by Hazel Keys
Rachel shrugged. She felt giddy, like she was in high school again. In fact, she wasn’t sure if she’d ever liked a guy as much as she liked Brad. For as much as she had started out disliking Brad, she was really starting to fall for him.
“I just didn’t expect this I guess,” she said slowly. “Us, I mean. Getting involved. We were hostile to one another for so long, you know? I guess I had figured that it was always going to be that way.” She cut off a slice of pancake and popped it into her mouth. It was both crispy and fluffy, with the sweet taste of banana and cinnamon all the way through. “Mmm. These are delicious.” She scooped two more bites into her mouth, and washed them down with the rich, dark coffee.
“What about you?” She asked. “Did you ever expect this from us?”
A grin formed at the side of Brad’s mouth, making him look boyishly young. “Yes,” he said at last.
Rachel’s eyebrows went up in surprise. “Really?”
He laughed, and nodded his head. “Yeah. The night of Tristan’s birthday party was kind of an eye opener for me. I found you annoying at first. You know, like I always had. But then, almost like instantly, the annoyance was gone. Everything you were doing was dammed adorable. I couldn’t stop thinking about how cute you were. The beer, the Ewoks argument. It was a side of you I had never seen before I remember thinking ‘that side’. That side is the side of Rachel that I wanted to see everyday. So I started finding ways to pull it out.”
Rachel stared at him speechless. It was nearly two months ago that they had celebrated Tristan’s birthday. He had remembered all of that? A wave of emotion swept over Rachel, and she fought the urge to let a few tears fall.
“Are you okay?” Brad asked, immediately concerned. He got up and came around the table to pull her into his arms. “Did I say something wrong?”
Rachel laughed lightly, and shook her head. “No. No not at all. It was the perfect thing to say actually.” She buried her head into Brad’s chest. It was her new favorite place to be, she realized.
“What are you thinking?” Brad whispered, holding her close. She sighed, and kissed his naked chest lovingly.
“I’m thinking…I’m thinking that I am so happy that you and I argued in the beginning. Because it led us to this.”
Brad chuckled, and nodded his head before leaning down to tilt her head up for a kiss. It was slow and warm, and so much more than just a random kiss.
“Me too,” he agreed.
~
It was past four before they finally made it out of Brad’s house; and only because Rachel was in sore need of clean clothes and her phone charger. If not for those things, she was quite certain that she could have spent the entire day with him doing nothing but making love and eating without a single stitch on.
To her surprise, it had been Brad’s idea that they go out for an early dinner and catch a movie afterwards. She could feel the beginnings of becoming spoiled, and she had to admit, she liked it. At her building Brad walked her to her door and told her that he would be back in an hour to pick her up. As soon as she walked through the door she was bombarded by Bella’s, wanting to know everything that happened.
“Well look what the cat dragged in!” Bella exclaimed, not able to keep a grin off of her face. “How was last night?”
Isabella popped the cork of a cheap wine bottle and poured three glasses nearly to the brim. “Tell us all the juicy details,” she insisted, handed Rachel a glass.
Rachel laughed, and made no effort to kick the Bella’s out of her room as she readied for her date. She loved having friends like them in her life. Even if they were a tad overly nosy at times.
“It was amazing,” she sighed. As she recounted the details of the night, she picked out a dress and shoes for the evening, did her makeup, and packed her overnight bag. By the time she was done she was ready to go and admittedly a little tipsy from the very full glass of wine.
“He sounds so sweet!” Isabella pined, reclining into Rachel’s pillows. “I wish I had a guy who would spend Friday night cuddling and watching Netflix. What did you watch?”
Rachel giggled and told them.
“No way! You mean he sat there with you and binged watch Broad City?” Bella gasped. “He’s a keeper Rachel, don’t let him go. If a man can put up with that, he can put up with anything.”
“Right?” Rachel agreed. “And the cool part was, he didn’t even complain! Like at all. He watched it all through. Then when we were done he asked very serious questions about it. He took it seriously, and I know it’s a comedy and all, but I really liked that he did that. Well, that and the cuddling. The cuddling was my favorite part.”
