Getting Down to Business

by Allison B Hanson

  “I’ve got it. No problem.”

  “So what do you want me to do? Tell me how I can help.”

  “A big pot full of water,” she instructed.

  “I knew you were a witch.”

  She smiled at him.

  “Watch it, or I’ll turn you into a toad.”

  They had the most fun as they cooked and arranged the noodles, meat, and cheese in the dish. She brushed the bread with butter and garlic and set it on top of the stove to go in the oven closer to their guest’s arrival.

  “Shower?” he asked when everything was prepared and cleaned up.

  “Yes. Do you want to go first?”

  He walked closer and gave her that predatory look.

  “I was thinking we could conserve water if we showered together.”

  “It would save time too.”

  “Yes. I’m all about saving time.” He leaned down to kiss her neck under her ear. With his arms around her waist he pulled her toward the bathroom.

  “My mom told me I shouldn’t give my milk away for free,” she teased.

  Grayson froze in the doorway.

  “You told her you’ve been giving me your milk?”

  “No, but she guessed.”

  “What are you saying? You want me to pay for it?”

  She laughed. “No.”

  “You don’t want to give me your milk?” He looked shocked.

  “It’s just funny that people still have sayings like that. As if not everyone is just handing out their milk to anyone who will take it.”

  Grayson laughed loudly in the small room and tugged off his own shirt and pants.

  * * * *

  He had to admit, he had been a little tense about Alyssa meeting his friends. That was before the shower.

  The shower with Alyssa had relieved any stress he had as well as any he would have in the near future. It was that great. They had barely finished in time to answer the door when Trent and Tiff showed up.

  So far so good. Alyssa and Tiffany seemed to be hitting it off, and Trent hadn’t told any hideously embarrassing stories yet.

  “So as my best man, I need to ask you a favor,” Trent said with a slight wince. This meant it wasn’t going to be good.

  “What is it?”

  “I need you to look after Suzanna at the wedding.”

  “No! No way. I did not sign up for that.” Grayson waved his hands in the air in front of him.

  “Come on, you know you’re the only one I’d trust with my baby sister.”

  “I think you have it all wrong. You should be worried about who you force her on. That girl is a handful.”

  “What’s wrong with her?” Alyssa asked curiously, leaning her elbow on the table and moving closer to hear the answer.

  “First off she’s a nympho,” he told her.

  “Is not,” Trent defended.

  “Yes, she is,” Tiffany agreed quickly. “Sorry, but she is.”

  Trent let out a sigh.

  “She gives her heart away too easily.”

  “She also gives away everything else too easily,” Gray added behind the back of his hand, making Alyssa giggle.

  “Come on, man. You need to be her date so you can keep the assholes away from her.”

  “Maybe he already has someone he wants to invite,” Tiffany said nodding in Alyssa’s direction.

  “He told me they’re just roommates. Right?”

  “Right,” Alyssa and Gray answered at the same time.

  An awkward silence came over the table until Alyssa stood and began to clear the table.

  “I’ll help,” Tiffany offered and Gray watched as they moved into the kitchen to talk about him.

  “So what is with this girl?” Trent asked the second the girls were in the kitchen.

  “She lives here and we sleep together sometimes. That’s it.”

  Trent gave Gray a doubtful look.

  “That’s it? Since when do you do casual? That was my game and I ended up coming over to team relationship.”

  “Liss doesn’t do relationships. So we’re doing what she feels comfortable with,” he told his friend.

  “And you’re okay with this?” Trent looked over his shoulder. “So what’s the problem?”

  “It’s too much to go into right now.” No way would he betray Alyssa by telling Trent her secrets.

  “Is there any hope?”

  “Maybe. I hope so.” Gray was trying not to hope or think about Alyssa long term. Mainly because she had forbid it. But he had to admit, other than the trust issues due to the insane ex-boyfriend, she was perfect for him. “We’ll see.”

  Chapter 17

  “Sorry about that. You’re welcome to come to the wedding as Gray’s guest. Trent will have to find someone else trustworthy to watch his sister.” Tiffany smiled.

  Alyssa could tell by Trent’s expression as they discussed his sister that it was serious, despite the joking around. The fact that Trent trusted Grayson with his little sister was a big deal. Trent knew Gray well enough to know if he was a good person or not. Donnie hadn’t had friends. Just her.

  “Unless the two of you really aren’t together.” Tiffany was still talking.

  “No it isn’t like that.”

  “Then what is it?” Tiffany pushed.

  “I’m not sure what you’d call it,” Alyssa said with an easy laugh as she tried to see the situation from the outside.

  Living together, check.

  Sex, check, and then some.

  Making dinner together, check.

  Walking to work together when it was convenient, check.

  Eating lunch together, check.

  Showering together, check.

  Having friends over for dinner, check.

  No wonder Tiffany was confused. Gray and she had all the elements of being in a relationship, but one: a future.

  * * * *

  “That was delicious,” Grayson praised her with a big smile as they came back to the table.

