Page 11

Thirty minutes later, Carys stepped into the office feeling…

strange. Had she really done all of that with Rafi last night?

Had she truly released her inhibitions and just…

exploded with pleasure? She’d dated her last boyfriend for six months before she’d had sex with him.

And she’d given in only because he’d threatened to break up with her if she didn’t.

It hadn’t been awful, but her experiences in the past had been nothing like last night. She’d climaxed…five, no six times all told. After they’d fallen asleep the first time, he’d woken her up to make love to her all over again. It had been…shocking on so many levels.

Even now as she walked to her tedious, beige cubicle, her body thrummed with the echoes of last night’s sensations.

It was as if…she’d just spent the night in the arms of a man who enjoyed pleasuring a woman.

No, it was more than that. Rafi hadn’t just enjoyed pleasuring her.

It was almost as if he’d become obsessed with finding new ways to pleasure her.

She should be exhausted. However, she actually felt more alive, awake, and aware of the world than she’d ever felt before.

Sitting down at her computer, she sifted through the project she’d started yesterday. But before she could really get started, a female voice interrupted her.

“You’re not going to win, you know.”

Carys looked up to find Tanya, the assistant director for her department, leaning over the short wall of her cubicle. The woman looked smug and triumphant.

Carys blinked, wondering if she’d missed something while she’d been thinking about Rafi. “I’m sorry? What am I not going to win?”

“Him,” she smiled with confidence, tilting her head toward the end of the hallway. “Our new boss.” She smirked, sliding a finger along the V collar of her silk blouse. “The man will be mine.”

“Who?” Carys asked, genuinely perplexed.

Tanya laughed, shaking her head at Carys’s confusion.

Usually, Tanya wore her hair up, with understated makeup.

She normally dressed as the professional she was.

But today, her makeup was heavier, sexier, and her hair was down around her shoulders.

Plus, the silk blouse she’d chosen was tighter and nearly see-through.

Tanya hadn’t bothered to fasten the top three buttons.

She looked…extremely sexy and clearly knew it.

Tanya leaned closer, smirking. “I’m going to get our new boss.

” She pushed away from Carys’s office “wall”, sliding her hands down over her tight skirt pointedly.

“We had dinner last night. So just keep your puppy-love eyes off him.” She leaned closer again, her eyes turning angry. “Because he’s mine !”

Tanya turned and stalked away, her hips swaying. Carys mentally replayed the conversation, wondering if her supervisor had lost her mind. Had Tanya really just claimed to have gone out to dinner with Rafi last night? That was impossible, because he’d been with Carys.

She nearly laughed out loud, but since some of her co-workers were walking in, settling down at their work stations, Carys suppressed her amusement and focused on her work.

Yesterday, Rafi had mentioned that he’d liked her ideas, so she pulled up the other products that the company manufactured.

She leaned over her sketchbook, her pencil flying over the paper as she fleshed out ideas.

She figured that the concept could be a branding solution for them, with all of their advertising having the same feel, the same subconscious message.

It would take several years and a more cohesive message, but eventually, all of the products would be thought of with the same positive message.

She was thinking along the lines of that sports company’s motto of “just do it”.

However, her thoughts kept straying to last night.

And this morning. She’d snuck out early this morning while Rafi slept.

That’s when she’d gotten a good look at the hotel in which he was staying.

At first, she’d thought it was his home, but when she’d gone down in the elevator, she’d stepped out into a hotel.

One of the hotels in which she and Andi had hoped to come and have cocktails one day.

After they’d saved up enough money to afford the luxurious treat.

Carys was busy working on several new ideas when she suddenly realized that she was famished! She’d skipped lunch yesterday and…well, she and Rafi had dinner but she hadn’t eaten much of it. Now Tanya was bragging about how she’d had dinner with Rafi last night, and…!

A giggle escaped before she could stop it, then she quickly slapped a hand over her mouth. She looked around and noticed that several of her co-workers were eyeing her curiously. “Sorry!” she muttered. She lowered her head and forced herself to concentrate on work.

“Ms. Remington?” a voice called out.

Carys turned to discover a delivery guy with a bag in his hands. “Yes, that’s me.”

