My palms were sweaty when I knocked on Tim’s door. Talking to him about work was an easy task, but asking him anything out of the ordinary made me a nervous wreck. I’d ask Brody, but he was having a bad day. I didn’t feel like getting yelled at.

“Come in.” Tim was looking at his computer when I entered, but he glanced to see who opened the door. His smile was calming. “Hi.”

I smiled back, but it probably wasn’t as carefree as his. “Hi. I was wondering if we could discuss a couple of things about expectations and the office.”

His smile faded and the concerned look he often wore took over. “Of course. Shut the door and come in. We can talk about anything that’s bothering you.”

“Well,” I shut the door and walked to the seat across from him, “it isn’t that it’s bothering me exactly.”

“Is it Brody? I’ll have another talk with him.”

“Please don’t. It isn’t him. I wish you’d stop worrying about how he treats me.”

“April, I’ve seen what he does and it’s a matter of time before he does it to you. I’m sorry, but I have to be on guard.”

“No, you don’t. He treats me like his little sister and I can handle it. There have been no other sexual comments since the day I met him and put him in his place. Maybe the other women who’ve worked here have been a little timid in defending themselves but not me.”

His shoulders relaxed, and there was the hint of the smile I loved seeing. “You do take care of yourself.”

I had to get back to what I needed to discuss. I couldn’t get lost in his eyes, smile, or anything else for that matter. I needed to stay focused. “Clothes.” I hadn’t meant to blurt that out. I cleared my throat when he turned his head a little and looked to the side as if to figure out what I meant. “Sorry. I just mean that I kind of wanted to know what the dress code is here.”

“Oh.” He sat back and laced his fingers over his belly. “Clothing is optional.” He winked.

My cheeks grew warm as I closed my eyes and shook my head. I didn’t need to picture him with optional clothing. “I’m sure the men would like that.” I opened my eyes to see him nodding his head and smiling. I ignored it. “Most of you wear jeans.”

He looked at my pencil skirt, tucked-in blouse, and high heels before looking back up to me. “If you want to wear jeans, you can certainly do that, too. I thought you liked to wear that stuff.”

“That stuff? Skirts and high heels are fun on occasion, but not every day unless it’s necessary. It’s a little exhausting.”

He laughed and leaned forward on the desk again. “I’m sure it is. Those heels showcase your legs beautifully, but I’m sure they hurt your feet.” His demeanor changed back to serious again as he pinned me with his stare. “It doesn’t matter what you wear, April. I just want you here.”

I swallowed. I was sure it was wishful thinking on my part that he wanted me there the same way I wanted to be there. He wanted work done. I wanted to be near him. “I’m sorry. There’s one more thing.”

“Don’t be sorry. What’s on your mind?”

What was on my mind was the two of us naked in a clothing optional work environment. Preferably sprawled out over his desk. I cleared my throat. “Supplies.” My mind just kept going back to that image of us on the desk. I wondered if I could add condoms to the list.

“Keep going.” His encouragement may have been about discussing the supplies I just mentioned, but I kept thinking about him thrusting into me on that desk. I couldn’t speak.

He stood and rounded the desk to sit in the chair next to me. He took my hand and the touch shivered through me. I wanted that hand everywhere.

“April, what’s the matter? You’re shaking.” He held my hand with both of his. “Whatever this is really bothers you. You can talk to me about anything.”

I looked at him and then at his lips. I couldn’t talk to him about wanting to fuck him senseless on the desk. I shook my head. “No, I’m not bothered. Ignore me.”

I took my hand back and sat up straight in the chair. I needed to pull it together. I took a deep breath. “I was wondering if we could move the more common supplies out to the storage room. There’s an empty space off to the right as soon as you enter the back that would be perfect to set up storage there.”

He narrowed his eyes and looked me over. “That’s what you wanted to ask me?”

“Yes, it’s not a big deal. We can keep them in the office if you want, but you’re adding more of the electronics in here and it’s getting crowded.”

“I don’t want people to steal the tablets and laptops the other staff use.”

“I understand that, but the highlighters, staples, and paperclips don’t need to be as protected. Do they?” I could see in his blank stare that he still didn’t understand. I stood. “Follow me, please.”

