16. Call in Hungover
Bailey
“Here! Shares!” Tatiana plops a tray of jello shots in front of us. Jacob reaches for two of them immediately, passing one to me. The pair have quickly become my best work friends. Tatiana always helps with my spreadsheet madness, and Jacob has all of the best office gossip. They are one of the better parts of my day, other than the occasions Sacha says my name.
Moonshine is a frequent after work hang-out spot. It’s a laid back bar, just a few blocks from the Cryptech office building. The bar is partially owned by Mr. Pleasant, so it hosts regular company events. Apparently, being nocturnal means you have a particular interest in businesses that are open late.
“I’m not sure about jello shots.” I need to keep my head. Across the room, in a slightly raised section of the bar, with plump leather couches and bottle service, sit the three chief officers. They share a couple bottles of fancy liquor amongst themselves. Magnes has his arm around a pretty blonde, and a disinterested dark-haired woman perches beside Pleasant. My Bigfoot is sitting gloriously alone. “Besides, we have work tomorrow.”
“You’ve never been here when we finished a big project, but hardly anyone shows up to work after these things. If they do go into the office, they are hungover.”
I shake my head.
“No worries. More for me.” Jacob grins, pulling the little plastic container toward himself and swallowing the jello down down with expert precision.
Sacha briefly turns his big brown eyes in my direction. There’s an unmistakable heat in that gaze as he takes a long sip of a dark brown liquid. Every part of my body feels aware of him, even though he’s all the way across the room. When his gaze moves back to the other members of his group, it feels like I lost something.
“Has Mr. Kwatch ever propositioned any of his assistants?” I blurt to my companions.
“Not as far as I know.” Tatiana grins wildly, the alcohol clearly fueling her courage. “Why? Did he say something to you?”
“No!” I say hastily, but my denial may have been too strong because she and Jacob share a smirk.
“Does the temp have a little crush?” Jacob asks.
“No. I just wondered why you all don’t like him.” I chew on my lower lip.
“Because he’s a massive tool!” Tatiana exclaims.
“He’s gross, eats smelly fish in the office, never wears shoes.” Jacob visibly shudders. “I cannot stand seeing his bare feet everyday. He used to run to work. Can you even imagine? The whole office smelled like wet dog.”
Tatiana begins listing things off on her fingers. “He’s always grumpy, he’s rude to everyone, and he loves yelling. Although, he’s seemed less grumpy the past couple weeks.” Tatiana nudges me. “Maybe your little crush has had a positive effect on the guy!”
“Not a crush.” I repeat.
Tatiana snickers. “Sure it’s not.”
“Maybe I could have just one shot.” I select a small plastic container from the tray, trying to change the subject. My co-workers cheer, each grabbing their own small, jiggly cup.
Our group parties well into the evening. The bar plays loud music, and the drinks are free-flowing. After a couple vodka pineapples I switch to just soda water and lime. I don’t want a hangover tomorrow. My new friends do not seem to share that concern.
“Hey,” I glance up from my text messages, “my friend, Margot, and her law school buddies are doing karaoke at a bar down the block. Do you want to come with me?”
“Hell yes!” Jacob yells.
“Absolutely!” Tatiana pumps a fist in the air. She chugs the rest of her drink, and twists in her seat, already heading for the door.
As we are leaving, I manage to catch Sacha’s eye. He’s leaning against a wall beside the hall that leads to the bathrooms. Now is my chance, I’m three drinks in, I can talk to him now. Tell him that I’m sure now, we aren’t going to date anymore, I’m ready for my money.
“You guys go ahead.” I tell my friends. “I think I left my cell phone at the table.”
“We can wait for you.” Tatiana offers.
“Maybe you should get Jacob out of here? Before he does anything he wouldn’t want showing up in the office gossip?” I suggest with a grin.
“Let’s go, I am ready to vocally express myself! I want to sing!” Jacob shimmies his hips, limbering himself up for an all-nighter.
“You are probably right, Bay.” Tatiana smiles.
