“That we’re seeing each other?”
“Sure, we can tell them. I’m sure people will figure it out by themselves though. I know we haven’t exactly been dating, but we have spent a lot of time together the past few months.”
“I know” I agreed. “I guess it wouldn’t really be that big of a deal to anyone.”
Travis smiled and a look of seriousness came back over his face. “Well,” he said, his fingers grazing my skin as he brushed his hand up and down my arm, “It’s a big deal to me.” Adrenaline shot through me at his touch, and I leaned ever so slightly closer to him, tilting my head up toward his face. His black tee shirt showed off his strong chest and arms, and the color of it made his warm brown eyes look darker than usual. His strong face and chiseled jaw were set in an unreadable expression. He gazed down at me intently and then reached up to gently touch my cheek with his fingertips. Their warmth burnt into my skin, and he lightly brushed his thumb across my lips. My senses felt like they were going into overdrive as he stood there before me.
His hands slid through my hair, gently holding my head in place, and he suddenly bent down, crushing his lips to mine as if he couldn’t resist any longer. I eagerly kissed him back, enjoying the sensation of his soft, warm lips against my own, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. Travis continued to passionately kiss me, and I gasped as his teeth gently tugged on my lower lip. His hands slid down my back, lightly grazing over my bottom, and he suddenly lifted me up into the air. I clung to him, my legs wrapping around his waist and my arms remaining tightly wound around his neck. I gently tasted his mouth with my tongue, and he took a few steps forward, pressing me up against the wall so that I was pinned between it and him. I felt his muscular chest rising and falling against my own, the warmth of his body, and his strong arms holding me to him.
Travis shifted his head and slowly planted a trail of kisses down the side of my neck, moving his mouth toward my collarbone. Once again I gasped out loud, the touch of his lips against my skin the only thing I could focus on. He supported my weight with one arm and slid his other hand to my side, his fingers just edging under the bottom of my camisole, softly caressing my skin. My breathing was becoming erratic, and he continued kissing my neck, his mouth hot against my flesh. The sound of my phone ringing was the only thing that brought us both back to reality. He seemed to hesitate, almost as if coming out of a daze himself, and brushed his lips against me one last time. Travis lifted his head, resting his forehead against my own, and I slowly opened my eyes. “I guess we should slow down,” he whispered, sounding slightly out of breath himself.
“Yeah, probably so,” I said softly, gently caressing the back of his neck with my fingertips. I ran my fingers through the short hair on the back of his head, longing to keep him close to me.
“So, I should probably put you down then?” he asked, a gleam in his brown eyes as he smiled.
“Probably so,” I agreed, my lips curving into a smile as well at the intimate moment we had shared.
I unwrapped my legs and he gently lowered me to the ground, his hands staying firmly planted on my waist. Travis backed away slightly, so that I was no longer crushed between him and the wall, and bent down to give me a gentle kiss. He took my hand, and in a sweet gesture, pressed his lips to it. I flushed with pleasure and marveled that our passionate kissing moments earlier had turned into a tender moment between us. There were so many different layers to our relationship now—first colleagues, then good friends, and now love interests and perhaps much more. I met his gaze, and for a moment neither of us said a word. I almost didn’t want to move, afraid that it would somehow break the spell. “I guess I should see who called,” I finally said, reluctantly turning to walk into the living room to get my phone.
“Tell them I’m not happy with their timing,” Travis joked.
I glanced back over my shoulder and grinned at him. “Me either.”
I pulled my phone out of my purse and saw a missed call from Jennifer. That was unusual; she rarely called me on the weekends and certainly not on a Sunday morning. I listened to my message and discovered that she needed me to come into the office for a couple of hours that afternoon. With the deadline fast approaching, she’d been reading proofs over the weekend and was having trouble accessing some of the files she needed. I sighed. “Jennifer,” I mouthed to Travis as I finished listening to the message.
His brow furrowed. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, she’s in the office and can’t get into the files she needs. I have a feeling she’s just looking in the wrong place, but I’m going to have to go in.”
“Do you need me to come, too?”
“No, it shouldn’t take long. The copy hasn’t even been finalized yet; it’s not like we’re doing the final proof. I just wish she would wait until it’s complete, but she always likes to read through everything and then have us proof the final mock-up. Anyway, I better go home and change so I can go in.”
“You’re going to drive to Arlington and then back into DC?”
“I guess,” I said with a shrug. “I don’t really want to wear yoga pants and a camisole to the office.”
He frowned sympathetically, but I didn’t really have another choice. “I’m glad you stayed over,” he said sincerely. “I had a great time yesterday—well, this morning, too.” He smiled at me, and I flushed, not sure if he was referring to breakfast together, our make-out session a few moments ago, or both. I didn’t want to leave him and go into the office, but I didn’t really have any other options.
“I had a good time, too. Dinner Friday, the picnic yesterday—everything was perfect.” I smiled happily at all the time we’d spent together during the past few days. Despite all that we’d done over the past few months, this weekend topped it all.
“I’ll walk you down to your car,” Travis said, his voice deep.
