Shaken Not Stirred (Mixology) (21 page)

“Glad to know you like my weirdness.”

“Not weirdness, uniqueness. That’s a
different thing.”

“I’m not giving you an answer.” I crossed my
arms.

“Wait, but that means you aren’t saying no
either.” He smiled.

“So?”

“So, Paris aside, do you forgive me enough to
continue our movie nights again tomorrow?”

“Can I pick the movie?”

“Don’t you always?” he teased.

“All right. Pick me up at seven.”

***

“If you’re going to fall asleep during the
movie, at least let me pick something I like.” Colin kissed my
forehead.

I opened my eyes, taking a moment to remember
that we were in his theater room. “Did I fall asleep?”

“Yes. You did.”

“Sorry,” I said sheepishly.

“It’s fine. I’m glad you’re here. You scared
me.”

“Scared you?”

“Yeah. I didn’t know if I could get you
back.” He put an arm around me. “That’s a scary thought for
me.”

I put my hands on either side of his face.
“You mean that?”

“Of course I do.”

“I’m going to stay tonight.” I’d made up my
mind about it before I left my place.

Colin grinned. “I kind of assumed that
considering you brought a tote bag full of clothes.”

“How’d you know there were clothes in
there?”

“I may have snooped.”

“Hey!” I swatted at his arm.

“What? At least I don’t go through your
drawers.” He gave me a meaningful yet teasing look.

“How’d you know?” I’d thought my snooping had
gone undetected. Besides, I’d been respectful.

“I could tell.”

“I’ll have to be more discreet next
time.”

“Next time?” He pulled me onto his lap so
that I was straddling him. “Is there going to be a next time?”

“I don’t know. Are you planning on leaving me
waiting again like that?”

“Never.”

“Care to prove yourself?”

“I’d love to, but I don’t want to wait until
we’re upstairs.” He pulled my long-sleeve t-shirt over my head.

“How do you know I’m awake enough yet?”

He grinned. “Because I’m an expert on waking
you up.”

“I can say the same thing about waking you
up.”

“Yeah? Well, I’m guessing you know I’m
already up.”

I adjusted myself on his lap. “Yeah, you are,
but you’re wearing entirely too much clothing.”

“So are you.” He unclasped my bra, and I knew
I’d never look at that theater room the same way.

Lame romantic gestures come more naturally to
me than I expected. I checked the white paper bag one last time
before slipping it into the basket of my bike. I’d ordered Colin’s
favorite sandwich—turkey and ham on a hoagie roll, but I wasn’t
sure the cook hadn’t put pickles on by mistake. Colin hated
pickles. He’d been working nonstop all week, and taking a break for
lunch wasn’t his thing. After another text about how he missed me,
I decided to take things into my own hands. His office was right in
town, so it wasn’t a long ride. I opted for an easy sandwich joint
instead of anything fancy. It was the thought that counted,
right?

The weather was a little cold for a dress in
November, but I wanted to look cute. If this was my only chance to
see Colin all week, I wasn’t wasting it on old jeans. I was long
due for a shopping trip, but the way my checking account looked, it
wasn’t in the cards. I’d settled on a retro shift dress, the kind
with all the buttons down the front.

I stopped in front of his building and
searched for the bike rack. Of course there wasn’t one out in the
open. Businesses that didn’t want people without cars didn’t put a
rack out in public view. I followed instinct and walked around to
the back of the building. There was a small rack with only two
shiny new bikes on it—employees’ bikes I’m sure. I slid mine in and
locked it before walking around to the front.

I smoothed out my dress, hoping the wind
hadn’t messed up my hair too much. My plan to visit the bathroom
first was thwarted when someone I vaguely recognized as a friend of
Colin’s who had come into the bar with him once called out to me.
He was older than us, probably in his late thirties, with that
slightly graying hair that made a guy look good and a girl look
old. “Hey, Maddy.”

“Hi.” I smiled politely.

“I don’t think we’ve officially met, but
Colin talks about you all the time. I’m Martin.”

“Oh. Hi, Martin. Nice to meet you.” I checked
out the simplistic lobby. It’s neutral tones seemed the appropriate
fit for a beach town.

