The smell of her perfume rouses me. I roll over, remembering that I put her in my bed last night. My eyes open, she’s gone. I grab the pillow she was laying on and hug it to my face, taking in her scent. “Damn it, we were so close to getting things out in the open.” I yell into her pillow. It was the first time in years, I thought maybe we could try again.

Sitting, I grab my cell phone from its charger. Her name is at the top of my screen. It rings and then goes to her voice mail. I quickly shower and dress in jeans and a button down. My limo driver is off on Sundays, so I call for a taxi to take me to her apartment. She and Wren live in the same building just a few miles from me.

I know where it is but I’ve never been inside her apartment, only Wren’s. I punch in the code and take the stairs two at a time until I’m standing in front of her door. I knock twice and wait. No answer, so I knock again. “Aedon.”

I try the knob, but it’s locked. I try her phone again, but it goes straight to voice mail this time. “Damn it, where are you?” I take a flight up and beat on Wren’s door.

The door flies open to reveal Wren in a pair of shorts, pulling a t-shirt over his head. His hair is a mess. “Hey, man. What’s up?” He looks either concerned or guilty of something. I’m not sure which.

“I can’t find Aedon. She’s not answering her phone and she’s not at home.”

He pulls the door open further and steps aside. Aedon is sitting on his couch with her arms crossed over her chest. I take one step inside. “Am I interrupting something?” I ask, behind a bite of jealousy.

Wren responds. “No, she came over for a cup of coffee.”

“A cup of coffee, huh?” I chuckle. “I guess you needed it after how much you drank last night.”

They share a look, then she gets up and walks past me. “I’ll see you later, Wren,” she says as she walks by him, air-kissing him on the cheek.

I don’t say anything to him as I follow her out. She storms down the stairs and unlocks her door, opening it wide and glaring at me.

“Can I come in?” I ask, matching her glare.

“I don’t think that is such a good idea.” She straightens her spine like she’s ready for battle.

“Why not? Because you are with Wren?” I grit my teeth.

She steps back and tries to slam the door, but I stop it. “Don’t do this, Aedon.”

“You’re an asshole.”

I inhale deeply. “You’re probably right, but you and I still have something between us, and you know it.” I take a step closer. “Are you running scared because of Wren?”

“He has nothing to do with it. We are friends, nothing more. We’ve been over this.”

“Are you sure about that? I’m not convinced when I find you at his apartment with him half dressed. I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”

Her arms fall to her sides. “Look, it’s been a really long week and all I want to do is get a long, hot shower and go back to bed.” One hand goes to her curvy hip.

“You could’ve stayed at my apartment and in my bed as long as you wanted to.”

“I know we had a moment last night, but that’s all it was. You and I have been over for a long time.” She steps back from the door and heads to her kitchen, pouring herself a glass of water.

I step inside and look around. It’s very feminine, with tans and pops of blue. Long sheer curtains cover the sliding glass door leading to the balcony. My hand goes to a vase of artificial orange flowers sitting beside a lamp. I remember these from her dorm room years ago. She watches me as I take in her space.

“You can let yourself out. I’m getting that shower I’ve been dying for.” She sets her glass in the sink and walks out of the room.

I stand in place, not knowing what to do. The sound of the shower turning on tempts me to join her. I slowly walk into her bedroom. Her bed is covered in silk linens. I run my hand across them, remembering how they feel beneath her. My cock hardens at the thought. I turn to join her in the shower, but a picture on her night stand catches my eye. It’s a recent picture of me. I pick it up to get a better look. She must have taken it on her phone when I wasn’t looking. The three of us met for coffee to agree on the name of the company. I have a big smile on my face, shaking Wren’s hand, but Wren is not in the picture, only our handshake.

“We only had a moment, huh? I think this picture proves otherwise, doll.” I place it back down. Slowly opening the door, I see her silhouette behind the shower door. The steam is already floating in the air, fogging the glass. I stand outside the door watching her watch me. She washes her body, facing me. I splay my hand on the glass like I could reach through it and touch her. My cock hardens when her hand dips to her most private parts. She lets out a moan and I want nothing more than to break the glass between us. I could do it. I could crash through it and fuck her, but it would only be a moment. I want more than that for us. I want her to need me as much as I need her. Picking my hand up off the glass, I see her eyes through the handprint that I left behind. “This thing between us, it will happen, but not until you’re ready to admit that you want it is bad as I do.” I walk out and shut the door behind me, hoping like hell to hear her call my name, but all I hear is the sound of the water running.

