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“Yes. It’s a gorgeous view.”
“Do you look out here often?” she asks, her voice genuinely curious.
A part of me unravels, even as I cling to it tight enough to get rope burn. “I’m… Well, this used to be my father’s office.”
Her eyes widen. “Oh, David.” Nothing else—just that. Justoh, David.
I feel my cheeks burn, but for some godforsaken reason, the words tumble out of me. “Before he died, my father didn’t… well, he was a very busy man. An important man, in fact. And I wasn’t… I wasn’t always as disciplined as I am now… or as I try to be, I suppose.”
“David, it’s okay, you don’t have to…” she shakes her head.
I can’t stop though. “I spent a lot of my life looking out this window, sitting beside it, waiting for my father to…”
Finally, it’s like the top is done spinning, and I manage to close my lips. She looks at me with all soft sympathy, and I hate it. I look out the window to try and get back in my right mind.
Where the hell did that even come from? Laura just… unsettles me.
The sky is dark, but the lights from the city illuminate her. Her velvet skirt looks prettier than I remember it being earlier today. Her shirt is still tucked in, still professional, but the sleeves are rolled up, exposing her beautiful forearms. She’s wearing a bracelet today.
Something bright ignites inside of me. I want to buy her a bracelet.
I ignore the thought. It’s a strange one. An unnecessary one. I don’t need to be thinking about buying her jewelry.
“Can I help you with something?” I ask.
My voice sounds strangled to my own ears. I’m sure she can hear it. I’m sure she delights in it.
When she glances at me over her shoulder, I can see her mind whirling. A decision wavers on her face.
“I think so,” she says slowly. She turns and leans against the window. She’s surrounded by skyscrapers, her red hair likeflames down around her shoulders. She looks like she belongs there, in the sky, like a goddess.
Slowly, Laura lifts her fingers to the buttons on her shirt. She begins to pluck them open, one by one, while I watch.
My breath comes out heavier. My head begins to spin.
“I thought we were keeping away from each other,” I manage.
Laura cocks her head. “We did say that. Did you think we were going to?”
She sounds genuinely curious.
I shake my head. “I just…”
Her shirt is fully unbuttoned. She lets it hang open, exposing her soft white bra. It’s covered in lace, practically see-through.
She smiles at me.
My head is empty.
“You were saying?” she teases.
I push off the desk and stalk across the room to her. I slide my hand on her waist, gripping her to me tightly. Her hands fly to my shoulders and she laughs, a bright peel of giggles.
“What did I do to deserve this treatment?” I ask her.
She pulls me closer. Her fingers slide into the hair at the nape of my neck, her thumbs gently pushing into me. She massages me just with her thumbs, the gesture seemingly accidental and instinctive. It makes my heart beat faster.
“Are you asking as if it’s a good thing or a bad thing?”
