Chapter 25
Twenty-Five
AUGUST CURRENT DAY (WEDNESDAY)
“W hy the pantsuits?” Warren asks as his hands run up my legs and tug me closer to him.
“Warren,” I caution even though my resolve on this issue is slowly slipping away.
We got into the office early today, so I didn’t fight him when he closed my office door behind us, but I haven’t changed my mind about office sex. But I know he knows that if he keeps going and unbuttons my pants, I’ll let him. I’ll let him slide them off me, lift me onto the edge of the desk, and have me right here, right now. But I’ve spent so long building my career, and I won’t jeopardize that. And the sexiest thing a man can do is listen and respect what you say, so the fact that he doesn’t push me makes me love him more.
His lips leave my neck, and he laughs, moving to take a seat across the desk from me. “I wasn’t asking because of that, although I’m glad you’re still thinking about it.”
I narrow my eyes at him as I sit in my chair. “Then why were you asking?”
“You always loved your work dresses and skirts and how they made people more uncomfortable when you were being all badass and shit.” The grin on his face makes me laugh, but underneath there’s a warmth seeping through me that he remembered that small detail about me.
“The last time I wore a dress to work was my first day working here.” I know how he’ll react to this story, so I brace myself as I say, “But you have to promise me you’re not going to kill anybody after I tell you this.”
His eyes darken and the muscles around his jaw tense. “I can’t make any promises when you start a story like that.”
“Of course not.” I sigh. “Well, I’m sure it wouldn’t surprise you to hear that Jason is known as the office creep. But on my first day, I saw it—the way his eyes were always on my legs or my body. The way he positioned himself around me. It felt like I was chosen as his next target.”
Warren looks like he’s about to storm out of this room and go find Jason right now. I glare at him until he settles back in the chair.
“I was at a point in my career that I didn’t need to make that statement with the dresses, so for my own comfort, I switched solely to pantsuits.”
“I didn’t think it was possible to hate that guy more than I already did,” he grits out and I laugh because the reason he hated him before was so petty, but this is a legitimate reason. “How has he not been fired?”
“He’s Clara’s cousin, so unless we have solid proof it’s hard to approach her about it.” I tried, since I was who she trusted most aside from him. But anytime I did, she’d talk to him and come back with comments like “Oh he didn’t mean it like that” or when it was about a female on his team not getting a promotion because they wouldn’t go out with him she’d say, “That’s not why, he said Matt shows a lot more promise” even though we all know who did the work on that team. “Everything he does is just on the safe side of that immediately fireable offenses line, but it’s bad enough that I’ve had to move all the females from his team to mine so they could get their promotions and not have to work in that environment.”
Understanding washes over him and his eyes widen. “And you keep his attention on you, so he won’t bother them as much. That’s why he still thinks he has a chance with you.”
I shrug and look away. I’m not sure I ever made the conscious decision to do it, but it took one look of discomfort from one of the younger girls on the team for me to stop openly showing my disgust for him and start directing his attention my way as much as possible. “I can handle him, and my position is high enough that he can’t do anything to my career. But if one of those girls got hurt or did something they didn’t want to do because they felt powerless, or like it would hurt them at work, I’d never forgive myself.”
He’s quiet long enough that I look up and am surprised to find awe instead of anger on his face. “I said it when I first got here and I’ll say it again, I can promise you that these people look up to you like you wouldn’t believe. And rightfully so because you are not only an amazing leader, but an amazing person.”
Color floods my cheeks even as I shake my head. “I’m just doing the right thing.”
“But so many don’t.”
I look back at him and we just smile at each other.
“We should probably go say our hello’s before we get caught in here,” I say.
I narrow my eyes in question when his smile grows. “You’re thinking about it again.”
As much as I fight it, my smile grows in return because I know exactly what he’s referring to and he’s right. We’re sitting on opposite sides of the desk, if someone walked in now it’d look like we were just having a meeting. But I can’t stop thinking about damn office sex, so being in here feels like we’re doing something dirty.
“How did I ever get work done at Triniti?” I ask, staring at him and never wanting to look away. “Because you are such a distraction.”
I stand and walk towards him as he says, “I think you mean you’re just so in love with me, I’m all you can think about, and when we’re in the same space I’m all you can focus on.”
I can see that it was a joke in his eyes, but I lean over, kiss him, then whisper against his lips, “That’s exactly what I mean.”
His hand moves to the back of my neck when I start to pull away and drags me back for another kiss before I step away.
I open the door, so we actually get to work, and jump back when Peter is on the other side, arm raised like he was just about to knock.
“Good morning,” I spit out, breathless.
Warren chuckles from his seat and Peter glances between us, a small smile growing on his face. “Good, you’re both here. Have a minute?”
I nod and gesture for him to join us. I compose myself as I move back to my chair and Peter takes the one beside Warren.
“What can we help you with?” I ask when no one else speaks.
“Are both of you free for dinner tonight?” Peter says and I blink a few times before registering what he said.
“I am,” Warren answers first, but he looks as confused as I feel.
“I’m free too,” I add.
“Great.” He stands and I’m thrown off again. Is that all ? “Right after work, at the steakhouse next to the hotel?”
“Sounds good,” I say as he walks out the door and leaves us looking at each other like what just happened was all a dream.
“Any idea what that’s about?” I ask and he shakes his head.
