Inspired by Night: - a sexy new age romance (9 page)

Dave shook his head and I stood up from the sofa. I’d asked Dave to show me some empty units to help me with my expansion plans.

‘Is now a good time, Olly?’ he asked. His expression gave no hint that he suspected the conflicting emotions running through my head.

‘Yes, we’re done here.’ I said glancing at Steven to make sure he understood I was talking to him too. He nodded imperceptibly. I followed Dave out the office and shut the door behind me, without a second glance at Steven.

Dave led me into a small room next door to my office. It had two doors, one on each side, and a large window.

‘This would make the perfect office for you, Olly, because the doors lead straight to the rooms on either side.’ I had always wondered what was behind that locked door in my office. Dave unlocked the door to the next room: it was the same size and shape as my room but had obviously been used as an IT suite during its days as a school. All along the walls were regularly spaced power sockets and two rows of floor sockets. The floor had removable panel strips for wires and plugs. I pictured a bank of staff, working at computer terminals, and briefly recalculated the time in which we could finish a project, if we worked together. I noticed another door.

‘That’s a store cupboard,’ Dave explained, opening the door to show me a perfect space for a server room. I smiled as I started imagining the possibility of expansion and nodded at him.

‘I want them both. I need to draw up a business plan for expansion, but I already know I want them.’

He grinned at me, proudly and patted my shoulder.

‘Who would have thought it, eh? Olivia Jones with staff?’

I shook my head grinning.

‘Not me, that’s for sure. Can I move into the office right away?’ I asked, serious again. He regarded me curiously. ‘I find it difficult to get any work done, sharing a room is distracting.’ I explained.

‘You’re the boss, Olly, tell him to shut up and get on with his work.’ He was smiling as he said it, but I felt a surge of protection towards Steven and defended him.

‘It’s not that, he’s a great worker, programmes faster than I do, and he plugs in his headphones and I don’t hear a peep from him.’

‘So what’s the problem?’ Dave frowned.

I sighed and shrugged helplessly at him.

‘I’ve got my perfect man sitting in my office, Dave. That’s pretty distracting!’

Dave roared with laughter, so hard that pretty soon I was laughing with him.

‘Have you got a little crush on him, Ol?’ He loudly sighed, when he finally calmed down. He frowned again, ‘what aren’t you telling me?’ I hid my eyes and grimaced.

‘He likes me too. He told me he likes me, wants to take me out on a date. And I look at him, all charm and good looks, perfect hair, nice clothes, and I badly want to say yes. But I keep saying no, because I’m his boss and I barely know him.’ I looked up at Dave for reassurance and confirmation. ‘Right? That’s the right thing to do?’

Dave shrugged non-committally.

‘That’s really up to you to decide, Olly. There’s no law saying you can’t date your employee. And I seriously doubt your interest in him is purely based on his looks.’ I raised my eyebrows, questioning his theory. ‘You have a crush on The Doctor, regardless of who plays him, right? OK, David Tennant might be particularly attractive, but you still kind of fancied the Ninth Doctor, because the point of those regenerations is that it’s still the same man – different face, different body, but the same brilliant mind. He’s still got gadgets, he’s still a genius, and he’s still a massive nerd. You like Steven because he’s the first bloke you’ve met who you can talk about your work to without having to dumb it down. He likes all the same nerdy stuff as you. You can be yourself with him. And you would like that, regardless of what he looked like,’ he concluded.

I sighed. But my heart rate sped up, I thought I’d wanted Dave to agree with me, tell me I was right, but this felt like the permission I was after to go for it. I shook my head.

‘Feels too risky, Dave. If it doesn’t work out, what happens? I can’t fire him, could he sue me for something? Sexual harassment? Constructive dismissal? I don’t know. Will the rest of my staff think I treat him more favourably? Will I treat him more favourably?’ I looked at him pleading for an answer. Dave put his arm around my shoulder.

‘Who are they to question it? Put him in a role where there’s no risk of apparent favouritism. The main thing is, if you expect it’ll end before it even starts, I’d say leave it. But if you think it’s got legs, Ol, then there’s a risk in any romance. Just enjoy it. And if it ends – at least now you have an office to hide in!’ He grinned squeezing my shoulders, ‘I’ll say one thing, Ol; while I think you’re wise to take it slow and get to know him a bit first, seeing you this last week, you look more relaxed in his company than I’ve ever seen you.’

