I need to go find them and see where we stand. I roll away from the window and study Lincoln’s bedroom. Good thing he has a king-size bed so we all fit. His decorations are sparse and elegant, grays and black, contrasted by splashes of dark blue in a throw blanket, lamp, and massive geode painted on the wall. The lines in it are so crisp and the shine off the different angles so bright and realistic, I thought it was wallpaper.
But I’m stalling. The chance of getting to wake up to this more than another morning or two remains to be determined. I head to the en suite bathroom that’s bigger than the living room of my apartment and decide that any time I spend trapped in Eggplant Canyon is a gift, and I’ll gladly enjoy every second of it.
The real world with its real jobs with real rules awaits.
Giddiness invigorates me when I spy my bobby pins on the bathroom counter. They’re no longer useful, but they’re also no longer the mangled mess I’d created of them. Jefferson shaped them into two intertwined hearts. I tap them to my lips for a kiss then return them while I get ready.
I consider how much I'll be able to fix myself up with the limited makeup I have in my purse, and laugh at myself for thinking my mother would be horrified that I wasn’t better prepared for an emergency. My makeup selection is far from the most horrific thing she would point to right now as I open my boss’s drawer to find a new t-shirt to wear since the one last night must still be in the kitchen.
There’s no question that a young administrative assistant who’s been at the company a couple of months is less valuable than a financial guru who’s been there for years. Not that either of us plans on saying anything.
But that was yesterday when Lincoln’s nerves had been run ragged by narrowly escaping the mudslide, presuming his car was totaled, and catching his brother and admin in a compromising position.
I won’t take it personally if he comes to his senses today.
They must hear me because they’re looking when I round the corner to the kitchen. The smiles on their mouths, the hunger in their eyes, and the lack of shirts on their chests fill me with warmth and excitement. We exchange pleasantries but I opt to stay at the other end of the kitchen from them.
It might be easier to ask where we stand before I get too close.
“You were sleeping pretty hard. Do you feel okay?” Jefferson asks.
Lincoln holds up a bowl of yogurt and berries and nods at it. I shake my head.
“I’m not sure how to answer how I feel. Well-rested, yes. Mind-blown, yes.” I hesitate when the bravado I thought I could work up to fails to manifest. Passing up this golden opportunity would be foolish.
“And…” Jefferson leads.
Lincoln’s expression is tenser than Jefferson’s, which is pretty much how he normally looks.
I lean against the doorway. “I’m just going to come out and ask…Can we have sex today?”
Lincoln’s head whips toward me. Jefferson’s spoon falls from his hands, clattering against the bowl.
“So I take it, the lessons were satisfactory?” Jefferson asks.
“They were enough to leave me wanting more. I have an IUD. I’m totally clean. And…I don’t want to have a bad first time like I hear so many girls talk about. After yesterday, I don’t see how it could possibly be bad with either of you. Please.”
Lincoln studies me, his dark expression leaving me at a loss as to what’s going on in his mind.
Jefferson groans. “Did you just ask us to please have sex with you?”
“Yes. If you’re willing.” I force a smile and realize that I’m toying with the hem of the shirt, which means it’s pulled up my thigh, not quite enough to expose me and my pantie-less sex, but close.
“Baby Doll, when you first told me you were a virgin, I thought it might be a game, but getting to know you last night, I believed you, which is the only reason I can believe you don’t understand how badly I want to fill you with my cock. Hell yeah, I’ll make love to you.”
Lincoln raises an eyebrow. Did he catch the “make love” comment too? I don’t want to make too much of a turn-of-phrase but my heart is doing flip-flops.
Reggae music comes out of nowhere, drawing our attention to Jefferson as he reaches for his phone. “Fuck, I have to take this, but I’ll takeyouas soon as I’m done.”
He strides to the window as he answers. His back is to us, leaving my boss and me hanging on the comment.
“Come here,” Lincoln says, reminiscent of when Jefferson said it to me last night.
I pad over to him, comforted by his outstretched hand. He threads our fingers together, bringing them up to his lips for a kiss.
“Breaking workplace rules isn’t something I’m comfortable with, but I’m also a realist, and there’s no way I can deny what’s happening between us. If we move forward, we can’t breathe a word of this to anyone.”
“Okay.” That doesn’t work long term, but maybe we’ll be like most couples and not last. That thought can be put in the utterly ridiculous file, but I suppose that’s what most people think at first.