Page 10 of Employing Patience

“Hey.”

He mustn’t know I’ve followed him because he jumps about a foot in the air, then immediately starts to laugh. “Holy fuck, you creep!”

“I wasn’t exactly quiet.”

Joey turns his back to the shelving and leans against it, crossing his arms over his chest. “Trying to get me alone, huh?”

“Not in that way.”

“Then …”

I huff because this is going to be a pain to say, and I already hate myself. “I think it’s clear I’m attracted to you, and while it’s all fun and games, the flirting needs to stop.”

Whatever he’d been expecting, it wasn’t that. “Wha-why?”

“You’re not an idiot, Joey. Because I want to sleep with you, and stringing me along isn’t fair.”

“Who says I’m stringing you along?”

I turn it back on him. “Have you ever been with a man?” Because I know better than anyone that even straight men can get curious.

“No.”

“And would you?”

Doubt crosses his face, and for maybe the first time since we met, his answer feels genuine. “I don’t know.”

My voice is deeper when I speak again. “If I got down on my knees, right now, and pulled out your cock … would you let me suck it?”

Joey’s hesitation makes me think it’s going to be a yes, when that sly smile reappears. The one he wears when he’s flirting and carefree. The one I don’t trust.

All my hopes and expectations crash.

“Why don’t you try it and see?” he asks.

Well, fuck.

While he might not have been direct, I got my answer.

Joey’s playing games with me.

“Excuse me.” I leave, inhaling the clear, bergamot-less air of the hall, and put as much distance between us as possible.

So I’ve wasted a stupid amount of time lusting after this guy, no big deal. He’s just one less guy I have on my booty call list, and since he’s an employee, it’s probably for the best.

I move my work back up into my office where it belongs and force myself to get my head on straight.

But I keep slipping. My gaze keeps flicking to the monitors, and when I turn those off, my mind wanders back downstairs to his scent, that wayward chunk of hair, the muscles bunching in his forearms, and the way he tosses his head back slightly when he laughs.

Fuck this.

I get up to go in search of coffee, not-so-secretly hoping to catch a glimpse of him, but as I reach the bottom of the stairs and go to turn the corner, his voice comes from up ahead.

“Don’t be stupid.”

“You flirt with him all the time though,” Courtney says.

“So do you,” Joey throws back.

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