“Ah, who am I to stand in the way of true love.” He laughs.
I suspect the huge tip played a big part in his nonchalance to being stuck at work longer than he had to be, but I don’t care. I feel like I’m walking on air. It looks like the night turned out pretty well for all of us.
Brett calls his driver and our car arrives back for us in minutes. “My place?” Brett asks me.
I shake my head reluctantly. “No. I have to go home so I can get sorted for work tomorrow.”
“It was worth a try,” Brett says, grinning to try to hide his disappointment. He tells the driver to take me home first.
The drive is a short one and it’s over too soon.
Brett gets out of the car with me and takes my hand in his. He leans closer to me.
I pull back. “What are you doing? Your driver will see,” I say.
“My driver understands discretion,” he says.
I know I should protest a little but more, but I don’t. I really want to kiss him and when he leans closer again, this time, I lean in to meet him. Our lips lock together.
Dang, Brett tastes of wine and gelato… I can’t get enough of him. The kiss is tender, loving, and I don’t want it to end. It sends tingles through my body and makes me ache for him. When the kiss ends, it takes everything I have not to invite him inside, but if we’re going to make this work, I can’t turn up for work rough tomorrow morning. I have to forget that Brett is the boss who will see me rough in the morning, and know exactly why I’m like that and let it go. I have to act like my boss is an entirely different person to the man I’m with now.
Brett watches me until I’m inside of the building.
Turning, I give him a wave before I head up the stairs. I can’t believe how different I feel now to how I did a couple of hours ago. Instead of dreading work tomorrow, I find myself excited for it. I think it will be exhilarating being so close to Brett and not being able to touch him now that I know that once work is done, that I can. It’s like we’re sharing this intimate secret between us, like we’re partners in crime. I think work is about to get a whole lot more interesting than it ever has been before.
20
Five Weeks Later
The last five weeks have been like a dream, a fairy tale come to life. Brett and I have been very good about sticking to our arrangement. At work, we’re all business. No one suspects a thing about us, not even Jessie.
She stops by my office at least once a day to tell me how dreamy she thinks Brett is, and to question how I can work so closely with him without being in a state of constant turmoil.
I really want to tell her about us, but of course I don’t. It would be round the office in seconds.
I’ve told Rita of course, but it’s not like she’s going to run into the office and start spreading it around. That’s the only thing I am not totally happy about. At first, our relationship being a secret was exciting, but the novelty of that has worn off now, and I find myself wanting to talk about Brett, to tell people a funny story, or about something interesting we did together and of course, I can’t.
It really is a small price to pay for the great time we have together though. As soon as work is done, Brett and I gravitate towards each other like we’re magnetized. I have spent a lot of time at his place. I stay there pretty much every other night. He occasionally stays over at my apartment, but his place is so much nicer than mine, and he doesn’t have a roommate, so we have much more privacy at his place.
The last few times I’ve been home I have found notes left by Gary, my ex-boyfriend who seems to be slowly becoming my stalker. He clearly has found a way to get into my building, as the notes he leaves are not in the mailbox. They’re pushed underneath my apartment door.
They’re not threatening notes, in fact they’re the opposite – love letters begging me to take him back – but they still make me uncomfortable. I don’t know why he won’t just leave me alone. I mean surely, it’s enough of a hint when someone changes their phone number not once but twice, just to stop you from calling them. Apparently, Gary doesn’t think so.
Brett and I are sitting in my living room drinking a glass of wine. Rita is staying at her boyfriend’s place and when Brett dropped me off after seeing a movie, I asked him if he wanted to come in for a glass of wine. We’re sitting wrapped up in each other, talking and enjoying each other’s company. Even after five weeks, the newness hasn’t worn off and I really think I could spend every minute of the rest of my life with Brett and never grow tired of him.
I am a little tired now though. Not of Brett, but it’s getting late and I’m getting sleepy. I yawn.
Brett laughs. “Am I boring you?”
“Never,” I reply.
He chuckles as I stifle another yawn.
I’m debating asking him to spend the night. I know I won’t get much sleep if he does, but I can live with being tired again tomorrow, and I won’t be seeing Brett tomorrow night. He has a dinner planned with a client, so I will be able to get an early night and catch up on my sleep a bit then.
I open my mouth to ask him if he wants to stay over when a movement at the front door catches my