“Hurry, Bay! We are going to duet ‘Suddenly Seymour’. You are not going to want to miss it!” Jacob yells over his shoulder as Tatiana slips a hand around his waist and guides him toward the door. They are already practicing some fairly impressive harmonies.
I turn, not to our former table, but toward the bathrooms. The hallway seems empty, and my heart sinks a little. Maybe I misread Sacha’s meaning.
Then, a hand wraps around my wrist, tugging me into a dark corner of the hallway. I wish my body didn’t welcome his touch quite so easily, but I relax into his embrace as his warm hands resting on my hips.
“Ms. Thorn.” His low voice sends a pleasant little thrill straight through me.
“Mr. Kwatch.” I bite back a little grin when I say his name. I haven’t spoken to him all evening, but the few illicit glances across the room have me feeling warm all over. I have to pull back before this all becomes too much.
“Do you know how hard it is? To work beside you in the office every day and not be able to grab you? To touch you the way that I want to?” He backs me against the wall, his large frame towering over me.
“We aren’t in the office, sir.” There’s a little challenge in my voice. I put a hand to his chest. It’s a firm wall of muscle, I wonder how much of it is covered in hair.
“Someone could still see us here.” He growls slightly.
“You haven’t told them? Your friends?” I ask.
“No,” he says. “You are my little secret, Bay. Just for me to enjoy. They wouldn’t approve of the contract we signed.”
“About our contract—” I swallow, hoping I can get the words out this time, but that hope dries up as Sacha’s eyes search my face intently. He clasps my hand, keeping it pinned to his chest as he leans toward me.
I tilt my chin up, expecting a kiss, but his head veers to the side and his face presses into my shoulder. He inhales deeply, his breath tickling my neck on the way out. It sends a shiver down my spine to settle in the heat between my legs.
“Come away with me,” he says quietly.
I laugh again. “You’ve been drinking?”
“No…Yes. It doesn’t matter. I want to be alone with you, Bay.” His quiet words make me squirm. “Let me take you away.”
The fingers of his free hand dig into my hip, massaging the muscle there. His chest rises and falls beneath our clasped hands.
“Take me away?” I ask the question more for myself than for him, wondering what it would be like to let him control my life that way.
“What are you doing this weekend?” He cuts me off before I can answer. “It doesn’t matter, cancel your plans. You are coming on a trip with me.”
“You think I’ll follow your orders?” I ask. “Just like that?”
“Tomorrow. 10 AM.” He ignores my protest.
“We have work.”
He shakes his head. “Call in sick. Your boss won’t care, he won’t be in the office.”
“You can’t order me around this way, Sacha.”
“Pack warm. We’ll be staying in the mountains.”
“I am being serious, sir.” I stiffen under him.
He pulls back to look me in the eye, and a small growl escapes the back of his throat. “It drives me through the roof when you call me sir.”
There’s a gleam in his eye that makes my knees weak. Still, I shake my head at him.
“I am leaving for the weekend.” His voice gentles. “Magnes insists that I take some time off, and I want to spend a couple nights alone, in the mountains, disconnected from everyone. No phone, no internet, no work, no news.” His fingers flex on my hip. “I don’t know if I can be away from you for that long. I want you to come with me. I want to be with you.”
“Then you won’t be alone,” I tease.
“We’ll be alone, together.” He smiles.
The request makes my chest tight, my mind reeling with the options as he lowers himself slowly, until his lips meet mine, and he presses a warm kiss into me. His mouth firm and insistent as his tongue delves forward, large and hot. I give him an encouraging little moan and try to tug him closer, but like every other time he’s kissed me, his powerful hands barely scrape my body, skirting the areas with true intention, keeping his machinations a tease that drives my body wild with expectation. I need him to grab me, to take me, to drop his restraints and show me what all that bottled strength can do.
Sacha breaks the kiss as a server from the bar passes us. Pulling away from me quickly, he forces his back to the opposite side of the hallway.
