Page 33 of Technical Advances

When we were facing each other again, any feelings I thought I’d seen were wiped away. Or maybe they’d never been there. Was I failing at reading cues again? The thing was, I didn’t think I was bad at reading Benji’s cues. It was one of the things, one of the many remarkable things, about the partnership we had forged.

“This project is going to work, Anson.”

“I know it is, Benji. And thanks to you, we're way ahead of schedule. We work so well together.” I was merely stating an obvious fact, yet my voice sounded desperate to my own ears.

“I really want to work here.” His voice appeared to hold an equal desperation, but his comment confused me. I could hear the unspoken word but tacked on to the end of his sentence, and I didn’t understand why. Was he asking for more money? I thought I understood Benji and his motives; could it be that he was just like everyone else? He wouldn’t be the first young man to butter me up due to my wealth, but he would be the first one that upset me by doing it.

Beck had warned me to be careful, after all.

The thing was, even if Benji had ulterior motives, I didn’t care. I wanted him to work for New Day Tech because of his brilliance, and I wished for him to work with me because of how well we worked together. But I needed him to work for the company so I could be near him even if all he wanted was a job.

“You do work here!” I assured him. “I actually had Erin move your start date. You can expect a paycheck on Friday.” I couldn’t keep the desperation out of my tone.

“I should have told you, Benji! I guess I thought if I kept it a surprise, it would be like a graduation gift.”

My arms were outstretched in desperation, and I couldn’t bear the strained look in his eye. I turned and faced the center of the room, where a 3D printer was working to fabricate the component we had finalized the night before.

“Please understand, I never wanted to take advantage of you, having you start before graduation. Only, you seemed like …” I dropped my hands on the counter next to the printer, my head hung forward, my loose hair falling over my shoulders. “I thought you wanted to be here. I’m sorry if I put any pressure on you to be here over the past few weeks. I thought paying you would resolve any issues with my taking up so much of your time.”

I held my position, listening for a response or any movement from Benji. Even though I wasn’t facing him, I felt his eyes on me. You’re just imagining his eyes on you, my brain helpfully reminded me. My hair tickled my chin, which I generally hated, but I didn’t move, and neither did he.

“I’ll make this right, Benji. Whatever you want. Your share in the patent is already established. That’s a done deal, but if we need to revisit that, we can if you think it’s unfair. Even if you tell me right now that you’re done working on it, or done working with me, that doesn’t change. This gear is as much your work as it is mine.”

“It’s ours,” I heard him say. We were both quiet, then I finally heard him walking toward me until he was at my side. I wanted to move, but my body didn’t cooperate, staying where it was, my vision blocked by a curtain of hair as I hovered over the table.

“It’s ours,” I agreed as I felt my hair being swept away.

I stood and faced Benji. He tucked my hair behind both ears before holding my head steady between two warm, trembling hands.

“I want to work here,” he whispered, and he seemed so much closer to me than he had ever been, heat shimmering between our bodies. “But that’s going to be really fucking complicated,” he said, “after …” He paused.

“After what?” I whispered back. I thought I knew, but I had confused signals before, and I needed this one to be really clear and to come one hundred percent from Benji.

“After I do this,” he said, his lips so close they practically brushed mine. I held my breath, and he held that position, remarkably close yet so far away. Behind me, the printer scratched out sound, marking the time with each click and glide.

A fire burned between us as he leaned in and skimmed his lips against mine, his warm hands steadier as they held me in place so that I couldn’t seek out more as he all too soon pulled away to look up at me, a question in his eyes.

I could feel my lips quirk on one side, a lopsided smile forming between the security of his hands. My eyes danced, and my heart sang. My dick pulsed in my khakis, but I ignored that. I’d had other kisses, but they had always been a means to an end that had very much involved that particular organ. Our kiss had been different. It had been so much more.

Cautiously, Benji smiled back.

“You called me baby before, didn’t you?” I asked, my smile growing uncontrollably.

His head dropped, but his hands never left my face. He nodded to the ground, groaning.

“Say it again,” I implored.

“Anson.”

“Nu-uh,” I teased. “That’s not my name.”

“Anson. We’re in the lab. We should be working.” He looked up at me.

My smile was full and bright. I could feel the change in my face and in my demeanor. Hell, my whole body was relaxed. Teasing was not something I did often, but I repeated his words back to him, an uptick in my voice denoting a question at the end.

“We’re in the lab …” My hands came to his waist, bringing us that much closer together, without our bodies touching. It was the sweetest torture to feel the heat dancing between us, to know that he felt it too.

I leaned in and whispered in his ear, my hair falling and brushing his shoulder. “Say it,” I breathed on him, and I could sense the shiver that ran through him. I straightened and looked into those chocolate eyes. They danced, but there was reservation there too.