Bella raised a brazen eyebrow. “Really, Rachel? That was your favorite part?”
“Yeah come on,” Isabella agreed. “Tell us the good stuff. It’s been so long since any of us have had some yummy man time. Pleassseeeee.”
Rachel chuckled, but shook her head. “Sorry ladies. That part stays between me and him.”
The Bella’s grumbled, but didn’t push the topic of sex any further. They knew Rachel well enough to know that she wouldn’t give up any details she didn’t want to. The intimate parts of her sex life was very much one of them.
“So what’s going to happen to work now?” Bella asked. She had finished glass number one, and was on her way to finishing number two.
“What do you mean?” Rachel asked. She gave a final look in the mirror, decided she was satisfied with her look, and sat down on her bed with the Bella’s. If Brad was on time, she only had fifteen minutes left before he was back to pick her up.
“I mean, are you still going to work there?”
“Of course I am!” Rachel exclaimed. “There’s no rule about fraternization in the office. And we can keep it professional- enough. We’re adults after all. I don’t see why we can’t work and play together.”
“You’re so lucky,” Isabella sighed. “I wish my office crush would talk to me.”
Rachel and Bella turned to Isabella, surprised.
“You have an office crush?” Bella asked.
“Yeah,” Isabella shrugged. “I mean, doesn’t everybody? There’s always someone that you work with that you get to know pretty well right, and then one day you kind of look at them and think; yeah. I could totally go home with them. Right?”
Rachel opened her mouth to say no, but she closed it after she thought about it. That wasn’t exactly what happened between her and Brad, but it was pretty close. And yes, Rachel had had an office crush before, back when she was finishing up college. He had been a tenured literature professor. For an older man he was extremely well put together, and pulled off gray hair better than anyone she’d ever seen. She and the other office assistants at the Bursar’s office had nicknamed him the silver fox. Alas, the silver fox had been married, and very faithful to his lovely wife that they later found out was actually all of their bosses. Now that she was thinking about it, she did have a faint memory of her friend Erica trying to flirt with him. If memory served, it hadn’t ended well.
“I guess you’re right,” Rachel admitted at last. Then she realized something else. “Wait. Who are you crushing on?”
Isabella’s eyes rolled up to the ceiling, as if she suddenly found something very interesting there. “Nobody,” she said whimsically.
“Oh come on!” Rachel retorted. “I told you about Brad!”
“No you didn’t,” Bella corrected her. “We told you about Brad actually. You just didn’t deny it. There’s a difference.” Then she turned her attention to Isabella. “But seriously. Who is it? Is it me? If so I’m flattered.”
The three girls erupted into laughter, almost spilling their wine.
“And here I thought I was hiding my feeling so well!” Isabella sighed, feigning anguish.
A knock on the door announced Brad’s return, and Rachel got up to take a final look in the mirror.
“We’ll get it out of you,” she warned, giving Isabella a wink. Her two friends got up, and
hugged her goodbye.
“Have a great night,” said Bella.
Chapter 19
Bradley
Two months later
Ryan raised the glass of champagne up in air, toasting Bradley.
“You did it man,” he congratulated, a smile on his face. “You became exactly what this company needed, and you did it without a single complaint. Job well done, Sir.”
Ryan and Brad’s glasses clinked together, and the two men toasted to Brad’s success on the patio of Le Bec, one of the best Parisian restaurants in the city. They had booked a long lunch that they could have their meeting and and celebrate. For the past couple months while Brad’s life had gotten better with Rachel, Ryan’s had gotten worse with his ex-wife. She was pretty much forcing him to give her everything just so that she would try to take the company. Brad didn’t know how one person could be so vindictive.