“Please, come with me,” he says. “Give me the weekend, and if you still aren’t sure about us—about me—then we can end the contract. I’ll leave you alone. I won’t ask you for anything else.”
“One weekend?” I try to ignore how heavily I am breathing.
“Two nights. I just want to be with you,” he says. “Meet me tomorrow morning.”
Every inch of my body wants to agree, which means that I probably shouldn’t go. “Okay.” I nod. It’ll be one last little treat before I tell him goodbye forever, take my money, and run.
“I’ll let you know where to meet me.” He gives me a fleeting smile, his eyes are still drinking me in. Part of me almost feels guilty for taking advantage of him. One small date, a weekend away in a fancy mountain retreat. That’s all I have to do to get half a million dollars.
“Text me the address.” I concede.
“Is that a yes?”
“I should go. I need to meet my friends,” I say as I turn to leave.
“Is that a yes?” he calls after me, a broad smile on his lips.
I run from the bar before I can answer.
My mind is still reeling when I reach the karaoke bar. Tatiana and Jacob are already in full swing, merging easily with Margot’s law school friends. which gives me a few blessed moments alone to stew in my thoughts, stirring my drinking straw in my third pineapple vodka off the evening.
Margot sidles up next to me. “Big thoughts, Cheddar Bay Biscuit?”
“What?” I ask.
She presses her finger gently between my eyebrows, and I become aware of the crease there. I smile at her, trying to relax my expression, and, while my coworkers sing an absurdly long eight minute duet, I explain the situation to Margot.
“Do you think it’s possible that he actually really likes me?” I ask.
“Of course he does. What’s not to like?”
I roll my eyes, and Margot laughs before attempting to sober her face.
“Sweetie, he offered you half a million dollars to date him, he’s taking you away for the weekend on your second date.”
“So, you think I should go?” I feel the crease re-form between my brows.
“I think you should absolutely go.” Margot giggles with glee. “You like him.”
“No.” I shake my head.
“Bay, it’s okay to enjoy yourself. You are even allowed to like him.”
“I don’t,” I mutter. “I mean yeah, he’s nice, rich, hard-woking?—”
“Hot.” Margot adds with a grin.
“He’s my boss. I—” I chew on my lip, “He’s paying me to date him…it would be so stupid to fall for him, and Margot, I’m tired of being stupid.”
“You aren’t stupid,” Margot assures me.
“I do a lot of stupid things,” I mutter.
“You take chances! You have passion! You are always trying new things!”
I’m always losing jobs. Jumping from one career to another. Always being too excited, or too stupid, or too much. Sacha inspires me that way, he seems so grounded, so sure of himself and what he wants from life. I find it hard just to stand still when it always feels like the ground is slipping out from under me.
Margot smirks, turning as my friends re-join our table, she asks them, “Have you ever dated someone you work with?”
“Jacob and I are just friends,” Tatiana says very quickly.
“I’m not really interested in women, and she is very interested in women,” Jacob laughs, and I think I see a little blush rise up Tatiana’s face.
“How does Cryptech feel about coworkers dating?” Margot asks.
“Well, I know I love talking about it,” Jacob says.
“I think fraternization is fine?” Tatiana interjects. “As long as they don’t work directly under each other, you know?”
“Why?” A wide grin splits Jacob’s face. “Have you got your eye on someone, Temp?”
“No!” I say, far too quickly and too loudly not to be suspicious.
“No. My little Cheddar Bay Biscuit is too smart for an unrequited crush.” Margot steps in, and I’m forever grateful for her cool demeanor. “I’m the one who can’t stop thinking about one of my classmates. She won’t even look in my direction.” Margot throws an arm around Tatiana, pointing into the crowd to create a distraction that takes the heat off of me. She really is the best friend a girl could ask for.
I cannot let my gossipy coworkers find out I’m taking a long weekend with my boss, but the threat of our tryst being discovered isn’t enough to stop my smile when my phone dings with a message. It’s from Sacha. A short, three-line message. An address.