Heading into his office, I took a few seconds to close the door. I didn’t want any stragglers to end up overhearing anything they didn’t need to know. “Are you ready for dinner?”
Tanner looked up from the paperwork he was studying and looked at me and then at the closed door. He blushed. The always put together and focused man actually blushed and couldn’t seem to decide what to say. Finally, he nodded.
As cute as he was, it was time to lay our cards on the table. We’d never be able to have a real conversation unless we got past the awkward phase. Heading over to his desk, I sat down in front of him and tried to radiate calm.
I wasn’t sure it was working. If anything, he got more nervous because he started fidgeting. Wanting to distract him from whatever was going through his head and wanting to make it clear I wasn’t thinking of this as just a regular conversation, I leaned back in the chair and spread my legs just wide enough to frame my half-hard dick that had to be obvious.
I was going to have to start paying more attention to what I wore to work.
“We danced around this earlier, but I think we need to get everything out in the open.” There was no point in letting things go any further without addressing it. “The first time you mentioned the new project several weeks ago, you accidently left some notes for it I wasn’t meant to see in a stack of paperwork for me. It wasn’t hard to connect the dots on what the space would be used for.”
Tanner’s face went white, so I quickly kept going.
“I was surprised, but not in the way you’re imagining. It wasn’t something I’d ever heard about, but I’ve been doing some research over the past couple of weeks and I think I understand it better now.” His face was regaining some of its color, but I still wasn’t sure what was going through his mind. “My mother has always been big on omega rights and things like that, so I think if it had been anyone else, I might have not been able to get it as easily, but working with you so long has given me a different perspective.”
The tension in Tanner’s body seemed to ease and his shoulders were no longer up around his ears. But I wanted the smiling, relaxed man that had come to work earlier back. “I’ve been researching about the lifestyle that’s involved with domination and submission, and I even managed to find a few blogs online that have been very informative.”
Now came the hard part.
“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, but you don’t have to hide that part of your life from me. I won’t be offended or make things awkward here. Nothing will change our work relationship. As I said earlier, I like my job and I can’t imagine doing anything else. I’m very happy here.” But that wasn’t the whole truth.
As happy as I was, the idea that there might be other ways I could take care of him made me restless. He was clearly stressed, but it wasn’t paperwork or a project I could take off his plate or encourage him to delegate.
Tanner finally swallowed and licked his lips nervously, then nodded. “Thank you for being so candid. I’m sorry my personal list ended up in your paperwork, but I’m glad it’s not something I have to hide from you. With the club needing so much work and planning, I haven’t been able to keep it as private as I’d hoped.”
“It’s a big project. From our earlier conversations, I know that your friends are involved in it as well, but until the contractor is sorted out and the business side of things is organized, you’re going to be doing a lot of the work on it.” With a number of people involved, the work should end up being spread out, but it was still a large undertaking to get started.
Tanner nodded and seemed relieved that the conversation was back toward something easier. “Yes, after this first bit my involvement will go down, but it’s just wading through the initial issues that’s taking up so much time.”
“Which is why you need to let me handle more.” I smiled as he sighed. “Knowing what you really need and how the project will end up looking will let me help you more efficiently.”
His cheeks started to heat again. “That’s very reasonable but honestly seems…very personal. It’s not just a business venture.”
It was personal, but that didn’t necessarily make it a bad thing.
“I don’t mind personal.” It was my turn to swallow and gather my thoughts. “I realize we don’t have a relationship outside of work, but you don’t need to worry about what I’ll think or how I’ll react. I want to understand.”
Because otherwise, there would always be an uncomfortable gap between us.
“I want to understand you.” Was I clear enough? Did he understand? Was he willing to take the chance?
He was my boss at work, but he needed someone outside of work to take control and let him relax. I forced the other things that might involve control to the back of my mind. It still wasn’t the time, no matter what the baser part of my brain was pushing for.
Tanner watched me for a long few moments. It wasn’t an awkward silence, but it was heavy and filled with questions. As he finally started to speak, I could see fear in his eyes and I knew how big of a leap he was taking. “How much do you want to understand?”
“All of it.” He’d leapt—so could I. “Let me take you to dinner so I can get to know the real Tanner Wright.”
His tongue flicked out again, gliding over his lips. Maybe it was still nerves, but all I could think of was the way his mouth would feel against mine.
“Take me to dinner?” He shifted nervously in his seat. “I know we need to talk business, so really I should—”
“No.” He was going to offer to pay. I knew it was coming from a place of caution because he was putting a lot of himself out there, but I didn’t want to start off that way. “I would like to take you out to dinner. Yes, we’ll end up talking business, but I want to get to know more about Tanner Wright, the man.”
The omega.
“Then you have to stop calling me Mr. Wright.” Tanner’s smile was nervous but growing.
“Deal.” Then I leaned forward, resting my hands high on my thighs. “But only if you stop worrying about what I’ll think.Mr. Wrightgets to worry about an employee.Tannerisn’t going to worry about a date.”
