THE DENTIST GROUP THEY were meeting with knew nothing about construction but would hopefully soon become their newest clients. It had been a long afternoon with them. Julia worked and listened to their discussions, even during the dinner they all had together. She and Lloyd met in his hotel room, comparing notes on the specific items the dentists had requested. They had to find affordable ways to make the project work. So far, it was strictly business. Julia was clear that if anything went wrong, and a stray hand so much as slid towards her knee, she’d be done with Lloyd. He’d be the prime defendant in a sexual harassment suit that she would file so quickly, his gray hairs would fall out. While she doubted him still, her intent now was to stay on and keep working at Cartwright. She had already learned a lot from the man.

She was burning up in shame and rage after Chris’s shocking and unprecedented attack.

She never expected Chris to show up, yet there he was, huge and muscle-bound, resting his bulk against her hotel room door. His apology was sincere and heartfelt, and she’d had enough time to know Chris that she believed him. She even felt some forgiveness towards him. There was truth in what he said. He knew the reason behind her hiring, something she failed to grasp. Not to the calculated degree that Chris so aptly described it. Yeah, she could see why some of the others seemed so wary of her and even downright hostile. Now she understood. Truly.

But for Chris to show up from out of town? In the middle of the night? Waiting for her?

She didn’t know what to think. He was acting odd once he came out of the bathroom. She didn't know, or perhaps, she didn’t care what he thought about what she was doing with Lloyd. It was none of his damn business. And even if her reputation was at the bottom of the barrel to start, she managed to elevate it in the short time she’d been working there. She intended to continue to raise it, based on the excellent work she did. Not from hearsay or because of her personal life. She refused to deny that she fucked her boss to Chris, whether it were now or before. She did not want that to be the reason for Chris to feel relieved or comfortable with her. Or respect her. Screw that. He should have respected her regardless of whether or not it was true. So she left things as they were. Gossip might run wild again, but perhaps it already had.

Chris should not have judged her so harshly. He had worked with her long and closely enough to see she was doing her job, and had become a legitimate employee with higher than average results in the short time she’d spent there. He should have realized she was much more than an ornament for Lloyd’s arm. And he also should have known that he didn’t hurt her more than anyone else did in accusing her of bringing Lloyd’s original intent to her attention.

Perhaps she should have clarified what was going on. She didn’t know why she hadn’t. But he hurt her feelings so bad that morning and she was glad to know he was sorry, truly sorry. He drove half the night to apologize to her. Most people would not have done so. Putting everything else aside, he came to tell her he was wrong and sorry. There was nothing more he could do. Naturally, she forgave him, but he also changed something irrevocably between them. She didn’t believe him anymore, not like she used to. She didn’t trust him anymore. Hell, she just didn’t like him as much either.

She kept questioning his motives, pressing him, trying to make him say more than, I’m sorry. What did she think he’d say? They had never discussed anything more between them. Not even friendship. But she thought perhaps there could be something more. What it was, however, she wasn’t sure how to define. She wasn’t ready to leave the friendship line with Chris. She still couldn’t imagine them having sex, but neither was she sure she wanted him there only to apologize.

As she flopped on the bed, her disappointment was painful.

****

Chris felt the dynamic shift in Julia. She walked back onto his site two days later, and smiled politely as she discussed the matters with both good manners and courtesy. She was pleasant. Nice. Serene. She was also cool, remote, and removed. The previous warmth that used to exist had simply evaporated like morning dew in the hot sun. They were coworkers. Strictly. The warm working relationship was over. Another day, she and Lloyd came to the job site. Chris watched them inconspicuously. Each move and each interaction were studied by him. Did Lloyd touch her hand? Was he gently placing his pinkie beside hers? Were they resting their hands on the table surface at the same moment accidentally or was it a form of subtle foreplay?

When both of their hands were under the table, did that mean something?

But Chris couldn’t determine anything for sure. Except for a distinct shift in how Julia interacted with him, there was nothing to report. He tried to make up for his mistake. He even tried to bring it up a few more times but she always waved her hand around dismissively, like it didn’t matter. She changed the subject most times too, cutting him off and forcing him to accept her decision that she no longer wanted to discuss it. If he pressed her more, he’d feel like he was strong-arming her, the very thing he longed to make right. So he stopped.

