I’ve taken full advantage of the lenient work from home policy extended to partners. I figured it’d be easier to resist temptation this way, since the rules pertaining to co-workers fraternizing are explicit. No dating, under any circumstances is allowed, unless there is a marriage established prior to employment. Even then, those who are married, which to my knowledge is only one couple, are put in separate practice groups and work on different floors so they don’t run into each other during business hours. This is all thanks to one of the co-founders of the firm’s son, who was a senior equity partner, sticking his dick in half the corporate finance department, as well as multiple clients' wives.
If it came out that Sarina and I had amoment, or if it became obvious how affected I am by her, it’d set off a chain reaction that I can’t risk. I’ve worked too hard to get to where I am. Not to mention I have people who rely on me. My mom with her healthcare expenses being at the top of that list ofresponsibilities. Once she became unable to work due to her MG diagnosis, and I discovered that the required specialists and medications— which there are many— wouldn’t be covered by her health plan, I took that on for her. I’m thankful I make enough that I’m able to. I made a promise to my dad before he passed that I’d step up and take care of my mom and sister with anything they may need, and it’s a promise that I take seriously. Probably too seriously, but I can’t help it, it’s who I am. I will do anything for those I love. Including put my needs and wants on the back burner.
I hear the elevator approaching my penthouse entrance and I’m halfway to it when I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I forgot to change out of my gym shorts from my workout earlier or put a shirt on.Shit.
To think that I was worried about what would happen if anything was discovered between Sarina and me. Yet here I am, half naked and about to answer the door to my residence, after having a car service drive her here.
I debate changing but it’s too late. The elevator doors swing open and just like that I’m frozen in place. My gaze drawn to the white crisp fabric in the form of a coordinating pantsuit that looks like it was custom-made to fit every curve.
Scanning me up and down, the faintest tug of a grin spreads on her face. “Umm, hi.”
I greet her in return, unable to articulate a thought much past a simplehimyself.
“I feel overdressed.”
“You’re not. You look great.” That’s an understatement. She looks fucking stunning…and jittery. Very jittery.
“Compared to you, I am.” She sucks in a breath. Somewhere caught between a sigh and a scoff. “I can see your V-line.”
I’d ask her what she’s talking about, but the way her stare has trailed down my abdomen to the prominent lines that do in factform a V downward, I quickly put two and two together. That, and it’s obvious by the not-so-gentle tapping of her heels and shifting from side to side that she has to use the restroom. “The bathroom is down the hall.” I point past the living room. “First door on the right.”
“Thank you.”
Now the grin tugs at my lips. “I take it you liked your drink options.”
“Loved them!” she shouts, making her way to the bathroom. No sooner does the door close than it reopens. “You have a leak.”
Logic tells me she’s referring to something in the bathroom, but with the way she’s blatantly staring at my groin, that logic abandons me. Like a complete jackass I peer down at the obvious bulge poking through my gray gym shorts.
Her fingers snap for my attention and within a second —probably less— she has it. “I mean in the bathroom, Tomás.”
The way she says my name is a mix between patronizing and flirtatious, but the effect it has on me would be the same as if she were moaning it. A flutter sparks in my stomach just as the blood flow to my groin teases me, making mereallyregret not changing before I answered the door.
She waves me closer, and sure enough, there’s a pool of water near the vanity.
This is the last thing I feel like dealing with right now, especially since I have her here.
“Need some help?” she asks.
“No, no, I can fix it.”
“Really?” Shock ignites in her voice enough that I can’t help but stare at her, dumfounded.
“Yes. Why do you sound so surprised?”
“It’s just that…” She pauses, hesitating. “I don’t know, I mean?—”
“Go ahead, just say it.”
Just like that, all hesitation and stammering stops, and that bold, cut-to-the-chase way of being that I’ve grown fond of rises to the surface. “It’s just that you don’t seem like the type, is all.”
“To be able to fix a sink?”
She laughs. “Well, yeah.”
Ignoring the leak that isn’t slowing down, I cross my arms, leaning against the doorframe. The shift in my posture almost immediately causes her to bite down on her lip. She kneads it for a second before shaking her head. Her dark hair flowing side to side as she mumbles to herself.
“Is there a problem?”
