Not Safe for Work(46)

Her expression dared me to challenge her. And in any other situation, I might have, but I was having a hell of a time coming up with any arguments.

So, I just shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe? Eventually? It’s still a new thing.”

“Well, it’s a cute thing, and it keeps you from being grumpy. So, I approve.”

I laughed, rolling my eyes. “Gee, thanks, T.”

“Any time.” She put the third bracket into place. “Okay, I think it’s solid now. Thanks.”

“No problem.” I let go of the model’s roof. She tested it, and sure enough, it wasn’t going anywhere now. There were still half a dozen brackets left to put on, but she didn’t need help keeping it still, so I went back to my own model.

My conversation with Teagan echoed in my head as I carefully measured and marked a new piece of foam-core that would be the parking lot beside the library I was building. I always felt weird pretending to be dating a woman when I was with a man, and every single time, I weighed whether it was worth just coming out and, well, coming out. No one in this room would’ve been obnoxious about it. But coming out was never easy, especially as I got older.

This time, though, I wasn’t hung up on whether or not to come out, but what she’d said about things getting serious with “her”. Mostly because I couldn’t argue. Mentally I tried, but I couldn’t.

Maybe she was right, and Rick really did make me grin like an idiot without even realizing it. Normally, I’d have resisted and protested for as long as I had plausible deniability—we’re not serious!—and once that ran out, then I’d admit it. No rushing in. Not for this guy.

But any attempts to deny it to myself didn’t even make sense. It was still too early to tell. I barely knew him. Still, even after just a couple of weeks together and almost as much time spent hanging on my texts and surreptitious glances, Rick was farther under my skin than he should’ve been. In any other situation, that would’ve made me panic, and I’d have backed off, but…not this time. Back off? Forget it. I was getting in over my head and enjoying every second of it.

And as soon as I had some time off, I fully intended to dive in again.

*

At the vending machine for my forty-eighth Red Bull since breakfast, I was counting out a buck twenty-five when sharp footsteps erased my entire brain. Half the people in this building wore suits to work, so dress shoes were hardly unusual, but something about the gait, the way the hard soles clicked on the laminate, told me this wasn’t just anyone.

They stopped behind me.

“Feeling better?” Rick’s voice made my skin tingle.

I turned around and nodded. “Amazing what a little sleep can do.” After a little time with you, I’ll be—oh God. This is that smile Teagan keeps talking about, isn’t it?

“All-nighters are a bitch,” Rick said.

“Says the man who’s the reason I keep having to pull all-nighters.”

Rick’s eyebrows rose. “Are these… I mean, are these only Horizon projects?”

“Uh, well.” I cleared my throat. “Not all. Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“No, it’s okay. But seriously—are they working you into the ground on my company’s behalf?”

I exhaled, regretting my ill-judged joke. “Not always. But we have yours, and we have others, so if anything’s a rush, or we get backed up…” I shrugged.

“Hmm.” He pursed his lips.

“It’s okay. It’s kind of feast or famine. We’re used to it.”

Rick shook his head. “No, I don’t want you killing yourself over this stuff because of my company, and I’ve explained that to your bosses already.”

“It’s my job. Don’t worry about it.”

He held my gaze, lips taut. Then he nodded down the hall. “Well, I won’t keep you, and I have to get to a meeting myself. Don’t work yourself into the ground, okay?”

“That goes for you too. You’re going to need your energy once they turn me loose.”

His eyebrows shot up, and he gulped.

“Get to your meeting,” I said in my Dom voice, and tamped down a laugh when he jumped. “We’ll get together soon.”

“Can’t wait,” he said in a hoarse whisper, and as he turned to go, I licked my lips and went back to counting out change so I could get that Red Bull that suddenly didn’t seem quite so necessary.

More footsteps. This time, I cursed soundlessly. I was so not in the mood for—

“Mr. McNeill.” Mitchell huffed behind me. “We have talked about this.”

I turned around and didn’t bother playing stupid. “He was just asking how I was doing.”

Mitchell stiffened and his eyes widened, and I had to replay what I’d just said to be sure I hadn’t really told him that Rick had expressed how much he wanted to get back in bed with me. I was pretty sure I hadn’t, though. Right?

I cleared my throat. “He thought I was out sick. So he asked how I was doing, said he was glad to see I was all right, and that was the end of it.”

Mitchell held my gaze, suspicion etched all over his lined face. Finally, he grunted, “Keep it that way,” and stalked off with no further comment, no further question.