Page 14 of A Night of Indulgence and Sloth
“Well, luckily for you, I haven’t had a coffee yet this morning. I’ll walk you through it while I make mine, and then you can make one for yourself while I shadow. Are you in?”Okay, so I absolutely already had a coffee this morning, but nothing would stop me from staying with her a bit longer.
“Deal! Let the training begin.”
I go through the motions, slowing down the steps and explaining how everything works while Liliana watches on with a clinical gaze. After I finish, I show her how to froth the milk and then clean the machine for the next person to use it. “Since Aiden and I travel so often, we usually only keep a small carton of milk in here so it doesn’t go bad, but as you’ll be here daily, you can order whatever you need. If you’re feeling extra fancy or creative, there’s also a shaker of chocolate powder to decorate the top with as well.” I lower my voice again, “Honestly, it’s the best part, even if my designs always look like shit.”
Her laugh is contagious, brightening my day infinitesimally until I can’t imagine having another shitty day as long as she’s around. Without hesitating, she grabs a mug and gets to work, making herself a cappuccino like a pro.
“Damn. Do you learn everything else this fast or just food-related things?”
She chuckles, shaking her head before grabbing the chocolate powder. “Since you’re my boss, I should probably tell you how quick and perfect I am. But you’ll see for yourself in a minute just how much of a lie that would be.”
Fuck me, this woman is a breath of fresh air. For whatever reason, she doesn’t appear intimidated by me, and I can’t even begin to explain just how refreshing that is. Yet I wonder how much that would change if she knew who I was.
As she finishes with the chocolate and steps back, I have to stop myself from snorting. Whatever design she was trying to make definitely fell short of hitting the target. Unless shehadbeen attempting to create a vagina, in which case, she knocked it out of the park, but something told me that isn’t her style.
“Oh God,” she whispers, digging through the cabinets until she finds a stir stick. Quickly she swirls the coffee around, destroying the beautiful piece of art she’d worked so hard on.
“If I were nice, I’d pretend I didn’t see that, but since we’re being honest here… what exactlywereyou trying to make?”
She throws the stick in the garbage and covers her face with her hands before mumbling something I can’t understand.
“What?”
“I was trying to make a flower, but I definitely won’t be making that shape at work again.”
Despite her embarrassment being utterly adorable, it pains me to see her so uncomfortable. “Well, I thought it was perfect. But it probably wouldn’t hurt to save that particular design for Saturday mornings at home.” She chokes on her coffee, and I let the grin grow wider on my face. “I’ve got a call in five minutes, so I’ll let you get settled. Your temporary login is in this folder, along with a list of the internal procedures and training HR needs you to complete. Email me if you need anything, otherwise I’ll see you in a bit.”
“Thanks for the coffee lesson, Kaleb.”
“It was my pleasure.”
I walk into my office and close the door behind me, realizing this might just be the first time I’ve wanted to say screw workand continue talking with the beautiful woman just beyond the door.
What the hell is she doing to me?
Aiden
Usually I hate Mondays. As much as I enjoy working, I still think the weekends are far too short, and Mondays alway suck. But not today.
Today could either go really well or really fucking shitty. Part of me was excited to find out which, even if I dreaded the answer. If she quit because of me, because of what happened at Club Rapture, Kaleb would be pissed. Hell, I’d be pissed at myself. Our plan had never been to reveal ourselves, but I’d let my desire get the best of me, and now we both had to deal with the consequences.
I’d worked from home this morning for as long as I could, hoping that she’d fall in love with the place and not care who I was, but I couldn’t wait any longer. I had to see her. It was time to find out once and for all how she’d react.
Kaleb told me he hadn’t been able to give her a proper tour of our building, and while it may not have been the best decision, I wanted to be the one to show her around. Call me cruel, but this way she wouldn’t have a choice but to be in my company. She didn’t strike me as the type to make a scene either, especiallyif we were around unfamiliar coworkers. But I needed enough time to show her that what happened at the club didn’t change anything with her position here.
As much as I daydreamed about Kaleb and me fucking her raw in our office, I wouldn’t act on it. Not unless it was what she wanted. Though that didn’t mean I wouldn’t try to make her want it if she stayed around.
I walk down the hall on silent steps, careful not to be seen unless I want to be. All I could spot of our new assistant was the back of her head while she scrolled through a training document on her computer, completely oblivious to the predator stalking nearby.
She faced the glass wall of our office, where I could see Kaleb talking on the phone. We’d been trying to wine and dine a new client who was proving to be rather hard to nail down. One highly intelligent scientist who insisted they had the cure for some pretty deadly diseases but was trying their best to avoid us. Either they were all talk or we were up against other wealthy companies who wanted to get their hands in the pot too. You’d be surprised how many people tried to profit off of someone else’s misfortune. It’s one of the reasons we started this company in the first place. Our own personal ‘fuck you’ to the assholes who wanted to make a quick buck off someone else’s health problems.
Kaleb looks up and nods at me, a devious smile spreading across his face before he says something to the person on the phone and hangs up. Of fucking course he’d want to witness this. Despite the smile on his face though, I can tell he’s just as nervous as I am to find out how this will go.
“Ah, you must be Liliana.” Regardless of the very unprofessional images running through my mind, I keep my tone authoritative, like I would when talking to any other employee.
The beautiful smile that lit her face just a moment ago vanishes when she turns to look at me. She immediately darts her eyes over to Kaleb, who thankfully isn’t glancing our way, before moving them back to me.
Her mouth opens and closes several times, but words never escape as she stares at me, completely horrified.