‘I just don’t get why he would like me; I’m old, overweight, and I look like I get dressed in the dark,’ I pointed out.

‘It’s the person, not the packaging. If he’s as into you as he says he is, then regardless of how you see yourself, he will think you’re the most beautiful woman on the planet.’

I nodded. ‘Most beautiful woman on the planet? I can live with that.’ I grinned. ‘And just for the record, I never fancied the First Doctor.’

I returned to my room after collecting the keys and signing a new lease for the additional units. I was intent on ordering furniture for my new office and packing up my desk. Steven would probably be offended, but that was just tough. It was for the best; putting some distance between us would help on a daily basis.

I paused at the door, my hand on the handle. Memories of the kiss crossed my mind and I felt a rush of warmth through my body. I needed to get this out of my head before I saw him again. I took a deep breath and composed myself.

Steven looked up as I entered, nodded his head in acknowledgement, and continued working. He had his headphones in and his fingers were flying across his keyboard. Good, he was busy. I walked to the locked door joining my office and unlocked it with one of the three keys Dave had given me. I stood in the room getting to know its space, its smell, and its atmosphere. I looked out of the window and tried to decide how I wanted to furnish the room.

I jumped when he spoke, lost in my own thoughts.

‘I was wondering about this door,’ he said, dragging me from my thoughts.

‘My new office,’ I said looking around. ‘And through there,’ I nodded to the door opposite him, ‘is our second office, which I intend to fill with app testers.’

His eyes never left me as he crossed the room and opened the door. He glanced through the door and gasped.

‘Perfect, isn’t it?’ I grinned.

‘It really is,’ he agreed. ‘So you’re doing it then?’ He asked surprised by the sudden progress of my plans for expansion. I nodded.

‘Still need to plan it out properly, but I’m making a start. It will take a few months to get the rooms ready and recruit staff, but yes. I’m going for it.’

He smiled at me, amused by my obvious excitement. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he made his way back towards his desk instead. I followed him in and sat down at my desk, digging the measurements out of my pocket and opening up a web browser to search for office furniture. I could at least make a start on getting my office sorted and then think about my required staff team and office equipment. I made a mental note to warn Reception to expect lots of deliveries, when I remembered about the package Steph had delivered. Not wanting to disturb him I peered over at Steven’s desk to see if he had opened it. He noticed me and a smile flickered over his lips. Does my attention make him smile? I felt a surge of affection for him at that thought. He paused mid keystroke and removed an earphone from his ear, looking at me in anticipation.

‘What was that parcel Steph delivered earlier?’ I asked, not seeing the package anywhere on his desk. His face turned red and he looked away from me embarrassed. He opened his side drawer and pulled out the box, handing it to me.

‘You can open your own parcels in future,’ he grimaced. ‘Putting in some practice?’ he asked teasing.

I frowned; I had no idea what he was talking about. I hadn’t ordered anything; I had assumed it would be a show reel from a prospective employee or student. I opened the box and gasped, dropping the package on the floor.

‘Oh my God!’ My hand flew to cover my mouth. ‘I don’t know anything about this, who sent it? Was there a note? Why would anyone send me that?’ I picked up the box and sank into my chair. Curious I pulled the vibrator from the box examining it with disgust. The packaging was a lurid pink colour, a big star on the front claimed “three speeds” and the image displayed a slim black vibrator decorated with pink hearts. I searched through the box for any hint of the sender but there was nothing in there. Why would someone send me a vibrator? What kind of a sick joke was that? I glanced over at Steven and noticed a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He was amused and I was aware he probably thought my reaction was an act. As if I would forget ordering a vibrator, for goodness’ sake.

‘When I find out who sent this I’m going to …’ I paused, brandishing the vibrator at Steven.

‘What? Vibrate them to death?’ he grinned. ‘It’s OK, Ols. I won’t tell anyone.’

I felt my cheeks redden, ‘Seriously, I have no idea who sent me this, but I know for certain that it wasn’t me!’

I scowled as Steven replaced his headphones and turned his attention to his screen, trying to hide the big grin on his face.

