Chapter 8

Max spent the entire weekend in my house, and we had sex on every flat surface that was available. He left early in the morning to get a shower and change at his house. I"m literally floating on air. I have the biggest smile on my face as I do my work. We haven"t talked much about our relationship, but I don"t think he"s ready to tell people at work.

That"s fine with me, but people definitely know I got laid this weekend—just not by who. Speaking of who, it"s the middle of the afternoon and I want to see my boss. So I go to the bathroom and check myself out in the mirror. I look good enough that I"m confident I can charm him into a quickie. I know it"s inappropriate, but I just can"t get enough of Max Lewis.

I knock on his door and walk in after he calls me in. A big smile is splattered on my face and I go and sit on one of the chairs that are in front of his desk. I smile seductively at him and cross my legs. That makes my skirt hitch up and shows more of my thigh than is appropriate. He stops what he"s doing and smiles back.

"Miss McKinnon. How can I help you?"

"I have a problem, Mr. Lewis, and you"re the only one that can solve it," I say innocently.

I bat my lashes at him and act coy. He chuckles at my antics and crosses his arms in front of his chest—his chiseled, tattooed chest. His shirt has several buttons undone, and I can see part of one of his Celtic tattoos.

"What seems to be the problem?"

"I"ve got an itch. And you need to scratch it."

"Is that right?"

I nod to him, my face serious, and uncross my legs. I open them up as far as I can and lift up my skirt, slowly revealing my legs. Fire blazes into his gaze as he gets up from his chair and walks up to where I am sitting. Then he"s kneeling in front of me and getting rid of my panties. His tongue feels so good I"m drenching his face in less than a minute. We"re so caught up in this mid-afternoon delight that we don"t hear the door open.

"Max, do you think you can…" Erik starts.

Max looks up with a glare of anger in his eyes, and Erik is taken aback.

"Shit, sorry…I"ll be back later."

I hurry to put my panties back on, and Max gets up. He runs his hand over his face and looks resigned.

"I"m s-sorry," I stutter, "I shouldn"t have come here wanting to seduce you. Do you…do you think he"ll tell someone?"

Max goes back to his chair behind his desk.

"He"ll try to keep it a secret, but he never succeeds."

"Do you want me to talk to him?" I offer.

"No, he"ll come back and talk to me. Which is what I"m dreading."

I go to him and stand behind his office chair. I hug him from behind and place a kiss on the side of his head.

"I have to work late tonight."

"I"ll wait for you, kitten. Then we can go home together."

I hug him again and move to the side to give him a proper kiss. It only lasts for a few seconds before he tenses and ends it, and I"m left with that feeling of dread once again. I bid him goodbye and go to my office, where Erik is sitting, waiting for me.

"Hey, Erik," I say cautiously.

"Anne. We need to talk."

"Sure."

I sit on the couch next to him and wait patiently for him to start talking.

"Anne, you need to be careful."

"Erik, I know it's inappropriate to date my boss, but it started before we knew we were working together."

"I didn"t know that. But you still need to take care. Max doesn"t really do relationships."

"You think he"s using me?"

"I don"t know what to think, and believe me, I will be asking him about that."

"If you need me to resign, I will. I think there"s something between Max and I, and I want to find out where it goes."

"I don"t need you to do that, but I wouldn"t have such high expectations of this relationship."

"Is this because of the person he lost?"

"Who told you about that?" He frowned.

"People talk. Look, I"ll be careful, okay?"

He nods and stands up, leaving the room abruptly. I"m left wondering what this whole conversation was about because it didn"t make one bit of sense to me.

There"s a knock at the door, and I know exactly who it is and what he wants. Once I give the go-ahead, he enters the room and stalks toward one of the chairs in front of my desk. He steers away from the one where Anne was sitting when he burst into my office. He stares at me for a few minutes in silence. I guess I"ll have to be the one to start the conversation—a conversation I really don"t want to have.

"What?"

"I knew there was something weird when you kept going every day into her office to get those "reports.""

"And?"

"What"s going on, Max?"

I"m not sure I want to confide in Erik. We"ve been friends and business partners for years, but voicing how I"ve been feeling towards Anne to him might make it real—in a way I"m not ready to handle.

"She told me it started before she began work here?"

"Yes."

"Are you okay?"

"What do you mean?"

"Max, let"s not beat around the bush. I"ve been your friend for over fifteen years, and I know you haven"t been with anyone since…"

"Don"t."

"Do I have to tell you that an office romance is inappropriate?"

"It"s my office. I can do what I want."

"Max, this can"t be easy for you. Not after…"

"I don"t want to talk about the past. Anne is different. I think I can have something with her."

"I thought you said that you would never…"

"I know what I said. And I can"t love anyone else, but Anne makes my burden less heavy, and I want to see where things can go."

"She said the same thing, that she wants to find out what this is between you two and what it can be."

"You talked to her?" I asked, even though he said so when he walked in.

"I needed to know if she was going to file sexual harassment charges."

"Is she?"

"You know she"s not. Just be careful. A part of me is very happy that my friend is finally letting love into his life, but I don"t want either of you to get hurt."

"That"s inevitable." I sighed. "Eventually, she"ll want more than I can give, and it"ll end."

"It doesn"t have to be that way."

"It is what it is. But for now, she makes me extremely happy. I haven"t felt like this in years. Thanks for reaching out. I know I"m not the easiest person to talk to."

Erik nods, gets up, and leaves. I don"t like it when people bring up my past—my loss, my heartache. But he"s one of my best friends, and knowing what I went through, he tries to look out for me. Those were tough times in my life, and my friends and family were the only reason I survived. Each day had been a struggle, and I thought I had nothing to live for.

Which is why even though Anne is a bright light in my life right now, I can"t let myself love her. Losing her would break me and I wouldn"t be able to come back from it this time. Right now, though, we"re enjoying each other and that fills my soul with happiness. I switch back to my computer and spend a while buying a few trinkets for my lady.

When it"s almost time to leave, I call the Dragon"s Lair and order some food for us. It"s easier since neither of us likes to cook. Then I call Anne up.

"We"re leaving in about 30 minutes. Are you done with work?"

"Pretty much."

"I ordered some takeout from next door."

"Yummy, you"re my hero. You"ll come for me when it"s time?"

"You better believe it."

Anne is an amazing woman. With every new interaction or new piece of information I get from her, my appreciation of her goes rises. I"m just worried about how long this can last. I think I"m too broken for her to love, and I certainly can"t love her back. I just need to live through this gift that has been given to me one day at a time. And on this day, I"m focused on how I"m going to ravage her curvy body once we get home.