She bit her lip and tried to think it over. She wanted to apologize but didn’t know what else to talk about with him outside of work. Did she want more than a business relationship with him? Yes. Should she? No.
Anna: What do you want it to mean?
Brian: I think I’ve been clear about what I’m looking for.
Anna: I might be a little slow. Spell it out for me.
Brian: I want more of Thursday night. I want you to stay the night after. I want this to be more than just two people who work together.
Anna: So, more sex?
Brian: And everything else that goes with a relationship, Anna.
She sucked in a breath. He wanted the same thing she did, the question was if it was achievable. She wasn’t sure.
Anna: What about work?
Brian: Nothing changes. Nothing happens there.
Anna: We keep it a secret then?
Brian: Anna, you’re overthinking this.
Anna: Maybe. Still waiting on an answer though.
Brian: It doesn’t have to be a secret, no. We need to maintain professionalism at the office but I don’t care who knows.
Anna: Okay.
Brian: You have to mean it. I don’t want a repeat of our last two attempts. I can’t take that kind of rejection, lol.
He may have been laughing, but she had the feeling it was much more serious than that. Her leaving had hurt him deeply both times, and she recognized that.
Anna: I promise to communicate.
Brian: I’ll hold you to it.
Anna: Come over?
Brian: Okay.
Anna sent him her address and jumped up. She needed to shower and clean her apartment a little before he got here. All hints of the wine were gone now.
Shower first, she decided. It was time for the fastest shower of her life. And it was.
She had just enough time to light a few candles and clean up the snacks she had everywhere while drinking the wine. She was a grazer and left snacks everywhere when she started drinking, forgotten, to be found by sober her the next day.
The buzzer rang just as she was tossing the last one in the garbage. She took a few steadying breaths and buzzed him in. A few more before he reached her door, and she was almost settled in time for him to knock.
Chapter ten
Brianlefthishousewith a quickness that he didn’t know he had in him anymore. Anna had asked him to come over but she seemed to overthink everything. His only goal right now was to get there before she changed her mind.
It wasn’t just the sex, though that was amazing. He liked her. She was kind but sassy. A little sweet and spicy.
She didn’t live far from him, so he took the risk of stopping by the store on his way to her, getting a small bouquet. He was nervous about seeing her tonight now that he had been open about what he wanted, even if she had agreed.
Fear that she would walk away again threatened to bubble over and almost had him turning around. He wanted her, that was clear. He just needed to accept that she meant what she said about communication.