Working Desires: A Dirty Office Romance Boxset

by Hazel Keys

  “Ah, alright. That sounds like fun,” she said, silently grateful that Amun was coming along. She had been worried that she might end up a third wheel if it was just Tristan, Isabella, and her. The knowledge that Amun would be there to distract Isabella to give her more time to talk to Tristan had Bella biting her bottom lip in order to keep herself from smiling.

  Amun chose to appear just then, a wide grin spread across his face as he stepped out of his office and closed the door behind him. You wouldn’t be able to tell that he had just endured a rather brutal work day, his cheerful disposition one that made it almost impossible for Bella not to smile as well from just how happy he seemed to be despite everything.

  “Hey guys, you all ready to go?” Amun asked, pulling his cell phone from his pocket and swiping his finger across the screen to bring it to life. His fingers tapped over the screen for a few moments, then he slipped his phone back into his pocket. “I called ahead and reserved our usual table for us since I know that you guys don’t seem to like any other seats in that bar,” he said, his eyes shyly moving to glance at Isabella.

  “Yeah, all ready to go,” Bella said with a gentle smile, the other two nodding along to her words.

  “Perfect. Let us make our way over then, shall we?” he asked, putting his arm out for Isabella in an exaggerated fashion, emulating the gentlemen of old.

  Bella watched as her friend looped her arm through Amun’s, the Puerto Rican giggling gently the entire time as the two of them began to make their way down the street. She cast a glance over at Tristan, who smiled gently in return before following after them. After taking a deep breath in order to calm herself, she followed after them towards O’ Cleary’s. She couldn’t help but smile when she saw Marty once again standing behind the counter of the bar, his hand immediately rising in greeting when he saw the four of them walk in.

  “Long time no see,” Marty said as he walked over to them, leading them through the bar and watching idly as they all slipped into their usual booth.

  “Yeah, things have been kind of hectic as of late. Not a lot of down time these days, what with Ryan working towards us expanding the business and all,” Tristan said tiredly, picking up one of the menus and letting his eyes glance over it. “Are you still serving dinner, Marty?”

  “Yeah, the kitchen will be open till 11 from now on. Was getting a lot of complaints in the suggestion box about how no one was getting a chance to sample our food because of how early we were stopping, so I talked to Jerry and he said that he wouldn’t mind keeping the kitchen open a few extra hours each night. Turned out to be a pretty good idea for us, since profits have been climbing pretty steadily ever since we made that choice,” Marty said, unable to keep the note of pleasure out of his voice as he spoke of the bar’s continued success.

  “That is great to hear, Marty,” Bella said, sounding far more eager than she had originally intended to as she picked up one of the nearby menus as well. “Do you guys still have that fried mushroom burger?” she asked quietly, her stomach letting out a quiet gurgle that made her grateful that there was music playing in the bar that somewhat covered up the noise.

  “We sure do,” Marty replied, pulling a small pad of paper and a pen out of his pants pocket and holding it up, glancing back at her. “Would you like me to put you down for one?”

  “I would like that very much,” Bella replied with a smile, her eyes still scanning down the menu. “Oh, and if it isn’t too much trouble, could I get a side order of onion rings with that?”

  “It’s not too much trouble at all,” Marty said with a smile, his eyes moving to glance at Bella’s other companions. “Anything for you guys?”

  “I think I will have what Bella is having,” Tristan said smoothly, his deep voice making Bella squirm slightly in her chair. He had a voice that seemed to ride the line between a tenor and a bass, which gave his voice this unique quality that Bella found irresistible. She could still remember the first time that Tristan had ever spoken to her, the timbre of his voice having caused her panties to grow slightly wet despite herself and ultimately launching her onto the road of infatuation that she was currently traveling upon. She cursed her shyness, which was the only obstacle that had stopped her from trying to get things to move further with him.

  “Can I just get a margarita, please?” Isabella piped up, her finger tapping against the top of the table gently.

  “I’ll have a Whiskey Old Fashioned, please,” Amun added, pulling his wallet out of his pocket and setting it on the top of the table lightly.

  “Coming right up. Do you guys want something to drink with your meal?” Marty asked, his body already turned slightly away from them.

  “I wouldn’t mind a brandy on the rocks,” Tristan said, his eyes moving to glance over at Bella as he spoke.

  “I think I will just have a Coca-Cola today,” Bella said gently after a moment of consideration. She would rather avoid the possibility of having a hangover the next day. Plus, if she was going to get into the habit of not drinking during weekdays, then this seemed like a perfect opportunity for her to start getting into that habit.

  Marty nodded at that, and without another a word he walked away from their table. Amun and Isabella soon launched into a discussion about the stresses of working in customer service, their animated chatting making it obvious that the two of them weren’t going to be much use in terms of having a conversation with. That left Bella’s focus entirely on Tristan, who was casually glancing around the bar at that point. She noticed that his eyes seemed kind of distant as if there was something pressing on his mind that he was keeping to himself.

