Page 31 of Open for Negotiation
I want to press him further, obviously, but I can’t. It would look too obvious and even if Jackson seems to know what is going on, I can’t pull the veil back willingly.
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Jackson.” I gather my notepad and water bottle into my hands. “Welcome to the team.”
I glance over my shoulder before I cross the doorway back into the hall, but Max is still in the throes of conversation with our finance manager at the front of the room.
***
Lunchtime comes without me even realizing it. I drowned myself in a true crime podcast in my ears while I worked away on the rendering of a new apartment complex, which will eventually erect in the Buckhead area of Atlanta, so the owners can approve or reject our team’s idea.
This is the part of my job I love. I really enjoy the nerdy side of this. I enjoy building things digitally and creating the ability for someone to walk through their future building through a computer.
It’s rewarding work, especially when I get to see the smiles on their face as they see what technology is able to do for them during this process.
Unfortunately for me at the moment, it gives me entirely too much time to exist in my own head, which leaves too much time to think and dwell on situations I should probably shove to the back of my mind.
Like Max and the fact that all I want to do is spend time with him. I’m antsy like a teenager with a crush. I don’t like feeling this way, but in the same breath, I crave it. I want it so desperately that it is always somewhere in my thoughts, my dreams, and my fantasies.
I close my eyes for a moment, telling myself I’m only resting them to give them a break from the computer screen, but that’s just not true.
I’m relishing in the screen break, of course, but the isolation in my own mind isn’t isolation at all. It’s full of Max’s hands on my body, his kiss to my lips, his cock moving inside of me, fuck, it’s enough to have me shifting in my seat with need.
I need his touch.
I need him.
I swear, I can feel his hands on my shoulders, even now. I relax them, not realizing how tense they were, but something feels off…
The touch isn’t right. He’s too stiff and the hand is smaller than his.
“Damn, Scarlett, how stressed are you? Your muscles are like tight rubber bands,” Garrett’s voice causes me to pop my eyes open and completely move out of his touch.
I’m moving to my feet and away from him quickly because I’m freaked out by the fact that he was touching me without asking, but he thinks he’s just startled me.
“Whoa, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I seem to be making a habit of that lately.”
I whip around to face him with my hand on my chest. “I wasn’t expecting you to be touching me. I freaked out a little.”
“You seemed tense; I was just trying to help.” He shoves his hands in his pockets. “Are you all right?”
“I didn’t need help.” I shake my head. I don’t want to fight with him or make him feel bad if he was just trying to be a friend. “You just snuck up on me. Did you need something?”
“I wanted to see if I could take you to lunch. We never got to celebrate the fact that you scored that resort contract, and I’d like to treat you.”
Okay, all right, lunch with friends. Normal. I should do that. Distract myself from my own fucking thoughts.
“Yeah.” I nod. “Lunch sounds great. Who all is coming?” I sit back down to shut off my computer.
“It’s going to just be us. I hadn’t really asked anyone else, is that all right?”
“Yeah, yeah, of course. I was just curious.” I finish logging out for lunch, throw my bag over my shoulder, and grab my phone from my desk. “I’m starving, so you came at the perfect time.”
This is my best friend at work. This isn’t the first time we’ve had lunch, and I’m sure it won’t be the last... but there is just something off about him and his entire vibe right now.
“Are you all right, Garrett?” I ask him as we walk to the elevators.
“I am. I’m fine. Why?” He glances down at me quickly then takes a hurried look around the office. “I just need to grab something from my desk before we go.”
He changes directions abruptly, like he instantly remembered whatever it was that he needed to grab.
