Jay elbowed him beneath the counter.
“Wow, that’ssoromantic,” the cashier said. “Congratulations.”
“You’re so evil,” Jay whispered, the moment they were out of earshot.
“What?” he asked innocently. “I have known you for eighteen years, Jay.”
“I just think it’s a little twisted how you keep telling people that without context. Youknowthey’re thinking it’s something likeThe Notebook.”
“It’s still the truth.”
“Oh my god.” But she was swinging the bags as they walked out, with that little skip in her step that seemed to be an unconscious expression of her joy. He was afraid to remark upon it, suspecting that if he ever did, she might stop.
Impulsively, he pulled her face towards his and kissed her right there in the middle of the parking lot. After a brief exclamation of surprise, she kissed him back.
The parting of her lips beneath the sudden pressure of his mouth felt as natural as breathing.
???????
After her promotion, her childhood bedroom had been converted into an office-slash-guest bedroom. She’d replaced her old desk with a sleek, cherrywood model that had lots of pretty pull-out doors with brass handles, and looked exactly the way she’d imagined her ideal grown-up desk to look.
The new books Nicholas had bought her for her birthday were carefully arranged along the back of it, sandwiched between two geode bookends that Lily had mailed her as a gift. She had only managed to read one so far. The pay bump and professional respect were amazing, but sometimes, like today, it felt like there weren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done.
Jay leaned forward on her desk, pushing her reading glasses up to her hairline as she scrubbed her hands over her face. The numbers the marketing VP had provided for the last quarter didn’t match with the data they had, and she was working with Arthur, going over the latest sales figures and trying to understand if it was a bookkeeping error or something more sinister.
“How far back do these sales recordsgo?” Jay muttered, briefly closing her eyes, praying that her first big assignment from the company wasn’t going to be an embezzlement case.
“As fun as it is watching you toil away after working hours, I can think of something better you could be doing with your time.”
She groaned when she felt the hands on her shirt buttons, leaning back to find Nicholas looming over her in the chair. “This is foryourcompany.”
“Fuck my company. It’s almost ten and my wife is still working, instead of in bed with me.” He nipped at the shell of her ear as he slid a hand into her shirt and massaged her breast. “Leave the glasses on when you come to bed. They’re hot.”
Jay pushed his face away, adjusting said glasses self-consciously. “I’ll be there soon. I’m halfway done going over this spreadsheet.”
She felt him sigh and rest his chin on her head. “What is this?”
“It’s the audit for marketing. It’s been in the pipeline for weeks and we’re behind. I’m sure Arthur’s told you about it.”
“Is it due tomorrow?”
“We’re already behind,” Jay said. “It should have been done weeks ago.”
“So what I’m hearing is that it’s already fucked and can probably stand to be a little more fucked. How many hours have you spent on it already?”
“Three, but—”
“Jay.” He tugged at her shirt from the inside. “To bed.Now.”
Jay pushed his hands away and opened up another email, ignoring him. But she didn’t read it, and when she heard him exhale slowly, with a bit of vocalization, goosebumps rippled down her arms.
She knew what that sound meant.
Suddenly, the chair was no longer beneath her. Jay yelped when she found herself draped over Nicholas’s bare shoulder, suspended very precariously over the now-moving floor.
“Put medown!”
“No.”
