Page 21 of Executive Benefits

9

NICK

Julia buttoned up her shirt, collecting her panties and her bra, shoving them into her briefcase. She wouldn't look me in the eye. She said a quick goodbye and tried to rush out, but I snagged her arm. “Hey,” I said, cupping her jaw and forcing her eyes to meet mine.

A wisp of hair fell over her face. I tucked it behind her ear and brought my lips to her lobe. “We didn’t do anything wrong,” I whispered. She shivered as my breath hit her skin and a line of goosebumps rippled down her neck. I smiled against her lobe but pulled away just slightly. I wanted to make sure she really wasn’t sorry for what we did. I wasn’t, but I wasn't in the business of having sex with someone who didn’t want me.

Her mahogany eyes met mine, and a blush dashed over her face.

“I…” She bit her lip, seeming to struggle with the words she wanted to say. Her gaze turned the heat up in my chest, and I couldn’t tell if it was the bourbon, the buzz wearing off, or if it was something else growing for her. It was the first time I’d been with a woman since Kendra. But from what Julia showed me sofar from her personality, and how great our sex was, I could see myself starting something with her.

I flinched.

That was jumping the gun a bit too quickly.

Wasn’t it?

I didn’t know if I wanted to be a serial monogamist. Plus, Julia was in her twenties. I dropped her bicep and sat back on my desk. “Okay,” I said, rubbing my hand over my beard. “We can chalk it up to a little bit of stress relief on both our ends. I know you just moved here, and that can be a stressful experience. My ex-wife is still in my life when I don’t want her to be. That can also add up. So, what do you say? We’re both grown adults. We both consented. Is there really a reason to regret it?” I leaned closer to her and smiled. “I enjoyed it very much.”

Julia smiled at the last part. She rolled her eyes and placed a hand on my shoulder. I ignored the heat racing down my arm from her touch because she clearly didn't want that type of relationship with me, and I clearly needed to sober up and think straight.

Plus, I needed her to help me with this rebrand. After hearing her ideas for the night, I wouldn’t trust anyone else with it. There would be too much to sort out.

Her shoulders lowered as she said, “I enjoyed it too. But you’re right. It was probably just a stress relief type of thing. I–I am kinda getting over a bad breakup.” She looked to the side and stepped a little closer. “It ended a few months ago, but you’re the first guy I’ve been with since. So, I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it too.”

Her gaze bounced back and forth over my face, and for the first time in I didn’t know how long, I was at a loss for words. A huge sense of wanting to beat up the fucker who hurt her washed through me, and I shook my head, trying to rattle out of the sensation.

I brought my fingers up to my eyes and rubbed the bridge of my nose, breaking eye contact. It helped scrub away any feelings I had, and suddenly, I was much more tired than I originally thought. When I opened my eyes, I looked her over. “I guess it’s the trend." I smiled. I couldn’t help it. I liked looking at her. “I haven’t been with anyone since before I was married, so it’s a new experience for me too.”

“Good.” She slipped her purse strap onto her shoulder. “I’m glad to have helped. And it’s nice we could get each other over the hurdle. You’re right, we are consenting adults. I just don’t want it to affect our working relationship.” She said the last part lower, and my hands instantly flew up to her shoulders.

“No. No way. No one else could do the job as well as you’re already doing it.”

“Good. Then, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” She turned to walk out the door but stopped just short of the threshold. She turned back to me. “Let me know if you have any place you’d need me to go with you. I won’t back out of that promise, either.”

I nodded and waved. “Thanks for that. See you tomorrow.”

As she turned to leave, I realized I really wanted to take her to bed instead.

“These are the colors Ms. Day wanted us to show you,” Joyce, an old friend and the town’s interior designer, held out a variety of colors. “Since the brick is going to be raw and we don’t know what it looks like yet, I suggest we take part of the wall off before any other of the demo is done. We need to see what condition it’s in and if we need to get it pressure washed or sealed so it’s up to code.” She moved to her bag. As she dug through it, I heard someone else come through the front door.

“Nick.” Ed waved at me.

“Excuse me, Julia—I mean Joyce.” I shook my head, trying to hide my embarrassment at calling Joyce Julia. I guess what we did a few nights ago made a bigger impression on me than I thought.

And it was an understatement. There was very little time in the last few days that Julia hadn’t been circling my thoughts. It had been very hard to concentrate, and I’d even found a few reasons to text her when there were questions that could’ve waited until we were together.

She was kind and responded to anything I threw her way, but I was starting to feel bad for taking up her time. Although she didn’t seem to mind it when I sent her pictures of my food asking her what she thought of the plating.

It was a shitty excuse to text her, but I hadn’t done the dating thing for a long time and I knew it was an excuse for an excuse, and I was learning to live with the idea that maybe I was a sap.

“You’ll probably want to talk to Ed, right?”

He was the contractor, and another old friend. Joyce looked up and waved, not bothering to say anything. I walked over to Ed and shook his hand. “We’re going to measure today, then we’ll meet up with Joyce and discuss her plans.”

“Good, she’s going to need a bit of the sheetrock brought down before we do almost anything else because she needs to see the condition of the walls.”

I started to walk him over to her when John called me from the kitchen. “Nick, there’s someone on the phone for you.” I could tell by the look in his eyes that it was a serious call. Probably from the IRS.

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