One evening she even stayed after to figure out what they were working on the following week and how it correlated to the plans. “Can you show me how this electrical tie-in works?”

“Of course. Sure. Here. Let me show you.” He had to bite his tongue to shut himself him up. He sounded like a blubbering boy in puberty being honored by attention from the prom queen and about to come in his pants in stupid eagerness.

She had sat beside him. Nothing touching him. She was careful to keep her arms and hands away from his. He showed her the information long into the evening. “You want me to call for a pizza?”

“No. I don’t want to eat pizza with you.” Blunt. Final. Not a look at him, or even pause to consider.

He blushed. Clear up to his hairline, chagrinned. “Of course. Let’s just finish.”

On the way home that evening to his generic, sad one bedroom apartment, he stopped for a pizza and nursed several bottles of beer long into the night, with only Simba for company. He was sitting on Chris’s lap, purring away as Chris rubbed the cat’s neck and chin. “I really screwed this up,” he muttered softly. Simba’s only reply was to purr louder, half-shutting his eyes.

****

As for her relationship with Lloyd, after their business trip, she suddenly had the upper hand with him. She had all the power in their relationship. He was so contrite, embarrassed and sorry, she almost believed him. He started regularly asking her permission before he stepped into her office and ever-so-politely requested her presence in his. He never stood too close to her or pushed personal boundaries. He held the doors open for her but was always careful not to touch her. He also spent a lot of extra time, far more than before their trip, showing her how to do her job. He spent hours explaining how to read plans to her. He encouraged her to practice reading them and gave her small exercises to do out on job sites. He asked her to find the things she saw in the plans and compare them to what she saw on the sites. She quickly increased her building and construction vocabulary as well as her abilities. All the things she was learning about construction seemed to be compounded daily. Chris taught her in the beginning but now, it was both Lloyd and Chris tutoring her.

She was different when she worked with Chris now too. There was no more warmth or sense of friendship. No teasing either. She professionally fulfilled her job description and that was all she did with him. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Quite often, she and Lloyd worked late together. A few times, they ordered food if it got too late. It was all part of the process of learning what he did. Julia followed along as Lloyd explained what he was doing and the reasons behind his choices and actions.

She knew he had three unsuccessful marriages. He drove a ridiculously clichéd, cherry red sports car for pleasure and a decked-out SUV to work. The designer clothing he dressed in suited him well. His charm oozed from every pore. She knew that, and often criticized him for it. But every once in a while, she could not restrain a small smile in response. She was not exactly giving Lloyd her approval but she also didn’t always negatively respond to it.

Lloyd once asked her to dinner after work, and for the first time, she accepted. It was fine. She had a chance to hear in depth about how Lloyd got started. He discussed all the financing he procured as well as his steps for success. He told her he used to have a partner but eventually managed to buy him out. There was a smattering of late-night dinners over the next three months. But none of them meant anything at all.

On their third time out of town, they went to the same building site, although it was now under contract.

Lloyd had a few drinks and the hour was well past dinner. This time, their rooms were on the same floor. “Did you do that on purpose?” Julia asked accusingly.

Lloyd’s hands shot up as if he were under arrest as he proclaimed his innocence. “Judy Ann arranged them. I swear. You can ask her.”

“I will,” Julia said, raising her eyebrows as a smile shadowed her lips.

But later that night, as the evening ended, he walked with her to her room. After opening her door, he said her name. “Julia?”

“What?”

“I arranged the rooms.”

She kicked at his leg. He jumped back shocked. “We talked about this, Lloyd.”

He rubbed at his calf. “I know. I deserve that. I think… I really like you, Julia. In ways I can’t remember ever liking anyone. No one. Man or woman.”

“So?” Her eyebrows rose up.

“So I… I’m asking for permission to kiss you.”

“No.”

His shoulders dropped. “Of course.”

“Then why do you ask?”

“Because I feel something about you I haven’t anyone else.”

She rolled her eyes and went into her room.

The subject was dropped between them until she walked back onto Chris’s site.

****

Chris didn’t glance up from where he was scribbling on a file. “Where have you been?”

“Medford.” She mumbled, ordering herself to hold steady and not let his cool disdain make her cower before him. She had done nothing wrong. He had.

“Let me guess Lloyd needed your expertise in the hotel again?”

