Lesley

 

 

“Give that back!” I hiss, but she doesn’t listen.

Instead, she presses the button and puts the phone against her ear. “Hey there, this is Hailey, Lesley’s friend.”

“Hailey!” I whisper-yell, hoping he won’t hear.

“Yeah, of course, she’s here,” Hailey says, coyly sneaking glances my way. “She doesn’t really wanna speak to you.”

“Hailey,” I snarl. She’s just throwing coals on the fire for the fun of it.

“You won’t take no for an answer. Got it.” She’s full-on grinning now. “No wonder she likes you so much.”

“Hailey!” I slam my fist on the table.

“All right, here she is,” she says.

“No, no!” I hiss, but it’s already too late.

Hailey pushes the phone into my hand, and I stare at it for a few seconds then look at Hailey and whisper, “Bitch.”

She giggles silently. I bring the phone to my ear.

“Did you just call me a bitch?”

“What?”

“You said bitch,” TJ says. “Which is really funny because I’ve never been called a bitch before. Sounds hilarious.”

“No, of course not,” I reply.

“What? I think it’s amusing.”

“I didn’t … Ugh, no, I didn’t call you a bitch. God.” I roll my eyes. “Whatever.”

“Not going so well, is it?”

“Oh lord, please don’t.”

“I like it when you beg. Could listen to that all damn day.”

I try to stop my face from getting red again, but it’s no use, and Hailey’s laughing at me because of it.

“Shut up,” I say. “What do you want?”

“You.”

God, why does he have to be so direct? It’s like he wants to embarrass me. Maybe that’s his plan. To make me feel the burn as payback for leaving him in my bed. Fucker.

“Sorry, I’m not interested,” I say.

“Don’t lie,” he says. “It doesn’t suit you.”

“Just tell me why you called.”

“I called because you left something in your bed this morning.”

“What?” I can’t remember leaving anything. “What did I miss?”

“Me.”

I roll my eyes and growl, “Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously. Do you always leave your dates stranded in your home?”

“No.”

“Because you don’t date.”

“Because I don’t bring them home!” I’m almost shouting; that’s how annoying he is.

“Right. You don’t wanna have sex with them.”

“Excuse me; I have lots of sex and with lots of men, not just you.” Now people are looking at me funny, including Hailey. Goddammit.

“I thought I was the man whore.”

“You are.”

“I’m more than that to you.”

“Look,” I say, sighing, “it was great, and I had an amazing time, but it isn’t right.”

“That’s what you think … but it isn’t what you really want.”

“Because you know me so well,” I retort.

“I’d like to. We should talk more, you know?”

“As professionals during work, yes. Nothing else.”

“Why is that? Didn’t you like what I did to you last night? How I made you sweat and call my name?” he muses, making goose bumps scatter on my skin just from the thought of what he could do with that tongue of his.

“If you wanted something else, you could’ve just asked.”

“It isn’t you,” I say.

“It’s me. That’s what you wanna say, right?”

“Yes.”

“No. You’re avoiding me because you got scared that you might want it more than once.”

“No, I don’t,” I reply.

“Keep saying that. The fact remains you snuck away from your own apartment. How is that not completely avoiding the confrontation?”

He’s right, but I don’t wanna admit it. “I wasn’t sneaking. I was meeting a friend.”

“Me!” Hailey yells, butting into our conversation.

“Yeah, I talked with her,” TJ continues, “She says you like me …”

“She’s trying to get under my skin by lying to you.”

“Right, keep telling yourself that.”

I groan. “Why do you have to be so infuriating?”

“Because you hurt my feelings.”

“Aww, poor you. I’m sure you’ll get over it the second you find a new girl, which I imagine will be pretty soon.”

“Do you think so low of me? Shame. I really thought I left a better impression than being just a one-day fuck.”

I grind my teeth. “Dry your tears with all your money then.”

“You can act like a stuck-up princess all day, but you won’t chase me away, Lesley. Not after last night.”

“Oh, god, please don’t. I’m in public.”

