Page 8 of Out of Order
I tried not to find his tone appealing or the mischievous look on his handsome face. Instead, I focused on all the things I found annoying about the changes to the office carried out by his firm.
“It looks like style was preferred over practicality. The white walls are now marred with dark scuff marks. The new bright lighting had to be dimmed by 10% since it was reflecting off the white desks and causing eye strain.” I was on a roll now. For months, it had frustrated me the way they had redesigned the office. Now I had the man responsible, standing in front of me. “And what about fixing the elevators….” I said, running out of steam.
“Okay, good point, actually they all are, but I was only the project manager. I didn’t design it and I didn’t trim the budget either. That was one of my bosses–Mr. Williams’ idea. He’s all about profit margins.”
“I’m guessing that he didn’t say that when it came to redecorating his own office, hmmm?” I didn’t bother to tone down my sarcasm
“His office, no. But his car…” He added, grinning like the Cheshire cat.
“Right, …just like I thought.”
Niall shifted to a more comfortable spot. Then he stared at me before asking.
“Is there anyone at home waiting for you, Luca?”
Startled by the sudden change in topic, my face reddened and my gaze jumped to his deep blue eyes.
“No, no one’s waiting for me. I had a roommate, but he moved in with his boyfriend a few weeks back, so it’s just me paying the rent. That’s why I was working late. I needed the overtime.”
Was he in a roundabout way asking me if I was single? Couldn’t be, not a guy like him.
“How about you? Anyone wondering where you are?”
“My last boyfriend and the girl I was going out with before said I worked too much. I may have. But if either of them was really meant for me, I would have worked less, not more. My last relationship ended nearly 18 months ago and I’ve been putting in extra time at the gym and working ever since.”
Boyfriend? Boyfriend! Jackpot! Praise to the gay gods!
“It’s time well spent if those abs I peeked a look at earlier are anything to go by.” Okay I shouldn’t have mentioned that, now I was having difficulty stopping an image of a wet naked Niall forming in my mind. Yep, and now my cheeks were on fire.
“Wait! You haven’t had a boyfriend for over a year? Haven’t you, you know…” Oh god I couldn’t say it. The words had stuck in my throat as I stared, awaiting his reaction.
Slowly Niall shook his head in a “NO.”
“How about you? Have you got a man to take care of you?”
I couldn’t believe where this conversation was headed. I never spoke about my private life, not even with my mom. That’s why I couldn’t bring myself to look at him, when I too shook my head as a ‘No.’ “The last guy I dated said I was ‘fake’, I’m still trying to figure out what he meant by that. Everything about me is real. What you see is what you get. I’m not a fan of fake tan. I don’t pretend to be someone I’m not. Sure, I’m a bit femme, my hairs long and I wear heels and a bit of guyliner. I don’t hide that. I’m just-me, I just don’t get it!” I paused for a moment before continuing.
“The spineless jerk that he was, even dumped me by text. Said that ‘life was too precious and too short to waste either my time or his on a relationship that wasn’t working’. Then he had the audacity to text me again to ask for all his stuff back. He only wanted me to pack-it and deliver it to him. But when I got to his place his friend answered the door saying ‘Gavin doesn’t want to talk to you’. WHAT A DICK, I have no idea what I saw in him. Anyway, it was at that moment I decided, short balding men were off my dating list.”
The longer Niall listened to me as I talked about my ex, the more I felt he was someone I wanted to date.
“Sounds to me he wanted you to be something else, that he wasn’t content to let you be you.” With that, he checked his watch again. “It’s getting late. It’s already getting cold here. I think we need to think about keeping warm and getting some sleep.”
“We could gather all the towels from the changing rooms and huddle under them–maybe. Together…. We’d be warmer.” He offered helpfully, even though not entirely innocently.
“You want me to sleep with you? I can’t speak for all the men you’ve encountered, but I won’t sleep with someone I just met.” I held my voice steady, but my eyes were twinkling with mischief.
Sitting up, Niall raised his hand in a three fingered salute. “I promise, scout’s honor–not to grope you in your sleep.”
“Spoilsport…. Why not? …. Don’t you fancy me?”
“…… Not at all.” He blurted.
I spluttered. Reeling from the sting of rejection.
“Wait.” Niall reached out and pressed his hand to my cheek, caressing it with his thumb. “What I mean is YES, you are the type of man I’d want to more than grope, but I’m a gentleman, so I won’t.”
“When you put it like that, how can I refuse?” We split up and went off to raid both locker rooms, then piled the towels up and snuggled down–together.