Shocked, her mouth popped open. After all the grief he’d given her over it, and then himself, he dares start with that? “Yeah, Chris. I work. There. Here. What is so hard for you to believe about that?”

“I’ll just bet,” he muttered, turning his chair around to grab the calculator behind him. He brought it back around and starting typing into it as he kept his gaze focused on the sheet before him.

“This again? Really? You want to go through this again?”

He didn’t answer.

“Chris?”

“Julia, I don’t have time to hold your hand today. I got purchase orders due to Walter before the end of the day and this stack to finish. Maybe Lloyd can show you something for once.”

Stunned, she didn’t bother to respond before she spun around and left. How dare he? What was he? Twelve? Bent out of whack because she’d been on a work trip? How dare he? And all it did was confirm he wasn’t the friend she’d first believed he was. He wasn’t even half the quality of person she’d believed he was. Moreover, it hurt more than all the other men’s chauvinistic or sexist statements combined. Because Chris was supposed to be different, better. Instead, he betrayed her after pretending to be her friend and on her side. Whereas with all the other men she’d understood from the start where she stood so she’d had her guard up. With Chris she hadn’t and now? It caused damage that no other man could have.

****

It was a week later, when Lloyd called her on her cellphone, after hours. Not at work. They talked for a while. She kept waiting for the reason he was calling. He didn’t give one. He called four nights in a row. Flowers showed up at the house. For her.

“You don’t think flowers will get me do you?”

“No. But what about dinner with me? This weekend?”

She hesitated. “Nothing to do with work? You won’t tell anyone about it?”

“No. Never. Never at work. No one finds out.”

“All right. But no one finds out. This has nothing to do with work, Lloyd. Got it? At work, we are assistant to manager. Anything outside of it has no bearing on that. Agreed?”

“Agreed.”

He’d whooped with excitement. She’d found herself grinning at his enthusiasm over her.

She met him at the fancy-assed restaurant of his choice. No way was she letting him come near her parents damn house! There had been candles and soft music and all the clichés. She had a good time, however. He walked her to her car, opened the door and then asked, “May I kiss you goodnight?”

She stared up at him, noticing his salt and pepper hair seemed more silvery and the smile on his face made her stomach flutter with jumpy nerves. She nodded her permission. Curious. Unsure. Intrigued. He leaned in and his lips touched hers. It was a good kiss. He knew how to gently press his soft lips on hers, shifting his body to get closer without hovering. He started slow before he let his tongue gently touch hers, filling the kiss with hot passion and energy only after she reacted.

It was so nice. Decent. She got turned on too. She stopped it though, right there.

She went on several more dates with him and several more times they kissed. But never during business hours or in the office. And neither of them ever discussed it.

After a half dozen such dates, Lloyd suggested Julia come to his place. It was a ritzy condo that faced a nine-hole golf course. The chemistry between them had been building for a while and something more seemed inevitable. They listened to some mellow music before they started kissing. Lying on the bed together, it didn’t take long before they were naked and having sex. They kept the affair quiet, which was fine as far as Julia was concerned. She didn’t care to spend a lot of time talking about it either. Lloyd tried to ask her a few times about more personal things but Julia always stopped him. They worked together, and maintained their mentor/apprentice relationship, but also went on dates and sometimes had sex. Julia could not deny her attraction to Lloyd, which culminated to the point that she wanted to see what it felt like. But she also was unwilling to define or obsess over it.

She was unwilling to call it a relationship. Nor did she consider it sexual harassment or anything close to Lloyd using her. Ha. She had complete control of when they met up, how often and where. He often tried to buy her things, most of which she refused and rejected. Except for the dinners. She let him pay for the dates. As long as they were tasteful and not ridiculous.

It was flattering and fun. It wasn’t however, love. Nor intimacy. Nor her future. But it passed the time for now.

And Chris? He didn’t know.

She did nothing at the office or in the hotel in Medford when they traveled there every other week to check on the job. Anytime she went to Medford she simply avoided speaking to Chris or going to his site for a few days after. It cut down on the attitude, anger, and all around jerk-off statements from the one person whose opinion she cared about. No matter how much she tried to tell herself she didn’t care, she knew that was a lie.