I went back into his room to grab my gym bag and collected my purse and phone from the coffee table. “Here, I’ll get it,” Travis said, taking my gym bag from me and slinging it over his shoulder. My mind flashed back to him carrying my bag at the retreat, and I thought how different things were between us now. Travis took my hand as we walked out of his apartment together, and we headed to the parking garage beneath his building. He stowed my bag in the trunk for me and then leaned down to give me a quick kiss goodbye. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” he said, his voice gentle.
“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said, feeling sad all over again that I had to leave him. “Bye, Travis.”
“Bye,” he said softly. He gently brushed my cheek with his hand before turning to leave.
I got into my car and after turning on the engine, slowly backed out of the space. As I started to pull away I glanced in my rearview mirror and saw Travis still standing there in the stairwell, waiting to see that I got off safely. My heart swelled, and I smiled to myself, content that things were finally working out between Travis and me.
Chapter 18
I spent a couple of hours at the office Sunday afternoon helping Jennifer. It turned out that someone had accidentally moved some of the files to a new folder on our shared drive, but I was able to easily do a search for them and retrieve what was needed. She thanked me for coming in on my weekend, and after spending more time than I wanted to at work, it felt like I was returning to the office all too soon on Monday morning. But rather than feeling completely sad about the end of a great weekend, I felt a giddy anxiety at the thought of seeing Travis. I’d talked to him briefly last night when I’d gotten home, and he’d said that he missed me, but that wasn’t nearly the same as standing right in front of him, looking into his eyes, or having him pull me into his arms.
Marissa saw me beaming as I walked in and immediately asked about my date with Travis. I’d never gotten around to calling her back, but she’d sent me a text saying she’d gone away for the weekend to visit her parents. Her mouth dropped open as I told her about not only dinner on Friday with Travis, but also our picnic on S
aturday and how I ended up staying the night at his apartment.
“That’s so sweet,” she gushed after I finished describing falling asleep in his arms.
“Shhh!” I said, looking at her pointedly.
“Oh, no one is here yet,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “I’m glad things worked out for you though. You two really are so perfect for each other.”
“You think so?” I asked happily.
“Definitely! You always looked like you were having such a good time together even back when you were just friends. I mean last week was a little weird, but aside from that….”
“It is strange how he was so furious at me all last week and now we’re suddenly together.” I looked out the window, my eyes wandering down to the street below, and I remembered our encounter on Friday morning—how upset I was when I saw him, and how a few seconds later he was pulling me into his arms. I thought I didn’t even want to be friends with him anymore that morning, and then once he’d held me, I never wanted him to let go.
“I know, right? After that meeting on Thursday I didn’t even think you two would ever speak again.” She giggled a little. “It would have made working on our team a bit awkward.”
“Seriously,” I agreed.
“But the rest of time you guys were so perfect. It’s like you were meant to be together.”
“Maybe so,” I said with a grin.
“Ugh, why do they keep emailing me?” Marissa suddenly asked, glancing at her computer screen.
“Who?”
“The web developers. I swear they can’t get any of my edits right. I’m going to call them. Apparently sending an email with my changes doesn’t work.”
I shrugged and headed back over to my desk. Grabbing the lunch I’d set on top of it, I walked down to the break room to stash it in the fridge. Travis was already in there, adjusting stuff on the shelves to make room for his own lunch. “Hey,” he said, his face lighting up when he saw it was me.
“Hey yourself,” I said smiling, suddenly feeling a little shy. He had on a light blue polo shirt and khakis and looked tanner than usual, maybe from our afternoon in the sun on Saturday. His hair had been freshly gelled, and as he glanced over at me, his dark eyes burned into mine. It felt so different to be back at work with him. The last time I’d seen him we’d been kissing in his living room. Well, I guess the very last time I’d seen him he’d walked me to my car. Still, we were alone then, not in the break room that our entire office shared.
I watched as he lifted an entire case of water someone had stuck in the fridge, the strong muscles on his arms tensing as he moved it to the top. “Don’t know why that was in there,” he said, his voice deep. He reached out and took my lunch, setting it in the fridge since he was already standing there. As he turned back around to face me, I felt a tiny flutter in my heart at his closeness. I could smell the faint scent of his soap and aftershave and practically feel the warmth radiating off his skin. He reached out and gently brushed my cheek with his hand. “It’s good to see you,” he murmured softly.
“Hi guys,” Jeff said, suddenly walking into the break room. I jumped a foot in the air, backing away from Travis. “Everything okay, Maddy?” Jeff asked, looking concerned.
“Sure, I’m fine,” I replied, feeling slightly embarrassed. Travis nonchalantly glanced between Jeff and me, seeming as calm and collected as usual.
“So how was your weekend, man? Get to that baseball game?” Jeff asked.
I raised my eyebrows in Travis’s direction. He’d invited me to spend Saturday with him but hadn’t mentioned he’d already had other plans.
“No,” Travis replied, a slow smile spreading over his face. “Something else came up.”
“Oh, that’s too bad,” Jeff said.
I smiled and caught Travis’s eye. “Yeah, that’s definitely too bad,” I agreed.