  “You helped.”

  “We make a great team,” he said. It was true. They worked together like a well-oiled machine. In bed and out.

  They all chatted for another hour, drinking wine and laughing over old stories. Trent enjoyed dishing dirt on his friend and Alyssa enjoyed hearing it.

  To her surprise, Grayson didn’t seem to mind. It was so comfortable.

  When Tiffany and Trent finally left, an odd silence fell over them for a moment before they practically launched themselves at each other and ended up stumbling to her bedroom. The sex was quick and desperate, but satisfying all the same. Right on schedule, the guilt intruded in on the moment. She let out a breath and moved to get up.

  Gray obviously wasn’t onboard with this plan, instead pulling her back down next to him.

  “I didn’t get my allotted snuggle time.”

  “There is no snuggle allotment in our agreement.”

  “There is. The print is very, very small and written in invisible ink, but it’s there and totally legal.”

  She laughed and gave in easily.

  “What is happening with us?” she voiced her earlier confusion when talking with Tiffany.

  “What do you want to happen with us?” he asked. She crossed her arms and gave him a look. She was the queen of answering a question with another question. It wouldn’t work on her. “Okay. Fine. I don’t know. All I know is that I don’t care what you want to call it, Liss. I’m not willing to give up the best relationship I’ve ever had with a woman just because Trent and Tiff can’t find a way to define it to their liking. We have a great time hanging out, so we are friends. We have amazing sex, so we are lovers. We share an apartment, so we are roommates. We work well together as co-workers. Take your pick. What does it matter to either of us to have a lab
el? We’re not label people. We’re no bullshit people, remember?”

  “Okay. You’re right.”

  “Of course I am.” He kissed her forehead as she snuggled up against him.

  Whoever he really was deep down didn’t matter to her. She was only in this for the roof over her head and the warmth in her bed. And maybe for a few laughs.

  She was okay enjoying what they had. So long as he didn’t expect anything else.

  “So we’re good?” she asked.

  “Better than good.”

  Better than good sounded pretty damn great.

  * * * *

  After snuggling with Liss, Gray went to bed in his own room. He needed to put some distance between them. Things were getting…complicated.

  Maybe that wasn’t the word. Complicated sounded like a bad thing, and whatever he had with Alyssa was not bad. It was good.

  He liked her. A lot. But for her sake, he would keep that to himself. She had made it pretty clear that emotional attachment was off limits. He didn’t want her to leave. It would be impossible to build anything with her if she went back to Albany.

  He wasn’t into her just because of the sex, but everything else too. Living with her, cooking with her, watching crap television with her. Everything was better when she was there. Even sleeping.

  He tossed and turned a few more times and eventually fell asleep. Not that he stayed that way for very long. He woke with a start when something warm and wet was stroking him. Down there. As he normally did when alone, he had gone to bed nude. Now someone was…He felt hot breath caressing him.

  “Liss?”

  He felt the warmth recede for a second as the covers pulled back slightly.

  “Yeah?” she said as casually as if she was looking up from reading the newspaper instead of servicing him in the best way.

  “Just checking.”

  She laughed and continued.

  “God, you are so good at this.”

  “You think so?” she stopped to ask at an inopportune time.

  “Yeah. The best part is how you don’t stop to chat.”

  She laughed again and went back to her amazing task. But not for long.

  “Why didn’t you want to sleep in my bed?” she asked, her voice muffled by the blanket.

  “Seriously? We’re going to talk now?”

  “You can talk while I finish here.”

  “I don’t know.” He closed his eyes unable to concentrate on her question. The pressure was building. He was close. So close.

  He moaned and felt Alyssa smile around him. She liked having power over him, he could tell. He didn’t care. He liked it too.

  He shouted her name and a few praises to God as he gave in.

  He hadn’t even caught his breath when she crawled up beside him and took her spot.

  “Can I stay?” she whispered.

  “You can do whatever you want.” He didn’t care how long it took to convince her he was worthy of her trust. He wanted her in his life. They would find a way.

  * * * *

  Doug had gone to heaven. Or rather, he’d moved into a two-bedroom loft with the woman of his dreams.

  Chanda had offered to move her studio out of the loft so there was more room for the living room, but Doug wouldn’t have it. She’d already done so much; he wouldn’t have her displaced so they could have a bigger television.

  Besides, he’d rather watch her work than watch television. Every time he thought her project was perfect and couldn’t need one more thing, she would do something to make it even better. Eventually, she would stop and smile in a way that beamed with her accomplishment.

  “It’s done?” he said quietly, in case she was still thinking it over.

  “Yep. What do you think?”

  “I think it’s great.” He paused, and smiled down at her. “What is it?” Not being an art guy meant her work often looked like a lump or a bunch of squiggles until she explained it. He felt like she was removing a film from his eyes when she enlightened him.

  She laughed.