“So? Thought you liked it kinky.”

“Not like that.” Is it just me, or is it getting hot all of a sudden?

“We’ll see about that,” he murmurs.

Images flash through my head of him groping me in some alley next to a bar, and for some reason, I’m not even mad. Instead, my pussy thumps with excitement.

Fuck. This is bad.

“You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?” he taunts.

“No, I wasn’t,” I lie.

“I can tell when you lie, Lesley. Your voice goes up in pitch.”

“Why are we talking again?” I scoff.

“Because you owe me a conversation.”

“I don’t owe you a thing.”

“Well, we did have sex without protection, so there’s that.”

“I’m on the pill, and I don’t have anything. I’ll bring proof if you don’t believe me.”

“I do, and I’m glad you’re just as safe as I am,” he says, clearing his throat. “Anyway, that’s not why I called. You left me high and dry in your apartment, which, by the way, I cleaned before I left.”

“Good for you.”

“No thank you? No compliment?” he baits.

“Fine. Thank you for cleaning my house.” I roll my eyes. “Don’t you have work to do or something?”

“Do you generally work on the weekends?”

“No.”

“Neither do I,” he replies. “Except when it comes to you because I’m working my ass off to get you to admit you like me.”

“Why? Can’t you just let it go?”

“No, and don’t pretend you can either. I saw you gaping, and I felt you touching me. You were kissing me back too … and I heard your moans. You want more of where that came from, so don’t deny it.”

“So? Doesn’t mean we should.”

“Why not? Who cares if I’m your boss. We can make it work.”

“What if people find out? They’ll think I got the job because we hooked up.”

“Juicy …” Hailey says, listening in to our conversation. I give her the side-eye and continue my conversation with TJ.

“No one will find out if we do it quietly.”

“I’m not going to be your secret. Sorry.” I sigh. I won’t let myself get fucked by a guy again. I learned my lesson the hard way.

“I don’t want you to be a secret. But I at least wanna give it a try.”

“Please don’t do this … not on the phone,” I plead.

“All right. I can wait. We’ll continue this Monday then.”

Before I have the time to say a word, he’s already hung up.

I stare at the phone in my hand.

“What did he say?” Hailey asks.

“He’s not giving up,” I mutter. “He’s gonna try to persuade me when I get back to work Monday.”

She cheers. “Woop!”

Clutching the phone tightly, I mutter, “Son of a bitch …”

“Guess he’s really head over heels for you,” she muses, winking.

“God, I hate him so much,” I retort.

“And you’re just as much in love with him too!”

“I am not!” I say.

“See? Too many feelings.” She makes a weird hand gesture. “Ooohhh.”

“Stop it,” I say, trying to grab her, but she jumps away.

“I’m so going to look him up on Facebook and give him some tips.”

“You wouldn’t,” I snarl, giving her a nasty look.

“I want him to succeed,” she says.

“I thought you were my best friend, not his.”

“Oh, I am,” she says. “And I’m looking out for your best interest.”

“How is dating him in my best interest? I could lose my job, or worse, we could be scrutinized by our own co-workers.”

“So? At least you’ll have an amazing boyfriend.”

“I don’t need one!” I reply.

“Are you happy?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” I ask.

“Case in point.” She shrugs. “If you don’t see it, I can’t make you, but I’m not going to let you ruin this for yourself. You need to move on from the past, Lesley.”

“No, no, no. Don’t you bring the past into this conversation. That has nothing to do with this.”

“Really? Then why did you run away from him? Do you really think it’s because he’s your boss, or because you just don’t trust any man?”

I look down at the table and take a deep breath.

She’s right, but I don’t want her to be.

“I’m here, Lesley,” she says, grabbing my hand. “Just like you were there for me. I’m not going anywhere. And I’m going to help you get past this. Even if you hate me for it. Because dammit, you deserve to be happy.”

I smile. “Thanks.”

Her lips perk up. “Now, let’s go grab another ice cream. I want that sugar rush!”