****

One Wednesday, when the building was half finished, Julia was working beside Chris and Lloyd. They were having trouble interpreting the plans so they decided to drive out to the site to see if they could figure it out. The three of them were standing around, deep in discussion over where to place the entrance ramp in relation to the parking structure. Julia experienced a peculiar ripple of awareness that seemed to jolt through her. Glancing to her right, she saw Lloyd’s face drawn in concentration. A forelock of silver hair bounced off his forehead. Lloyd used just enough gel to create some buoyancy in his hair.

Chris was holding an iPad with a digital copy of the plans in view. It was loaded and expanded, and he kept turning it around to compare what they were looking at. His head was shiny, and well-shaped. He lifted his startling, blue eyes that never failed to pierce her heart, suddenly aware that she glanced his way. He always seemed to sense when she watched him, and he knew when she was about to speak, which was almost any time he gave her his full attention. Julia had an uncanny, déjà vu moment. Lloyd and Chris were staring at each other. Blue eyes to blue eyes. A striking, powerful shade of blue shone in both sets of eyes, which were equally wide with dark lashes. Wow, thought Julia, they were so similar. She shook her head, assuming she was attracted to both men probably because she could see their obvious similarities.

She also liked blue eyes.

She began to feel squished between them, and even dwarfed by them. They were talking across her to each other. The conversation was well beyond her technical knowledge, which still happened more often than not. She listened but her heart thrummed with something compelling that she noticed between them. Shaking it off, Julia stepped back. She removed herself to get out of their line of sight, as well as from between them, literally. It wasn’t just in her head, being between them, either. She didn’t like getting between anyone. She was working with both of them. That was it.

Besides, Lloyd wanted her outside of work, Chris didn’t. They were simply friends and they worked together. End of story. There wasn’t anything else to tell.

“Hey, do you have a sister?”

Glancing up from her reverie over whom she most wanted to date, Julia seemed startled when they both stood right there looking at her and one of them didn’t even want to date her.

“What? Oh, I have two sisters. Why?”

Lloyd pointed over her head. “Because I think that must be one right there.”

Julia turned, her heart freezing. No. Oh, hell no. It couldn’t be. It wouldn’t be. Not only had she not told Lloyd about Kylie and Ally, if either of them had shown up, Lloyd would not have guessed they were her sisters. Because they did not look at all like Julia.

Nope. Only one person did.

Somebody looked like her twin. From a distance, that is. Until one got up close enough to see her spider-vein capillaries and tucked-in wrinkles.

Fucking Vickie. Her mother.

But how? How could she be there? Julia hadn’t seen or spoken to her mother in years. She would never have told her where she worked. Did Tracy? Gretchen? Who told her? What ass would have given Vickie the bad idea to come there? Julia gnashed her teeth.

Chris whistled. “My God. She looks exactly like you.”

“Not up close,” Julia retorted angrily because she was so pissed off.

“She’s not your twin?”

“No, Lloyd. She’s not my twin, she’s my fucking mother.” Sneering after her curse, she flipped her mouth into a disgusted expression.

Vickie spotted them and instantly began strutting towards them. She wore ridiculous four-inch heels and tight jeans that covered her long, trim legs like a coat of paint. Her blonde hair was recently curled and puffed, looking like a cloud. Vickie was taller than Julia, and her silicone, and bigger, boobs bobbed and jiggled all around as she shuffled and strutted across the uneven site. She appeared so inappropriate to her surroundings. She could have looked more natural if she were a swan standing in the middle of a herd of buffalo.

“Julia?” she called out in a phony, cloying tone while waving at her. Julia shook her head, fighting the urge to turn around and walk away fast. Chris pressed his lips together and she saw him restraining a laugh.

Lloyd, however, was riveted, staring with undisguised lust and mouth-watering interest at seeing so much bobbling boobage and hair. She elbowed him in the gut. “She’s your fucking age, Lloyd. I guess that makes it more appropriate.” Then she hissed, “But she is my mother.”

Lloyd immediately snatched his gaze off the walking sex monkey on heels and looked back at Julia. Contritely rubbing his stomach, he took her arm in his hand. Lloyd never dared to touch her on job sites. But he did then, and he kept rubbing her arm gently. No one except Chris suspected they were sleeping together. And he didn’t really know. He had no evidence, but he suspected it. Obviously.

Julia jerked her arm free.

“I can’t believe she came here.”

Vickie was standing there. Right before them. Julia scowled. Vickie beamed.

