Chapter Eighteen - Ellie
I just want to collapse because holy shit. I have never had sex like that before. But… what the hell am I thinking? What kind of girl lets her boss fuck her in the ass in her office?
Me. If I was texting right now, I’d put a little smiley face after that admission.
“Here, Ellie,” Mac says, coming out of his office with a garment bag and a towel. “Stay still,” he says, draping the garment bag over my desk chair and placing the towel on my back, and begins gently cleaning me up.
It’s hot. And wet. And feels good in the complete opposite way from the sex. It feels… I don’t know. Like he cares. Like he’s not just using me for sex.
It feels that way, but it can’t possibly be that way. He’s Mr. Perfect, right? Perfect guys don’t fall for boring girls like me.
“So tonight?” Mac asks, tossing the towel through the open connecting door into his office.
“Tonight?” I repeat back as he helps me up. I look at the heap of clothing on the floor and realize I have to wear that to work today. “I’m going to need to go home and change.”
“No, Ellie, you won’t.” Mac picks up the garment bag and gives it a shake. “I bought you something. It doesn’t exactly say casual Friday, but I liked it.” He shrugs like he’s apologizing.
I take the bag he’s offering, drape it over the chair again, then pull the zipper down to reveal a blush-pink dress. It isn’t until I take it out that I realize what I’m holding. “Is this… Yes. Oh, my God. How much did you pay for this?”
“Eloise,” Mac says, tucking his shirt back into his pants and running his fingertips through his hair. “It’s not polite to ask.” He leans down and kisses me on the cheek. “Does Saturday have an outfit?”
Holy shit. “Um, no. I stay home on Saturdays.”
“Not this weekend you won’t,” Mac says. “I’ve got plans and they start tonight.”
Wait. Eerrrrrrrrrt.
That’s me stomping on the brakes. A weekend with him? Three days ago I didn’t even know he existed. I realize I’ve had sex with him twice and had some almost-sex two other times, so I do, in fact, appear to be a slutty whore. But I’m not a slutty whore. And while all this has been fun, I’m leaving this job in twelve days and all these office shenanigans will stop.
He’s probably going to give this office to someone else. And then that girl will have all the perks I am currently beginning to enjoy.
“Um, Mac,” I say, blinking up at him with a smile. “Normally I do stay home on Saturday and just hang out in shorts and stuff. But this weekend I’m going away. I’m sorry.”
His brows furrow so deep, they might actually meet at the bridge of his nose. “With who?”
“Well, not that it’s really your business, and I do realize that we’ve had some fun, so an explanation is necessary, but it’s confidential. You understand, right?”
“It’s Andrew Manco, isn’t it? I could tell he liked you when he called me the other day.”
Andrew? That’s actually a pretty good idea. “I can’t say one way or another. I’m sorry. I signed agreements, you know? Confidentiality things.”
“He’s so young, Ellie,” Mac says. “How old is he? Nineteen?”
I laugh. “He’s not nineteen. He’s like, twenty-two.”
Mac’s deep brow furrows are back. “You’re going out with him this weekend?”
“I can’t say, Mac. Really, I’m sorry.”
“You’re going to his home? You’ll be gone all weekend?”
“Mac,” I say, taking the absolutely gorgeous dress out of the garment bag. I know how much this dress costs. Thousands of dollars. And he just purchased it for me so he could get his way this morning and not come out of it looking like a pig. “I’m just not comfortable discussing Andrew with you, OK? I know we’ve had had this whirlwind thing going this week, but three days, OK? Three days is not a relationship. And I’m quitting—”
Mac hold up a hand to stop me. “I understand all that, and you’re right, you’re definitely a… a whirlwind.” He straightens his jacket and then nods. “So I’ll leave you to it. Have a nice weekend, Eloise. I hope you have a good time.”
He forces a weak smile as he walks back into his office and closes our connecting door.
I don’t know what to think about any of that. Or this dress. It’s such a pretty shade of blush pink. And it’s got tags on it. I don’t mind spending a hundred dollars on a dress, but two thousand? Nope. Never happening. I bet even if I found this dress in a thrift store five years from now it would still be marked out of my budget.
One problem. I don’t have a bra. I was wearing a cami today. Fridays are casual, which means no poky wire under my tits for one whole workday.
I slip the dress on anyway—what choice do I have—and realize I have another problem as well. It’s got a back zip.
Fuck.
The connecting door opens again and Mac is there mouth open like he’s going to ask me something. But instead all he says is, “Oh, hell.” He closes the door and disappears.
I smile. Because that was definitely a good, Oh, hell.
I walk over trying to stop grinning like an idiot and open the door back up. “It’s got a zip, Mac. Can you help me?”
He’s got his hand in his hair like he was just running his fingers through it. “Uh, sure.”
I bite my lip as I turn and pull my hair away from my back. The zip is resting on the small of my back, and as soon as his fingers touch my skin, I get a prickle of excitement. He pulls the zipper closed slowly and then stops right as it reaches the widest part of my back. I have a moment of panic that the dress won’t fit, but he adjusts the fabric and finishes.
I look over my shoulder and smile. “It’s a double zip. So the bottom part unzips upward.” Right between my thighs, I don’t add. “Can you do that part too?”
He squints his blue eyes at me, then his gaze falls down the length of my backside. It’s a pencil dress, I realize. And it’s hugging my shape like a glove. “No,” Mac says.
“Excuse me?” I laugh.
He’s shaking his head. “No. This is the wrong dress for work. Is Andrew picking you up from work?”
“I told you I can’t talk about it.”
“Well, that zipper was not meant to be revealing, Eloise. It’s a decoration only.”
“I don’t think so, Mac. I think it’s so I can move my legs.” I shimmy forward and the dress does its best to keep my knees tightly together. “If this was a night out I could see it. It’s sexy, right? The way I have to take these small steps. But at work, Mac? Do you really want me to be squirming around the office today wiggling my hips with every step?”
He looks conflicted as he scratches his chin and studies the dilemma.
“It’s either unzip me a little or have me wiggle all day. Your choice.”
He unzips just enough to release the tight fabric from my knees. “Thank you,” I say. “And this was fun. So thanks for that too.” I walk back into my office and he follows, leaning against the doorjamb.
He frowns at me. “What time will you be home Sunday?” I pause for a moment, wondering how far I should let this ruse go, but before I can answer, he says, “You are coming home Sunday? You’ll be here for pencil skirt and button-down shirt Monday?”
“Are you planning on ripping my clothes off me again on Monday?”
“I’m not sure, Ellie. Is this thing with Andrew serious?”
Wow. I think he might be jealous. Of a kid! Whom I would never, ever date. I think of Andrew as a little brother. “We’re friends,” I say. “And I care about him a lot.” Which is true. He’s one of my case studies in the book, so I’m invested in his success.
“OK.” Mac sighs. “Well, I’ll call the caterers and have them come take the breakfast cart away.”
“Caterers? I thought this stuff came from the cafeteria?”
“No,” Mac says with a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. I think he’s disappointed that I ruined his weekend plans. “What kind of guy would I be if I didn’t go all out for you?”
“Well,” I say. “I don’t know what to think about all this, Mac. I’m going to be honest. So it’s a good thing we’re not going out this weekend. It’s too much, too fast.”
“Got it,” Mac says. “If you don’t want to be here when they come clean up, you can go and come back later. Have a great weekend, Ellie. I’ll talk to you next week.”
This time when he closes the door I know he’s not coming back. My heart has a little ache in it. Like I should call after him. Fess up and just be honest.
But I don’t. Because I need to think about all this before things get too far and I can’t turn back.