In the days that followed, Gabriel and I made a habit of one another. I didn’t push him to define what our relationship was, and it seemed unlikely that he would bring up the topic, so I did my best to enjoy whatever we were to one another. Which wasn’t exactly difficult because Gabriel was phenomenal in bed. Truly, the best I’d ever had. He knew exactly how to manipulate my body, to push me to the edge of my comfort zone and bring my walls tumbling down.

Anitra had claimed I was incapable of a casual sexual relationship, but I knew she was wrong. Just because I’d never been in a casual relationship didn’t mean it wasn’t possible. Still, I didn’t feel like telling her about my sexcapades with my neighbor just yet. Even I had to admit a relationship with my across-the-hall neighbor had tinges of long-term hanging to it. I also didn’t want to lie to her, so I avoided her calls when I could and told her I was busy working on my application for the scholarship. Which wasn’t entirely untrue. I’d been scanning my paintings for my digital portfolio. At least, I’d scanned a few of them. Well, truthfully, I’d halfway scanned one, and then Gabriel knocked on my door and we ended up naked in the hallway, unable to make it all the way to the bed.

Gabriel folded his arm behind his head and I rolled onto my side, my body pressed against his. I ran my finger down his arm.

“Did you plan to have this many tattoos?”

He lifted his head to look at his arm for a moment, as if he’d forgotten he had any tattoos at all. “I guess not,” he said with a lazy shrug. “But I didn’t really have any plan at all. My friend had a parlor, and I ended up with new ink every time we hung out.”

“I’ve always wanted a tattoo, but I’ve been too afraid to commit to anything. My mom always told me it would ruin my job prospects.”

“You already have a job, so you should get one.” Gabriel twisted towards me, his fingers walking along my side, across my hip, and low across my back. His eyebrow raised. “Maybe right here.”

“That would be very professional,” I said with a laugh.

“Mr. Sabella wouldn’t see it that way,” he said as an explanation. Then his face twisted in thought, eyes narrowing. “At least, he shouldn’t see it. If he ever did, I’d end him.”

I hadn’t been able to figure out why, but Gabriel didn’t like Mr. Sabella. Not at all. Sure, their first meeting hadn’t gone amazingly, but Gabriel’s usual apathy turned to cold disdain when it came to my boss.

I crawled over him, my knees on either side of his hips, and laid my chest against his. “I’m not getting a tramp stamp, so it doesn’t matter.”

I leaned down to kiss him, and before I could react, Gabriel had his arms around me and was flipping me over, pinning me to the hardwood floor with his hips. We’d just finished, but I could already feel his excitement growing between us.

“Speaking of my boss, I need to get to sleep. You’ve been keeping me up too late, and I’ve been dragging ass at work.” I pushed half-heartedly on Gabriel’s chest, but he didn’t budge.

“You never take a day off. You should. Surely, Dick would let you take a little vacation.”

“He hates being called Dick,” I said.

Gabriel winked at me knowingly and then lowered his lips to my ear. “We’re talking about the wrong kind of dick right now.”

I laughed. “Seriously, I have to sleep. I have a thousand phone calls to make tomorrow and Mr. Sabella has a meeting downtown that I have to go to.”

“Can’t he manage one day without you?” Gabriel asked.

I shook my head. “No, he really can’t.”

“What’s he going to do when you become a famous artist and quit?” he asked.

His belief in my talent left me feeling both honored and undeserving. I drew circles across the tan skin of his chest and shrugged. “Probably go out of business,” I joked. “I do everything for him.”

At that, Gabriel rolled off me and propped his head up on his elbow. I’d never seen anyone switch from horny to normal so quick before. His brow was furrowed slightly. “Everything? What does that mean?”

“Everything,” I said, listing items off on my finger. “I call potential clients, schedule tech maintenance, review coder applications, accompany him to his meetings. I do it all.”

Gabriel was looking at me as though he’d never seen me before, and suddenly I was conscious of my nakedness. I found my shirt along the edge of the hallway and pulled it over my head before padding into my bedroom. As I dug around in my drawer for a clean pair of panties, Gabriel leaned against my door frame, arms crossed. I hadn’t even heard him stand up.

“There isn’t anything he handles himself?” he asked. “I mean, it’s a security company. Aren’t there some things that are confidential?”

“Everything is confidential, just not from me,” I said, bending down to pull on my red lace thong. I knew I could have chosen a chaste pair of cotton panties, but now that Gabriel had been distracted from sex so easily, I found that my ego needed a little boosting.

“That’s a lot of trust to place in an assistant.”

When I turned around after having unfolded my body slowly, I was pleased to see Gabriel staring at my backside, his excitement having grown even further.

“I’m trustworthy,” I said, rolling my eyes nonchalantly. “So trustworthy, in fact, that there is no way you could sway me into a round two because I have to get a full eight hours so I’m fresh for work tomorrow.”

As I was speaking, Gabriel was already crossing the room, a devilish look in his eyes. He grabbed my hips and threw me back on my bed, his body hovering over mine within seconds. “You need your rest if you’re going to basically run that place.”

I nodded, stretching up to kiss him, our tongues swirling together. He smelled like cedar and tobacco. And then, I remembered something. “Actually, there is one account Mr. Sabella takes care of himself. It’s a family friend or something. I don’t know much about it. So, I don’t technically do everything. Just, almost everything.”

I moved to continue kissing him, but Gabriel pulled away. He was looking down at me intently, his eyes laser focused, but not on what we were currently doing.

“He does cybersecurity for a family friend?”

I sighed, suddenly sexually frustrated when only minutes before I’d been content to go to sleep. “I don’t know. He handles that entire account—the calls, paperwork, maintenance. I don’t ask him about it because the last thing I need is something else on my plate.”

Gabriel opened his mouth, but I reached down between us and grasped his length in my palm, effectively silencing him.

“Do I need to beg you to have sex with me, or can you focus up?” I asked, taking charge.

Focus up, he did. I came twice more before Gabriel finally put his clothes on and made a move to leave.

“I have that meeting downtown with Mr. Sabella tomorrow. It will probably run late, so I don’t know if I’ll see you,” I said. Though, internally, I was chiding myself. We are casual. Casual means no plans. No dates. No keeping tabs on one another.

“I’ll knock when I get home, anyway,” he said with a wink, making my insides turn to jelly. “Just in case.”

I laid in bed all night, naked and buried in blankets that smelled like Gabriel, reminding myself how casual our relationship was. Not even slightly romantic. Just sex. Not love. Definitely not love.