Not Safe for Work(24)

“Hey.” Teagan elbowed me as we continued down the hall. “You’re zoning out again, McNeill.”

“Am I?”

“Yes, you are.”

“Clearly I need more coffee.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. Just stay focused in the meeting, okay?”

“Of course.”

I’ll try, anyway.

Yeah right.

The meeting turned out to be hell, but not for the usual reasons. Oh, there was the usual death by PowerPoint, endless yammering about shit I didn’t care about, and terse, unreasonable demands from my boss. There was also the restlessness that comes with needing to get something done to meet a deadline but being unable to go do it.

That wasn’t what did me in this time.

Rick was hot. It was that simple. Especially now that I knew what he was hiding beneath that tailored suit. I was a captive audience too, sitting around a broad table with nothing to do but look right at him and listen.

On some level, I was aware that he was explaining a new project he wanted to break ground on sometime next year. Something about a new convention center overlooking the river. A massive project with a price tag that had enough zeros to give the firm’s entire upper echelon wet dreams for months.

Something like that, anyway. The content was all white noise to me, because all I heard was his voice.

He was completely focused and didn’t seem to notice me at all, which was good, of course, but how the hell did he do it? The more he spoke in his stern this is what I want and I won’t accept any less tone, the more I heard the echoes of his breathless whispers in my ears. He talked about cold, calculated numbers and strategies. I heard him moaning and begging and damn near sobbing for more. Someone asked a question, to which he gave a sharp “yes”, and my mind superimposed a very different “yes” in its place.

McNeill, focus. I rubbed my eyes and cleared my throat. I doubled my efforts to concentrate on what he was saying, but all I managed to do was focus even harder on him.

Another form of distraction started creeping in. The weight of my job—not to mention those of my crew—pressed down on my shoulders. With CGI and 3D printing replacing a lot of people like me, my prospects weren’t great. There weren’t many options for a dinosaur, and with three kids in college, I couldn’t afford to gamble with my income.

I let my gaze drift toward Rick. He was watching Mitchell, who was presenting something I was ignoring. I wasn’t really risking anything, was I? If Rick and I stood up right now and announced that we were sleeping together…

At that thought, I had to clench my jaw to keep from chuckling. I couldn’t believe it had taken me this long to realize it, but my bosses wouldn’t can me for this. They stopped just short of offering to suck Rick’s and Dion’s dicks. My job was probably more bulletproof than it had ever been, because they were hardly going to fire the man who was sucking his dick. Or getting his dick sucked.

A tingle ran up my spine. Tonight.

As subtly as I could, I pulled my attention away from Rick and looked down at the notes in front of me, but the damage was done. The letters on the page may as well have rearranged themselves into a pornographic sketch of everything I had in mind for this evening with Rick. For the things I planned to do to the man who was so cool and collected now, but would be wide-eyed and pleading later.

Fuck. I’m never going to be able to concentrate around him.

Unless we’re naked. Then I’ll… Oh God. Is it five o’clock yet?

Maybe this would wear off eventually. The novelty of our dark little secret would fade, and he’d be The Rich Client again, not my after-hours submissive. Then I could hear his voice without feeling the hot, mid-orgasm release of breath beside my neck, or the—

“Jon.”

I blinked and looked up. My boss glared at me like a schoolmarm, eyeing me over her frameless glasses.

I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry, what?”

She exhaled sharply, a breath that screamed impatience. “I asked for an ETA for the models for this project.” She gestured over her shoulder at the artist’s rendition on the screen.

Beside her, Rick smothered a laugh.

Oh, you’re going to pay for that tonight, Pierce…

I sat up, clearing my throat again as I quickly rifled through the specs on the table in front of me. “If the rest of our calendar is clear, I’d say about…” I paused, running it all through my head. “Two weeks.”

In the same instant, Teagan said, “Three weeks.”

Marie’s eyes darted back and forth between us before she nodded sharply. “Two weeks, then.”

Under the table, Teagan kicked me, the heel of her boot hitting my ankle just right to nearly make me curse aloud. I shot her a glare, and she sent it right back.

As Marie went on with the meeting, I fought the urge to mutter a few obscenities under my breath, and they weren’t directed at Teagan or Marie. I knew better. I knew damn well to always overestimate lead times for everything, because Marie would take the lowest estimate and hold us to it. In fact, we’d barely get started on the project before she’d start shaving hours and days off the allotted time. Shit.

Rick turned to me, and his eyebrows flicked up. Everything okay?

I nodded subtly. He was still going to pay for that little snicker, though.

“Well.” Marie clasped her hands together. “That about wraps us up. Jon, are you still going to have the Rainier model completed by noon tomorrow?”