“Julia!” She said her name in a twinkling, feminine voice. Julia didn’t respond at all. Vickie ignored her rudeness and turned to address Lloyd and Chris.

“Hello, Vickie Stratton, Julia’s mom,” Vickie said, putting her hand out towards Lloyd.

“Glad to meet you, Vickie. Lloyd Cartwright, Julia’s manager.”

Julia chewed on her lower lip, stressed to hear him say anymore. She did not want Vickie knowing anything about her, and especially that. Oh, Vickie would have loved hearing Julia was having sex with an older man. An older man that was her boss. That was so, so Vickie! Julia shuddered, wishing she had considered that possibility before she did it. But she didn’t. And now, she had created a situation that was so reminiscent of what her flaky, awful mother liked to do with any man. Men and Vickie. The magnetic draw never ceased. Like now. Vickie licked her too-red lips way too suggestively as she held her hand out, and Julia noticed she rubbed her long, red nails on Lloyd’s index finger as they shook hands. Julia grabbed Lloyd’s wrist and jerked his arm away, unlatching his hand from her sex-obsessed mother.

Oh, Vickie caught that move and Julia immediately chastised herself. Way to give Vickie some dirt. Damn it.

“She is not my mother. My mother is Tracy Lindstrom, Vickie’s sister,” Julia said, smiling sweetly at Vickie, acting all fake and fluttery just like Vickie sounded and acted.

Vickie didn’t even bat a fake eyelash at her insult. Turning to Chris. “Well, aren’t you the muscle-bound stud? Who, may I ask, are you?”

A little smile appeared on Chris’s face. His dimple showed. His white teeth were flashing. Julia clenched her jaw tightly to keep the inner sneer from being vocalized into angry words. Chris looked smitten. Utterly enamored. With her mother? How dare he?

“Chris Vaughn, on-site supervisor.”

“Vickie, for God’s sake. I’m working, in case you didn’t notice. Stop it right now. What do you want?” Julia snapped.

“Simply to talk. You won’t take any of my calls. I tried stopping by but Tracy always hurries me away. I need some time with you. Please, Julia. Give me a chance. It’s been five long years. Please?”

“No.” Julia didn’t elaborate. Vickie, her aberrant behavior and her unending pleas for “one more chance” were over for Julia. She always blew her shot and hurt those around her. Julia was the one she hurt the most, however.

“Julia… I…” Vickie reached out towards her.

“No. Stop it. Just leave. Fuck off!” Julia snarled as she retreated from her hand and simply stomped off. She had to get away from her mother’s pathetic voice. She did not fail to miss the stunned expressions she saw on the faces of both Lloyd and Chris.

Fine. She was ready to let them have the train wreck for a mother that never raised her. Then she could see how nice they treated Vickie. Vickie, who always played the victim so well in these familiar scenarios. They always ended like this. Julia became the evil villain, while Vickie remained the poor, innocent, and vulnerable victim. Vickie performed best in front of an audience, who invariably assumed Julia was so horrible and nasty by not responding to Vickie’s pleas. Oh, the manipulation. The ceaseless cries for help and the subsequent helplessness. No. Julia vowed to herself that she was done with Vickie forever and she intended to do just that.

Julia slapped her cheeks as the tears rolled down her face. Damn Vickie. She no longer had the power to make Julia cry. Julia entered the job shack, relieved to find it empty before she flopped down at the table to cry, burying her head in her hands.

Minutes later, she felt hands touching her shoulder. They were pressing, rubbing, massaging, and kneading all the tight muscular contraction and knots. Glancing up, she was expecting to see Lloyd.

No.

It was Chris.

His giant hands stopped rubbing her shoulders, and rested on her. Her tone was hollow as she said, “Vickie puts on a good show. But she doesn’t mean it.”

“I believe you,” Chris said simply.

“She had Lloyd going. God. She’d have taken either one of you in here and…”

Chris sat down near her, his big legs alongside hers, his knees touching her. He kept a hand on her lower back. She felt his support. His hand was warm. “Nah. She’s not my type. Too… red.”

“Red?” Julia repeated, sniffling and rubbing her eyes. “What the hell does that mean?”

“Yeah, red. You know, red. Red lips. Red fingernails. Red cheeks. Too red for my taste.”

Julia scoffed. “You’re just trying to make me feel better.”