  She loved the shade of almost golden-brown that his eyes were, the shade of his eyes pairing with his dreadlocks to remind her vaguely of a lion. That was the sort of aura that he gave off, one that was regal and strong. Her eyes slowly slid down to take a look at his well-muscled chest, his dress shirt not doing much to conceal just how built he was beneath it. Bella found herself wanting, not for the first time, to have a chance to see just what it was that Tristan kept hidden beneath his clothes. She blushed at the rather inappropriate thought as it crept into her mind, her teeth pressing lightly against her bottom lip as she felt yet another flush of heat between her legs.

  Tristan must have felt her eyes lingering on him since she soon saw his eyes move to gaze back into her own. She fought the urge to quickly move her eyes away, knowing that it would look far more suspicious to him if she was to quickly force herself to look away from him. Her heart fluttered when he smiled at her, her throat feeling a little drier than usual as she forced herself to speak.

  "You look kind of distracted, Tristan. Is something on your mind?” she asked conversationally, finding the silence that had been lingering between the two of them suddenly suffocating.

  “Oh, you know, just thinking about the approaching holiday,” he said casually, his hands moving to rest on the table in front of him.

  “You mean Valentine’s Day?” she replied instantly, though she silently kicked herself at just how much interest she had allowed to creep into her voice.

  “That’s the one,” he said with a laugh, his hand reaching over to gently grab a napkin from the nearby dispenser and slowly beginning to fold it. It took a moment for Bella to realize that he was, in fact, doing origami, and she watched him in mild fascination as he slowly transformed the napkin into an origami goose. When he finished he set it gently down in front of her, a smile spread across his face. “I was just thinking about what I would want to do on that day,” he added, taking a sip from the glass of water that Marty had poured him when they first arrived.

  “Do you not have any plans for that day?” Bella asked curiously, her head tilting to the side slightly as she asked. Given how attractive he was, she could hardly believe that he didn’t yet have some woman who would have at least asked to spend the day with him.

  “I have plans, I just don’t have a date,” Tristan said with a laugh, his teeth glinting in his mouth as he s
miled. “I haven’t really been to many clubs, so I don’t even have women that I can pretend to like to ask out. My life mostly revolves around work, so the only women I really see on a consistent basis are you, Isabella, and Rachel. I am definitely not going to ask Rachel since she and Bradley are now a thing. As for Isabella, I admit I would be interested, but I believe someone else has their eye on her,” he said, his head inclining slightly in Amun’s direction as he spoke, causing Bella’s eyes to follow the direction of his gaze.

  Any comment she would have been about to make was cut off by Martin returning with their drinks. She smiled at him as he set her drink down in front of her before handing the others the drinks they had ordered. “The food will be done in about ten minutes, so I figured I would bring you your drinks to tide you over until then,” he said casually before excusing himself to go deal with one of the other patrons who had just approached the bar, likely looking for a refill.

  She lifted her glass up to her lips, smiling gently as the taste of cola filled her mouth. She had been cutting back on the amount of soda that she was allowed to have, so when she found herself enjoying it as a rare treat she enjoyed it all the more. After letting out a satisfied sigh in the aftermath of her sip, she set her glass and returned her attention to Tristan.

  “I wish I could say the same. I don’t have a date for Valentine’s Day, nor do I have any plans about how I would want to spend the day. With or without a date, I have nothing going on,” she said, huffing lightly as she let her face rest against her hand gently.

  “Well, in that case, perhaps you could do me a favor,” Tristan said eventually, taking a sip from his own drink and making a slight face as he did so. “A friend of mine asked me if I would go along with him on a double date. You know, to help act like his wingman since he isn’t too good at talking to women. This date is particularly important because he is going to try and ask out the woman that he has had his eyes on for a while now, so I need a female companion for the day. Since I figured it would be more fun for me to go with someone who I actually somewhat know, I was wondering if you would be up to accompanying me that day. I’d cover the expenses as my way of saying thank you, and then we wouldn’t have to spend the day lonely like I had originally thought I would,” he said, chuckling at the last part.

  Bella’s heart began to hammer in her chest, excitement welling up in her body as she slowly began to process his words. He was asking her out for Valentine’s Day, something that she had hoped to hear from him for a very long time. She didn’t even care what his reasons for asking her were. The fact that he had come to her and seemingly no one else to extend the invitation had her smiling despite herself, and she had to control herself to keep her words from tumbling out in an excited rush.

  “I would love to go with you!” Bella was absolutely beaming as she looked up at Tristan, who was nodding along even as he took another sip of his drink. If he was curious as to why she had so readily accepted his invitation, he didn’t show it, instead offering her a smile of his own.

  “Glad to hear it,” he said softly, speaking only loud enough so that Bella could hear him. She blushed at that, grateful for the distraction that the arrival of their food warranted her. She devoted her attention to her meal then, letting out little noises of approval as she put the first bite of food into her stomach since she had eaten lunch earlier that day. Just this morning, she had felt very reserved about even talking about Valentine’s Day. Rachel had told her and Isabella about the plan that she and Bradley had for that day, and despite being happy for her friend Bella hadn’t been able to prevent herself from feeling slightly jealous. Now she could be just as excited for the day as her friend had been, and that only served to make the rest of her night even more enjoyable.

