It took her a moment to remember, and then she did, and it felt like going into freefall.
Jay pulled him back when he reached for the door and kissed him. He groped her through her blouse while they gasped and panted like teenagers and she let him tug and pull at fabric, until the ache building between her thighs was almost as desperate as their kissing.
“That’s enough.” Nicholas sounded breathless as he pulled her hand off his chest. A slight hint of mockery entered his voice. “Someone might see.”
“Oh god.”
“Go.” He popped the locks. “I need a moment.”
She glanced up at the second floor as she got out of the car, smoothing back a lock of hair. The parking lot was empty, but she hadn’t known that in the car.
What are you doing, kissing him like that?
The breeze felt like ice on her too-hot face.
Arthur and Annica were chatting in the kitchen when she came in. They went quiet when they saw her, which she told herself was fine.
“Jay!” Arthur said. “Welcome back.”
“Welcome back,” Annica echoed. Jay hazarded a look at her face: it did not look very welcoming.
“It’s good to be back. I don’t think I could stomach another red-eye.”
Arthur looked aghast. “Don’t tell me you flew in this morning.”
“It was—”Nick’s idea, she almost said. “No big deal,” she finished awkwardly. “There was more to do in San Francisco than I thought. I needed the extra time. It’ll be fine.”
“If you’re sure,” Arthur said, not looking convinced.
“I was actually just about to get a second coffee, if you’d like one.”
Annica shook her head, even though Jay hadn’t exactly been offering to her, but Arthur’s eyes lit up. “I think I’ll take you up on that. A flat white would be great, as well as whatever you’re getting for yourself.”
“No, it’s okay,” Jay said, rejecting his proffered card. “My treat.”
“Assistants treating their bosses,” Arthur said. “What is the world coming to?”
Annica looked as if she thought it were coming to a very bad place, indeed.
Jay looked up at Nicholas’s office and wondered if anyone had ever treated him. He seemed to think that everyone wanted him for everythingbutwho he was. It would explain why he had so much antipathy for intimacy, and why he was constantly trying to court her affection with gifts.
His head turned her way and Jay whirled around, conscious of the many office cubicles all facing her way. “I’ll just go get those coffees then,” she said, too-brightly, as Arthur came out of the kitchen and headed towards the stairs that took him to his corner office.
He gave her a little puzzled wave.
Bravo, Jay. Very smooth.
It was a nice day, so Jay decided to go a little further than her usual Starbucks stop, heading to a little indie place with a curated photo wall and gently-used thrifted armchairs. The menu was handwritten in chalk, very fancy, though she had to squint to read the cursive.
“What’s the sweetest drink you have?” she asked the barista, who pursed her lips.
“The sweetest? Probably the white mocha frappe. I’ve been told it tastes a lot like white chocolate candy.”
“Do you have sprinkles you could put on it?”
“We use them for the donuts, but sure, I can put some on the whip and charge it like a topping, if that’s okay with you?”
“That would be great!” said Jay. “I’ll have that and a flat white and an oat milk latte. Make the white mocha and the oat milk decaf, please,” she added, remembering Nick’s quad shot from that morning.