“Maybe. Is it working?” He smiled and her heart flipped around. That still happened sometimes with him during the rare occasions when he wasn’t discussing work, but almost flirting with her.

She smiled through her watery eyes. “Yes. I became the typical girl out here. Crying on the job. And all because of my mommy’s visit.” She shook her head.

He pretended to punch her arm in a friendly gesture. “Nah, anyone can be brought to their knees by their mamas. You haven’t met mine yet. Ever see a grown man crying? You would if I disappointed her.”

Julia let out a weary laugh. “I can’t believe she can still get to me. Or even that she came here.”

“Has it really been five years since you two spoke?”

“Really. Don’t lecture me either because she’s my mother. You don’t have a clue what it was like being her daughter. She likes to have sex with guys she’s just met, and meanwhile I’d be freaking waiting for her to pick me up. Once, when I was thirteen, she attended a parent/teacher conference with my science teacher because I was nearly flunking. Mom and Dad couldn’t make it, so Vickie offered to come. She openly flirted the entire time with my teacher, do you know why? She tried to bribe him into giving me a better grade. I couldn’t even make eye contact with that teacher for the rest of the school year.” She let out a slow breath. “Anyway, I don’t like her very much.”

He scoffed. “Really? Duh. I did manage to gather that.”

She smiled wearily. “Thank you for the shoulder to lean on. Lloyd left, I presume? Afraid of a few tears.”

“I don’t know. But you’re welcome.”

Chris removed his huge mitts for hands and Julia wanted to grab them and put them back on her body. She was ready to let him warm her, soothe her, and even turn her on. That thought made her immediately straighten up and she shied away. No. Chris wasn’t interested in her. They weren’t like that. They were compatible coworkers.

“I wonder what she wanted. And why now?” Chris’s question permeated the pensive moment. Julia felt a flicker of chemistry. She couldn’t deny having a strong interest in both men.

She shrugged. “Nothing. Vickie says she wants nothing but does whatever works for her. Vickie has never made any sense. She might be very seriously interested today and forget all about it tomorrow. Don’t hold your breath.”

“I don’t know. She seemed sincere, like she really needed to speak with you.”

“Chris, that’s her specialty. Please don’t press this. You don’t understand. I think I’m going to knock off early. I don’t want anyone to see me like this. Seeing her—”

He nodded. “Sure. I get it. If you need to talk, you know how to reach me. Don’t hesitate.”

She got to her feet. He then embraced her in a loose hug. There was nothing tight or groping or suggestive about it. He let her go, a sheepish half-smile touched his lips. “I want you to know you have a friend in me. Okay?”

“Really? Because that’s the last thing you’ve acted like lately.”

He hung his head. “I know. I’m sorry. I just…” His head shook. “Just take the afternoon off.”

“Thank you. It’s appreciated.” She then went home and tried to forget the odd encounter, both in how odd she felt in seeing her mother be introduced to the two men in her life who caused feelings in her, and the fact that she was feeling odd things about both of those men.

And that only one had understood the impact of Vickie on her, and only one had come to check on her and then helped her.

****

She didn’t mention Vickie to Lloyd again. As she acknowledged, she rarely shared anything private or of substance with Lloyd. They were at most friendly. At best, companions. Someone to kill an otherwise boring weekend with. Lying in bed one Saturday, Lloyd said, “I want to take a trip to Hawaii. Would you care to join me?” His hand lazily wandered up and down Julia’s bare back.

She flipped her head up and eyed him. That would mean people would figure it out. That thing going on between them. She gave him an icy glare. “What? And get labeled as the slut who slept her way to wherever I might end up?”

“It means people might realize we’re dating.” He sighed. “Is that so bad, Julia? I don’t… I don’t want to hide from everyone. I like you. A lot. I always wonder what you think or feel about this and I want to know. I want you. For real. But I can’t get a read on you. You’re impossible, you know.”

She flipped her head back down. “That’s probably the only reason you’re still after me.”

He sighed. His tone sounded more than just forlorn when he answered, “You’re probably right. See? You know me so well. You get me too. Please, Julia? Come with me.”

She turned over, exposing her naked body to his gaze. His eyes predictably ate up the view. “You must realize you’re as old as my dad.”

He winced. “I know that.”

