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Or is it three times added?
Or is it—
“What are you going to do, Gen?” Natalie asks, breaking through my inane thoughts.
“What we discussed. Keep my head low. Skulk around the hallways, so that I don’t run into him. Don’t make any waves for the time that he’s here.”
However long that will be. The rumor mill said Royce would be in the building anywhere from a couple of days to three months.
Three months.
No way can I hide from him that long. The need to see him would grow and swell until it became overwhelming. All-consuming. Like trying to resist pancakes on a Saturday morning. Impossible. One whiff of maple syrup and warmed butter, and I’m at the table, wolfing down a six stack.
I bite at the nail polish on my thumb. It’s already chipped, so no big loss. “Anyway,” I say as I remove a sliver of maroon from my tongue. “That’s, uh, the plan so far. I’m going to hide in plain sight.”
Natalie sighs. “It’s all you can do, I suppose.”
I’m about to agree when I hear Tyler cough in the background. It’s one of those bad-gurgle-y ones that come from the bottom of a lung.
“Aww, he sounds bad. Poor baby.”
I really mean that. Not because he’s my best friend’s son, but because Ilikechildren. One day, I want a few of my own. And I won’t get them thinking about a man who has no more feelings for me than I do for him.
At least, that’s what I keep trying to drill into my head…andmy heart. Ever since I threw up on that plant, I’ve been thinking of Royce (a.k.a. Sam) nonstop.
Yeah, I only learned of his true identity almost a year to the day after our night of…(Passion? Hot sex? The debunking of the universe’s mysteries?) when I paid a visit to my local bookstore.
Browsing the magazines near the children’s area, light-hazel eyes and dark hair caught my attention. I looked closer, and yep, positioned directly in the sight line of knitting grannies and reading kids, was the man who gave me so many big O’s, I lost count.
Royce Grayson, not Sam Whatever, was shirtless and dripping sex appeal from the cover ofMen’s Health is His Wealthfor all the world to see.
To protect the innocent, I bought the last copy the store had on stock. My damn hand had shaken so badly when I gave the cashier my credit card, she asked if I was okay.
All I could do was nod.
My tongue had swollen to the size of a baseball bat, and my heart raced like a driver at NASCAR. As soon as she gave me my card back, I zoomed out of the store as if my ass was on fire and my hair was catching.
I never biked home so fast.
When I got to my room, I drew the blinds, propped up my pillows, and as I read about Royce’s secret to keeping fit, I circled my clit, pretending it was his tongue. By the time I finished the three-page spread, I’d come four times.
It took months to where I only thought of him once a day and it took almost two years to think about him... yeah, once a day. How can I not when the magazine rests on my bedside table?
“Nat, I’ll let you go. Tell Tyler I hope he feels better.”
“I will, Gen. You just—“
“Gen!”
I straighten from my Quasimodo slouch to see Melinda, my boss’s secretary, white-knuckling the edge of my cubicle. Her brown hair is loose from the updo she had it in this morning and beads of sweat dot her pale forehead. “Mr. Brown would like to see you in his office.Right away.”
Battleground
Genesis
Natsays“goodluck,”and ends the call.
Melinda lets out an impatient breath while I reluctantly put my phone on silent and place it in my top drawer. Locking it, I deposit the key in the pocket of my jean jacket. I stand, straightening my white blouse and brushing a speck of lint off my navy jeans.
