She moves her clutch from one hand to the other, and says, "Thank you, but to be honest I'm the one who should be apologizing. I was a little too sharp with you that day. You are my boss and have every right to question my whereabouts during work hours."
"Yes, I may be your boss, technically, but you aren't some intern trying to dodge work. It was disrespectful, and I am sorry."
"Well, thank you." She smiles.
"So, how's your mother doing?"
"Oh, she's fine. Well, as fine as a person with cancer can be." She casts her eyes to the ground. She looks contemplative. So I know not to ask any other questions.
I walk by her and pull the door handle.
It doesn't budge.
I try several more times, but nothing.
"I think the door is stuck," I say.
"What?" she steps forward and tries it herself a couple times. When she gets the same results I did she huffs. "This can't be happening. I didn't tell anyone I was coming here."
"Relax. We can call for help." I pull my phone out of my pocket. When I see I have no reception I ask, "Do you have any bars? Because I don't."
"She opens her purse, takes out her phone and sighs. "I don't either."
"Well, I'm sure someone will be by at some point to let us out. Maybe a security guard or something."
"What if they don't come before morning?"
"I mean, it won't be comfortable, but it won't kill us if we have to spend the night here."
She looks at me apprehensively. "Why did you even ask me to meet you here at this time of night?"
"Because it's the only time I had open in my schedule." She rolls her eyes at me, turns around and walks into the center of the room. "It's not like I planned this."
"I know you didn't, but my frustration is justified, don't you think?"
"Yes... I am sorry to have ruined your night." I approach where she is standing. "What? Did you have a hot date? Because you sure are dressed for it." I look her up and down and make a show of doing it.
She crosses her feet at her ankles and adjusts her coat. "No, I didn't. Like I said, I was going to meet a friend."
"Why? Your boyfriend occupied tonight?"
"No, I don't have a boyfriend." She smirks at me with a raise eyebrow, almost as if she's daring me.
"You're single?"
"Yeah. You sound surprised."
"I don't know." I shrug. "I wonder why a beautiful, intelligent and accomplished woman like you hasn't been snatched up."
"Perhaps I'm too much for most men to handle."
"Somehow, I don't doubt that..." My voice drops a few octaves.
She clears her throat and starts to circle me. "What about you? Anyone special in your life that I'm keeping you from?"
"Not at all. I'm free as a bird."
"I have to say I am also surprised that no woman has made an honest man of you."
"Well, one did try..."
She stops moving. "You were married?"
"I was. We got divorced about two years ago."
"Oh, I'm sorry." I wave off her sympathies and she continues, "If you don't mind me asking, what happened?"
I take in a deep breath and run a hand down my face. "In the end we just weren't compatible. The things she found exciting about me in the beginning worked against me toward the end. For example, initially, she liked the fact that I was ambitious and would force the world to bend to my will. That, however, doesn't work well in a marriage where you're supposed to communicate, understand each other, and compromise. I guess she got sick and tired of me treating our relationship like a business negotiation. She had other complaints like how much of a workaholic I am and how I act too much like a man. Up till today I still don't know what that means."
Paige laughs. "I don't know what that means either, but you're right, I think it was a compatibility issue, because a man like that sounds like a dream to me."
My mouth goes dry. "Really?"
She holds my gaze as she says, "Yeah. I like an ambitious man, because I am the same way. I like someone who has his own things going on. So he won't expect me to play small, and about the whole treating your relationship like a business negotiation, that just sounds like fun to me."
My head is spinning. Is she dropping hints? Is she's hoping that I'll make a move? I don't know... But I guess all of that is moot because before I know it I'm stepping up to her.
When I stop an inch away from her, her breath hitches as she looks up into my eyes. While holding her gaze, my hand goes to the nape of her neck while the other one goes to rest on her hip. I inhale deeply and my knees almost buckle when I get a lung-full of whatever sweet scent she is wearing.
I lower my lips to hers.
The second they touch fireworks go off behind my eyes.
She kisses me back with as much fervor as I give her. I pull her body flush against mine, and I'm sure she can feel my boner pressed up against her. Without breaking the connection, her hands go to my tie. She loosens it and drops it on the floor and starts working on my buttons. The second my waistcoat and shirt are open she drags her nails down my chest and abdomen and I mewl into her mouth. I rut against her once, twice, but on the third motion of my hips, reality crashes back into me, and I pull away from her with a jolt.
She looks surprised, but also so unbelievably sex-mussed, with her rosy cheeks and smudged lipstick.
I put my hands up. "Paige. We shouldn't do this. You work for me. This is highly inappropriate."
She straightens up, and just like that a wall has been erected between the two of us. "You're right. That was a mistake. I apologize."
"You don't have to apologize," I say, but before I even get the sentence out she spins around and walks back over to the exit. She tries the door again, turning the knob furiously and shaking the door. To my surprise, it opens and she escapes into the night.
She's left me standing here with my shirt hanging open and a raging boner.
I do up my buttons, pick my tie up off the ground and also make a hasty retreat.
What was I thinking? That was so stupid. Now I'm going to have to find a way to smooth things over with her. I don't know what that's going to look like, but I can't think about that now. Tonight, my only job is to find a way to force Paige DeLisle out of my brain. I know that's a tall order, but I have no other choice. I know the alternative will throw my life into a state of chaos.
However, the more I think about it the more chaos is starting to look like a good idea.
What the fuck is wrong with me?