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He was definitely forgetting her and that hurt a surprising amount. “I gotta go. Love you, Mom. Tell Dad I love him. Talk later.” She disconnected and went to Jack, slid her arms around his neck. She felt his laugher before she heard it. “What? You’ve never talked to Martha on the phone?”
“Marah,” Martha said, and jumped from Jack’s lap.
He tipped his chin up and looked at her. “I like you, Derelie Honeywell.”
“I know, you changed the sheets for me twice.” Plus, he’d shown her who he was outside the parameters of his dinkus, when he wasn’t being his thoroughly professional self.
H
e pulled her into his lap. “I’m going to be behind tomorrow.”
“I’m sorry.” He was warm and solid and hers for at least another night.
He took his glasses off and brushed his nose over her cheek—”I’m not”—and then along her jaw. “You know you can wear your aligner in front of me.”
“Nope, you’re good underwear and best behavior.”
“I’m not interested in you for your underwear, and if your best behavior is the threat of a flesh wound, what else have you got hidden I haven’t experimented on or kissed out of you?”
What she kept a lid on was the audacious hope that she’d found a home in the city with Jack. It was too soon to think that way. “You can’t have all my secrets.”
But he could if he tried hard enough. Jack took her to bed, and because she was sore, it was his tongue and mouth that agitated then soothed her. She almost told him what was in her heart; birdsong and sweet air, fresh air and stars, but the real world came rushing back in the morning. She had to hustle to get home and changed and into the office, and though she made it on time she was already late.
“Drama,” said Eunice in greeting.
“What happened?”
Eunice peered over the cube walls. “Shouting match between Phil and Shona.”
Oh no.
“Didn’t sound good. She’s a smart girl, did a dumb thing. Sleeping with the boss. How is that ever going to work out well?”
Derelie chewed her lip. “Some people must meet their partners at work.”
“Sure, sure, but it’s the power dynamic that’s the problem, and the nepotism, and the gossip, and it’s just painful for everyone else. That’s why it’s against office policy.”
Derelie started. “I didn’t know there was an actual policy against it.”
“Microscopic print. Not that anyone pays any attention to it. Why, you got your eye on someone?”
“Ah, no, not at all.” The first lie. She had an urge to run to the bathroom and see what her lying face looked like.
“Oh hey, how is that love experiment story with Haley going?” Eunice snickered. “Tell me he’s got no conversation other than work and I’ll bring you coffee, the good stuff.”
“Ah, he’s, ah. We’ve, um. Oh. He’s, er.”
The right answer if she didn’t want to start down the path of becoming Shona was “Haley is a total bore.” She’d get a free coffee. She’d get a free pass. She felt like a coward, even though this was what they’d agreed on.
Eunice gave her double thumbs-up. “That bad. Excellent.”
She had to repeat the update to Shona at the section editorial meeting, explaining they’d almost completed the questionnaire, and she was ready to write the story.
“Get visuals,” Shona said. “Loved up couple stuff.”
It reminded her to check if there was anything worth using on Jack’s camera. He’d had a waitress at the steakhouse take a shot of them. It was a classic couple having dinner shot. Nothing in it to suggest they’d rubbed their private parts almost raw before sitting down to steaks, and held hands like they wanted to meld fingerprints.
She spent the morning studiously not looking over at the business bullpen, ran errands at lunch and got back to find an email from Jack.
