by Hazel Keys
“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 now,” 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.
He groaned as her fingers wrapped seductively around him and pulled him free of his briefs. He growled even more when she began to pump him with his hand, sliding up and down his cock, and using his precum to lubricate him. She loved the way she could they could make one another tremble.
“Pants,” she gasped, referring to her own. She didn’t need to say anything else. Immediately Brad’s hands went to her waist, undoing buttons and zippers so that he could get the well fitted fabric down her legs and tossed onto the floor, along with her shoes, socks, and dark purple thong. As soon as she was naked Brad dropped to his knees, his face delving between her thighs so he could taste her juices.
She gasped and moaned in pleasure as she leaned her hips forward for him. The bottoms of her feet found the rungs of the pullout drawers below the counter, and she surprisingly found a very comfortable position to be in as Brad’s tongue lavished his love upon her.
“Brad,” she gasped, her orgasm swelling incredibly fast. Her hands pushed and pulled at his shoulders as her hips gyrated into his mouth. She was so close she could barely breathe. “Yes, yes yes! Wait, what are you doing?” She asked, her voice quivering.
Brad halted rather suddenly, and stood up. His hands gripped her hips firmly and in lieu of an answer he thrust himself deeply into Rachel’s, hot, wet, quivering center. She screamed in joy as he began to make love to her on the countertop. His hips drove into her perfectly; matching the rhythm of her own as her orgasm finally came shattering around them.
Her nails scratched enticing trails down his back as she held on to him. Suddenly she was in the air, with his strong arms wrapped securely around her. He moved her to the table, where he gently laid her down, careful of her head, and slowed down to a painstaking pace. Brad’s eyes were practically glowing as he looked down at her, taking in the beauty that was her body.
Brad’s rhythm changed, and Rachel could feel his slow, deep thrusts kindling another fire inside of her. She adored when they had hot, quick, passionate sex, but loved it even more when they slowed down. It was as if there were two sides of Brad, and she loved them both. Rachel’s orgasm followed soon after, much different than the first. It wasn’t an explosion, quick and hot. Instead, it was a slow wave crashing down, pouring delicious shivers all through her body from the top of her head, all the way down to the tips of her toes.
She cried Brad’s name as she felt her release, and he shortly after she followed, pulling out just in to splash across her stomach. He apologized, and looked embarrassed. Rachel giggled, and promised him that it was fine. After a quick kiss he padded to the bathroom, and came back with tissues to help her clean up.
“Such a gentleman,” she teased, helping him.
“I do my best,” he replied with a devilish grin.
~
An hour later Rachel was taking out her earrings and getting ready to wash her face. It had been almost a month ago that she had started staying over regularly, and because of that she had a few things there. A toothbrush, a bottle of her face wash, and a few undergarments and outfits to start. As she washed her face, she caught Brad staring at her in the mirror.
“What are you thinking over there?” She asked, grinning at him. He grinned back, and sidled over to her. He was ready for bed, wearing nothing but a pair of pajama bottoms. She loved the way he looked before bed. He looked so at ease, so casual. As if they had been doing this same routine for years.
He came up to her, kissing the side of neck again, and nuzzling his nose into her shoulder. “I was thinking about the future.”
Rachel froze. “What about it?”
“What it will mean. For you. For me. For us.” He paused, looking at her slowly through the mirror, taking his time as if he was looking over every line and feature.
“I love you,” Rachel,” he whispered. “And I want you to move in with me.”
Chapter 21
Bradley
No. No was not exactly the answer that he had been looking for or expecting. It was a such a harsh word. A truthful word. It was one syllable, but it had thousands of implications. For example, the implication that Rachel was not on the same level as he was.
He had tried to talk to her about it, tried to get her to stay and tell him what was wrong, but she would have none of it. She had gotten defensive quickly, and before he knew it they were arguing and she was getting dressed to leave. Now he was confused, hurt, and had no idea on how to deal with the day.
“Hey man, are you okay?”
Brad looked up to see Amun standing in his doorway. He looked over into Rachel’s office, making sure she wasn’t there. Needing someone to talk to, he motioned Amun to come in. Quickly and in a low tone, he told his friend what had happened the night before, and how it had puzzled him. Sadly, Amun had no advice for him.
“At leas
t you’re actually talking to whomever
you like,” Amun sighed, looking out into the bullpen.
Brad’s eyebrows went up in surprise. “You like someone? In here?”
Amun nodded his head, but refused to speak anymore about it. Instead, he got up, and walked over to the door to leave. “I don’t have much advice for you, except to maybe wait for her to come to you.” He opened the door to walk out, and jumped when he saw Rachel standing in front of it.
“Hi!” He exclaimed, clearly caught off guard. “What are you up to Rachel?”
She stared at him coolly. “Same as you,” she said icily. “I came to do my job.”
Amun let out a nervous laugh, and when no one joined, he abruptly stopped and nodded his head. “Right then. I’m off to my desk. You two have a great day.”
He scurried out the door, not wanting to be a part of the awkward scene any more than he already had been.
Rachel stood in the doorway for a moment, looking as if she was debating whether or not to actually come in. Brad sighed, and got up to lean on his desk.
“You can come in Rachel,” he told her. “You work here too.”
Rachel sniffed arrogantly. “I know. I’m just taking my time.” She lingered for a moment longer, then stepped quickly into the offices, walking as if the floor was made of hot stones. The moment she got to her office she shut the door.
Brad groaned, and covered his eyes with his hand. How was he supposed to fix something if he didn’t know what was broken?