I nodded and took a minuscule step closer.
“Why don’t you come with us?”
I wondered if he heard how shaky my voice sounded.
He smiled. “I’d like that.”
I bit down on the side of my bottom lip, elated that he hadn’t turned me down.
“Does Brooklyn know about us?” he asked.
I swallowed. “No. Should she?”
He shrugged. “I just wanted to make sure I played it right.”
I took a minute to mull over our options and then I came to the conclusion that telling Brooklyn about us this early would be a bad idea. Surely she’d have her own opinions about us, but I was still trying to figure out where we stood on my own. I didn’t need her influencing anything yet.
“So, it’ll just be a friendly happy hour,” I said with suggestive smile.
He reached out and dipped his finger into the waist of my pants so that he could pull me toward him. I had no choice but to comply or I’d have tripped forward over my feet.
“What if I can’t fake it later?” he asked, letting his hands drift up to my bare neck.
I closed my eyes and tried to come up with a response. Voices from the office drifted through the door and goose bumps blossomed beneath his touch. His left hand trailed up around my chin and brushed a few tendrils of hair behind my ear.
“Maybe we should kiss right now and get it out of our system,” I suggested selfishly.
He laughed. “Somehow I don’t think a kiss would do it.”
I opened my eyes and took a step backward.
“You’re right, I'd better just get back to work,” I said.
Grayson laughed and reached out for me again, twisting us around so that the back of my thighs pressed against his desk. He pinned me there, held my neck, and dipped me backward.
I twined my fingers together around his neck to keep from falling back as he kissed me and slipped his hand beneath the hem of my blouse. My stomach quivered as he skimmed over my bare stomach, blazing a trail of desire as he went.
“Grayson!” The intercom speakers blared through the room and I jumped away from him. “You have a meeting with Walters in fifteen minutes. If you leave now, it’ll take you about ten minutes to get to his office.”
The intercom cut off but my face still heated as if Beatrice had actually walked in and caught us in the act.
“Oh God, that kiss was a terrible, terrible idea,” I said, pushing him away so that I could straighten my blouse and pants.
He laughed and shook his head, already en route to a small bathroom to the side of his office.
“I like playing with fire,” he said, meeting my eye in the mirror. "And I don't have any intention of stopping."
I watched him straighten his tie and suit jacket in the mirror. Every single one of his features was sharp and ready to deliver a killer presentation. His pants however were sporting a noticeable bulge, one he needed to attend to if he hoped to walk through the office without causing a scene. I smiled at the knowledge that I’d been the cause of it.
“You have my number, right?” Grayson asked, reaching down to splash some water on his face and then dabbing it dry with a hand towel.
“I stole it from Brooklyn’s phone a while back,” I admitted.
And by “a while back”, I mean when I was eighteen.
“Good,” he said, coming out of the bathroom and collecting a few papers from his desk. “Text me the info for drinks. I’ll be there.”
…
“Have a good meeting with Grayson?” Hannah asked as I refilled my coffee in the kitchen an hour later. Since leaving Grayson’s office I’d been very productive: I’d managed to check an email, pick up the phone only to forget who I was meant to be calling, and then sip two cups of coffee while recreating our various make outs in my head.
I glanced up at Hannah with a confused glance.
“Uh, yeah, I guess the meeting was good.” I was hoping I sounded nonchalant, but the words came out more defensive than I’d intended.
She narrowed her eyes. “You know he doesn’t have meetings like that with anyone else. You must be pretty special.”
“I think you’re reading too much into it,” I shrugged. "It's boring mentor-mentee stuff, just like your meetings with Alan."
Hannah stepped closer so that she could reach for a mug of her own. The fact that I had to quickly duck so that the cabinet door wouldn’t whack me in the face didn’t faze her.
“Well it seems funny, because I tried to schedule a meeting with him yesterday and Beatrice said he wasn’t available for a few days, yet you just waltz right up to his office and he lets you in. Strange, right?”
I set my mug down on the counter, crossed my arms, and turned to Hannah.