“Does Colin know you’re here?” he asked.

“How do you know I’m here to see Colin?”

“Why would you be here to see anyone
else?”

Evidently, he didn’t get the joke. “No. He
doesn’t know yet.”

“Let me walk you up then.”

“Thanks.” I followed him up the flight of
stairs and down a hallway. He gave a running narration of
everything we passed, but I was too nervous to concentrate on a
word he said.

He stopped in front of a door and knocked. I
assumed it was Colin’s office.

“Look who I found in the lobby?”

Colin glanced at the doorway. As soon as he
saw me, his face lit up. He came around his desk to meet me.
“Maddy? What are you doing here?”

“Is this a bad time? I just thought I’d drop
something off for you.”

“Colin was about to take his lunch break,
weren’t you?” Martin waved before leaving and closing the door
behind him.

“There’s never a bad time for you to visit.”
He backed me up to his desk.

“I brought you lunch.”

“Thanks, I’ll get to that later.” He placed a
hand on either side of me.

“Later? What are you doing now?”

“Enjoying seeing my girlfriend for the first
time all week. You haven’t stayed over at all.” His little whine
would have normally annoyed me, but his lids were heavy, and I knew
exactly what he’d been missing. I’d missed it too.

“It’s silly for you to pick me up after work.
You only get a few hours to sleep.”

“I know, but it would be worth it.”

“You said this all gets better next
week.”

“It does.”

“So I’ll stay over next week.”

“That’s next week.” He leaned down and kissed
me lightly.

“Only a few days away.”

“A few days too long.” His fingers settled on
the top button of my dress.

“Does stress get you turned on or something?”
I put my hand over his after he unbuttoned the top two buttons.

He laughed. “No. Seeing you does.”

“We can’t do anything here.”

“Why not?”

“It’s your office.”

“Keyword ‘mine.’”

Having sex in Colin’s office sounded like a
bad idea, but the way his other hand felt as it pushed my panties
out of the way sent exactly the opposite message.

“Are you sure you won’t get in trouble? What
if your boss catches us?”

Colin shook his head. “Don’t worry. Martin
won’t let him. He’ll run interference if he has to.”

“Why would he do that?”

“Because he’s my friend.” He unbuttoned one
more button, slipping a hand inside my dress.

“You sure it’s okay?”

“More than okay. Required.” His lips attacked
my neck, and any hope of continuing my resistance disappeared.

I pulled out his shirt from his pants,
quickly slipping my hand under it and the white t-shirt he wore
underneath. He moved his hand from under my dress long enough to
undo his belt and unzip his pants. I made quick work of reaching in
and getting what I wanted. The faster I did it, the faster his hand
would get back to where it had been seconds before.

“I’ve missed you so much, Maddy.” His breath
was hot on my face as his lips left kisses all over it.

“I’ve missed you too.”

His lips stilled. “This is a bad time to
admit this, but I don’t have a condom.”

“I do.”

“Do you usually carry one?” He didn’t hide
his surprise.

“Only since we started dating.”

“You’re good at stoking my ego.”

“You’re good at doing a lot of things.”

“Yeah? Am I about to do one of them now?” He
found the condom in my purse and ripped open the wrapper.

“I’ll tell you afterward.”

“You can get away with that comment because
of the one you made before.”

“Oh yeah? I thought I could get away with
anything?”

“If you continue to give me that look, you
can.”

“I don’t know what look you’re talking
about.”

“The ‘fuck me’ look you wear so well.” Colin
saying fuck? That was a new one.

“I don’t have that look.”

“Oh yes you do.”

“If I have that look on, then what are you
waiting for?”

He smiled. “Nothing. I’m not waiting for
anything.”

I bit my lip to stop myself from crying out
when he thrust into me. There was no slow start with his movements.
It was urgent and primal, and better than any sex we’d had before.
By the time he reached his release, I could barely contain myself.
Who knew how hard it was to stay quiet?

“Wow.” He said the word out loud, but I was
thinking the same thing. “Can you bring me lunch every day?” He
buttoned his pants, buckling his belt before moving on to the
buttons on his shirt.