“I’m not going to marry you and I don’t intend to end up with you either. You get that, right?”

He swallowed hard. “I never thought I wanted that from the first time I saw you. But now—”

“No, Lloyd. You’re a player. You run through women as fast as you do pairs of socks. Nice and comfortable for a while, but at the first sign of wear, you can’t wait to toss them out. You’re clinging to your lost youth—hell, you’re middle-aged now—through meaningless hookups with pretty, young women. Me included. Like a vampire, you’re hoping to suck all the youth from them.”

He shook his head and rubbed her leg. “You’re not like anyone else. See? Listen to you. You’re always brutally honest. No games. No fuss. You get everything about me. You see things so much clearer than most. You’re not like anyone else, Julia. You’re so special—”

She moved her leg to dislodge his hand. “Don’t start that flattery bullshit with me.”

He let her go and stared at her, appearing sad. “The thing is, I’m not, Julia. I’m not doing my usual routine. Being with you is something I’ve never done before. It’s a first—”

She scoffed. “That’s what you probably say to each new young, blonde bimbo you seduce.”

“That’s just it. I think this time, you seduced me.”

“You do get that it’s a sickness with you, right? This chronic obsession with younger women. Have you ever slept with someone your own age? I mean, of course, since you were in your teens. You might find companionship. And learn to care for someone. You might even discover joy. Love. Hell, you might even end up embracing fidelity.”

“I’m already faithful. With you.”

“For now.”

“Why did you let this happen between us if you didn’t buy my true intentions?”

She shrugged. “I felt like it. I’m in my twenties, Lloyd. I’m allowed to experiment and try new things. You, however, are old enough to know better.”

“But I feel differently about you and that’s why I want you to come on vacation with me. Will you come to Hawaii with me?”

She slipped from the bed and covered her body with a silk robe. He got up and followed her as she entered his kitchen and headed toward the coffee pot. “Please?”

“What if I’m using you? Getting a free vacation?” Then she leaned forward, wilting against the counter. “And I don’t have that kind of vacation time earned.”

He frowned. “Are you? Using me?”

She shrugged. “I’d like to think I’m not. But I’ve tried to be upfront that this isn’t a forever relationship. It’s just for fun. For now. You haven’t forgotten that, have you?”

“No. You like to drill it home often enough.”

“Because that’s how I feel.”

“You’re nothing if not honest.” He grunted.

“Try to be. But if we went on this trip it would be us, using this relationship between us. It would reward me with something out of you from work, based on sex.”

He winced. “Do you have to be so—”

“Honest?” She supplied. “And yes, I do. Just so we are clear.”

“Well consider this, I gave Walter two weeks off when he started because he’d long had a trip planned before I interviewed with him. It was one of the stipulations. And I gave Chad a week off after four months of working with us because his wife’s sister was getting married in another state. Why did I do it? Because he asked. So, it’s not unheard of that someone employed by me gets time off during their first year of employment. It won’t be paid. So I disagree it’s quite the sex scandal you are proclaiming it to be.”

“Not paid?”

He blew out a breath. “Not paid.”

She twisted her lips around and then nodded. “Okay. As long as you don’t pay me for the time off. Otherwise it’s affecting work.”

His face exploded into a smile. “Okay? You’ll really come?” He grabbed her in a hug and spun her around.

She smiled at his enthusiasm over the trip. “Yes. I’ll come. But Lloyd—”

“I know. I know. You don’t love me. This has nothing to do with work. And I can’t pay you for the time off.”

She nodded. A ripple of apprehension running through her.

****

She told her family she was working out of town and they bought it. She didn’t say it was in Hawaii, but San Diego. That lie was to explain her tanner than usual skin when she eventually came home. Her parents would not have easily accepted their thirty-two-year span in age difference, especially since Lloyd was also her boss.

While finishing up the work on the last day, she promised to bring Chris all the tools he requested. Someone else gathered them together for her, since she didn’t know what most of them were, but she took them out there. Great. She hoped she wasn’t about to get bawled out again from her once friendly coworker. Maybe he should have just called her a slut since she was sure he thought she was.

“So you’re going off for a week…” His voice drew the words out. Her eyebrows rose. She was waiting for the comment. Any comment. She didn’t know who knew what. Other than Lloyd had taken off a week too. She wasn’t sure how that was being interpreted.

