“Bring it on.”
Forty Two
It was half past three when Trudy brought in her usual stack of manila folders. She slammed them on my desk as she always did, and I looked up just in time to catch her sneer.
“Five o’clock?” she said with a smirk.
I gritted my teeth. “This late in the day, don’t count on it.”
She blinked and her lips parted just slightly in surprise. “But I need them tomorrow morning.”
The old Marisa had never gotten smart with Trudy, but that Marisa had long since given her two weeks’ notice and gotten the hell out. I looked at her and said, “I’m afraid I don’t have the ability to bypass the laws of physics and get them done while finishing all of this other crap that’s been on my desk for hours.”
Her pencil-thin eyebrows jumped and her lips tightened into a thin scowl. She recovered from her surprise and came back with, “Well, find a way. I need them tomorrow morning.”
Five years. Five years of this bullshit. I was done. I wasn’t a passive office chameleon anymore. I’d gotten over my inhibitions, gotten a man who was supposed to be out of my league into my bed, and decided to stop blending into the woodwork. After all of that, just what was I doing letting this bitch push me around?
Trudy started to go, but my voice stopped her. “I have a better idea.” I swallowed every last shred of passiveness and forced myself not to back down.
She stopped and looked at me. “What?”
I reached into my desk drawer and pulled out the report that I used to reconcile hers. I slammed it on top of the folders she’d handed me, picked up the whole stack, and shoved it towards her. “Why don’t you skip your afternoon liaison with the Millers, go back to your own desk, and do the damned thing yourself?”
I was angry, but still had a hell of a time suppressing a snicker at the dumbfounded look on her face. It was even more difficult when I realized that several nearby conversations had fallen silent.
Trudy recovered from her surprise and stammered, “It’s… it’s your job.”
“You’re right,” I said, not withdrawing the folders. “It is. And it’s your job to get me the information I need early enough in the day for me to actually have a fighting chance of finishing it.” I nodded at the other stack of papers on my desk. “That’s all getting done before any of this is. If you want it done for tomorrow, I would suggest you get on it.”
I could almost hear necks craning towards us in the surrounding cubicles. A chair creaked and I bit my tongue to stifle my amusement. In the back of my mind, I couldn’t believe this utter twat had ever intimidated me or pushed me around.
Trudy rolled her eyes and huffed, then reached out and snatched the stack of folders. She stormed out of my cubicle. For a moment, the only sound was her furious stomping fading as she disappeared down the hall. Then a snicker pierced the silence from another cube. And another. Finally, when I was sure that Trudy was well out of earshot, I let myself laugh. Under my breath, I chuckled, “Bitch.”
Forty Three
On Sunday afternoon, I found myself between Darren and Eric at a baseball game again.
By the third inning, I was sorely tempted to take one—or both—of them out to the parking garage and release some tension. They were both pros at teasing, and that day was no exception, especially since neither of them was probably aware of what the other was doing.
While Eric was off getting more beer, Darren took my breath away with a spine-melting kiss. When our team hit a grand slam, and we all came out of our seats to cheer, one of the brothers ran fingertips up my back. At one point, movement caught my eye and I glanced down to see Eric’s finger trailing along the edge of my seat, not quite touching my thigh, but so close I could almost feel it.
Mercifully, in the fourth inning, they found something else to steal their attention for a few minutes.
“Hey, Darren,” Eric said. Darren and I both turned to him. He nodded down the bleachers, towards a leggy brunette selling pretzels. “New pretzel girl.”
“And a hot one at that,” Darren said.
“I’ve got a twenty that says she knocks you back,” Eric said.
“Me?” Darren glanced at him. “What’s wrong, Eric? Too afraid of another ‘pretzels of shame’ incident?” I snorted with laughter.
“No, I just want to see if you have it in you,” Eric said. He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and fished out a twenty. “Come on, Darren. You can do it, can’t you?”
