“It’s ten forty-five, almost time for the Brooks Bomb. I told Payne on Friday that this would be your first day back but he had meetings
out of the office all morning.” I said.
I turned to head back to my office but stopped as Morgana yelled out for me. “Maybe I’ll take an early lunch. You up for it?”
I was about to tell her no, that I had some work that needed to get done when the elevator doors opened and out walked the last person I
wanted to see, ever, Edgar.
Then I would be forced to talk to him about the new hire for his department. Something easily done via email. Instead of face-to-face where
I would have to try desperately to control my hormones. It was hard to not turn
into a giggling mess with his deep voice acting like a Siren song. I always tried to be aloof, but I had a feeling he didn’t care anyway.
Before he saw me, I turned back toward Morgana and nodded my head. “Sounds great.”
“Okay, let’s go. Oh wait, is that Edgar? Hey, Edgar.” I was surprised by how fast Morgana could move considering her height. She was like a red blur blazing past me and before I knew it, she had Edgar deep in conversation. His perfectly sculpted blond hair just brushed
the tops of his ears as he ran his fingers through them.
He had long hair when I first started to work here, but last year he cut it. I appreciated both styles, but I missed his long hair. Something
about it made me want to run my fingers through it, fist it in my fingers, and
scream “mine” to anyone who passed.
I sounded barbaric. And sad. Mostly sad.
Holding my ground, I refused to move closer, not on principle because what was I arguing about? Lunch? No, I was hungry, but I
lacked the strength to resist Edgar’s charm. Especially when he smiled and
those dimples appeared.
Dimples of sin I called them. I wanted to lick them so much. “Hey, Evaleen, Edgar is going to join us for lunch.” Morgana waved me over with happiness radiating out of her pores. I wish I could glow with happiness. The only time I glowed was after I had danced a few songs at a club. Also, my makeup usually melted by then, and my pit stains were large
enough by that point that tadpoles had been known to form, even when I wore a tank top.
What I’m saying was I got swamp pits but, hey, I glowed.
Edgar’s dimples were on full debauchery mode. That was, until he saw me. I guess Morgana left that part out when she invited him to lunch. He probably would have declined the offer if he knew I would be there.
“Dreary Evaleen Bechmann? No, thank you,” he’d say. I was always surprised when he knew my name considering how unhappy he appeared around me.
It wasn’t just his dwindling smile but how his eyes gazed at anything but me. Like he was trying to find an escape from the worst thing
ever, me.
“Great.”
It wasn’t great. It especially wasn’t wonderful when Morgana conveniently stood by the elevator buttons when we were moving down to the bottom floor, forcing Edgar and me to stand next to each other. I could smell
his cologne.
His mouth watering, manly man scent.
I took deep breaths, not because I was about to hyperventilate (but that was an idea to get out of this lunch), but because I wanted to inhale all of him.
My mouth watered and I knew my neck was red without even glancing into the reflection of the metal elevator doors.
I turned my head to face the wall and tried to fill my lungs with non-sex god air, but it wasn’t working. Perhaps if I scooted toward the
wall, inching farther away from him, I wouldn’t want to lick him so much?
Thankfully, I didn’t have to make that decision as the elevator dinged and opened on the ground floor. Cool, platonic air breezed
around me and I began to feel human again.
That was until he placed his hand on the small of my back to guide me out of the elevator, causing my lady parts to spasm uncontrollably. I think they were having a seizure from too much hotness.
I coughed. Actually, I tried to suppress an eruption of humiliating giggles that would have embarrassed twelve-year-old girls, with a
cough.
It worked. He dropped his hand and the lower half of my body went into a deep depression. The top half of my body felt relief tinged with
bitterness.
The chill of the Chicago air solidified me. What if I’m not sexy or beautiful enough for him to notice like he did every other woman he
came in contact with? He slept around anyway. Even if he did seduce me, I would
just end up heartbroken anyway.
“Here we are. Chuck’s Sausage Shack. I am so thankful I can get a good sausage right next door anytime I want.” Morgana smiled as she held the door for us.
“I sure do love to suck on tubular meat during my breaks at work,” I said without hesitation.
That time I coughed for real. I hadn’t meant for that to come out of my mouth. It was there in my head and then my mouth decided it was
the perfect time to give it a voice. I blame Morgana. Who says they are thankful to get good sausage? She was practically begging me to embarrass myself like that.
“Let’s hope,” Edgar said. My eyes narrowed at him but he had turned from me.
Cool as always. Nothing fazed him, not even a frumpy co-worker making blatant and not very good penis jokes.
He was just casually glancing around the place scoping out a table.
“Crap. Looks like I got to head back to work. I just got a text from Mr. Payne telling me he needs to meet with me since it’s my first day
back. Sorry.” Morgana frowned, shoving her phone back into her purse and pushing
out the door.
After watching the door close, I turned to Edgar. He was staring at me, grimacing.
“Look, if you have something to do we can just order food to go,” I said, trying to offer him a way out. It was obvious back at the office
he was only agreeing to lunch because he thought it would be him and Morgana.
I’m not blind. Morgana was gorgeous and sexy and exactly what a player like Edgar would be into. I think it’s a little shitty that he would go after someone his best friend, Payne, was obviously into, but that was none of my
business.
Now we can order food for lunch since we are already here and then go our separate ways.
Edgar smirked. His dimples deepening as his gaze drifted languidly to my lips. “Now why would I miss out on the chance of watching you suck on some tubular meat?”
My lady parts were seizing again.
Juliana O’Neil’s promising future was burned away in the heat of battle. She had been an officer with a bright future in the military, but now she is struggling to survive. Her husband gone and her career in shambles, she finds a job at Top as a hostess and tries to put together the pieces of her life. The last thing she needs is any kind of male attention, but she can’t help but be amused at her neighbor and coworker’s lothario antics. Not that she would have anything to do with him, at least not for more than one night.
NY Times and USA Today bestselling author Lexi Blake lives in North Texas with her husband, three kids, and the laziest rescue dog in the world. She began writing at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn’t until she started writing romance and urban fantasy that she found the stories of her heart. She likes to find humor in the strangest places and believes in happy endings no matter how odd the couple, threesome, or foursome may seem.
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