Page 9 of The Work Wife

“I’m not surprised.” He tossed them in his mouth and began to chew, or tried to. He took a sip of coffee and then tried again. “The coffee softens it up.”

“Lovely.” She took a few smaller pieces and a swallow of coffee, waiting for a miracle. The hot liquid turned the rubble into a food-like substance she was able to chew and then swallow. No tasting was involved, as the bar tasted like nothing.

They finished it off and had another cup of coffee. Despite the unappealing experience of eating it, the bar did a good job of filling her stomach.

With her hunger sated and the warmth, she felt herself nodding off. According to the clock on the wall, they still had an hour and twenty minutes before security would report for duty. That is if they weren’t delayed because of the weather. Wes was thumbing through Motor Trend at the opposite end of the sofa. Surely he would wake her when they showed up. It was safe to close her eyes for a few minutes.

* * * *

Wes must have fallen asleep. One moment he was checking out the horsepower on the new Camaro and the next he was startled awake by a warm weight on his side and the smell of peaches.

Jamie had rolled over and was snuggled up against him. It wasn’t the worst feeling in the world. In fact, having a soft, sweet-smelling woman nestled up beside him wasn’t bad at all. Except it was Jamie, and he hadn’t thought of her as a woman since the first day they worked together.

Obviously, he knew she was a female, but his brain didn’t allow his normal thoughts on females to kick in. She was his partner. She was beyond all of that.

He moved his arm around her so it wasn’t pinched up against him, and then closed his eyes to go back to sleep. He’d almost reached his destination when Jamie’s hand moved and rested at the very spot where co-workers weren’t supposed to have their hands.

His body—being in a dry spell from female contact for the last few months—woke up and paid attention. He rolled his eyes at himself, knowing this was ridiculous. It was Jamie.

To move her hand might wake her unnecessarily, but to leave it there would be taking advantage of the situation. Probably. No, it definitely would be. Except he wasn’t moving against her hand to use her for his satisfaction. Actually it was more of an inconvenience because now he couldn’t fall asleep and he was uncomfortably hard.

Still, he should move her hand.

He was just getting ready to do it when the outer door opened and a large man in a familiar uniform stepped in. Jamie woke up and he felt her body freeze for a second before she pulled her hand back and sat up.

“Were you sleeping too?” she asked, her gaze everywhere but on him.

“Yeah, I fell asleep.” It wasn’t a lie. He had fallen asleep. He didn’t need to go into details like how he’d been awake and hadn’t moved her hand off his penis in a timely manner. No one needed to know that.

“Working late?” the man said with a smirk that made Wes think maybe he’d seen what happened. Maybe that was just the guilt.

“Locked out without our phones,” Jamie explained.

Wes recognized the man from other nights he’d worked late, though he hadn’t caught his name. It might have come in handy in convincing him they weren’t riffraff trying to break into the building.

But the man smiled and nodded toward the door. “I know you two. Second floor at the end of the hall.”

“That’s right. This is Jamie and I’m Wes.”

“Eddie,” he said as he pulled his keys and opened the door, allowing them to enter first.

“Should we call for a cab?” Eddie offered.

“I have a spare key in the office. I’ll be right back.” Wes took the steps two at a time and hurried down the corridor.

He ignored the stiffness in his step from his remaining erection. He knew she hadn’t done it on purpose, but that wouldn’t stop him from teasing her about it. As soon as he had himself back in order.

She hadn’t said anything more about the thing with Duane, but he hoped she wouldn’t leave. She was his best friend and his partner. It was big for him to care that much. Generally people annoyed the hell out of him. The only exception thus far had been Zane when they were roommates in college, but there had been enough alcohol consumption back then to weigh things in Zane’s favor.

He found the spare key and hustled downstairs, holding it up with a smile.

Jamie gave him a matching smile and the world—and his dick—went back to normal.

* * * *

Wes didn’t say much as he drove her home. She wondered if he had noticed her hand on his penis.

Who was she kidding? Unless he was the one man on the planet whose most sensitive body part wasn’t his dick, he had to have noticed. She’d been afraid to move her hand away when she woke to find it there.