Darren rolled his eyes. Then he pulled a twenty out of his own wallet and they both handed the money to me. “Watch and learn, little bro.” He started down the stands towards the unsuspecting pretzel girl.
Eric leaned back in his seat. Without looking at me or saying a thing, he slid his hand over my thigh. I sucked in a breath. He gave my leg a gentle squeeze, then casually brought his hand back into his own lap.
“Tease,” I said.
“Well, I could have done it when Darren was still sitting there.”
“I wouldn’t put it past you,” I laughed. And if you both keep it up, there is going to be a grave act of public indecency right here in the stands. I shifted in my seat. It was bad enough being with one of them, but their combined presence was going to make me lose my mind.
Eric sat up. “Oh look, there he goes.” He dropped his voice. “Here comes the pitch. She’s smiling. She’s flirting. She’s—” We both watched as the girl leaned over to hand someone a pretzel, all the while talking and flirting with Darren. “Is that—”
“A tattoo,” I said, craning my neck to get a better look at the hint of multi-colored ink on her lower back.
“A tramp stamp,” Eric said. He shook his head. “Damn it, I should’ve gone after her myself.”
“Well, you two do have similar taste in women, it seems,” I said, flashing him a grin.
He let out a breath. “You’ve got that right.” His finger trailed down the side of my thigh, raising goose bumps. He laughed softly. “I think this is the first time we’ve had the same girl at the same time, though.”
The same girl at the same time. Jesus, Eric, what I wouldn’t give for that…
“Oh, oh, look,” Eric said.
Darren was on his way back up, shaking his head, pretzels in his hand.
“Now who’s got the pretzels of shame?” I said, handing Eric the money as Darren took his place beside me.
“What did she say?” Eric asked. “Engaged? Married? Attached?”
Darren shook his head. “Nope, she’s single, she just
said she doesn’t date guys she meets on the job.”
“She’s single,” Eric said, almost falling as he put his hands on the empty seat in front of him, swung his legs over it, and headed down the stands.
I laughed as I watched Eric bound down the steps.
Darren rolled his eyes. “I will seriously kill him if he gets her number.”
“He has to try his luck,” I said with a shrug. “He saw part of her tattoo. I think he wants to see the rest of it.”
Darren looked at me, his jaw slack. “She has a tattoo?”
“Yeah. Tramp stamp. Her shirt pulled up when she leaned over.”
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” he said, rolling his eyes again. “First she knocks me back, then she’s got ink that I didn’t even get to see.”
“And she’s giving your brother her number.”
“What? No way.”
I nodded down to where Eric was standing with the pretzel girl. His phone was out, and he was entering something into it.
“That son of a bitch,” Darren said, sitting up. “No fucking way.”
Eric came back, taking the steps two at a time and grinning like a little boy on Christmas. I could barely contain my laughter as I said, “You got her number, didn’t you?”
“Damn right,” he said. He looked at Darren and, with a half-assed attempt at a straight face, said, “She thought you were a nice guy, but said I’m more her type.”
“Jackass.”
“Shut up and eat your pretzels of shame.” Eric ducked just in time to avoid getting hit in the head with a piece of a pretzel. He laughed and took his seat beside me.
As the game went on, so too did our friendly banter. And, unbeknownst to either brother, gears were turning in my mind.
Forty Four
My heart pounded as I pulled into the parking garage next to Ambrose’s. Eric’s car was there, so I knew he was working. I just hoped he had time to talk. I wanted to get this over with before I lost my nerve.
The hostess held open the door as I walked in. “Welcome to Ambrose’s, how many tonight?”
“I’m actually just stopping in to talk to someone,” I said with a smile. “I assume Eric’s working tonight?”
She nodded towards the lounge. “He might be headed out on break, but you should be able to catch him.” I thanked her and walked through the dining area.
