage cart and picked up the decanter of whiskey. It may be morning, sure, but the man needed a stiff drink. He poured the liquid courage into the small glass and walked over to Ryan to hand it to him.
“Here. It will be out little secret.”
Ryan gave Brad an appreciative smile and took the glass. He gulped it down in one shot and shivered slightly as the brew hit his empty stomach. “Thanks,” he rasped, setting the glass down. “I needed that.”
Ryan spoke for a few more moments. About his wife. About how he was going to tell his daughter, and lastly, about how she might come after the company. He hoped that he could pay her to stay away from it with enough alimony.
“It’s just that things are finally going good here,” he vented. “We’re reaching a new level of success, and it’s because of me. Because this is my baby. I’ve put so much hard work into this place.”
Brad listened quietly, nodding his head when appropriate and saying words of comfort when he could slip them in. He hoped that Ryan’s wife wouldn’t be vindictive enough to try to take the company, but then again, he remembered how harsh his ex-wife had been. They’d only been married two years, but it had been enough for her to take over half of everything he had and run off with his best friend.
An hour and a half later, Marcy knocked on the office door and told Brad that the warehouse manager was on the phone. That spurred Ryan to let him get back to his job, and finally after a long delay Brad was able to get back to work. As he went back to his day though, he couldn’t help but think about the turmoil Ryan was going through. He was very happy at the end of the day when Rachel called him at the end of the day, and offered to come over to his place with takeout food. He gave her his address and in forty minutes she was at his door with a large brown bag full of delicious smelling Chinese food.
“You look like you’ve had a rough day,” she commented, laying the boxes of food out on his small dining table.
Brad choked out a laugh. “You could say that.”
“Want to talk about it?”
Rachel was new, but there was something about her that he trusted. He knew she was a good person, so while they ate through the mountains of fried rice, noodles and sesame chicken, he decided to tell her about Ryan’s problems with his wife, and how they had reminded him of his own.
“I didn’t know you were married,” Rachel remarked after it was all said and done.
“It was forever ago,” Brad replied quickly, fishing them two beers out of his fridge. “And it’s a part of my life I don’t like to revisit. Cheryl was amazing when we were dating in college. But then after graduation she just changed. She became arrogant, and wildly dependent. I knew this before the wedding, but I was hoping that somehow she’d go back to herself after. But she didn’t. Turns out, she was just pretending in college. What she really wanted was to be a spoiled housewife with money at her disposal. When I wasn’t making enough for her lifestyle, she went and slept with my best friend, Paul, who was running his father’s law firm down town. They got married shortly after our divorce, but now that Paul has ran the business into the ground I suspect that she’ll be leaving him soon too.”
“That’s horrible,” Rachel replied, her face full of sympathy.
Brad nodded his head, and then leaned over the table to smile at her. “That’s why I find you so attractive
though,” he said.
Rachel raised an eyebrow, not sure how to take that. “What do you mean?”
“You are so strong, Rachel, and independent. You seem to want an actual partner. Not just someone who will foot your bills. You are a fierce woman, and that drives me crazy in the best possible way.”
Chapter 14
Rachel
Rachel’s smile was wide and genuine. It warmed her heart to know that that was how Brad saw her. It was true too. She wanted an equal partner in life.
“Really?” She asked, leaning closer.
“Absolutely,” Brad replied, and she knew he was being honest. “Why don’t we stop all this ex-wife talk, hmm?”
Rachel got out of her seat, only to go over to his and straddle his lap. “I like that idea,” she whispered, lacing her fingers behind his neck. Their lips met in the first kiss of the day, and she immediately felt those warm, electric tingles that shot through her every time they kissed. Brad’s arms wrapped around her firmly, and she gasped when he stood up, and started walking towards his living room. He picked her up like she was nothing, and laid her down gently on the cool, black leather of his sectional couch.
He kissed her until she was breathless, and only when she gasped and pulled her lips away did his kisses move down her neck and towards her breasts. Brad’s warm, wet lips left a sizzling trail from her earlobe all the way down to the V in her blouse. She prayed that he didn’t want to go slow that night, and her pleas were answered when his sure fingers slid underneath the fabric and lifted it up and off of her.