Chapter 12
What waswrong with her mouth? It had gotten her into trouble all day. She knew the sexual tension was getting to her. Most days, she had daydreamed of them having sex in different areas of the office: on the desks, against the wall, in the little bathroom, in the back corner by the file cabinets, even pressed against the front window where the frost was so thick you couldn’t see through it. Living out all the scenes she had written over the years, only this time it wasn’t her characters; it was her and Anderson.
Except he had never even kissed her, not once. So yeah, maybe they’d come close, but that was just the one time in the stairwell, and there hadn’t been a repeat of that, which had left her believing that he wasn’t interested when he was sober.
That was until today. For the first time in a long time, he was interested, very interested. If Mia hadn’t come in at that moment, she would have thrown herself into his arms and pushed him into that window and had her way with him. Had Mia saved her from her fantasies? Had she put a stop to what could have been a very nice evening? Or would it have just been a disaster that ruined their professional relationship?
The tension had been so thick, Ruth could almost see it. It had been the same the day he had been watching her as she was doing the final edit of the sex scene between Jessa and Link (formerly Jack). As she edited it, the scene was vivid in her mind, and she had felt his eyes on her. Looking up, she saw the desire in his eyes. She had seen the longing. She had seen that he wanted her, not Jessa, badly. Her body got out of the chair to go to him, but she regained her faculties enough to run to the bathroom instead.
And now today, those same feelings were bouncing around them again. Neither had wanted to go to the party, but both had gone in hopes of chilling the tension between them in the cold temperatures. It had not worked.
The moment she had turned onto the road, Mia had started talking about everything and anything. Apparently, she was just beyond buzzed tonight and very chatty. It was up to Anderson to try to keep up with the conversation because Ruth was concentrating on the roads. Ruth quickly realized she hadn’t paid enough attention when they were coming out that she had no idea how to get back. Thankfully, drunk Mia was able to get them back to town with only a few wrong turns.
Pulling up to Mia’s building, Ruth watched Anderson help Mia out of the truck and walked her to her door. When Mia went in the door, Anderson stayed to make sure she made it up the stairs and into her apartment.
Knowing she should slip away while he was busy with Mia, Ruth instead watched him helping her friend. Then Ruth turned to hurry through the snowy street to her own door across the road. It was disheartening that he didn’t stop her; she thought he would have. At least, she hoped he would stop her, even if she had bolted while he was busy.
She had made it to the top of the stairs when the door opened behind her. Anderson. Spinning around, she looked at him standing at the landing below her.
His eyes bored into hers. “Can I come up?”
“For sex?” She needed to know. It was what she wanted, but not what they needed. Not yet.
“No, just to talk.” He smiled and took one step up.
“Are you sure?” She didn’t move as he took another step up.
He pulled off his mittens and took another step up. “Yes, just talk.”
“Because we are not there yet.” She watched him slide off his hat, leaving his hair half standing on end, and took another step towards her.
“I know, Ruth.” Another step.
“Just so you know,” she whispered as he got to the last step before the one she was on.
“Can I come up, Ruth?” he whispered as he looked into her eyes.
“Yes,” she whispered back to him. Turning, she walked up the last two steps, stopping as she took off her coat and shoes in the hallway. Then she tucked the mittens and hat on a shelf above the coat rack. Anderson followed her lead. When their outerwear was neatly put away in the hallway, she opened the door to her apartment. It was not locked; it almost never was.
Quickly, she scanned the room to see what he would see when he saw the place. She had few guests, but since the book club started to meet there, she had started to see it differently. All the furniture had been purchased when she had moved into the place. Even though she had a say in what she and Franky bought, it was more his style than hers. But since it wasn’t broken or worn out, she kept it. Large, comfortable furniture in shades of blue and green. Looking at it from Anderson’s eyes, it looked old and worn.
All except the chef's kitchen she had installed the year before he moved to town. When she had complained to Frank that the appliances were not working well, he decided to just redo the outdated kitchen. She loved it still to this day, even though she didn’t cook much, preferring to eat her big meal at lunch and having just a light supper.
“This is not what I expected,” Anderson said from behind her.
“What were you expecting?” she wondered as she pulled the bun from her hair. It was always the first thing to go when she arrived home from work. She loved the ritual of removing it.
“Less hardwood, stainless steel, and granite.” He was not looking at the kitchen anymore, he was watching her.
“The kitchen got a good makeover a few years ago, and it turned out nice. But I hate cooking, so maybe it was wasted on me.” She looked away from him and over at the kitchen.
“You seem like the type that loves to cook.” Anderson looked back to the kitchen again as he sat down on a stool at the island.
“Have I ever brought treats or lunch to work?”
“Not that I remember.” He chuckled at the answer.
“I eat a big lunch so that I don’t have to come home and cook. I eat my ham sandwich at night,” she reminded him of the sandwich he always ordered.