“But I don’t want to talk about my boss right now. Kiss me some more.”
Her mouth found mine with renewed intensity, and for several minutes, conversation ceased entirely. The world narrowed to just this—her taste, her touch, the small sounds she made when I found a particularly sensitive spot. Time became fluid, meaningless.
When we finally broke apart, both breathing hard, she patted at my hopelessly wrinkled shirt, and laughed—bright and unguarded. “You’re going to get in so much trouble if someone walks in,” she said, but didn’t move from where she was perched on my lap, warm and solid and entirely too tempting. Her fingers played with the hair at the nape of my neck, sending pleasant shivers down my spine.
“Worth it.” Was all I could manage.
“Since when are you such a rebel, Hayes? Breaking all the rules.” She smoothed down my collar, tracing the line where fabric met skin.
“Will you still not use my name?” I asked, my voice coming out more petulant than I wanted it to.
She pretended to consider it, her head tilting in that way that meant she was about to say something designed to get under my skin. “What should I call you? Thomas? Tom?” Her eyes glinted with wicked amusement. “Tommy?”
I grimaced at the last one.
“What, only Naomi gets to call you that? I always knew that you liked her better than me.” She affected a wounded tone, her bottom lip jutting out in an exaggerated pout.
I wanted to nibble at it until her lips turned red.
How could she be so cold and cutting in one breath, and playful and sweet in the next? She was a contradiction, impossible to predict. I never knew what I was going to get with her. It made me nervous and exhilarated at the same time, kept me perpetually off-balance in a way that probably wasn’t healthy but felt addictive nonetheless.
I traced my knuckles down her cheekbone, her skin warm and soft, before cupping her face in my palm. “I don’t think there’s anyone I like better than you.”
The words came out more honest than I’d intended, weighted with truth I hadn’t planned to reveal. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
Shay blinked, as if caught off guard by what I’d unintentionally given away. “Shut up,” she said, but her voice was soft.
I couldn’t help but kiss her again, however, we both sprang apart when there was a sudden knock on my door.
“Tom, you in there?”
Naomi’s voice carried through the wood, muffled but clear enough. Reality crashed back in. Shay stood up in one swift movement, finger-combing her hair and straightening her jacket, while I tucked in my shirt and tried desperately to look professional instead of thoroughly disheveled.
“Duty calls,” Shay said, reaching for the door handle.
“Tonight?” I asked her before she could leave. “Dinner?”
“Only if you’re cooking.” She glanced back over her shoulder, a small smile playing at her lips. “And Hayes?”
“Yes?”
“I like you better than most people, too.”
Then she was gone, slipping through the door and disappearing down the hallway with purposeful strides, leaving nothing but the ghost of her perfume in her wake.
Naomi appeared in the doorway a second later, taking in my undoubtedly flushed face and my wrinkled clothes with knowing amusement. “You good, man?”
“Shut up.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were thinking it.”
She grinned. “Yeah, I was.” She turned away, leaving the door open behind her. “Come on, Romeo. You’ve got a dead body waiting for you.”
* **
As nice as dating Shay was, however, it didn’t quiet the gnawing hum beneath my skin.
