Page 12 of After-Hours Heir

Kid: I know it isn’t. It’s just that I want you. I am so tired of writing to you and wishing that you could hold me.

She was getting emotional now. Ridiculous. Their conversations were personal and impersonal all at the same time. The sexual encounters steamy, but not…this.

They didn’t talk about holding one another.

But it was what she wanted.

Baby: If we meet, we must maintain anonymity.

She paused. Her teeth clenching together.

This was a red flag. She knew it. She was insecure about her looks, and it made her want to keep this anonymous, but she had a feeling that her arrogant counterpart didn’t suffer from insecurity. If he was asking for anonymity it could be for a very damning reason.

There was a question that had hovered around the edges of her mind for a long time. A concern. And she had pushed it away. He was talking about meeting and maintaining anonymity, which meant he was talking about the two of them meeting and not talking. He was talking about the two of them meeting for sex.

The very idea sent a rush of physical attraction through her.

Yes. She wanted it. She wanted him. She had never been with anybody because it had never been right. But this was right. She knew it. And yet she was also very worried that it was wrong.

Kid: Forgive me. I have to ask you this. You don’t want to stay anonymous because you’re married, do you? And I need you to be honest with me about that.

There was a pause. Her stomach sank all the way down almost to her toes.

Baby: Sorry. It never occurred to me that you might think I was married. I am not married. I’m the furthest thing from married. I have never even been close. My reasons for wanting to keep this anonymous are my own. But I promise you it is not because being with me could hurt someone else.

It was just the perfect answer, and she chose to believe him. Because she needed to. Honestly, a person had to have a little bit of naivety to fall in love. She was certain of that. But her real concern was that most of her naivety wasn’t an intentionalchoice, but a fact of her lack of experience. So she was trying to be canny here. While she knew that if she told any of her casual work friends about this situation they would judge her.

But they were only casual work friends, and casual work friends were all she had. He was the closest thing to a real friend that she possessed.

But he was also…a sexual fantasy. She felt a little bit chagrined that what he wanted was the sex in person when she had been wanting… Well, she wanted the sex, she had just wanted emotion as well.

Kid: This is silly. How in the world can we meet but stay anonymous?

Baby: We will meet in the penthouse of The Luxe. The lights will be off, and we will not turn them on.

She stared at the text. She felt like he had been thinking about this for a long time because it was definitive and fast.

She didn’t hate the idea. The idea of making love with him in the dark. Of finally having his hands on her body, of having half of what she wanted.

Of what she’d dreamed of.

She sat there.Half.

No. It wasn’t half. It was an opportunity to have anonymity and closeness. It was an opportunity for their bodies to prove their compatibility before they took it any further.

It was a chance for them to maintain this fantasy, and whatever his reasoning was, she had a feeling it was close to hers. A desire and need to make this sacred. To keep it separate.

Kid: When?

Baby: Tomorrow.

Her heart thundered hard. And she knew this was her opportunity. To say no, to say yes. She thought about it. Abouthow tomorrow she could have his hands on her body. About how tomorrow they could be together.

She needed this. Now more than ever. She needed him.

Kid: Yes. 8 PM. Send me the room number.

Baby: I will.