“So I have to be asleep, then?”
I blink at him, momentarily confused, until my brain connects the dots and I let out a strangled gasp.“No.”
He mimics me with a theatrical intake of breath. “Yes.”
“You were awake thatwhole time?” I grab a throw pillow and start beating him with it.
Laughter gusts out of him as he ducks my blows. “You think I could sleep with you rubbing up on me all night long?”
“I can’t believe you let me embarrass myself like that!”
“What should I have done, popped my eyes open and said, ‘Gotcha’? I couldn’t tell youbecauseI didn’t want to embarrass you. I had to let it run its course.” He wrestles away the pillow and chucks it across the room. “Frankly, I’m shocked it took you that long to succumb to my raw sexual magnetism.”
I groan. “I can’t even look you in the eye. I’m changing my name and moving to another state.” He chuckles. “And don’t think I didn’t just see what you did there.”
He raises his eyebrows innocently.
“Distracted me from our argument. It won’t work.”
He flashes a rakish grin. “If I wanted to distract you, I’d just do this...”
He tosses his book on the coffee table and climbs over me, silencing any further arguments with his lips.
Well, alrighty, then.
The day it all comes crashing down starts out like any other.
We walk to work and ride up in the elevator together, something we’ve avoided doing too much of so as not to raise eyebrows among our colleagues. It’s a testament to how comfortable I’ve gotten with the idea of us that lately, I can’t be bothered to check who might be watching. I’m too busy looking at him.
Since we’re the only two in the elevator, Ben leans over and gives me a goodbye kiss before the doors slide open. When he tells me to have agood day, I can almost imagine it could be like this every day, if I could calm down enough to let it. He’s become as integral to my morning routine as my coffee: a tall vanilla latte with a shot of Ben’s delicious lips and a hit of whipped cream.
Around lunchtime there’s a short rap on my door, and before I get a chance to respond Stephen barges in.
“I just got a call from someone at Senator Hammond’s office wanting to set up a meeting between him and Carol.”
“What’s it about?”
“They wouldn’t say. I wonder if it involves the illicit fraternization of their staffers.” His eyebrows shoot sky-high.
“Stephen! Don’t even joke about that,” I hiss as I hurry to shut the door behind him. “They have way more important things to worry about than us.”Don’t they?
“I thought you’d want to know.”
The concerned look on his face is freaking me out. “Do you think I need to say something to Carol?”
Before he can answer there’s another knock on the door and I jump about a foot in the air. I’m suddenly terrified it’ll be Ben, here to blow our cover.
It’s not.
“John! This is a surprise.”
I plaster on a smile, trying to hide how deflated I feel. Of course, now I wish it had been Ben. I’ve officially lost it.
John beams back at me, totally misreading the vibe in the room. “Are you busy? Mind some company for lunch?” He holds up a plastic bag and my stomach sinks further.
“Uh, no, I’m not too busy. Come on in.”
Stephen makes a face behind John’s back and leaves. I motion to a chair and when my gaze sweeps over the window, I pause. If Ben’s in hisoffice, he’ll see John in here—and judging by their previous interaction, I don’t have to wonder how he’ll feel about it.