Rachel wasn’t vindictive at all, he thought as he tore pieces from his roll of bread. She was a great debater; there was no doubt about that. But if there was any vindictive behavior behind it, it had left the first time they shared a kiss. In his office, that late April night. He still remembered the shirt she was wearing. Hell, every time she had worn it since he hadn’t been able to keep his hands off of her; in the office of anywhere else. He loved how his prowess made her giggle seconds before he wrapped his arms around her.
“What are you thinking about over there?” Ryan asked.
Brad’s head shot up, and he saw that Ryan was looking at him, grinning.
“Sorry. What?” He asked, confused. Had he completely drowned him out?
Ryan pointed up to the tall pretty young woman standing at their table. “Liz wants to know what you would like to eat,” Ryan told him, still looking amused.
“Oh! Uhh…” Brad scanned over the menu quickly, found something he could pronounce and ordered it.
“Well, well, well,” Ryan teased once the waitress was gone. “Look what we have here.’
“What?” Brad asked, feigning confusion. “What do we have here?”
“While I’ve been falling out of love you’ve been falling into it, haven’t you?” Ryan asked. “Don’t try to say no. I know that look. You’ve met someone.”
Brad thought about denying it. What if Ryan asked who it was? What if he didn’t approve? Then again, if the look on his face were that obvious, would it even be worth it to lie. Finally, he sighed and nodded his head.
“Actually yes,” he admitted. “Yes I have. It’s new, but I think it’s something.”
Ryan clapped him on his back. “I knew it! Congrats again, man. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Are you kidding?” Brad asked. “With everything you’ve been going through with your ex? I didn’t want to rub it in your face that I had met someone.”
Ryan tisked his tongue and rolled his eyes. “Please. Do you think I’m that much of an asshole that I wouldn’t be happy for a friend finding a new lady?”
Friend? Brad thought. Were he and Ryan friends now? Had they gotten to that level?
“Well anyway, yes. I met someone new, and I think she’s great.”
Brad talked about Rachel without using her name from then until their food came, his smile growing bigger and bigger the more he talked about her. A minute after their food arrived however, Ryan asked the dreaded question.
“Is it anyone that I know?”
Brad took a breath. He could lie, but Ryan was pretty good at picking up on those. He could tell the truth, and anger him. Or, he could tell the truth, and he could completely be all right with it.
“It’s Rachel,” he said at last, the declaration coming out in a rush.
Ryan’s eyebrows went up in surprise. “Rachel your employee, Rachel?” Ryan asked.
Brad nodded his head, trying to appear casual. “The one in the same.”
Ryan made a sound in his throat and took a bite of chicken.
“That’s fine,” he said at last. “She’s a smart woman, keeps you on your toes.”
Brad exhaled a sigh of relief. “I think so too,” he replied.
“Just be careful, okay?”
“What do you mean?”
Ryan picked up his napkin to dab away any excess from his mouth. He folded it neatly, laced his fingers, and looked at Brad gravely. “You have a certain air of authority to uphold, Brad. You may like this woman, hell you may already be in love with her. But at the office she still has to be your employee and you still have to her boss. Not just for her, but for others around you. They need to know that no one gets special loopholes for bad work.”
“Rachel’s a hard worker,” Brad defended, interrupting Ryan.
“I’m sure she is,” he replied, just as quickly. “But if she would ever slip you would still have to write her up just like you’d have to write anyone else up. If you two have problems, don’t air them out in the office. If you break up, you both still have to work with one another. Just remember that to always keep your temper mild and your attitude alpha, okay?”
Brad wasn’t quite sure what Ryan meant by that last part, but he agreed to it anyway. Mostly because the conversation was becoming very awkward and he just wanted to get it over with. “Sure boss,” he said at the end. “Whatever you say.”
Ryan nodded his head once, seeming to be once again the brilliant but aloof owner of a booming business. “Now, let’s get back on track, shall we? We need to discuss what we’re going to do about all of these…” Ryan trailed on, and the business meeting finally turned into a business meeting. They discussed couriers, packaging, labels, and costs of shipping, and Brad was all too happy to be talking about work stuff.