The man thrust the bag toward her with a casual smile. “Delivery for you.”

Instead of taking the bag, she stared at it for a long moment. The delivery guy, impatient, set the bag down on her desk and walked away. Carys finally stood up and called out, “But I didn’t order anything!”

The guy merely waved, acknowledging that he’d heard her, and kept walking.

Carys sat back down, still staring at the bag. It was just a brown bag, but whatever was inside, smelled delicious! Carefully, Carys opened the bag, half expecting something weird to pop out.

Instead, the scent of sausage and cheese hit her nostrils and Carys nearly moaned.

Peering inside, she found a breakfast sandwich wrapped in paper.

Pulling it out, she inhaled the savory scents, then unwrapped the sandwich to find a sausage, egg, and cheese delight in her hands.

Biting into the breakfast treat, she nearly groaned with the savory sensations hitting her taste buds. “Oh, this is delicious!”

Her cell phone pinged and she looked at the screen. “Unknown Number” revealed that someone had sent her a message. When she opened it, taking another bite, she read the message.

“If you’d stayed until this morning, we could be sharing breakfast right now instead of both of us eating alone. Next time, don’t leave so early.”

Carys grinned, her body tingling in anticipation. “Next time” implied that she was going to see him again. “Next time” meant that he’d enjoyed himself as much as she had!

Carys sent him a winking emoji, then bit into the sandwich as she turned to concentrate on creating new scripts and scenes that were just different enough to showcase a new product, but similar enough that the company’s logo would generate brand loyalty.

The day trudged on without any incident. Because she’d had such a delicious breakfast, Carys skipped lunch, not wanting to feel full all day. Still, it was a surprise when she received a text message from Rafi later in the day.

“Do you have plans tonight? I thought that maybe we could try having dinner again tonight.”

Carys smiled, then looked furtively around to make sure her co-workers hadn’t seen it. She looked down at her black skirt and sweater, deciding that she didn’t want to head to a fancy restaurant.

“Dinner sounds good, but how about some place more casual? I know of a great Mexican restaurant with the best margaritas in town.”

His reply was almost immediate. “Mexican it is. What time will you be done here?”

She grinned, then looked around again. Thankfully, her coworkers were heading out for the night since it was nearing six o’clock, well past quitting time.

“I’m ready whenever you are.”

“Perfect answer! Meet me down in the parking garage in five minutes.”

Carys chewed her lip thoughtfully, considering how to respond. Yes, most of her coworkers were already gone, but what if someone saw her getting into his car? She’d be labeled as the slut who was sleeping her way up the promotion ladder.

“I’ll meet you there,” she told him, then texted him the address.

“Are you ashamed to be seen with me?” he texted in response.

“Yep,” she replied without hesitation.

There was silence after that and Carys wondered if she should have come up with a different response. Maybe something that wasn’t so honest.

“Hey, Carys, do you have the sales data from last quarter’s promotions?”

Distracted, Carys tucked her phone into her purse, then turned to email the report. “You have it in your in-box,” she answered.

Alone again, Carys stared at her phone, wondering if she’d said something wrong when she saw no response.

With a heavy sigh, she shut down her computer and left the office. Down in the parking garage, she headed to the subway station.

So, why was she so worried about what she’d texted to Rafi? He had to realize that she wouldn’t want her co-workers knowing about this fling with the boss, right?

Carys arrived at the Mexican restaurant, wondering if she’d completely messed up. Maybe she should call Andi? No, Andi had her own issues. Andi had recently gotten a huge promotion and was now working on a specialized team in…somewhere in the world.

As Carys walked into the restaurant, she wondered if Andi was doing okay. How was the accounting department handling the changes to the running of the company?

She walked in and looked around. No Rafi. Was he ignoring her?

Of course he was! Angrily, Carys walked over to the roughed out bar.

The restaurant was actually just a hole-in-the-wall place but the food was excellent.

It had gotten busier in the past year as more people heard about the “dive”.

But tonight, it was relatively empty, only four tables taken by other customers.

She was just about to leave when Rafi walked in, his eyes locking onto hers as he quickly eliminated the distance between them.