Page 9 of Tempted

“Yeah,” he mumbled, sliding into the back of the cab. His dejection was laid on too thick. He’d expect an apology from me when I got home – something to make up for work coming between us.

I bit my lip and took a breath, keeping all of the words and all of the commentary I had to myself. I closed the cab door and started to trek up the street.

There was someplace I needed to be.

PART 2

It took me five minutes to walk from the hotel back to the office. Foxx Ventures took the top two floors of one of the tallest and newest buildings in San Francisco. I pushed against heavy doors and sighed as the heat surrounded me.

My hands went to my arms in an attempt to rub some life back into them as I looked around the almost empty lobby. It was opulent and over the top, exactly like Julian liked it. I waved at the guard sitting behind his desk, and a delighted smile crossed his face.

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite! I thought you all had that shindig tonight.” Bill was one of those hip older folks, he was always talking about the funny videos he found online or the newest addition he’d made to a computer he was building at home.

“There is. I have a few things I need to get to before the weekend, so I ducked out a little early.”

Bill shook his head, “They work you too hard. Hugh went up maybe twenty minutes ago.”

I feigned surprise. “Really?”

Bill nodded as I placed my palm against the barrier, and it scanned my handprint.

“I’ll give his office a ring in case anyone heads up after you.” Bill laughed as I clutched at invisible pearls.

This was our game. Only it didn’t really feel like a game at that moment.

“We’re colleagues, Bill,” I said, with the least amount of conviction I had ever been able to muster. After all, the man’s fingers had just been inside me.

“I’m just saying, you two may as well make it official.” He winked and turned back to his monitors as I released a breath, I didn’t realize I was holding.

Bill always gave Hugh and me a hard time when he saw us together. I always saw it as a joke, but it meant something more today, knowing what I was going to do. The elevator furthest from me opened and I stepped inside.

One of the perks of being in a fancy building is the elevator screen greeted me by name and displayed 60, rocketing up. As the floors ticked by, I suddenly felt nervous. All that talk about wanting to feel good and doing something for me started to sound hollow.

My desire had cooled on the way here, probably partly due to the brisk wind and that conversation I’d had with Curtis. What if this was a mistake? What if I just needed to go home, tell Curtis that he needed to do better, or leave?

I rubbed my sweaty palms on my dress and the elevator slowed to a stop and opened. I looked out at the dark hall and stared.

This was the moment.

I had to choose whether I was committing to this.

The idea of it, the feel of it was – phenomenal.

The way Hugh tempted me, showed me something I didn’t realize I wanted and needed.

But who was I at that moment? It wasn’t me to cheat, let alone cheat with someone I had to see every single day. Someone important to me that I couldn’t foresee myself losing.

The elevator doors started to close, and I stopped them. I looked at the doors and asked myself a simple question,the same one I’d been thinking earlier that night: what did I deserve?

I looked down at my dress, a dress I would have never thought I would be able to afford, and I stepped off the elevator.

I deserved whatever the fuck I wanted.

Right now, I wanted something new and different and wild, and I was going to get it.

The elevator snapped shut behind me, leaving me shrouded in shadow. My heels clicked against the marble floor as I pressed my palm over the wall and the door unlocked.

I yanked off my heels and traversed the carpeted open floor plan. The design of the office was all angles and muted blues and grays, but it lacked any real personality.

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