He followed a little too close, but I welcomed the closeness. I could almost feel his chest against my back when I stopped in front of the first cabinet on the wall behind my desk. I reached up to lift the door and his hand covered mine. “I got it.”

He opened it to see it crammed full of ink cartridges. The next two were similar but different sized cartridges. The next two shelves were full of notepads, staples, pens, pencils, tape, and every other office supply one could need. Except for condoms.

He placed his hands on my hips after he opened all the doors and looked around the office. Boxes of paper were piled up in the corner. “This looks terrible.” He squeezed my hips.

I wasn’t sure if he was aware of what he was doing, so I didn’t lean back into him, but I wanted to. I pulled away instead. Getting involved with the boss was not a smart idea.

I pointed to the bottom shelf. “That’s where most of the electronics are locked up, but I’m running out of room.”

He nodded as he looked around. “I’ll take care of it for you.”

“You don’t have to take care of it for me. I can do it. I need permission to do it.”

“Wear jeans tomorrow. We’ll do it together.”

* * *

I took the first box of supplies back to the storage room and stopped when I saw the new cabinets. “They are beautiful!” I didn’t expect such a fancy space for supplies. I figured he’d throw a few shelves up, but the cabinets were amazing.

Brody was helping Tim pull the cart full of paper down the steps to get into the storage room. “They’re cabinets. Do you need to be alone with them for a few minutes?”

“Shut up, Brody.” I walked over to the new area Tim had to stay late setting up and ran my hand along the side.

“You’re on your own for unloading the cart. If I stay here and watch her molest that piece of metal, I’m going to bust a nut.”

“Get out, you freak.” Tim walked up to me and looked at the new area as if he hadn’t seen it before. “I figured we needed to modernize the place anyway.”

That was an opening I was waiting for. “I’m glad you said that because your lobby chairs are awful.”

“What’s wrong with the chairs?”

I motioned for him to unload the cart of paper as I turned to unpack the box I was holding. “Just stack those up over there.”

“Hey, who’s the boss here?”

“With supplies? Me.” I flashed a big grin. “Now, about getting us into this decade, I’ve already done some comparison shopping for you. I’ve found a great deal and we can store the old shit back here until you sell it.”

“I like the selling it part.”

“I’m sure someone will find use for those ugly things.” I looked around the back room. “Why did you guys keep this the loading dock? Everything else was updated and you’d never know this was a warehouse before except for back here.”

He moved the boxes with ease and I wondered if he was as fit as Brody. Brody was a little more noticeable with his body stretching out every shirt he wore, but Tim wasn’t as bulky. I would’ve loved to have seen the body under those clothes.

“I tell people we ran out of money to remodel it.” He continued moving boxes. “The truth is, it has a better resell value if I keep the loading dock. They can either keep it as an office set up or rip out all the drywall and be a warehouse again.”

“Are you thinking about selling?” I didn’t want to look for another job so soon.

He put the last box away and placed his hands on his hips. “No, I wasn’t sure if Brody and I could make it. I was giving us an option.”

I emptied the box and set it on the floor. “You’re always thinking ahead, aren’t you? You calculate every move.”

“I do.” He took a step closer. “Some moves I don’t want to think about. Some moves I want to give in regardless of the consequences.” He was right in front of me.

I swallowed as I looked at his chest. “Why don’t you?”

“Because I learned early on in life that the world doesn’t revolve around me. My purpose in life is to help others.”

“But, you need to come first sometimes.” I looked up at him. “Do you ever put yourself first?”

He looked at my lips. “I’ve thought about taking what I want and ignoring the consequences, but we have a rehab full of people who do that. I have to be sure whatever move I make is the right one.”

I inched closer to him. “What if that move is the right one for everyone?”

He leaned down a little. “If I think it would benefit everyone, then I take the risk.”

We both startled when we heard the loud bang behind us. Brody had dropped two more paper boxes he carried on his own. “There’s the last two. I think you guys can handle the rest.”

He looked at us and tilted his head. “Did I interrupt something?”

Tim stepped away and shook his head. “No, we’re talking about replacing the chairs in the lobby.”

“What the fuck is wrong with the chairs?”

I grabbed the box I just emptied and went back for more supplies. I was glad for the interruption. I almost made the biggest mistake of my life.