My breathing picked up, the knot in my stomach tightened, and my orgasm zipped down my spine, barely giving me a chance to brace myself before I was bathing my chest and stomach. I sighed with each pulse, stroking until there was nothing left.
Though I felt relieved, I was also… embarrassed. My body flushed, and not in a post-orgasm way. I’d just gotten off to the image of my boss.
I hadn’t even gotten far enough to completely undress him.
I’d never been shy—ever.Walking into work that day, though, my stomach flipped. I dreaded the thought of facing James after our dance last night—and after my jack-off session at home. He’d never know, but it felt like I was walking in with a sign on my forehead.
When James was nowhere to be found as I walked in, I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or disappointed. Dani was behind the bar, wearing jeans and a cropped band tee, hair piled on top of her head. She glanced up and gave me a sly smile as I snuck in next to her. “Did you get some rest?”
“Sort of.”
Goosebumps rose over my arms as I handed her the coffee I’d bought on the way in. I shivered as my spine tingled. I scanned the room. James leaned against the wall next to the bathrooms, arms crossed over his chest. When he noticed me looking, he grinned and gave me a once-over. Heat washed through me as he seemed to undress me with his eyes. It was almost as if he knew.
Then, as if he realized where he was—or who I was—he sobered, retreating down the hall toward his office with his hands in his pockets.
“You’re staring,” Dani said.
“Am not.”
“And blushing,” she snickered. “Have been since you walked in.”
“Shut up.” Heat prickled under my collar.
I tried my best to ignore my discomfort for the rest of the night. I tried not to look over my shoulder. When I felt his eyes on me, I tried not to meet them. I kept my head down, running food and dodging the teasing Dani threw my way. Luckily, with how busy the bar was, I hardly had time to think about what had happened last night. It provided a nice distraction, but ended too quickly.
At closing, I wiped down the tables and swept the floors while Dani took care of everything behind the bar. I was filling the mop bucket when she came over with a stack of receipts in her hand.
“I’ll take over,” she said. “Will you take these back to James?”
Suspicious, I cocked a brow at her. “You need me to take these to him?”
“Well, I don’tneedyou to.” She snatched the mop from my hand and replaced it with the papers. “But you’ve been staring at him like a lovesick puppy all night, so I thought I’d give you a reason to go back there and talk to him.” She wheeled the mop bucket behind the bar, ignoring my stare.
I sighed and looked down at the stack in my hand. I guess I couldn’t avoid him forever. I started down the hallway. His office door was cracked open. Dim light and soft music spilled out from within. I raised my hand to rap gently on the door, but—wait. I recognized that song: it was Luke Combs. Warmth spread through my chest, and I lingered outside the door longer than I probably should have. As the song neared the end, I shuffled and my toe scuffed the linoleum. The music cut off instantly. “Ryder?”
I nudged the door open with a guilty grin plastered to my face. James sat behind a modern wooden desk with his laptop open in front of him. Papers cluttered the rest of the surface, leaving only enough room for a small lamp that cast a warm glow over the room.
A bookshelf lined the left wall, and I couldn’t find a single empty space on it. I noted some of the classics:Dracula,Frankenstein,andPride and Prejudice. A couch rested against the opposite wall beneath a framed landscape of historic Salem.
“Ryder, are you coming in? Or standing in the doorway all night?”
I started. Moonlight streamed in from the window behind him, sparkling off of his silver chain. I cleared my throat and held up the receipts. “I… Dani sent these back for you.”
“Oh.” Did he sound disappointed? “Thank you.”
I was forced to step into the office to put the papers in his outstretched hand. Our fingers brushed, and I flinched at the jolt that passed through my body. He dropped them onto the desk amidst all the paperwork there.
I didn’t understand what was going on with me. I’d had crushes before—a lot. I’d never felt my knees buckle with a single touch, never been able to sense someone simply existing in the same room.
I didn’t want to talk about the night before. I could ignore it, right? I turned to leave.
“Please wait,” James called after me.
I paused by the door and faced him. He stood and strode across the room, long legs easily closing the distance. He eased the door closed and slid the lock into place. My pulse started to race again.
Inches separated us. I leaned back against the wall, James in front of me. I itched to reach out and touch him, to finish what my dream started. I was just gathering the nerve to do so when he spoke.
“I won’t keep you long,” he said, dropping his voice to a pitch that made me shiver. “I just want a chance to speak with you alone. A-about last night, I wanted to apologize.”