  “This is called Blended Family. It’s my interpretation of what a family looks like after divorce, when there’s a child that will always bind them. This is the child.” She pointed to the roundish orb in the center. “These spirals are her parents. And the tendrils coming off of those are the parents’ partners. As well as the grandparents and aunts and uncles.”

  The spirals intertwined around one another. In some places they were smooth and flowing; in others they were kinked and bent. He felt them as much as saw them. He knew what those kinked parts were. The arguments and accusations.

  “The most important thing is that the child is safe inside. What happens out here isn’t as important.”

  “This is magnificent. You will sell this as soon as it’s listed.”

  “I don’t think I’m going to sell it. I think I want to donate it.”

  He didn’t understand. She’d worked so hard on this project. She needed to make a living. Didn’t she?

  He looked around the apartment where they lived. He didn’t know how much she paid for a two-bedroom loft in Manhattan with this much room, but surely it was more than she made at the bar.

  He assumed she made a lot of money on her paintings and sculptures, but if she gave them away…

  “Who are you going to give it to?”

  “Remember that horrid office building where they have the family court?” She’d gone with him when he requested he be allowed to keep Lucy overnight and provided the documents that showed she had a room of her own. To say Lucy had been excited by her new bedroom was an understatement.

  The office was dark and gloomy, and made even more so by the emotions generated by everyone involved.

  He looked at the sculpture again, imagining it in the lobby. Maybe it would inspire some family to keep things civilized and positive for the sake of their child.

  He leaned over and kissed her.

  “I can’t even…I don’t have words to describe how blessed I feel to have you in my life. Your heart is…unbelievable.”

  “You might not think so if you knew I envisioned your ex-wife being there for the unveiling and due to faulty installation, it fell on her. It kind of goes against the spirit of the piece.”

  He laughed and pulled her closer.

  “Your heart is unbelievably real,” he amended.

  * * * *

  Grayson finally got off the phone with his frustrated client. The man had been yelling at him for more than fifteen minutes, as if it were Gray’s fault that his business wasn’t doing better.

  They were dealing with numbers. There were no emotions with numbers, which was why Grayson loved them so much. Two plus two always equaled four, without question.

  But now he was rattled. Unfortunately, it was after lunch and he couldn’t expend the extra energy with Alyssa at their apartment.

  He pulled out his phone to send her a text. He would have walked over to her office, but someone might have stopped him to chat, and he wasn’t safe to be with humans yet.

  What are you doing tonight? I’m having an awful day.

  She answered him quickly:

  Do you want me to make chicken encyclopedias?

  With a smile he waited for the correction:

  Enchiladas.

  He replied, Yes. Please, and waited.

  Do you think this looks trustworthy?

  A picture then came in. It was a cowboy walking a horse into a parking garage. Clever.

  Horses inspire trustworthiness. Good job, he responded.

  Thanks. I worked on it with marketing.

  He already felt better just thinking about dinner with Alyssa.

  The more he thought of her, the more he found himself counting the minutes until he could get home and have her in his arms. The
y would be leaving the next morning for Connecticut for his family reunion, so this was their last night to be together before switching into friends for the weekend.

  He met her at the elevator, his heart pounding in anticipation. Damn all their coworkers. He wanted to push her up against the wall of the elevator and sink into her.

  “Grayson!” Chuck Borne called out. Someone held the door. “I need to see you before you go.” Gray muttered a curse as he squeezed out of the elevator. He watched as the doors shut on his dreams.

  For the next hour, he and his boss dissected the conversation with Grayson’s client and tried to come up with a way to make the man happy while keeping to the laws of mathematics.

  When Chuck stepped out to check on something, Gray took the moment to send Alyssa a text to tell her what was happening.

  Focus on the future, she texted back.

  I am. Sex and enchiladas. A three-day weekend with you and my family.

  No, she answered. Your client. Push what will happen in the future.

  Oh.

  Chuck returned looking just as unhappy as when he left.

  Grayson quickly looked over the reports for some uptick in the numbers.

  “Girls!” Gray shouted in excitement.

  “Excuse me?” Right. That didn’t sound so good.

  “The Girls’ department had a profit. A small one, but it was still in the black. I’m going to drill down to see what it was. We can use this to focus on the upward trend of the next quarter.”

  “Good thinking. Dig into it and we’ll call him back with the data.”

  “It wasn’t my idea. Alyssa Sinclair came up with it.”

  “I didn’t realize she was working on this account.”

  “She isn’t. But we work well together.” He remembered helping her with her presentation. They made such a great team.

  Chuck nodded his approval.

  Gray was able to leave forty minutes later after talking the client out of finding another firm. Alyssa’s idea worked like a charm.

  When he walked into his apartment, the smell of enchiladas filled his nose and happiness filled his heart.

  Liss was wearing short cotton shorts with the waistband rolled over. Her skimpy tank top was one of those with the bra built in, but the built-in bra was no more than an extra layer of thin fabric. Her nipples were hard from being in the refrigerator where she was getting him a bottle of beer.