Slipperless Series (Book #1)(35)

Frankly, keeping my distance turned out to be more difficult than I anticipated.

What’s more, I wasn’t sure why, but until the other day, I hadn’t considered the possibility she might be a virgin. Now I couldn't seem to shake the suspicion.

The last time I remembered having sex with a virgin was… well, it had been a while. I had mixed emotions about the conquest if that was the case. But in the end I decided I wouldn’t veer from my objective until I found out for sure, one way or the other. Whether she turned out to be a virgin or not, I resolved to let what happened in the moment be my guide.

Around that time, I noticed Colin approach in my peripheral vision.

“Where were we, Gabe?”

Turning my head in his direction, I looked up at him. “I’ll make my decision and inform the team of it on Monday.”

He seemed taken aback by my sudden choice. “Okay, Gabe. I’ll let them know.”



FIONA

I had no idea where I stood in the competition, but based on the fact that Amanda and Melissa weren’t bothering me as much in the past few days, I assumed they were probably struggling with their work. That was fine with me. It couldn’t happen to a nicer couple of people as far as I was concerned. In any case, it was mid-afternoon Friday when I sat in the lab waiting for my last experiment to wrap. Once it finished, I’d be done and with any luck, still in contention.

I still had about a half hour or so until it was finished running though. Under ordinary circumstances, I would fill my time with other busywork or at the very least, organize my current workload. But ever since the ‘mishap’, I had no intention of going anywhere while experiments ran. So instead, I stayed glued to a desk close by and waited. I glanced at my log book and made a few final notes until at last, I found myself with nothing to do.

Like literally, nothing.

I exhaled a deep breath, rolling my head around in a couple of small circles, relieved and proud I’d been able to recover from my earlier setback. Of course, I hadn’t won anything yet, but at least I still had a chance, and no one could take that away from me.

Just then, the last discussion I had with Gabe popped into my head. I had no idea if he’d been keeping tabs, although I suspected he did. If he had, would he be pleased with how I’d handled it? Although I'm sure it wasn’t the way he would have done things, I hoped he would.

In spite of his teasing ways, he’d been kind to me. I still had no idea why. I wasn’t anything special and certainly nothing like the women he probably dated. If for that reason alone, what he thought of me mattered.

As to the rest of it… His office dalliances and veiled overtures towards me, well, I’d blocked it out of my mind for the most part. Thinking about him in ‘that way’ would mean nothing but pure distraction for me.

But as I sat there, unoccupied, my mind wandered back to the first night we met. Knowing what I did about him now, I looked on the interaction in a whole new light now. My gaze lingered, out of focus, on the scribbles in my log book as the memory flooded back.

Aside from the obvious, like his thick, dark hair and brilliant blue eyes, the thing I remembered most were his arms. Muscular and lean, they looked as if they belonged on a man who worked the land for living and not one who wielded enormous power in the boardroom. I recalled the warmth of his hand as he wrapped his fingers around mine, swallowing them with a masculine squeeze.

His arms would feel the same, I was certain of it. He’d wrap them around my curves as I vanished into their strength and power. It would be nothing at all for him to sweep me off the ground as if I were weightless, a tiny waif. My breath slowed as the vision intensified. In my mind, I was close enough to smell him. His powerful musk sent my nostrils flaring as I inhaled with all I had before he…

Just then, the sound of a door slamming down the hallway brought me back to awareness. Checking the time, I glanced at my mobile phone. I still had almost twenty minutes left. The pressure of the past few weeks… It was terrible. Some of the worst I could remember.

I just needed some relief, a break, a release…

Looking up between strands of my hair, I noticed the lab was still empty. It wasn’t long, perhaps thirty seconds or so, before my mind once again conjured the image of us together. Soon enough, an urgent need stirred between my thighs. After a hard swallow, I inched my chair closer to my desk, leaving just enough room to slide my arm underneath.

Fiona what the hell are you doing?

All my senses went into overdrive as I battled my urge. In spite of being paranoid to the point of near panic, I found myself suddenly unable to stop. Before I realized it, my fingers slid beneath my lab coat and between my thighs.