“Yes.” She kept her tone neutral and tilted her head.

“And I guess Lloyd’s off too…”

“Yes.” Her tone was crisp, and her gaze solid as she waited for his next comment.

He cleared his throat, shifting around. She raised her eyebrows until he dropped his gaze. She asked primly, “Do you need anything else, Chris?”

He shook his head to the negative. “No. Julia. I don’t. Just… you know, be careful and all that.” His gaze settled back on her and stayed there.

She held her head high, pinning her shoulders back, keeping her focus strong. “I will.” She set her hand on the door and pushed it.

“Have fun.” He called after her.

“I will. Thanks.”

She was half way across the lot when Chris’s voice interrupted her. “Julia.” It wasn’t a yell but more of a command. She turned towards him as he stepped up to her. His expression had gone from puzzled, amiable to glaring down at her, almost fierce. “He was out here yesterday. So I know.”

“Who? What?”

“Don’t play clueless. He. Lloyd. He’s on his way to Hawaii. Staying at the Royal Desert Aire right on the beach. He told me.”

“So?”

“So why? Why…” His expression morphed, pressed lips, wide eyes and wrinkled brow. “Why would you do it? Why would you give into him?”

She bit her lip. How dare he? Question her personal life? He had no right. “Do what exactly?” She challenged him, her gaze holding his. No waffling. No embarrassment.

He shook his head. His lips compressed in a tight line of physical disapproval, with her. “You were accepted here. You’d long lived down why Lloyd hired you. The terrible image he made of you. How could you just forget that? What he did? How could you reward him?”

“By how? How did I reward him. Tell me, Chris? How exactly did I reward Lloyd?”

His mouth tightened.

“Say it, Chris,” She taunted, her voice strung tight. “Say what you think I’ve done.”

“Earned yourself a vacation, just in the way Lloyd always planned for you to.”

“How have you decided I did that?”

His gaze turned hard. Crossing his arms over his chest, he gripped his own arms with his hands. “Fucking the boss.”

She flinched. But kept her head up, shoulders back and gaze directly on his. She threw her hair over her shoulder. “I don’t have to answer to you. For anything.”

He shook his head. His gaze roving over her. “I don’t get it. You worked so hard to dispel what everyone first thought of you. To earn your place and reputation here, all of which you had to do because of that prick. He set you up to look the fool. So what? You reward him for it?”

“I can fuck whoever I want.” She kept her voice even, without dropping her gaze. Holding it steady. Standing strong in her right to have a personal life that had nothing to do with work. There was no reason her sex life had anything to do with her work life because they hadn’t crossed. Even if it was Lloyd. And Lloyd was her boss.

His shoulders dropped down as his hands slid to his sides. Shaking his head, his expression softened. “Everyone thinks you’re capable, reliable, hard-working—”

“I’m still all those things, Chris,” she interrupted, her tone sharp, but soft. “I have never once crossed any kind of professional line with work.”

“You tainted it all. All your hard work.”

“I tainted it? Or you think this makes me tainted?” She asked. “This isn’t about work. This is about you.”

“It’s about what you threw away. I helped you. I tried to help you dispel those beliefs and prejudices and all the sexism being thrown your way. I—”

“You think you somehow own me because you helped me? That my knowledge is somehow less or compromised because I had sex? Listen to yourself! I don’t ask who you have sex with when you leave work because I know it has nothing to do with when you are here. Just as mine doesn’t. But you just made it so it does. You took the most sexist shot of all at me.”

“Fuck no. Lloyd took the most sexist shot. He hired you for the direct result of seducing you. That’s it. And it looks like he succeeded. It wasn’t me who fucked you and then came to work and gave you a vacation, now was it?”

 “No. You just assumed that I would not be able to separate having sex with Lloyd and working with Lloyd. I don’t have sex with anyone while at work, nor do I discuss it with anyone, until this moment. You made it inappropriate. It has nothing to do with work or you. But is that your problem? It’s not you?”

He breathed rapidly, as did she. They glared at each other in a long, heated staring contest. She shook her head. Her disappointment making tears push hard behind her eyes. “You had no right.”

Then she walked away. Glad to be leaving. For her upcoming vacation.

And her heart squeezing in pain at the tone of his voice, the words he’d said, and the feelings in her chest like she couldn’t breathe. Because now, it would never be him.