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“I took him in to work today. He loved it.”
“He’s looking so much healthier and more energetic than he did at the shelter.”
Neil watched on with a tender look while I doted on Archie. Meanwhile, the last rays of sunlight slipped away, leaving us bathed in the soft glow of street lamps and lit windows.
“Let’s head back,” Neil said.
Archie trotted along in front of us as we walked towards our apartment building in the distance.
“Did Christine mention the work dinner to you when she called?” Neil asked.
“No, she didn’t.”
“I’ve invited a few people out to a restaurant next Friday. Christine and Ed, James, Winston and Carol. You’re invited too, of course. If you would like to attend.”
I perked up at the prospect of a fancy dinner shared with my work family. “I’d love to come!”
“Great.”
We fell silent again until we passed through the lobby. Riding up in the lift, I snuck glances at Neil in my peripheral vision, still hardly believing I had broken through his defences. When we stopped at my floor, Archie yanked Neil towards me as I stepped out.
“He’s quite attached,” Neil said, trying to rein him in. “He doesn’t want to leave you.”
“Then why don’t you walk me to my door? Or is that off-limits?”
Neil’s exasperated sigh didn’t cover up his amusement. “I suppose I can manage that.”
We walked down the hall. Outside my door, I stooped to give Archie one last ruffle of his fur. When I straightened up, I saw Neil staring at me with heated intensity. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then seemed to think better of it.
I took an uneven breath. “Well… good night.”
“Good night, Milly.”
We lingered, neither of us making a move to part ways, almost like we had forgotten what to do next.
At last, Neil turned to leave, but he hesitated and faced me again. “Just so you know, if things were different… If I wasn’t…” He huffed, raking a hand through his hair. “Well, I wouldn’t even have to think about it.”
With that cryptic remark, he strode back to the lift, tugging Archie along in his wake.
Chapter Fifty-Two
When I returned to work, Neil and I carried on business as usual, yet the subtle shift in our dynamic was palpable. Every shared glance and fleeting brush of contact felt loaded with unresolved tension. Surely it wasn’t my imagination. Neil had to feel it too.
On Friday afternoon, we emerged from a meeting on the fourth floor to head back to our office on the twentieth floor. One lift was out of order, and the other one taking its sweet time to arrive. When the door finally opened, the interior was packed to the brim. Everyone shuffled to make a sliver of space for us. I squeezed in first, while Neil hesitated on the periphery until someone said, “You can get in. There’s room.”
Neil reluctantly jammed up to me. My breath hitched as I noticed every point our bodies made contact: my arm against his, my hip grazing his thigh, his chest centimetres from my face. I dared to glance up at him. He stared straight ahead, jaw clenched. Meanwhile, my whole body was on fire, painfully attuned to his proximity. The lift stopped at nearly every floor on the way up. When enough people exited to create some distance between us, I could breathe again. Neil fidgeted with his tie and watch, avoiding eye contact, until we arrived on our floor.
Once we were both seated at our desks, I tried to re-focus my attention on work, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the way Neil felt against me, and how good it would feel if he pressed me up against the wall in his office…
I shook the fantasy out of my head. If I had any hope of maintaining a sense of professionalism, I had to restrain myself. I sighed and forced my eyes back to the computer screen, determined to get some work done.
Sometime later, a private message from Neil popped up on the work chat.
Can you please take a final look at the strategy document for me? Then print it out. I need sex
What did I just read?
I did a double take, peering close at the last sentence to make sure I hadn’t hallucinated it. Nope. It was there, all right. S… E… X. I responded with a question mark, then Neil typed three messages in quick succession.
