my own as I continued talking. “Please take this as the warning it needs to be.”
But Malcolm stepped closer and jabbed a pudgy finger in my direction. His face contorted into a sneer and he hissed his words when he spoke. “And I would like to remind you again that you didn’t find my touches at all unwanted that night I sucked you off in the shadows of Hot Toddy’s a couple of months back.”
I closed my eyes as he implied his threat again. He could reveal everything to Jamie and potentially damage what we’d started, but I held my flinch in. How drunk had I been that night? A long way beyond sensible thought, anyway. Surely Jamie would understand?
I kept my voice calm as I continued wiping the cups Jamie and I had used. “That was one time, and you might have noticed I didn’t return for a repeat performance? I didn’t want to rub that detail in by pointing it out. I don’t see the point in dwelling on life’s mistakes, Malcolm, do you?”
He took a deep breath in, then blew it out, exhaling the foul stench of stale coffee all over me as he held his chest stiff, his back straight. “You’re a first class fucking asshole, Nico. You know that?”
He spun around, almost executing a precision military turn, and stormed from the room, his expensive designer shoes striking the hardwood floor in a rapid, angry beat.
I only had one thought in my head. Jamie. I replaced our washed mugs in the cupboard and headed back to my office. I needed to make sure he was all right. And I needed to make sure he knew everything.
I lowered the blinds to my office in the illusion of privacy as I entered. Jamie didn’t even look up, but he must have heard me come in. Before I could even think too hard about it, I was on my knees at the side of Jamie’s chair, and I turned it slightly so he faced me.
“I need to tell you something. It’s about Malcolm.” Maybe I could just get ahead of Malcolm’s threat, damage control my way out of it.
He looked at me, his face blank, but I was prepared to take that as encouragement.
“A couple of months back, Malcolm and I had an…” I paused while I thought of the best way to put it. “An intimate encounter at Hot Toddy’s.”
Jamie merely raised an eyebrow. Perhaps he didn’t understand what I meant.
“What I’m trying to say is I got really drunk and let him suck me off,” I blurted. Shit, this was suddenly far too important to me.
His lips quirked as if the idea amused him, but that only created more panic inside me, and I bowed my head as if searching the floor for more words or inspiration.
“I promise there’s nothing there. I mean, obviously I haven’t let him come near me since, and I haven’t encouraged any of his flirting—”
Jamie rested his hand on my hair briefly. “I know,” he said. “And Malcolm is annoying, but it seems like he’s so much more. It seems like he has a problem with me in particular.”
I snorted my disgust as relief loosened my chest at Jamie’s calm reaction to my confession. “I think it’s jealousy. He’s jealous of you. You’re good at what you do, and Malcolm can see that.”
I’d regretted that blowjob ever since Malcolm first put his lips on me, and I’d carried that regret around in a quiet bundle located somewhere in my chest. It felt good to be free of the weight of the secret.
He shook his head. “I shouldn’t think so. I’m an intern, and he’s an associate. That doesn’t usually create much jealousy.”
I took a quick glance at the unlocked door of my office, willing our privacy to hold for just a moment longer, before kneeling up and pressing my lips against Jamie’s. I wanted him to know exactly how I felt about him, and how little threat Malcolm posed to that. I flicked my tongue against his lower lips, and he finally pushed his hand into my hair and opened his mouth, accepting me in. I moved my lips slowly over his, making promises with them that I intended my body to keep as soon as we were back in the same bed.
Eventually he drew slowly away, an affectionate smile on his face.
“You are smart and sexy, Jamie, and you absolutely have me wrapped around your little finger. I’d do anything for