“She’s not coming,” Cody said, throwing me another drink. I took it, chugging it back. He was right. I was stupid for thinking she actually would meet me. Standing me up every night in the same spot for the past two weeks was a big, fuck you, Craft. I was an asshole who used her for sex in her mind.
“Maybe I’ll go to her apartment?”
Cody set both hands on the bar top, leaning in and whispering in my face. “Are you crazy? She overheard you telling me you were kissing her ass so she wouldn’t file a complaint. She’s not going to let that one go. Time to start hiring again, Mack.”
I sunk in my chair. I’d gone through more assistants than James Dean went through condoms. No one fit so perfectly until Kelsey came around. I’d even fired three temporaries within the past two weeks, another quitting on their own.
The first one played on the internet all day.
The second one was texting on her phone more than typing out reports.
The third burst into tears when I told her the coffee she brought me was disgusting.
The fourth one was decent, but she used a fucking USB port. There was only one woman I’d put up with using that dead technology.
“She was so much more,” I murmured into my drink.
Cody gave me a lopsided smile. “You can’t let a woman control you like that. I should have known you had a thing for her, especially how you let her pick your entire fantasy baseball team.” He shook his head. “Crazy ass.”
“She needed to feel involved. I didn’t want her to just sit there all night while I stared at a magazine.”
Cody laughed. “Yeah, you let her stare at it so you could stare at her.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Maybe.”
“You should have taken her to the bedroom,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows. “That’d make her forget filing a complaint and have her begging for more.”
I traced the rim of my beer, remembering how gorgeous she looked under the moonlight with her shirt off, coming at the mercy of my thumb, sweat beading her breasts and stomach.
“She has a brain. I like bantering with her. She challenges me.”
“Then go tell her that,” he stated simply. “For someone so bright, you really have trouble seeing the obvious.”
I glowered at him. “You just told me I shouldn’t go to her apartment.”
He shrugged. “That was before I knew you were actually into her. I thought she was just a piece of ass on the side.”
He couldn’t be further from the truth. I slammed the rest of my beer and hopped off the stool.
“What are you doing?” Cody asked, his lip curling in concern.
“I’m going to go see her.”
“Should you maybe wait until the morning? It’s almost midnight, and you’ve had quite a few tonight.”
I waved him off on my way to the door. “I’m fine. I need to see her.”
***
“Kelsey!” A muffled voice rumbled along with a pounding on my door.
The sound startled me, waking me from my spot on the couch. I’d fallen asleep watching a Nicholas Sparks movie with a tub of ice cream, again.
Adjusting my clothing, a super-hot t-shirt from a 5k I ran in college and yoga pants, I sluggishly moved from the couch to the door.
Peeking through the hole made me lose my breath. The very reason for the cheesy love stories and unhealthy amounts of sugar was standing there, demanding to see me. My stomach tightened. The pain that twisted my gut wouldn’t go away, and was on full blast now that he was so close. I’d avoided his texts, contemplating how to respond to them.
Give it up Craft, I’m not interested.
Really? Dinner? So you can beg for me to come back to work? Pshhhhh
Why? So you can fuck me in the bathroom?
Yes, take me to dinner and kiss me until our lips are numb.
Tell me you want me for more than my Power Point skills.
“Please, open up,” he choked. “I need to see you.”
Taking a deep breath, I unlocked the chain and the deadbolt. The door creaked open, and there he was, dressed for work.
Yet, he wasn’t put together at all. His shirt was untucked and unbuttoned at the top, the sleeves rolled to his elbows. His hair was longer, matching the stubble along his jaw. There were bags under his eyes, his hair a mess as if he’d been running his hands through it. He was a wreck, but oh my gosh, was he beautiful.
I half hid behind the door. “Why are you here?” I bit, sounding more pissed than I meant to.
His lips sucked together as he took me in. The sigh of relief he expelled along with the lack of posture was another trait he didn’t traditionally carry.
“Are you okay?” I asked with concern.
