Not usually until three or four in the afternoon, but here I was, sweating, running my hands through my hair to distract me while I waited for the elevator carriage to arrive.
And then Veda rounded the corner, coming from the women's restroom down the hallway. She saw me and our eyes met and she looked concerned.
"Mr. Locke, are you leaving?" She approached cautiously, and though I searched her from head to toe, there wasn't even a hint of what we'd done, except for the rose of her cheeks and what remained of the dark flush of her lips.
I wanted to avoid her at all costs because saying something would only dig the hole I was in deeper.
But I couldn’t very well ignore her and expect her not to be upset with me.
The last thing I needed was to purposefully tick her off when I knew what she could do to destroy me.
"Family emergency," I said, outright lying. It was none of her business what I was doing.
If she knew I was going to the liquor store a block away to buy enough whiskey to get obliterated, she'd try to stop me.
Veda offered puppy-dog eyes and a soft sigh. "But what am I supposed to do all day, then?" Her forehead creased and the elevator chimed as the doors slid open to reveal an empty carriage.
"Talk to Penny. You'll figure it out," I grumbled, and I stepped into the elevator without looking back.
As out of whack as I was, my body still felt the pull toward her.
I thought of those silky panties, probably back on her, but I should've taken them.
And I thought of the velvet heat of her body around me and knew if I stayed, things would only get worse.
The doors shut behind me and I pressed the button to descend.
It felt like the universe had conspired over the past three years to destroy me, and it was winning.
might as well help it along at this point. Because no matter what I did, I felt cursed.
6
VEDA
My hand pushed the wet rag around the bar for the dozenth time this evening.
When Victor called to ask me if I could cover him, I didn't hesitate.
No way I was sitting at home stewing over what happened at work today all by myself. Being here in the atmosphere of what felt like home was the best place for me.
And it didn't hurt that it was a very slow evening and Regan had come by to hang out with me and keep me company.
"You're doing it again," she chided, catching me in the act of smiling to myself as I thought of how incredible Asher was at making my body feel so good.
"Doing what?" I spat playfully. I knew Regan was watching me because I'd felt her eyes every time I picked up a towel or washed a dirty glass.
She knew me better than anyone, and she knew when I was keeping something from her.
"You're smiling again. What's gotten into you? You're happy. You're never happy." She twisted her ginger ale glass in the puddle of condensation under it on the bar top and lifted one eyebrow at me in curiosity. "You like the new job or something?"
"Or something," I sighed, and I couldn't stop the smile again.
"I'll have another," I heard from the end of the bar where a lonely older man sat with an almost-empty beer.
I nodded at him and said, "duty calls" to Regan, but I knew I wasn't getting out of telling her what was going on.
She knew I'd gotten the job from Clayton with the intent of proving Asher wasn't fit for duty, but she didn't know the gruesome details of trying to snare him in a sexual harassment suit.