  Chapter Seven

  Tristan

  Tristan had walked back towards the office with Bella once they had left O’ Cleary’s, the two of them slightly trailing behind Amun and Isabella once more. Amun and Isabella were in the middle of a playful argument about which Disney villain’s song was better, with Amun preferring "Friends on the Other Side" as opposed to Isabella’s choice of "Poor Unfortunate Souls". He wasn’t really engaged in their conversation, his attention lingering instead on the petite young Asian who walked beside him. He noticed that she seemed a lot more distracted since they had left the bar, his eyes glittering with curiosity as he cast a glance over at her.

  She really was pretty enough to be a supermodel, Bella’s thin frame still managing to be enticingly curvy. Tristan hadn’t really paid much attention to Bella in the time that they had worked together, but now that he gave her a closer look he could definitely find little things about her that he really liked. He liked the way little laugh lines would appear at the corner of her eyes when she would laugh at his jokes or the nervous way she would play with her hair when she didn’t know what to say. Tristan was a rather oblivious man at times, so he had definitely not noticed the multitude of looks that she had snuck at him while they were sitting in the bar. If he had noticed, he would probably understand a little more why she had been so eager to accept his invitation to spend Valentine’s Day together.

  Since Isabella and Bella were carpooling, they said their goodbyes to the guys before climbing into the vehicle, Bella wisely choosing to drive since she hadn’t ingested any alcohol that night. After watching the rear lights of Isabella’s car fade into the distance, Tristan turned back to look at his friend. He was unsurprised when Amun let out a groan and rested his face in his hand, slapping his own forehead in obvious indignation.

  “Crap. I got so caught up in talking to her that I didn’t even think to ask her out for Valentine’s Day,” he said with obvious exasperation, shaking his head slowly side to side.

  “Did you really forget, or were you just not able to work up the courage to ask?” Tristan asked cheekily, his eyes glinting knowingly as he glanced over at his friend.

  “I’d say it is about 50/50,” Amun replied casually, noting his friend’s skeptical look and huffing lightly. “Okay, maybe it is more along the lines of 25/75, but it still counts,” he said indignantly.

  “It’s alright buddy, I understand. I know this is probably really hard for you to do,” Tristan said empathetically, his mind turning to the fact that he had never had the courage to ask Isabella out either.

  “I wish that there was a less direct way that I could ask her. I just get so tongue-tied when I am actually looking at her that I end up talking about other things just to try and alleviate the embarrassment. I feel like she isn’t going to turn me down if I ask, but it is just the whole asking part that seems to have me stuck,” Amun said, looking over at his friend with an almost pleading look on his face. “Do you have any ideas about what I could possibly do to bypass that?”

  “Why don’t you just send her a Valentine early? You could sneak it into her office or slip it into her paperwork, but make sure you are putting it in a place that she would be sure to see it. You wouldn’t want her accidentally throwing it away, after all,” he replied simply, pulling his car keys out of his pocket and casually swinging them around on his finger.

  “Sounds like you are talking from personal experience,” Amun said with a laugh, his hand moving to wipe a faint sheen of sweat from his forehead. “I am guessing that you are going to tell me that you tried these kinds of things personally?”

  “With my former crush in high school, yeah. I tried to sneak it to her when I was handing her back her homework assignment, but the teacher saw it and thought I was passing notes. She read it aloud in front of the rest of the class, and that pretty much killed any chance I would have had with this girl. She was so embarrassed that she never talked to me again afterward,” Tristan said bitterly, the memory seeming to still be fresh on his mind despite how long ago it had happened.

  “Ouch, sounds like a tough break, buddy,” Amun replied gently, his hand moving to pat his friend’s shoulder lightly.

  “Yeah, so let’s hope that you have a
little more luck with it than I did,” Tristan said, smiling gently as he clapped his friend on the back in return. He could tell that Amun still didn’t seem quite sure, but he wasn’t sure what more he could do to alleviate his fears at that point. “Are you good to drive home, or do you want me to give you a lift?”

  “I only had two drinks, I should be alright,” Amun replied, patting the top of his car gently. “I can send you a text when I get back to my place if it will make you feel any better.”

  “I would like that. It will put my mind at ease knowing that you managed to make it back in one piece,” he replied, hitting the unlock button on his keychain and smiling at the gentle beeping noise his car made.

  “Alright, then I am going to head off. I’ll see you at work tomorrow, Tristan,” he said, pulling open the front door of his car and climbing inside.

  “See if you can pick up a valentine of some kind before work tomorrow,” Tristan said as he stood next to Amun’s car, watching his friend close his door before the electronic window buzzed down. “If you don’t want to get a valentine, then just write a basic note. Make sure that you say that it is from her secret admirer rather than admitting it is you. The intrigue will keep her excited until the day of the date, and when you reveal that you are the one that sent it she will probably freak out, but in a good way,” he added, not wanting to scare his friend off of the idea.

  “Okeydokey. I will do as you say,” he said, turning the key in the ignition and listening to the sound of his engine revving to life.