I fixed my own clothes, still trying to catch
my breath. “Or you could pick me up after work tonight.”

“I thought you wanted me to get sleep.”

“I changed my mind.” Determined to make a
good exit, I picked up my purse, kissed him on the cheek and headed
to the door.

“You kill me, baby.”

“Baby?”

“Do you have a problem with me calling you
that?”

“I don’t know. I’ll get back to you on that.”
I walked out before he could respond.

I only made it three steps before I ran into
someone.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” The man I ran into looked
up. My heart dropped to my feet.

“Oh. Hi.” I’m sure I went pale as I stared at
a man I’d hoped to never see again after our disastrous date. I
definitely didn’t want to see him with Colin so close by.

“Hey. What are you doing here?” Gabriel
asked.

“Visiting me.” Colin walked out of his office
and put an arm around my shoulder. “This is my girlfriend, Maddy.”
The only evidence he wore from what had just occurred in his office
was a humongous grin on his face.

Gabriel’s eyes widened slightly and a smile
crossed his face. My face was fixed on the floor. Colin worked with
Gabriel? How small was this damn island?

“It’s so nice to meet you. Colin’s one of our
best.”

The way he said it set off alarm bells. That
wasn’t something you said about a co-worker.

“Maddy, this is Gabriel Fitzgerald.”

“Fitzgerald? As in the CEO of Fitzgerald
& Hughes?”

“The same.” Gabriel smiled and I wanted—no
needed—to melt into the floor.

“Oh. I thought you’d be older.” Could I make
things worse?

“Really? I didn’t know you’d even thought
about me.” I could feel his eyes bore into me.

“Colin’s mentioned you a lot.”

“He’s mentioned you too, but not by
name.”

“Oh.” I still couldn’t meet his eye. I just
kept picturing him asking me if I was adventurous.

Colin’s arm tightened around me. I’m sure he
could feel my tension.

“You two should come over this weekend.
Suzanne would love to get a chance to meet Maddy.”

“Oh. That would be great,” Colin said with
way too much enthusiasm.

“I’ll get back to you on a time.”

I finally looked up, just in time to catch
the wink Gabriel shot me. “Nice to meet you, Maddy. Glad to see
Colin has such good taste.” He continued down the hall.

“Are you okay?” Colin asked as soon as
Gabriel disappeared around the corner.

“Yeah. Sorry.” I kept the whole “yeah so your
boss is the one who propositioned me to have sex with him and his
wife” comment to myself.

“No. Something’s off. I can tell.” He took my
hand and started to lead me back to his office.

I needed to leave that building, and fast. I
leaned in to whisper in his ear. “I’m great. You just tired me out.
I’m going to go get some sleep in case I don’t get any tonight for
some reason.”

He grinned. “That’s probably a good
idea.”

I smiled before hightailing it down the
stairs.

“Do we really have to go to this?” I smoothed
out my black pencil skirt. I opted for the conservative look,
complete with a green tailored shirt. I was determined to look as
far from sexy bartender as possible. If Colin thought my choice of
dress was odd, he didn’t say anything. He only complimented me on
how I looked in dark green.

“Yes. He’s my boss, Maddy. I can’t exactly
cancel on him.” Colin focused on the road. I wished the drive were
longer.

“You could go without me. Besides, you
already got the promotion.” I turned to the window. I hoped this
wasn’t some sort of invitation to swing. Colin had explained that
the Fitzgeralds only spent a few weeks a year in the Outer Banks,
but Gabriel was in town to work on a few larger projects out of
that office. What fantastic luck.

“Why are you so against going to dinner at
the Fitzgeralds? They have a beautiful house and they always cater
in good stuff.”

“I don’t see why I need to come.” I needed to
get out of this awkward night. Every excuse I could come up with
failed, and I never used the sick excuse. It’s asking to come down
with the flu the next day.

He placed his hand on my leg, lightly
squeezing it until I looked at him. “Because they want to get to
know you. Because I want you there.”

“We’ve only been dating a few months. It’s
not like I’m your wife.”

He hit the brakes, pulling over to the side
of the road. After putting the car in park, he unbuckled his
seatbelt and captured me with his gaze. “Out with it. What the hell
is going on?”