The Desire Variable - Vol. I

【64】All Work and no Play

He let out a low chuckle, releasing some of the tension. "I don't think we've ever been 'light and breezy,' but we can try."

Well, he was kind of right. But it didn't mean we couldn't try to keep things simple. "You can't keep saying those meaningful things to me, then."

"I won't. Feel free to scold me if I do."

His candid offer brought a smile to my face. I looked at us, at the situation, and bit my lip. He was just dashing, leaning back on the couch, his muscular torso in full view, his pants hastily pulled up, still opened. I wanted him terribly, the familiar tugging at my core demanding satisfaction.

But something important had just happened, and I didn't want to lessen it with sex. No matter how great it would be.

"We should use this to start working on the presentation," he urged, making me feel like he could read my mind. I nodded, trying to discard the shivers of lust still roaming through my frame. He let out a surprising, uncontrollable laugh, filled with irony and incredulity. "I don't think anyone has ever left me with blue balls as often as you have, Andrea."

"They match my blue ovaries," I tried to joke back, grimacing when I realized how terrible it sounded. He seemed to have a different opinion as he laughed softly. While he took care of his pants, I excused myself, heading to the bathroom.

Once safely in there, I went to the sink to splash some water on my face. Wondering once more how a woman like me could get into this kind of situation, I looked up at my reflection. The sight of the shower behind me brought flashes of what we'd done in there two days ago. We had defiled every room in his suite.

When I came back, feeling steadier, the unwelcome wetness between my legs cleaned off, I found him sitting in the armchair, glasses on, focused on his laptop. He looked absolutely proper again, his clothes put to right, his hair rearranged. I went to take out my laptop from my bag and settled opposite to him, on the couch.

We worked in silence for a while, only interrupting each other when we had questions. The lingering tension between us was making it hard to keep my mind on work, but I did my best. After a while, when I had the layout of the whole presentation, I asked him to come to check it out.

He sat next to me, reading and scrolling through what I'd come up with. At some point, his hand absentmindedly settled on my knee, his thumb drawing circles on the material of my jeans. Although the contact was slowly setting me on fire again, I didn't want him to stop.

When he reached the end of it, he nodded and removed his hand. "I like the introduction and the numbers you give. It adds some legitimacy to the app, and it will make the people in the room feel more invested. About the developing part, are you sure this is the angle you want to take? You can say you did most of the job by yourself. I don't mind."

"No, it's all right. I'll gladly give Kelex the merit and explain I'm the lead developer on it." In all truth, I thought it might sound pathetic to disclose I'd spent most of my evenings for the past two years working on this app. While I was very proud of my accomplishment, it seemed very lonely.

"All right. Change it if you want to, you deserve credit for your work. Who were you thinking of for the live demo?"

"Well, you," I said, as if it were obvious.

He tensed, bringing his brows together. "I'm flattered, really, but you'll have to go with someone else," he argued. Confused, I gave him a curious look. "I don't do public speeches."

"You're always fine talking to people in the conference room, back in Seattle."

"It's not the same. I don't know the people here. The place doesn't feel the same as our office."