Page 18 of Slow Burn (Forbidden Heat 2)

“Nah, it’s my fault,” I said.

Shelly smiled and started to walk away.

“Shelly? Can I speak with you for a moment?” I asked.

I thought she might say no, so I started to head around the corner to a more private space in the hallway.

A moment later she followed. I could tell she did not want to have this conversation, but we had to clear the air. I had to get some things off my chest and make sure this tension between us did not exist. It would raise too many suspicions at work. I knew these people. We were so close we could predict each other’s movements. It would be off and it would be obvious.

“What is it?” Shelly asked.

I stared into her beautiful eyes calmly. “Listen,” I said “About… when I almost kissed you. You’re right. We can’t do that sort of thing. We have to keep this as professional as we can for both our sakes and for the sake of the team. I just wanted to make sure that you knew I was fine and that there is no reason for us to feel uncomfortable around each other.”

Shelly smiled. “I agree. Thanks for letting me know how you feel. It is for the best that we not allow things to progress any farther.”

I started to walk away. Suddenly, I became aware that Shelly was still watching me. She hadn’t moved. I glanced back at her and smiled thinly before I turned another corner and disappeared from her sight.

I was glad we had that little conversation, but I knew that one way or another we were going to be together. It was inevitable. I didn’t think there was a way for either one of us to stop it.

My laptop dinged.

Instantly I was on alert. I dropped the slice of pizza I’d been munching on and turned off the ballgame. I wiped my hands and mouth with a napkin and made my way over to the kitchen table from the couch where I’d been eating.

I quickly pulled up the laptop. The notice on the screen made my heart soar and I could not stop doing a fist pump in the air. It was exciting news.

Shelly had accepted my friend request on her social media account. After our conversation earlier in the day, I kept thinking about how she’d been staring at me as I walked away. I knew that she had those same feelings I did. There was an undeniable attraction between the two of us.

So, when I got home I decided to pull her up online and send her a friend request. I figured that she would most likely deny it or just ignore it and that would be that. I’d have another thing to apologize for. But if she accepted, then this was a low pressure way for us to get to know each other. No one had to know about this. We could chat on messenger or on face time. It was less intrusive then asking for her number and it was also on the down low. That was my thinking process anyway.

So, after I sent the request, I ordered a pizza, grabbed a few beers, and sat down to watch the game. I was just getting into it when she responded. I couldn’t believe how excited I was. Hell, I was almost nervous.

I didn’t want to respond right away. “Right,” I said out loud. “You got to pretend you are not desperate.” And I wasn’t desperate. Until I saw Shelly, women had not even been on my radar for a while. I was happy just being me and living my best possible life. But once Shelly came into the picture, that was all over. I wasn’t desperate. I was just desperate for her.

I sat back down and finished my pizza as I continued to watch the game. Then I drank that second beer. After that was over, a good twenty minutes had gone by. I wasn’t sure what was the appropriate etiquette on how long to wait was for this sort of thing, but I couldn’t hold myself back any longer.

I sat down in front of the laptop, opened it up, and I sent Shelly an instant message.

“Hey, thanks for accepting my friend request.”

Shelly responded a moment later. “Sure. Thanks for the invite. It was unexpected.”

I laughed. “I wasn’t sure you would accept it.”

“Well, I almost didn’t. But I can say I lived dangerously today lol”.

I smiled at her message. This was good. We were getting somewhere. But I hated typing out everything. “Want to do face time? It’s a bit less awkward.”

“Sure.” Shelly said addi

ng a smiley face to the end of her message.

I called her on face time and she picked up a moment later. She looked gorgeous as usual, even though she was just sitting there in her sweats and a t-shirt, no makeup, her hair not done at all. She might have stepped out of the shower a bit ago. She still looked amazing. In fact, I thought she looked even more beautiful than when she was at work.

My heart skipped a little as she smiled at me. I could see her face light up slightly as we connected and then she tried to be more casual. She was good at pretending, but I was able to pick up on it anyway. Shelly gave me the impression that she was the type of person who was used to hiding behind things, or keeping a part of herself tucked away from the world.

“Hey,” I said. “That’s better.”

“Yeah,” Shelly said with a smile. “So, how is it going?”

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