I can't stop the raucous laughter that bursts out of me. "Wow, that must've been one wild party."
"Fortunately, I wasn't there to witness my brother's outrageous behavior. Mum and Dad would have blushed. Bindy would probably have passed out." He rolls his eyes heavenward. "Please, don't ever make me talk about my stripper brother again."
"I give you my solemn vow that I will never instigate a conversation about that." The elevator doors open, and we amble down the hall side by side. "You don't really mind that your brother was a stripper, do you?"
"No. I love Kenny, but don't ever tell him I said that."
"Men don't like to talk about feelings. I get it. But it's clear you love your family very much and would do anything for them."
He halts us at my desk. "We are that sort of family."
"Not sure very many families are that close knit anymore."
"What about yours?"
"The Remingtons do stick together, and we support each other just as much as I'm sure the Halfenakeds do."
Spencer's lips twist this way and that as if he's trying not to smile. "You really have no qualms about using my surname."
"Why should I care? If you aren't embarrassed, neither am I." I move behind my desk to grab my purse. Then I raise my brows at Spencer. "We're going to a staff meeting. Don't you want to grab your stuff? You won't want to come back up here afterward."
"Right. Of course."
He disappears into his office, emerging a moment later holding his briefcase and his jacket. Spencer eyes my outfit. "You look even better in a trench coat. It gives you a nineteen-forties air that's dead sexy."
"What a lovely compliment."
"I can say things like that when I'm with you because I know you don't mind."
"By now, you must realize I'm not easily offended. In fact, I can't remember the last time I took offense at anything."
Spencer walks up to me, offering his arm. "I love that about you, pet. You're so comfortable in your own skin that nothing bothers you."
I accept his arm. "Another wonderful compliment. You're spoiling me."
His brows wrinkle, but he doesn't say anything else. We end up riding in the elevator with three other people, so I don't get to ask what perplexed him. It's probably me. I confuse lots of people. A woman in her late thirties who loves to do silly things? No, people don't get me.
Except for Spencer. He doesn't mind my devil-may-care attitude.
The staff meeting takes fifteen minutes, which must be a land speed record. Spencer escorts me to the parking lot and to my car. He stands beside the vehicle for so long that I wonder if he's thinking about screwing me on the hood. But no, he would never do that. Our brief, hot kiss was a one-time event. Jeez, when was the last time I had sex? Can't remember. I might break the world record for abstinence and not even know it.
Finally, Spencer saunters over to his car and drives away.
As I head home, I keep thinking about the boss man. Maybe I should have told him the whole truth about my family, but I prefer to keep that to myself. None of the men I've ever dated earned the right to peek into my private life. I'd gladly share that information with Spencer, but only if we become something more than boss and assistant.
Most people just don't get my family's lifestyle.
Well, not our lifestyle. I gave up most of the kookiness when I graduated from college. I kept just enough of it so that I can still call myself free spirited.
Spencer seems to like that about me.
When I walk into my apartment, I find my thoughts drifting back in time to the way I used to live. My family has freedom, that's for sure. But the drawbacks became too much for me eventually. Maybe that's why I chose a relatively small apartment, though I could afford a bigger one. It's nostalgia. The company pays me well. I guess I just don't want to erase all of my past. It's a part of me.
I take a nice, hot shower that steams up the glass door. Nothing feels more decadent after a day at work than letting the steam fill the whole bathroom. I love the sensation of beads of moisture dribbling down my skin. I don't even step under the showerhead until the room has become shrouded in fog, as if I've slipped through a portal into another world. I close my eyes and let the warmth penetrate me.
Spencer's face shimmers in my mind's eye.
Without thinking about what I'm doing, I cup my breasts and toy with the nipples until I feel that delicious ache rising inside me, down low. I glide my palms down my belly, sinking my fingers into the wet hairs on my mound. Have I ever been this turned on before? Only once. The day Spencer kissed me.