As I rounded the corner, Eric was in the middle of making a drink. He had two bottles overturned in each hand, holding the necks between his fingers. He always was talented with his hands, I thought with a shiver. He flipped the bottles over, dropped a straw into the glass and handed it to the patron. As he did, he glanced my direction and a surprised expression flickered across his face. He gave me a quick “I’ll be right there” gesture and I nodded.
I slid into the empty seat at the far end of the bar and watched him finish with a few drinks. I always loved the way he looked at work, with his pressed button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the top button undone. Casual, but professional. And sexy as hell.
After he’d finished with the other patrons, he leaned on his elbow on the bar in front of me. “So what’ll it be?” he said with a grin.
I forced a smile. “Do you have a break coming up?”
He cocked his head, his smile falling a little. “I was about to take one, yeah. Why?”
I swallowed. “I need—I wanted to talk to you.”
His eyebrows jumped. “I…okay.” He paused. “About?”
“Is there somewhere else we can go?”
His face blanched. “Marisa…” The note of panic in his voice puzzled me for a heartbeat, then I realized what he was thinking.
I laughed. “I’m not pregnant.”
He let out a breath. “Don’t fucking do that to me,” he said, chuckling. “You scared about five years off of my life.” He leaned across the bar and kissed me lightly. “Let me tell the boss I’m taking a break. We can go out back; I need a smoke anyway.”
Once he’d managed to get away from the bar, he led me out through the kitchen to the back alley where the employees took their smoke breaks. As soon as the door closed, he slid his arms around my waist.
“Now that we’re alone, can I at least have a proper kiss?”
“Of course,” I said with a smile. As he kissed me, his shoulders seemed to relax a little. I wondered if he was kissing me to get a feel for why we were out here. If I was here to tell him off, he’d likely be able to get some hint from my kiss. But it was nothing like that. I was nervous, but I wasn’t hostile, or angry, or anything of the sort.
He let me go and pulled his smokes out of his pocket. “So what’s up?”
I hugged myself against the cool evening air as well as my nervousness. No sense beating around the bush, I figured. Might as well get straight to the point. I forced myself to look him in the eye. “I think we should tell Darren.”
His eyebrows jumped, as did the unlit cigarette between his lips. “Why?”
I swallowed. “I just, I feel weird lying to him about this.”
Eric lit the cigarette and took a drag. “You two aren’t exclusive. He knows you’re sleeping with other guys.” He paused, tilting his head so that when he blew out a cloud of smoke, it didn’t blow into my face. “Why would he need to know?”
I shrugged. “Maybe he doesn’t. But it bothers me to keep it from him. It’s one thing to sleep with other men. It’s another to sleep with his brother.”
He looked at the ground as he took another drag. “I don’t think it’ll bother him. Really.”
“I know,” I said. “Which is why I’d rather tell him. Clear the air. Be honest. Then if he—if either of you—isn’t comfortable with it anymore, then we can deal with it. But this arrangement…” I shook my head. “I don’t want to stop with either of you, but it’s been bugging me.”
Eric was quiet for a moment, taking a long drag and releasing the thin wisp of smoke from the corner of his mouth. “I guess it’s only a matter of time before he finds out one way or the other.”
“Exactly. And I’d rather not blindside him with it.”
He paused, then nodded. “All right.”
I swallowed. “I’d like to talk to both of you. At the same time.”
“Do you really need me to be there?”
“Maybe not.” But I have my reasons. “But I’d like you to be. If we can all talk about it, then there won’t be any room for miscommunications or anything like that.”
He dropped his cigarette and crushed it with his heel. I tried not to watch the way his hip twisted when he did it, tried to stay focused instead of being distracted by Goddamn it Eric, you don’t know how sexy you are…
I cleared my throat and dropped my gaze. “Anyway, that’s really all I came to talk about.”
He nodded and slid his hands over my hips, kissing me gently. “Well, as long as you’re here,” he gave me a devilish wink.
I put my arms around his neck. “How long is your break?”
His jaw dropped. “I was kidding.”
“I’m not.”
He swallowed. “But…”
“Does anyone else take their break out here?”
