“Happy birthday,” I say, smirking up at her.
“That was quite the present.” Her breath still isn’t even, and her hair is falling into her face. I want to see that wild hair after we’ve made love, tangled and spread across the pillows. Draped across my chest.
A loud knock sounds on the door, and Nicola jumps and goes pale. “Just a minute,” she calls out, and steps away from me, fixing her dress. The woman wantonly enjoying my tongue is gone, and replaced with one who’s nervous. “You need to hide,” she says, pushing me towards one of the bathroom stalls. “Just until I make sure everything is clear.”
I catch her by the arm and pull her close to kiss her. Even beneath her nerves, she can’t quite hide the way she melts under my mouth. My Nicola is still there, even if she’s pretending that she’s not. I’m going to prove to her that this is worth it. That we’re worth it, even if I’m the one that wasted so much time. That’s my fault. I know that. But I can still make it right.
When I pull away, her eyes are wide, and I can’t quite interpret the emotion there. “Hide,” she says, before unlocking the door.
I step into the stall, smiling. I don’t think we need to be so cloak and dagger, but if it makes her feel better I’ll do it. Her panties are still in my hand, and I tuck them into my pocket. She didn’t ask for them back, and I like the idea of having them as a souvenir for the first time I tasted her. I’m only concealed for a moment before I hear her voice again. “It’s clear. Leave quickly so nobody sees you coming out of the women’s bathroom.”
There’s more that I want to do than leave this room. I want to talk about us and what just happened. But when I step out of the stall to leave, Nicola is already gone. The hallway is empty, and she’s disappeared without a trace. I don’t know this building well enough to go looking for her.
Maybe I pushed too hard, too fast. Maybe with Nicola, for the second time, I made a mistake.
I don’t see Nicola for the rest of the day, and between settling into my new office and signing paperwork with HR, I don’t have a chance to look for her. But I snag one of her business cards from an assistant. It has her cell number, and though I probably should just wait, I don’t want silence between us. If she’s angry I want to know. If I truly crossed a line, I want to know. My stomach does a flip as I enter her phone number, because I don’t want to think that I’ve already ruined this.
Nicola, it’s Dash. Please don’t run away. I want to talk about what happened today, and what happened four years ago. If I need to promise that I won’t kiss you for you to talk to me, I can do that. Just please, don’t shut me out.
I send it and take a deep breath. It’s all I can do for now. And there’s plenty for me to do at home to unpack. But hell if I’m going to get anything done while I’m watching my phone.
Nothing from Nicola. I sent her a text telling her good night, and another one saying good morning, but there’s been no response so far. I haven’t run into her at the office yet, and I’m not going to force the issue, even though Bruce made it seem like we’d be working pretty closely together. I’m sure that I’ll see her soon enough. Until then, I can be patient.
A knock at my office door makes me look up from where I’m staring at my phone, willing a text message to appear. It’s Bruce. “How are you settling in?”
“Fine,” I say. “Got everything squared away with HR, so I should be able to start piling through everything that was left on the desk.” The previous person in my position had a lot of irons in the fire, which is good for the company but it makes for a lot of catch-up work on my end. But I don’t care. I’m a fucking lucky man. Job in my field with a decent salary, working side-by-side with the woman I’m completely and utterly in love with? I’ll take some busy work to dig through any day.
“Excellent,” he says with a grin. “I’m sure you’ll have it worked out in no time. But what do you say we take a long lunch to catch up? Noon?”
I nod. “Sure thing.”
“See you then,” he says, smacking the doorframe on the way out. One of the things I’ve always appreciated about Bruce is his ability to make you feel welcome. We’ve been friends for so long, but even after my absence it doesn’t feel like we’ve missed a beat. And furthermore, I know him well enough that I know he’s not going to act like my boss outside of work. I don’t plan on doing anything that would make him want to pull rank on me at all.
Except for maybe fucking his daughter.
Shit.
Yeah, I understand why Nicola is suddenly so hesitant about all of this. Aside from the time and distance, she loves her job. That was abundantly clear in the focus group yesterday. She doesn’t want to do anything to jeopardize her position at the company. And because I know Nicola and how kind-hearted she is, I can guarantee that she’s also worried about me and my new position here. Maybe even my friendship with her father.
She’s worth the risk to me. I need to make sure that she knows that. But if I’m not worth it to her, I would understand that. Things change. I can only hope that I can show her that what she always dreamed about can be true. We can have a life together.
Glancing at my phone, the screen is still empty.
I distract myself with the work. Lots of introduction emails to contact points looking to market with us. Lots of enquiries that need to be followed up on now that the position is full again. I need to analyze potential marketplaces across the country to see which ones have the best opportunities for expansion. There’s enough work here to keep me busy for weeks, and it’s a good way to get distracted.
It seems like it’s only been a few minutes when Bruce is hovering in my doorway again. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah, one second.” I finish up the last line of an email I’m sending before grabbing my coat and wallet. “Where are we going?”
“How do you feel about Callie’s?”
I can’t keep the grin off my face. Everyone in the world thinks that their local pizza place is the best pizza. But I’m pretty sure that Callie’s actually takes the cake. And I haven’t been there in a couple years, since my last whirlwind visit to Leighton City. “I feel great about that.”
Bruce smirks. “I thought you might.”
We hop in our cars, and meet at the restaurant. It’s snowing in that perfect movie way with big, fat flakes that probably won’t stick more than a few hours but look amazing while falling anyway. It was snowing just like this four years ago when I left, and I can’t help but wonder what Nicola and I might have done in the snow together had I been braver than I am now.
Walking through the door to Callie’s, I freeze. It’s not just the amazing scent of pizza, but it’s the fact that Nicola and her mother are already sitting at a table, chatting. “I didn’t realize that I was crashing a family lunch.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Bruce says, clapping me on the shoulder. “You are family, Tristan. Got to know that by now, right?”
“Right.” I wonder if he would say the same if he knew about Nicola and me. But that’s a problem for another day. Today’s problem is figuring out if there even will be a Nicola and me.