I’ve thought all these years she didn’t love me anymore, but the picture on her nightstand says differently and I plan on getting her to tell me.

Monday morning rolls around way too soon. Ander is the first one in the office. “I thought you were going to take a few days off?” I say as I walk by his desk.

“I kept getting pings on the computer from seismic activity in Northern California. I wanted to come in and do some mapping.”

“Did you find anything out of the ordinary?”

“Not yet, but I’ve just started.”

“What do you think about us hiring you some extra hands?” I pat his shoulder, heading for coffee.

“I think I can handle it without any help.” He never looks away from his screen.

“You let me know when you need more help. You should take a few days off after every mission.” I walk up beside him. “You know you don’t have to be here early every morning, right? You should take advantage of our down time.”

He stops typing and turns his chair toward me. “I like being here, it makes me feel useful.”

I lean on the edge of his desk, blowing on my coffee. “Don’t you have a personal life?”

He smiles. “Dr. Manning, do you really want to hear about my personal life, like my boyfriend?”

“If it’s something you want to talk about, well then, yeah, I do want to hear about it. Maybe not here in the office, but we could go have a couple of drinks and you could tell me all about it.”

“Wow. I have to say I’m shocked. Most people don’t want to hear about my love life, being that I’m gay.”

“You being gay has nothing to do with anything as far as I’m concerned, other than the fact that I can’t flirt with my Director of Operations.” I laugh.

“Well, you could, but you’re not my type.”

“What, you don’t like tall, dark, and handsome?” I feign hurt.

“I didn’t say that. You’re totally hot, but I prefer my men available and you, sir, are not.” He turns his chair back around and continues typing.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m very single,” I say, walking back to my desk. I plan on changing that situation.

He wheels his chair in my direction. “When is the last time you’ve been on a date?”

“I date plenty.” I huff.

“Really? So tell me, when was your last date?”

“I took a hot little redhead home a few months ago.” I lean back in my chair.

“I didn’t ask you about meaningless sex. I want to know the last time you took a woman out on a date because you were seriously interested in getting to know her, not getting under her skirt.”

Only one name comes to mind, but I don’t dare say it. I lean forward and place my elbows on my desk, clasping my hands together. “It’s been awhile, but that has nothing to do with me being taken.”

“Keep telling yourself that, Dr. Manning.” He spins back around in his chair and starts clicking on his keyboard again.

Damn kid is way too observant. He’s right, part of me has waited for Aedon all this time. I keep thinking that one day, she will see me for the man I’ve become, not the messed up young man she remembers. I choose to remain silent and work through my emails.

Half the day is gone when Wren makes it to the office. There’s been no sight of Aedon. I keep checking my text messages, thinking maybe she will talk to me.

“Did you get all the paperwork done?” Wren asks, setting his bag in his chair.

“Yeah, I worked on it all day yesterday.”

He stands in front of my desk for a moment, staring at me. “Look, I think you and Aedon should keep things professional,” he says only loud enough for me to hear. “We are all friends, and I don’t want to see either one of you hurt. I was there for both of you last time. It took a long time for the two of you to pick up the pieces and move on. You’ve done that, and now we’re all partners.”

I take a deep breath in. “You’re right. I don’t want to mess that up.” He was there for me and I need to let it go. “I don’t want to risk our friendship or our partnership. It means too much to me.” I want to ask him how he really feels about Aedon, but now is not the time.

“Uh… I don’t mean to interrupt what the two of you have going on back there, but my entire computer screen is lit up.” Ander quickly transfers what’s on his desktop to the clear screen on the wall.

We turn to face it. “Is that the Cascadia subduction zone?” Wren asks.

“Yes, it is, and it’s lit up like the 4^th of July,” Ander says.

The NEIC radio starts to alarm. Aedon walks in almost unnoticed as we stand stock-still listening to the news.

“A small 6.0 magnitude quake was felt in western Washington, but aftershocks are being felt down the entire coast of Washington and Oregon. The warnings for further massive quakes are imminent.”

“Ander, send out a page for our teams to get to their departure locations. You are to dispatch their destinations in flight. Get the jets ready and on the tarmac. The three of us are going to Northern California. We’ll need as many hands as we can get if this thing is as big as they think it is. Meet me at the private airstrip in one hour.” They both nod and head out the door.