“Not a clue.”
* * *
“Ready?” Warren’s head pops into the doorway of my office and the way the evening sun shines into the building and reflects through his hair makes my lungs forget how to function. He’s glowing. He’s golden. He’s gorgeous.
And he’s mine.
It’s too much—this feeling, this love. Him being back. Him leaving again in three days. I turn thirty in a few months for fuck’s sake, he’s almost thirty-three, and we’re about to start a long-distance relationship—again—when it didn’t go so well the first time. We’ve got to be out of our damn minds.
But I see him standing before me now and I know I’d rather do long distance with him for the rest of my life than be with someone else. I love this man more than I love anything in this world. He is the beat of my heart, adding a beautiful melody to my life, the breath in my lungs keeping me alive, and the colors of a sunrise, shrouding my world with the promise of a new beginning.
“You need to stop looking at me like that,” he says, and it sounds more like a groan. “We’re about to go to dinner with my boss, who is now technically your boss too, and when you look at me like that, I lose all my sensibility. I have no control.”
I smirk at him. “Is that such a bad thing?”
“God, no.” The words come out as a laugh. “I love when you look at me like that. But why don’t we get through this dinner first, then you can look at me like that all night.”
“Fine, I can act normal around them.” I grab my bag, shut off my computer, and walk towards him, leaning in when I’m beside him. “But in my head, I’m always looking at you like that, just so you know.”
His eyes close and he takes a deep breath. As if on instinct, his hand drifts to my hip and squeezes. “Now you’ll have me thinking about that all evening.”
“You would’ve been thinking about it anyway.” I look around to make sure no one’s around before kissing him on the cheek. “Now, come on. It’s time to go.”
We meet up with Peter and Mac at the elevators, he hits the down button and as we step into the elevator I glance over at Warren who shrugs. He’s as in the dark about this as I am.
Is it just the four of us? I had assumed this was going to be a larger group. What the hell is this about?
We exchange polite small talk on the walk over and until we get seated. But it’s not till we get our drinks that Warren decides to broach the question looming over our heads.
“What’s this about, Peter?”
I’m not sure whether to be worried because Warren, the CFO of Peter’s company, doesn’t know what’s going on here, but Peter smiles and the sincerity of it eases my mind.
“This isn’t traditionally how I’d like to do this,” Peter starts, looking at me. “I haven’t even had the chance to run the idea by Warren, but since you two know each other, I’m hoping this can be more of an open discussion.”
“What idea?” Warren chimes in, voicing my question as well.
“Miss Summers,” Peter starts, and my lips press together. He laughs. “Right, Analise. I know we’ve only worked together for less than two weeks, but you might just be the most impressive person I’ve met in my entire professional career.” His smile turns sheepish as he looks over at Warren. “No offense.”
Warren laughs and I can’t fight a smile as he raises his hands in surrender and says, “No complaints from me. I completely agree.”
I want to look at him like I was earlier—letting all that love shine through—but I know I shouldn’t do that here. His eyes flash to me for just a moment, but they darken just enough in that time that I know he understands what I’m thinking.
“Good, because I would like to offer her a new position,” Peter says and my jaw drops, but Warren’s smile only grows with pride. “We have some work to do to establish this parent company, but I want you in charge of our strategy, and I mean all strategy—for both companies.”
My mouth is open, my excitement is rising. This sounds like an incredible opportunity—too good to be true.
“We can work out the details if you’re interested. This is intended as a promotion so you can expect a pay increase, and I would like you to be in D.C., with the rest of the executive team, but that wouldn’t have to happen right away.”
This pitch just gets better and better, a real reason to move to the same city as Warren. I can practically feel the excitement radiating off of Warren too. This is perfect. This is everything I could’ve asked for.
“The position would report to Warren.”
I don’t breathe because it would sound like I’m dying if I did. This is too good to be true.
This isn’t going to work.
I want to cry. I want to scream. But instead, I keep a smile on my face even as the sunshine fades from my eyes in time to the sun dipping below the horizon outside.
Peter and Mac are still smiling at me, and I don’t look away even though I no longer hear the words coming out of his mouth. I can feel Warren’s gaze on me, the intensity of the expression. I can feel the understanding radiating off him—that I was just offered a job that would put us back in the same position as the one that caused our downfall.
Under the table the heat of a hand rests atop mine, trying to comfort me, but it sends a shock through me that threatens to let the tears spill out. I have to pull away and I hate myself for it. I can’t think about this, talk about this right now.
“So, what do you think?” Peter says and I take a deep breath.
“It sounds incredible,” I say, too robotic, but only Warren notices the shift. “Is it okay if I think about it?”
“Oh, of course.” He laughs. “No rush.”
The waiter approaches with our food and I’ve never been more thankful for an interruption, even though my stomach is twisted in knots, and I don’t think I can eat a single bite.
I risk a glance over at Warren as we start eating and beneath his believably calm mask, I see the devastation etched across all his features. Whether it’s for me, or for the situation, or both. Or because I pulled away from him. No matter what it is, it’s not okay. I won’t let us make the same mistakes we made before. I won’t run away because it’s not ideal. We planned on long-distance before this and we can still do it.
I won’t lose him.
Under the table I reach over to give his knee a light squeeze and the instant relief that flows through his entire body lets me know everything will be okay. I love him and he loves me. The rest can be figured out.