When Andy starts a complex and steamy love affair with her new boss, she discovers there's more to his arrogant facade than she originally thought.
• - • - • - • - • - • - • - •
Having secured her dream job at Kelex, a company she's long admired, An...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
When I came in on Monday, I was still somehow dreamy about the quick but intense kiss we'd shared. I'd spent my Sunday working on the app, with Tammy taking care of me, bringing me food, and assisting me when I needed it.
I stood in front of the shared office's closed door, unsure what to expect. With that kiss, things had to become different. We couldn't pretend that the night we'd spent at his place was enough. There was no more hiding. Our desires were out.
Gathering my courage, I opened the door. Lex was already on his computer, as always, but my eyes were quickly drawn to an unfamiliar form in the corner of the room. Before Lex could look up at me, I turned to notice that a desk had been set up, with a computer ready on it. I looked at it, confused, and glanced at my own computer, which was still very operational next to Lex's. What was that about? I was about to ask him when someone arrived behind me.
"Hey, Andy," said Brian, very enthusiastically. He passed by me, his bag hanging on his shoulder, and then went to sit on the newly added desk.
"Hi... Brian." Confused, I looked at Lex, not understanding why he would set Brian here with us.
Lex looked at me for a moment, his expression stern, before returning to his work. As much as I tried not to let it hurt me, it stung. Was Brian here out of necessity, or was it to make sure things would remain unheated between us? Was my colleague some sort of insurance?
Struggling to hide my confusion, I went to sit and turned my PC on. The booting screen provided little distraction as I sat there, not knowing what to do or say. I needed to know. Lex had to explain this abrupt change, or else I'd dwell on it endlessly. It was entirely possible he'd brought him up here for work, and not because of me.
"Why is Brian here?" I asked, after clearing my throat.
"It's Brian this morning, but the others will take turns working here, depending on the tasks needing to be done. I figured it was better this way," he explained while staring at his computer. "It's either that, or we'll never be able to finish on time," he added, finally meeting my eyes. I nodded, deciding to believe his answer was honest and our kiss on Saturday had nothing to do with this. We were far from being done, and it made sense we had to do everything we could to finish by Wednesday.
Having someone else here made me realize how silent Lex and I usually were. It was quite nice to work again with the guys, even though it was one at a time. Brian helped on Monday morning. Then Mason was here for the afternoon. Having them nearby was undeniably helping. Tuesday it was Steven and then Joseph. The more we got closer to D-day, the more intense the pressure got.
With every hour that passed, I was more and more confident we wouldn't make it. Everyone knew that, but none of us gave up. As Kevin had said, even if we couldn't use the app for Hello World, it was still an excellent opportunity to give it a great boost.
Between the constant presence of one of my colleagues, and the intensity of the work, I never had the opportunity to talk with Lex about things other than work. Our interactions were platonic and professional, which I thought was for the best. I noticed a few times his eyes lingering on me a bit longer than they should have, which reassured me. I knew that on my part, I couldn't stop myself from checking him out. Ever since day one, actually, but I was now left daydreaming more often.
