“Tessa! Right on time. Caramel latte with three shots of espresso.” Danisha, one of the baristas, slides my latte towards me.
“Thanks, D. Can I get one of the wild berry muffins, please and thank you?” I walk towards the register, looking down to reach into my wallet. I’m in the mood for sugar and carbs.
“Put it on my tab, D,” a voice from the corner rumbles. It’s a deep, growl that sends a shiver down my spine. I know that voice. Maybe Michelle was right; did I throw down a challenge and now someone wants to stake a claim?
Would that be such a bad thing? For the love of God, seriously, is this you testing my patience and my faithfulness?
I’m still stuck in place when I feel someone come up behind me, and my body shivers even more. I can feel his body heat, and I wonder what it would feel like to be wrapped up in those arms.Teresa Saoirseget your fucking act together; you are not falling this brute.I can smell the woodsy pine and campfire scent so uniquely him. My mind is begging me to step closer, to melt into it. I’m scared to turn around, to allow myself a glance at those eyes I could be lost in forever.
Danisha places the muffin down next to my coffee order. I take my items as I turn around, but he’s already gone, sitting at a nearby table. Anger builds inside of me.Tessa, count backwards before you do something you’ll regret.The asshole smirks and sips his coffee. There’s a twinge in his smile, like he thinks he’s won the game.
I drag in a breath for courage and walk over to his table. “You know, the polite thing to do would have been to thank the person who paid for your muffin and perhaps sit,” Leif Erikson taunts as he takes a sip of his drink. He looks me up and down slowly, as to take a mental picture of every curve and inch of my body. My nerves are on fire by the time he gets to my face.
I give a condescending smile. “Oh honey, I never said I was polite. Especially not to men who have a tendency to stalk me, so, good day.” I turn to walk away, and I hear the screeching of a chair scraping the floor. I don’t give him a chance to speak before I’m out the door. I take a bite of the warm muffin, fresh from the oven. A tiny little moan escapes me. I can’t help it.
“Now that’s a sound I’d like to hear more often.” Wide eyed, I turn around with a mouthful of muffin, trying my best to retaliate. “Oh, darlin’. Sounds like you got your mouth full of something. Maybe you’ll let someone talk first” AJ leans against a nearby wall and smirks at me
Before, I thought this man was a brick wall, casting a shadow over me, and now that I keep looking at him, he had broad shoulders filling out the top of his jacket, jeans hugging his bottom half, outlining his toned, muscular legs. He’s even wearing boots. He’s wearing a dark blue V-neck, exposing a little curly chest hair. I cock my head to the side and wonder what this man would like without clothes. Tessa, stop gawking at the stalker.
I finally swallow a bit of muffin. “Keep begging, AJ. This is as much interaction as you’ll get from me. What do you want?” I do not have either the time or the patience for this today.
“Trying to be a gentleman and check in on you. But wanted to make sure you heed my warning. I wanted to grab your attention and run an idea by you. Your friends spilled some information about you and I think you might be interested in what I have to offer” he said, walking a little closer to me. Jesus, now I smell peppermint. Did he have peppermints in his pocket?
I snort. “Not interested in being a fuck bunny, no matter how much my friends told you about my sexual history.”
He sniggers at my assumption. “I was talking about your day job as project manager. But nice to know where your mind is at” I continue to ignore him.
I can hear his footsteps following me.
“I wouldn’t be too quick to turn down something before you know it.” His smooth voice starts to peek my interest. I shake my head and ignore him as I continue to get to my car.
“Not interested.” I said unlocking my car.
He stepped forward with no personal space, forcing me to look up at this tree of a man. He starts to gently caress my check, brushing the back of his index finger up and down my check and across my bottom lip. He leaned down and brought his mouth to my ear.Jesus take the wheel please. “Quick to say no before you try. Isn’t that what you told Allie to do?” He glanced down at me one more time, pressed a smooth soft kiss on my cheek and opened my car door for me.
I got in feeling like a doe in headlights, feeling flustered and heated all the way down to my pussy. I watch him vanish in the morning street crowd. I can still feel the heat swirling through my veins. Something inside wanted more but the other half wanted to know what he would want with myself being a project manager. A biker and a social worker together, not seeing the possible connection. Now, I’m pissed. Fuck and it’s only Monday.
I get to work without further incident, attempting to calm myself down by blaring music on my way. I’ve not been that flustered or infuriated in a long time. The only time this happens is when I am fighting for causes dear to me, like advocacy programs or more community resources. I stomp into my office, which isn’t much since I’m hardly there. Most of the room is taken up by an L-shaped desk with an opening underneath where I store emergency items for when I’m in between locations. I’ve lost count at how many times my emergency deodorant has saved me. I glance at my desk and notice a new water bottle, filled and chilled.Reva.
“Reva!” I scream from my office as I set down my backpack. A petite blonde woman with square framed glasses pokes her head through my office door.
“Yes ma’am, you hollered?” she says, full of smugness.
“What is this doing on my desk?” I ask, pointing to the bottle of water.
She just chuckles. “My friendly reminder to stay hydrated, or else I’m going to stick you on an IV.” She trots into my office and plops into one of the chairs.
“Water is overrated,” I retort. “Plus, we already have a busy day ahead and I don’t need any more distractions.”
“Distractions? I thought you seemed heated. You have a little attitude today.” She looks at me skeptically.
“I’m not heated, just distracted and I can’t afford to be right now,” I deflect, sitting down in my chair to check my email and travel schedule.
“I think maybe it has to do with a guy.” I practically choke at her cheekiness.
“Reva, you know my track record with men. I don’t want to be a housewife and pop out 2.5 heathens,” I remind her, packing my bag to get ready for a meeting downtown.
“I’m just saying, some days I wish you would get laid and relax.” Reva leans across the desk to lay her hand on mine. “By the way, if you give me more attitude, I’ll drop kick you into the parking lot.”