He set his forearm on the frame of the door, leaning forward. “God, you are so fucking beautiful.”
I could smell the alcohol on his breath. “Jesus, Craft,” I scolded, attempting to close the door.
His hand caught it. “Just hear me out.”
I sighed, my head resting on the back of the door. He couldn’t see me, and I could only see the ends of his strong fingers. The same fingers that had the power to unravel me.
“Look, I know you overheard me talking to Cody,” he said slowly. “It was stupid, and if I could take it back I would. Even though you should file a complaint about me, I knew you wouldn’t, and that wasn’t why I was treating you… differently.” He let out a deep breath. “I just…”
He sighed deeply, and I was hanging onto his every word.
“Fuck, I played this out in my head so many times,” he mumbled. His hand left the door, and I glanced around the corner. He was pacing in the hall, his hands fisting his hair.
When he caught sight of me, he stopped dead in his tracks, dropping his hands to his sides. “I miss you at the office, Kelsey.”
I scoffed, back to work as always. “Yeah, I bet you do. No one willing to put up with how big of an asshole you are?”
His brows pinched together. “No, wait, that’s not what I meant.”
I held up my hand, stopping him from coming closer to me. “I’ll never work for you again.”
He ignored my hand, stepping forward so I was touching him. His heart was pounding wildly. “I get that,” he whispered. “It’s not just work where I miss you.”
The ache in my chest rose from his words. I’d missed him too, the gentle, caring side he showed me that night. The one that stroked my skin so delicately and kissed me with a tenderness he’d never showed until then.
“Please, I’ve never felt this way before.” He whispered so softly that I wondered if I’d imagined it.
My emotions went into overdrive, trying to read between the lines. He wasn’t being blunt, and was beating around the bush. I needed the upfront, no nonsense Craft. “I don’t understand.”
His eyelids slowly opened and a warmth covered the sadness and confusion written on his face. “I want to spend time with you. Every morning I come into work, hoping you’ll be at your desk, sending me a smile I don’t deserve. Bringing me coffee that is too watered down, getting my Au Hi Tuna salad and including avocados and feta cheese with saracha.”
“That’s so gross,” I blurted. I hated the smell, and the restaurant refused to deliver to our building, so that meant three days a week I’d have that shit in my car.
He laughed. “Don’t judge me, I put up with your egg salad.”
My jaw dropped. “You smell that?”
He shook his head. “Every fucking day.”
I flushed.
“I miss hearing you laugh in the lounge. I even miss those damn USB ports laying around everywhere.”
I’d never been so confused. He always complained, always scolded. The negativity in the office was predominantly from him, and I always thought it was because of me.
His head dipped down, his voice becoming a faint whisper. “I’m so unbelievably mad at myself for being such a dick to you.” I watched his Adams apple bob as he swallowed. “I want more nights like fantasy night.”
My stomach twisted. Hearing him say that night meant a lot to him hit me like a truck on the freeway. I felt the same way. It was why overhearing him hurt so badly. Needing the crackle of discomfort to disappear, I tried to make a joke, but it came out as insecure and offended. “You just want to see me naked.”
“Kelsey,” he continued. “It’s so much more than just the sex. Don’t get me wrong, I still want to see you naked from head to toe, but I want to see inside your head more. I want you to see inside of mine, too. If you don’t want to work for me, fine, but please, come back to me.”
My lips parted, itching to jump him, but I just couldn’t do it.
I was beyond confused, having no idea what my heart was telling me. I was scared, afraid that he was playing with me again. No matter how wrecked and open he was standing before me, I needed to wait to give him an answer. I couldn’t process what was going on in my own head, let alone his.
With trembling hands, I held his face. He sagged into my hold, his eyes closing.
Standing on my tip toes, I plucked his lips for the slightest moment. His lids were still shut, the inhale of his breath cautiously releasing.
With his eyes still closed, I backed into my apartment, quietly closing the door. Once the barrier was between us, I said just loud enough so he could hear me through the wood of the door.
“Goodbye, Mackenzie.”