Page 30 of Slow Burn (Forbidden Heat 2)

We had to keep this under the radar. That was going to be easier said than done, though. Just thinking about how hard it was going to be to go day in and day out working with each other and pretending that we hardly knew each other besides just on a professional basis was going to be more difficult than I could begin to comprehend. Gary did not seem too concerned with it. He was less emotional than I was, or at least he was one of those people who could keep his emotions under the surface so you never really knew what he was thinking.

“That was amazing,” I said as I rested my head against his muscular chest.

“I agree,” Gary replied softly. He kissed me on the forehead softly and rubbed my shoulder with his large, somewhat calloused hand. “I know what you are thinking.”

I smiled. I would play along. “Interesting… what am I thinking?”

“You’re thinking about how this is going to play out Monday when we are back at work. Will we be able to pretend like nothing is going on? Will we be able to keep this from our friends, our supervisors, and the rest of the team?”

I sighed. “You are good. I bet you are thinking about the same thing.”

“True.”

“Great minds.”

“That we are,” Gary said.

“I’m not sure we can do this,” I said.

“We already did it. This has begun. We can’t take it back, right?”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “But that isn’t what I meant. This happened. And it was beautiful. I would never want to take it back if we could. I think we can recover and move on from this and pretend that nothing has really changed. But if this becomes a regular thing, if we are actually together, then that changes everything.”

“I don’t see how it changes the way we behave at work. We are professionals. As long as we maintain the utmost in professionalism at work, which we already are expected to do, then I don’t see how anyone can find out. It’s our life with our co-workers outside of work that we have to be careful of.”

“Right,” I said. “You are making some valid points here.”

“Thanks. Basically, if we let something slip with some of our friends from the station, or we act a little different if we all happen to be hanging out together, which happens every now and then, that is when we will have to worry. That scrutiny, those targets will be put on our backs and we will be caught red handed. Our friends will figure that out. We just have to be careful in those circumstances.”

“And here I thought you weren’t too concerned,” I said. “It turns out that you have thought all of this through. It makes me wonder if you’ve done this before.”

I hadn’t meant that last statement to be accusatory, but I was aware that it had come out that way. Gary kissed my forehead and said, “No, never. I’ve never dated someone from the station. I’ve never dated anyone I’ve worked with ever.”

“Is that a policy that you’ve always had for yourself?”

“Yes. I just never felt it would work out well.”

“So, what makes this different?”

“I don’t know that it is, but I am just so drawn to you that this all seemed to be completely out of my hands.”

“I agree,” I said. “But I’m not sure we should do this again. It’s just too risky. I don’t think I can be that on all the time. I will blow this for us. Somehow I will let it slip by saying, or doing the wrong thing. I’m afraid that I can’t hold up my end of this bargain.”

Gary sighed. “I get it. And again, it’s your choice. You know how I stand on it. I’m ready to go all in. I think we can be brilliant together. But if you are uncomfortable about something then I respect that. I would never want you to feel that way. I care too much about you and I respect you far too much.”

I nuzzled my head against his chest and rested, closing my eyes. It was still early in the day, but I was exhausted. I was physically and emotionally drained. I needed a nap, and I was ready to close my eyes for a while. I had a lot of thinking to do. I appreciated how Gary was not trying to convince me of anything. He was not trying to change my mind. He was content with however things played out. I knew he was falling for me and he wanted this to continue, but he was fine with me having doubts and not being ready. And he wasn’t trying to make me feel bad about it either.

Dammit, he was too perfect sometimes. That made everything seem so much more confusing. My mind was getting so muddled about what to do and how to handle things. I just wanted to be free and happy.

But it seemed that no matter what I did here, there was going to be a price to pay one way or another. I just had to decide which price I was willing to accept.

Chapter Eleven

Gary

I was getting ready for work the following Monday when Shelly face timed me. I was in a bit of a rush and I was a bit annoyed that someone was calling, but when I saw it was her, my mood lightened considerably. Was there something wrong? I had a feeling I was not going to like the contents of this phone call.

“Hey,” I answered. “This is a surprise.”

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