~
It was late when he got back to the office, as it usually was when he had to juggle both VP and Director duties. Everyone had gone, including Rachel, and she had laid a thick, neat stack of her newest proofs on his desk. He leafed through them, and as always, was impressed with her work. He made comments with the little red wax pencil in the margins for adjustments, then, happily, picked up his jacket, turned off his office light, and headed home.
“Hey you,” he greeted, walking into his house twenty minutes later. “What are you doing here?”
Rachel came out of the kitchen with a bottle of red wine in one had and two goblets in the other. Her smile lit up her face, and lit up his too when she came to kiss him. Whatever she was doing there, he was happy for it.
“I got your texts earlier. Sounded like you were going to end up having another long, rough day. I figured you weren’t going to be home until late so I used my new key to come in and make you dinner. Perfect timing by the way. Should be ready in about ten minutes. Why don’t you take this, change into something more comfortable, and I’ll finish up with dinner?”
Brad kissed Rachel once more on the lips, and took a goblet from her. “You’re amazing, you know that?”
“I know,” Rachel teased, her smile bright and wide.
Brad went upstairs to change quickly, and when he came into the kitchen he saw that Rachel had really went all out for him. Fresh bread from the bakery, roasted vegetables in garlic and time, a rotisserie chicken, and saffron rice was all laid out on the small table for him. His stomach growled hungrily, and he remembered that he had only picked at his lunch.
“There’s an apple pie in the oven for dessert, too,” she told him, pulling out his chair for him.
“I thought you said you couldn’t cook?” Brad asked, amazed. The aroma of food was swirling temptingly around him. He couldn’t wait to dig in.
“I said that I couldn’t cook what I didn’t know by heart,” she corrected, slicing into the kitchen. “But, these are all things I know how to cook quite well.”
Brad took a bite of the chicken, and his eyes rolled back in pleasure. “Rachel,” he sighed, “this is delicious! Thank you so much, this is just what I needed.”
Chapter 20
Rachel
“Don’t get in the habit of me doing this every night no
w,” she called from the sink. “I believe in equal opportunity cooking in a relationship.”
Brad chuckled, and nodded his head. “Yes ma’am, whatever you say. I have to admit though, I’m going to have to brush up on my culinary skills if I’m going to have to keep up with you.”
He walked up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and laid a soft, sensual kiss on the nape of her neck. Rachel shivered at the delicious sensation, and she leaned more fully into his embrace.
“Thank you,” he whispered into her ear, nibbling on it. “It was a rough day, but this was a perfect ending.”
Rachel’s eyes fluttered as his fingertips brushed her hair back from her neck, exposing more of her flesh for his exploration. His lips made a trail from her ear lobe all the way down to her shoulder, sending her body into delicious shivers.
“It was my pleasure,” she moaned. Dishes completely forgotten, she turned in Brad’s arms and kissed him passionately on the lips. She could still taste the sweet traces of the apple pie on his lips as she flicked her tongue across them. Oh, she thought, how delicious he tastes. She gasped as his strong arms lifted her up and sat her on the counter she had just finished cleaning. Her shirt was pulled up over her head and she quickly did the same with his, wanting to touch the bare, sizzling muscles that lay just beneath the fabric.
Brad growled when she dragged her nails teasingly down the front of his chest, and she giggled darkly. She loved the way he made her feel, and equally enjoyed that was she could make him feel. His lip travelled down her shoulder, caressing their way over her collarbone as his hands made quick work of her bra. She gasped in pleasure as he took her left breast into his mouth. His tongue, clever and skilled, lapped greedily over her taut nipple, teasing her with soft nips at the sensitive flesh.
Between her legs, she could feel her wetness spread over her thighs. She loved how her body was always so quickly ready for his. And his was so ready for hers. She didn’t have to reach out to know that his cock was already thick and hard for her, pulsating beneath his jeans and just begging to be let out and touched. With quick, coy fingers she did just that, flicking the button out of it hole and sliding down the zipper to spring Brad’s member free.