Page 30 of Worth the Risk

But by Friday afternoon, four agonizing days since we kissed, she still hasn’t posted the goddamn video, and I’m having a hard time relishing in the fantasy that it’s just delayed gratification or some flirty game she’s playing with me.

It’s four fifteen on a Friday so I make my way down to her office like I always do. In the five years since we’ve been working together, I can count on one hand the amount of times we haven’t had our Friday couch sessions.

“Let me guess,” I lean against the doorway to her office, my jaw already clenched in frustration. “Leaving early?”

She pauses, her purse in one hand, keys in the other.

“Yes.” She eyes me suspiciously. “Is that okay or do I need to ask permission?”

“Depends,” I answer, attempting to bring some flirtation back to our exchanges. “Am I your boss in this scenario?”

She laughs dismissively, slinging her purse onto her shoulder and walking toward me.

“Have a good night, Austin—er, weekend, I guess. It’s Friday, isn’t it?”

“Hey.” My arm shoots out to stop her from leaving, my hand coming to rest gently against her belly. “What’s going on?”

She looks up at me, her eyes wide, but she just shrugs. “What do you mean?”

“We’ve had this conversation already, Taylor.” My voice drops. “Are you avoiding me?”

“No.” She says it so quickly and confidently I almost believe her, but her eyes give her away. I stare into them for several more seconds, deep-blue pools that are slowly pulling me in so deep I know I’d drown if she let me.

“I have plans tonight, though, so I don’t want to be late.”

“A date?” We both look down to where my hand is still pressed against her, and I slowly release it.

“No.”

“No?” I repeat her answer back, unconvinced.

“No, just hanging out. Grabbing a drink at DaVino’s near Becca’s.” She pushes past me. “What’s with you?”

How many times have you watched it?

How many times have you touched yourself while you watched it?

Why haven’t you posted it so that I can do the same?

The need to see that video has grown into an all-consuming thought that has me wanting to act in the most irrational ways. Instead, I behave like a gentleman, walking her to the elevator and not pushing the subject any further.

“Be safe tonight.”

“Of course.” She smiles.

“Good night, Taylor.”

I don’t mean for her name to roll off my tongue like a confession but it does. Her eyes flash to mine after she steps into the elevator car and turns, something unspoken lingering between us in the few seconds before the doors separate us.

CHAPTER 11

Taylor

The video plays on a loop in my head—over and over and over again. I don’t need to watch it, even though I’ve lost count how many times I have, to see it crystal clear in my mind.

Every morning since it happened, the second my eyes open, I’m already seeing it. Seeing his hand slide up my body, watching his hips press into me as his tongue slips past my lips with a sigh.

Each time he’s stolen a moment from me this last week my body remembers the way he held me. The way I throbbed against the rigid bulge of his cock, leaving behind a needy dull ache that’s lingered since.

---