Travis laughed, and Jeff looked a little puzzled. I had to bite my lip from saying anything more. Travis glanced down at his watch. “I’ve got a meeting in a few minutes. I’ll have to catch up with you both later.” He met my gaze, and I knew he didn’t want to say anything else in way of goodbye while Jeff was standing right there. Jeff and I chatted for a few more minutes before I headed back to my own office. Sitting down at my desk, I finally turned on my computer. Marissa was muttering to herself and frantically typing something on her keyboard, so I pulled up my email to check it before getting to work. I was surprised to see a note from Travis already in my inbox. Although I had just seen him, I felt strangely excited to see his name there amongst all the others listed on my computer screen.
Good Morning Maddy,
I hope you enjoyed your weekend. ;) Will you have lunch with me today?
Travis
I smiled to myself because we already had lunch together almost every day. Even last week when we hadn’t been on good terms, we had ended up in the same group one day by default. It was a small office—we couldn’t exactly avoid each other. I wrote him back as soon as I finished reading his message.
Travis,
My weekend was perfect. How about yours?
Lunch sounds great.
Maddy
His reply came back immediately.
My weekend was amazing.
T.
***
Travis was stuck in his meeting for most of the morning, so I didn’t get to see him again until lunchtime. He stopped by my office just as Marissa was getting ready to go meet Rob. “Hey Maddy,” he said, leaning on the doorframe, an easy smile on his face. I took in his dark hair, deep brown eyes, and strong jaw, thinking again how handsome he was. He looked so big as he stood there gazing down at me, and I felt my heartbeat quicken as I watched him.
“Hi,” I said, breaking into an eager smile. I grabbed my purse from underneath my desk and stood up, smoothing out my dress. I’d worn a sleeveless navy dress that had cream accents at the neckline and waist and had paired that with a pair of strappy high-heeled sandals. I felt Travis’s eyes still on me as I looked back up at him.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked, his voice suddenly sounding very deep.
“Sure, let’s go,” I said with a smile.
“Ahem,” Marissa interrupted loudly.
“Marissa,” Travis said, looking over at her for the first time. “How are you?”
“And how was your weekend, Travis?” she asked coyly, completely ignoring his question.
“Oh, I figured you already heard all about it,” he said, laughing easily. I walked over to him and noticed that even now I felt a slight thrill as I approached him, despite the fact that I’d spent most of the weekend with him by my side. He remained in the doorway, and I paused beside him, looking back to Marissa as she spoke.
“I heard Maddy’s take on things,” she teased. “Of course I’d love to hear your side of the story.”
“Maybe some other time,” he said with a grin. “I’m taking Maddy to lunch right now.”
“All right,” she said, pretending to pout. “By the way, you two look really cute together.”
Travis held out his hand, and I reached out and clasped it. I felt the electricity between us as his warm hand tightened around mine. I wondered if anyone would see us holding hands as we walked down the hallway together and decided that I didn’t really care. I loved the feel of him beside me too much to worry about what anyone else was thinking.
“Cute?” Travis asked as we walked away. His thumb absently traced circles on the back of my hand, and I felt a thrill shoot through me at his touch on my skin.
“Well, like I said before, she’s been hoping we’d get together for months. I got to hear about it all morning.”
“She’s too much,” Travis said with a laugh.
“Don’t I know it.”
“But I can’t argue with her logic on this one,” he said, grinning down at me. I laughed and grinned back at him. We happened to run into Jeff in the hallway, and a look of understanding suddenly flashed across his face.
“Is the café okay with you?” Travis asked politely, interrupting my thoughts.
“Sure, that sounds great.”
After we exited the building, we headed down the block to our favorite café. Usually we just went there to grab some carryout, but there was a small dining area. We both ordered burgers without even glancing at the menu above the counter, and then laughed that we had obviously been there too many times before. I walked over to a booth, and Travis followed me, carrying our tray of food. I slid in, and he sat down across from me. I grabbed my plate and diet coke from the tray. Travis set the basket of fries between us, pouring some ketchup on his plate and not on top of the fries since he knew I didn’t like it.
He dipped a fry into his ketchup and popped it in his mouth. He looked so completely relaxed and at ease today. Just like me, he must also feel relieved that the stress of last week was gone. Sure, we were crazy busy at work, but everything was easier when you didn’t have to worry about not speaking to a member of your own team. “We should definitely eat out of the office more often,” Travis said with a grin.
“Totally agree,” I said, taking a bite of my burger. “I wonder if Marissa and Elizabeth will miss us.”
“I think they’ll manage,” he said lightly. “So, Marissa grilled you, huh?” he asked, giving me a sympathetic look.
“Of course. Did you expect anything less?” I asked. I took a sip of my diet coke and looked over at him to see his response.
“From Marissa? No,” he said, smiling wryly. “I’m pretty sure she’s itching to do the same with me. Luckily I was stuck in that meeting all morning.” He picked up his burger and took a large bite.
“Did you say anything to Elizabeth?”
“Nah, she’ll figure it out soon enough.”
First Sight Page 19