Chapter Ten

The rest of the week passed by without any more major events. I had made a start on getting my office ready, painting the walls and doors ready for the furniture, which arrived on Friday morning, and I spent the day arranging the desk, filing cabinets, and shelves to create a comfortable room to work in. By the end of Friday I had moved the contents of my desk into the new office and made sure I would be ready to get stuck into programming again the following week. Steven was true to his word and didn’t make any further reference to his feelings for me, my feelings for him, or that kiss.

That kiss had been replayed from every angle in my mind every evening since. I wanted it to happen again and was relieved that Steven was being more restrained. Working in my own office couldn’t come soon enough. The distraction his presence made was more than I could bear.

Did I really say six months?

Steph burst through the door at 4 p.m.

‘Come on, you two, it’s Friday, it’s four o’clock, it’s time for the pub.’

I curled my top lip and shook my head.

‘Well, I didn’t really expect you to join us, Olly,’ she snorted. She turned to Steven. ‘You’re coming though, right?’

‘Yeah definitely, I’ll follow you over when I’ve finished here,’ he grinned.

‘Oh come on, it’s Friday, come now,’ she pleaded. ‘Olly won’t make you stay late, will you, Ol?’ She turned to face me.

I shrugged and shook my head. Steven smiled warmly at me before addressing Steph.

‘I’m just in the middle of a particularly tricky piece of code and I don’t want to leave it; it’s not something for a Monday morning!’ he smiled. ‘I’ll be there by six at the very latest, will everyone still be out by then?’

‘I’ll wait for you, regardless. Promise.’ She said winking at him. She grinned at me as she left, raising her eyebrows optimistically. I felt a stab of guilt. I hadn’t given Steph’s feelings a second thought this week. In theory, it would be a good thing if Steph could hook Steven – it would make everything so much easier. But I knew I’d be gutted at the same time. Not that I could blame him, if he went off with someone else. I suppose that’s another risk – he wouldn’t wait forever, and I wouldn’t expect him to. He could meet someone tomorrow who removed all thoughts of me from his mind. Things change, feelings change.

‘Oh, Steph, don’t tag me on Facebook if you check in at the pub.’ Steven asked suddenly, as he glanced at me looking thoughtful. Steph looked surprised waiting for an explanation.

‘That’s how Melissa found me last week. She saw the photo you tagged me in.’

‘Oh you mean that girl you were hiding from at Olly’s place?’ She threw me a look of disapproval.

‘Yeah, her. I hope she doesn’t turn up again tonight, especially if Ols isn’t coming to protect me.’ He smiled at me conspiratorially and I felt a giggle threaten as I recalled sneaking home. ‘Can I not convince you to come tonight?’ He addressed me. ‘You know, for the benefit of my wellbeing at work?’

‘Your wellbeing in the pub isn’t my responsibility,’ I informed him.

‘But it’s drinks after work, so it’s implied that it’s an extension of the work place, surely?’

I glared at him, avoiding Steph’s eyes boring into me. I had to admit I did want to hang out with him, and what better way to get to know him than in the pub over a pint? I’d learned so much about him last week. I knew Steph would hate me playing gooseberry, but then again, I wanted to play gooseberry! I shrugged.

‘Well, I’ll see how I feel when I’m done here.’ I conceded. Steven grinned at me. Steph rolled her eyes and made her way out of the office. I smiled to myself. It occurred to me that Dave might be right, I certainly felt a lot more relaxed about socialising since Steven had joined me. I wondered briefly if it was obvious that there was some connection between us. Steph didn’t seem to notice it the same way Dave had, but maybe she was wilfully ignoring it. Even though I was determined to keep some distance between us, I was enjoying the occasional feeling of solidarity.

As it turned out I decided not to go to the pub. I wanted to get home and shower, I was feeling pretty grotty after all the furniture moving; packing and unpacking boxes and getting the office straight. I couldn’t face sitting in the pub. I had been careful not to let Steven get too close to me in case I smelled sweaty.

Steven seemed disappointed when I told him. I walked with him to the pub and continued on towards home. I was worried he would end up coming back to mine and I didn’t trust myself to be alone in my flat with him under the uninhibited influence of alcohol. A reckless part of me wanted to use drink as an excuse to kiss him again. A flush of warmth radiated through me as I remembered that kiss and my inner demon glared at my smug angel.