“Enjoy!” I hissed. “I can’t work with that. Is there a sex shop anywhere near, because I am going to need an industrial strength vibrator.”
“You won’t,” Dex said, a rapt grin on her face as she gestured to the benches. “Trust me, there’s plenty who are willing to go above and beyond whatever a battery-operated appliance would do.”
“Well, they can’t all be straight,” I spluttered.
“That is true,” Jamie said. “Greg is gay, so is Neil.”
“Vance is,” Nerida said.
“Yep, and Nick. So’s Stevie, but that’s a whole other ball game,” Dex said with a grin. “Some are bi, or willing to give it a go though, if that floats your boat.”
“Floats my boat?” I hissed. I picked up my glass and took a long, deep swallow. This got a few low cheers from the girls, and they misread me and followed suit. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and then leaned over the table. “How the hell do you know the sexual preferences of your work mates?”
“Have you had the talk with Kelly yet?” Jamie asked.
“No! What is this talk? People keep telling me to wait for the talk. If you know something, spill!” I said.
“Well, Sanctuary’s less a workplace, and more one big family,” Nerida said with a broad smile.
“A not very closely related family where a lot of the members fuck each other, if they so desire,” Dex said. “That’s what Kelly’s going to talk to you about, consent and boundaries, how to negotiate a sexual or romantic relationship in the workplace, and what to do if things start turning ugly. That doesn’t really happen though…”
“No, everyone’s clear on the rules,” Nerida said. “Sometimes it all gets a bit heated, passion and all that, but the management team are pretty good at settling people down.”
“So you’ve…” I gestured at the other tables.
She blushed prettily, “Well, a lady never kisses and tells…”
“Seriously? You’re going to go with coy now?” I asked.
“Don’t worry about who Nerida’s slept with, think about yourself,” Dex said. “You’re gonna get some offers tonight, if you want them.”
Gulp. I turned away from the women, almost afraid of what I might see, and sure enough there were plenty of guys checking out our table, some even looking directly at me. I grabbed my drink reflexively, feeling much safer taking a long, slow drink than looking out at the combined workforce of my new place of employment. Buddy shifted at my feet, sitting up and giving out a low growl. I twisted to see a tall guy in a pair of worn blue jeans, workbooks and a white singlet had appeared at my side of the table, waiting for me to notice. His long, dirty blond hair fell over his shoulders in a messy wave, and he regarded me with a small smile. “I’m Shaun,” he said, holding out a hand. I looked at it dumbly, seeing the long thick fingers, the callouses on the palm, the grime that had collected under the nails, before realising he wanted me to shake it. I didn’t want to touch him at all, afraid I was going to dissolve into a little puddle of goo and then my dog would be put up for adoption, hopefully to find a new owner who could keep her cool around hot guys. Buddy gave another sharp bark which helped me snap out of it.
“Buddy, chill! I’m sorry, I’m Julie,” I said, shaking his hand.
“I know.”
“Word’s got out, huh? So, what do you do, Shaun?”
Keep it light and professional, I told myself, and you’ll be fine. You can do this.
“Whatever you want me to,” he said with a purr, “and for as long as you want me to.”
“Oh.”
I’d heard people’s voices described as a purr in books before, but never really known what that meant. I now knew. His voice was a low, sexy rasp, his words coming out with complete confidence that I would drop trou and let him fuck me, right here, right now. I understood why he would come across like that, as I felt like I was barely restraining myself from doing so. Vaginas are funny things, much harder to sense than I assume a dick would be, but mine was awake and paying attention. All of a sudden, I felt…slippery, like everything was slick and ready to have something very large pushed inside me without any resistance.
“Everything OK here?”
My awareness jerked away from my nether regions, and my eyes flicked up to see Finn watching me still holding Shaun’s hand, a smile on both of their faces. Finn was professionally polite, but Shaun? He looked very pleased with himself, his nose working as he seemed to be taking in deep breaths as he observed my embarrassing lapse in manners.
“I’m sorry…” I stuttered out.
“Don’t be. You can hold any part of my body you like,” Shaun said.
“Shaun, mate, this is Julie, a new employee,” Finn said. “She’s only just been given a contract, hasn’t even signed it yet, and Kelly hasn’t had a chance to go over the terms and conditions yet.”
Shaun nodded to show he understood, but those pale blue eyes still held mine. “Come and see me when she’s spoken to you,” he said, capturing my fingers again and brushing his lips across my knuckles, “anytime, anywhere you choose. You just let me know.”