was enough, even if my body was begging for more. This had been a gift, one that didn't require any reciprocation.
But Jack pulled me up to his level and kissed me right away, pressing me against the shower wall, positioning my body just right. A few short minutes later, his brilliant fingers were against my clit and I was coming.
***
I made it to work on time—the cab ended up having to sit outside while I haphazardly threw on some work clothes; thankfully Jack picked up the whole fare—and almost spit out my coffee when I saw the dollar-store greeting card sitting on my desk.
In a fit of confusion, I ripped it open. There was a cat on the front, wearing a Santa hat. Beneath it, the card said "Meowy Christmas!" I choked back laughter. This was the polar opposite of the other gifts he had been giving me, the cheesiest card I had ever received. And it wasn't even Christmas. I excitedly opened it:
Last night was terrific. Can we do it again Friday?
-Jack
My mind was blown. When had there been time for him to do this? I looked at the front one last time and enjoyed a final chuckle. He actually put his name this time, so I'd really have to make sure no one saw it.
I hid the card under some random papers and tried to get to work, the events of last night still cooking my brain inside my skull like those anti-drug commercials they used to show on TV all the time. This is your brain on infatuation. Any questions?
I shot Jack a quick text:
Me: Thanks for the card! It must have cost you a fortune.
Him: It was sitting here in a drawer. Lucky find, huh?
Me: If I could hang it on the wall here, I would! ;)
"Any word from Jack Teller about the Lexy Brown deal?" Sam was standing behind me at the desk, straightening out his shirt as he talked. I immediately dropped my cell phone to my lap. What was I doing? Trying to hide it? He had clearly witnessed my texting.
"He hasn't—" I stopped before I said anything else. What was this, an interrogation? Was he trying to trick me or something? "I haven't heard anything," I said. "Is Lexy Brown the artist?" He had never mentioned her name to me, only referred to her as the artist. If I acted like I knew who she was, I might be putting myself in a bad place.
"Yeah, Lexy's the one." He paused and looked off into the distance. "I sure hope we hear something soon. As you know, I—and this company—really need this deal."
"I'm not even in charge of it," I pleaded. I felt like I could defend myself without raising too many red flags. I didn't have to play entirely dumb. "You just had me sit in for the meeting!"
"True," he said. "Just keep me posted if you hear anything. Information moves quick in this business. If Jack stops by and I'm not here, I want to be the first to know about it."
"Okay, Sam." I sounded flustered, understandably, given his tone and approach. Was it possible that he knew about Jack and me? The thought made my heart beat uncontrollably, almost as much as my memories from last night did—but in a very different way. I had expected him to scold me about texting on the clock; he didn't.
Weird.
He briskly walked back to his office. When he disappeared from view, I sunk back in my chair and let out an enormous sigh. Everything had been strange since that meeting with Jack, that incident of random chance that led to last night and the nights that would follow just like it. I didn't think I was ready for a committed relationship, but I wasn't about to draw any lines just yet, especially with my job possibly dangling from a thread.
Could I actually lose my job over something like this? The more I thought about it, the more I realized I wasn't thinking clearly—but did I really want that? To think clearly? This felt like heaven, like a place I'd never been before. Sure, I'd had good moments in my previous relationships, but they hadn't compared to these in the least—and this was only the beginning.
How could I take sides in a situation like this?
Well, it didn't matter one way or another. I had no influence on Jack's decision, and he had made that very clear. I would just have to keep us quiet