“Um, no, not tonight, the only other smoker on tonight is—”
“Good.” I slid my hand between us and squeezed him, laughing at his startled gasp.
“Jesus, Marisa,” he laughed, barely whispering. “I thought you just came here to talk.”
“I did. And we did. So now…” I rubbed his rapidly hardening cock through his slacks. “Unless you wanted to talk about anything else?”
“I, uh, no.” His teeth snapped together as I unzipped his fly. When my fingers closed around his cock, he almost choked on his own breath.
I didn’t wait for him to respond or protest. I dropped to my knees and took his entire cock into my mouth.
“Oh fuck…” he groaned. His weight shifted. I glanced up and saw that he had rested one arm against the wall, bracing himself. His other hand ran through my hair. “Jesus, Marisa,” he whispered. He rocked his hips back and forth, as if trying to get his cock just a little farther into my mouth. My hand joined my mouth, stroking him as I licked and sucked him.
His cock twitched, stiffened. I squeezed him with my fingers and moved faster with my mouth, loving the long, helpless moan that rewarded my efforts. I went faster still, giving him everything I had as his moan disintegrated into a throaty growl.
“Fuck…oh my God…” His fingers trembled against my scalp. “You’re going to make me come, baby. Oh fuck…oh…fuck!” His entire body tensed, and a second later, he came.
When he finally begged me to stop, I rose, wiping the corner of my mouth as he straightened his clothes. I smiled at him. “I’m glad we had this talk.”
He laughed, his eyes still wide with disbelief. “I may have to have another cigarette before I get back to work.” He glanced at his watch. “I still have time. But first…” He kissed me, letting his tongue explore my mouth, tasting himself on my tongue. When he broke the kiss, he said, “Christ, that was hot.”
“It was,” I said. “I love places like this where we’re risking getting caught.”
He laughed as he pulled a cigarette out. “Nah, we weren’t going to get caught out here. Not—”
Just then, the door opened and four of the bus boys filed out, carrying trash bags out to the dumpster. Eric watched them in horror, his cigarette nearly falling out of his mou
th. It was hard to tell in the dark, but I thought his face turned the same shade of panicked white as it had when he thought I was going to tell him I was pregnant.
“Like I said,” I suppressed a laugh. “Almost getting caught adds to the thrill.”
“Says the woman who wouldn’t have gotten fired if we’d gotten caught.” He laughed and shook his head as he lit his cigarette. He took a drag as he watched the bus boys head back inside. Then he grinned at me as he exhaled the smoke. “Guess it’s a good thing I didn’t decide to fuck you.”
“You thought about it, didn’t you?”
He kissed me lightly. “I was about three seconds away from putting you up against that wall and giving you the fuck of your life.”
I shivered. “You’ll just have to do that next time, won’t you?”
He exhaled another stream of smoke and grinned. “Count on it, baby.”
Forty Five
I chewed my thumbnail nervously as I waited for Eric and Darren to show up.
Someone knocked. Chewing my lip, I whispered a prayer that I wouldn’t lose my nerve. I took a deep breath and opened the door.
“Hey sexy,” Darren said, kissing me gently.
“Hey.” I let him in and we moved into the kitchen.
“Eric said he’s running a bit late.”
My heart raced. Fuck. Just get here and let’s get this over with. I handed Darren a cup of coffee as he took his usual seat across the counter from me. It seemed a bit surreal to be here again, sitting with the counter between us and drinking coffee like we always did before we’d gone from friends to friends with benefits. Ever since that first night together, we had done all of our talking in my bed.
“Marisa?”
My head snapped up and I met his eyes. I had no idea how long I’d been lost in my own thoughts. I shook my head. “Sorry.”
He set his mug down. “What’s wrong?”
I pursed my lips. I wanted to wait until Eric got there, but didn’t know how long I could just make small talk with someone who knew me far too well not to notice that my mind was elsewhere before I just blurted it out.
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