A restless energy hums in my bloodstream as I sit down in my chair, ideas of Dom’s presence inside my little cubicle mixing with actual memories of what it was like to taste him. I’ve never, in my life, experienced something like what I experienced with him. And he didn’t even put his P in my V.
What happens when we do have sex?
My body straight-up tingles at the thought, and I’m equal parts annoyed and thankful for Monica when her cute face appears above one of my cubicle walls.
“Did you watch that TikTok I sent you last night?” she asks, her mouth lifting up at the corners.
“Pretty sure you mean, did I watchall tenTikToks you sent me and Lana last night?” I respond on a snort. “And yes, I did. I laughed my ass off at the little girl who was talking to her mom about not being a Zoomer-Arounder.”
Last night, while I was mindlessly staring up at my ceiling and trying to stop myself from reaching out to Dom, Monica’s texts inside our group chat with Lana were a welcome distraction.
“Oh my God!” She giggles. “That little girl was so damn cute! Reminded me so much of my niece Cora. I swear, that girl is four going on thirty. I don’t know how my sister is going to survive her teenage years with all this sass she’s got.”
Cora is one of Monica’s favorite people in the whole world. If she’s not talking about college or friends or the current guys she’s dating, she’s talking about her niece.
“How is preschool going for her?” I ask while Monica steps into my cubicle to sit on the edge of my desk. “Didn’t you say she had to switch schools?”
“It was a whole thing,” Monica says with a dramatic wave of her hand. “She was not happy that my sister and brother-in-law moved to a new neighborhood and she had to start a new school and leave her little bestie, Eden, behind. Thankfully, she’s a social butterfly like her chatty aunt,” she says through a knowing laugh. “And she already has two new besties. So all is good in Cora’s new hood.”
“Way to go, Cora,” I say with a soft smile.
“Oh, by the way!” she says, but her phone starts ringing. “Shit,” she mutters and rolls her eyes. “Remind me to tell you about that guy I went on a date with on Saturday. It was a nightmare, Hannah!”
“Oh no,” I respond with a grimace as she pops back over to her cubicle to take the call.
“Yeah! You won’t believe the shit he was saying to me!” she exclaims, settling down into her desk chair before her usual, sex-laced Diamond greeting fills my ears.
I return my attention to my desk, putting my headset over my ears and starting the process of logging into my phone and computer. But I stop mid-setup when I hear footsteps entering my cubicle.
My heart races in excitement, in anticipation, in all the feelings that have been vibrating through my body all morning, but when I spin around in my chair, I only find Shane standing there.
“Hey, Hannah,” he greets me around the toothpick sticking out of the corner of his mouth.
“Hey.” I offer a friendly, but distracted, smile as I glance around him in search of the one man I’m embarrassingly excited to see today.
But there’s no Dom in sight.
“Just wanted to see if you needed anything or have any questions before we get started today.”
“Um ... I think I’m good ...” I pause, even glancing over his shoulder a few more times.
“Well, don’t hesitate to shoot me a text if anything comes up, okay?” he says with a nod. “And I know this is a big ask, but the more calls you can take today, the better.”
“What do you mean?”
“Had a meeting with our captain this morning, and we’re running out of time on our wiretap warrant.” He shrugs. “I’m still following up on the rest of the callers I’ve marked to investigate, but the more calls you take, the more possible suspects we reach.”
I didn’t even know warrants expired.
“So ... what happens if the warrant expires but you don’t find the guy?”
“Hannah, I don’t want you to worry about any of that, all right?” He offers a reassuring smile. “I still have more callers to follow up on. Still have time on the warrant. And I want to assure you, I’m very much focused on solving this case, okay?”
I don’t know what to say to that. My head is spinning too fast to nail down a single thought.Where is Dom?
“Now I’ll get out of your hair.” He pats one hand on the edge of my cubicle. “I’ll be in the van if you need anything.”
My mind buffers as I try to understand all the things he’s just said.
