Chapter 8 - Zach

“We should probably go to the Christmas party. They’ll be wondering where we are,” Harper says as her head lies against my shoulder. She makes no move to leave.

“Probably, yeah,” I respond, staying completely still. It’s too comfortable here. It feels too good to have my arm wrapped around her and to feel the little shocks course through my veins as my body recovers from my orgasm. Harper shivers and sighs against me, then finally lifts herself off.

I watch her bend over and pick up her discarded pants, loving the way her ass curves into her shapely legs. She’s got to be one of the sexiest women I’ve ever seen. My head still feels light, like I’ve had one too many drinks. I know it’s not the alcohol though, I feel such a rush through my body the second she sank down on top of my cock.

Sighing, I bend down and pull my pants back up my legs. Harper shoots me a glance and grins.

“That was fun,” she says. I smile.

“Yeah.” I pause, unsure how to ask her what I’m thinking of. “Harper, we never used… I didn’t have a condom. I’m clean! It’s just…”

Harper’s face tightens and she nods. Her eyes cloud over as if she’s thinking of something painful and then she stands tall and shakes her head. “I won’t get pregnant, if that’s what you’re worried about. I… I don’t usually do that.”

She waves her hand towards the couch. She looks almost worried, even though it’s done. I know people say that all the time but I believe her. The way we had sex was far too real, far too instinctual to be some regular one-night stand for her. I hope so, anyway. Was that a one night stand?

“Don’t usually do what, sleep with your boss? Pull down a gigantic Christmas tree? Fuck like your life depended on it?”

She laughs. “Yeah, something like that. It’s been a long time since…” her voice trails off and she looks down at the ground. She’s wringing her hands, suddenly lost in thought. I take a step towards her and put my arms around her waist, lifting my hand to til her chin up towards me. Her lips are soft when they touch mine, and they open slightly so I can taste her mouth. She shivers in my arms and we stay like that for a minute before pulling apart.

“We should go,” I whisper. She nods and pulls away from me, smoothing her shirt down. Our bodies separate and it feels wrong. I want to put my arm around her, grab her hand, inhale her scent, but I can’t. It’s over now, I can feel it. Harper’s body goes a little bit rigid and she puts on the familiar professional air that I’ve seen from her at work.

We head out of the office and Harper heads towards the table. There’s still spilled food and drink all around. She grabs her red sweater and pulls it on overhead. She fiddles with the hem and the lights turn back on, flashing on her torso in the shape of a Christmas tree. I laugh.

“That thing is ridiculous.”

“I know,” she says proudly, spinning and posing for me as she laughs.

Suddenly she stops and looks down at her feet. She frowns and I look down to see what she’s staring at. Harper bends over slowly and gathers a pile of plastic plates on the ground. She’s crouching down, holding them in her hands and staring at them intently. She looks back at me, her eyes betraying a hint of panic.

“I picked these up before. I put them on the table in a stack right before we…” She looks between me and the plates, standing up slowly. “I thought I heard someone, or something fall over.”

She holds up the plates and then looks back up at me and I can see the worry in her face. I close the distance between us and take the plates gently out of her hands, putting them on the table.

“They could have fallen when we were out here,” I say. “We weren’t exactly careful when I had you on the table. Maybe they were on the edge and fell off the table on their own.”

She doesn’t look convinced so I continue.

“No one was here, Harper. Don’t worry.” She flicks those emerald eyes back up at me and smiles weakly, nodding her chin down once.

“You’re right,” she says with a sigh. “I’ve just worked hard to get to where I am I’d hate something like this to ruin it.”

She waves her hand dismissively when she says something like this. For some reason it stings, the way she waved it away. As if sleeping with me was a mistake and she’s already trying to forget about it.

I push the feeling down. What do I care? Of course this isn’t anything serious! I’ve never wanted anything serious with anyone, ever. If she’s thinking of it as a casual fling then that’s the best thing for the both of us. The worst thing either of us could do is get attached.

“Don’t worry Harper, this won’t ruin anything. I should tell you, I’m not looking for anything.. serious.” I tell her. She holds up her hand to stop me.

“Zach, please. We’re adults. We wanted to sleep together and we did. I think that we can agree that it stops there, and we can go back to being professionals.”

I nod, but I can’t help but feel disappointed at how eagerly she agreed. Why did that sting? It’s what I want!

Harper sighs and smiles at me. “That’s settled then. Let’s go downstairs,” she says. “We can see if the bar has any Christmas trees that need to be tipped over.”

She grins and nods her head towards the elevators. Her eyes glimmer and I resist the urge to lean over and kiss her. I nod back and the two of us head down to join the rest of the staff.