Stormy Night (4 page)

She was startled by a knock at her door. Whirling around, her lips turning up in a smile, her heart hammering with a mixture of fear and joy, she said, “Jack, we need to…”

Her smile faltered as she saw that it wasn’t Jack. “Who are you?”

“Hi,” said the young man, who looked like he was barely out of high school. “I’m Oliver. You said you had a computer issue?”

“Where’s Jack?”

“I was told he’s not here anymore.” He gave her a smile of reassurance. “But don’t worry, I’m up to speed on all the systems and software. Whatever the problem is, I’ll get it sorted out for you.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, brushing past him, “don’t worry about it.” She made a beeline for Bob’s office, a red hot rush of anger taking hold of her. He must have somehow found out about their tryst Friday night, she concluded, and fired Jack.
Well, you fucker, we’ll see about that!

Storming past Bob’s protesting secretary, she burst through Bob’s door, just as he was tossing down the last of a glass of morning whiskey.

“I want Jack back,” Anne demanded. She jabbed her index finger into his chest. “You fired him, you rehire him.”

Bob, coughing after nearly choking on the whiskey, sputtered, “What the hell are you talking about?” Taking a step back, he added, “I didn’t fire him, he quit!”

“What?”

“He quit! He called me last night and said he had some emergency personal issues and had to bail. He took leave in lieu of two weeks notice and even recommended a replacement.”

“Oliver,” Anne said in a wooden voice.

“Yeah, him. Oliver brought in Jack’s company phone, pass, and keys, and my secretary sent his automatic deposit for his severance this morning. Didn’t even leave a forwarding address or number. He’s done. Gone. Outta here.” He frowned. “Now, if you’re done harassing me, I’d appreciate it if you’d get the hell outta here, too, before I call security.”

She leaned toward him, her face a cold, angry mask, and he recoiled from her. “Just try it,” she hissed before whirling on her heel and storming out.

CHAPTER SEVEN

The rest of the day was nothing more than a foggy blur in Anne’s memory by the time she arrived home. Dark clouds hung above the city, a portent of another storm that was moving in. It was just starting to rain as she got out of her car, the grape-sized drops splattering across the parking lot.
 

“Shit,” she muttered as she reached into her bag for her umbrella, only to realize that it had fallen victim to Friday’s storm and she hadn’t yet bothered to replace it. Resigning herself to being soaked yet again, this time in her good clothes, she stalked off toward the building entrance, then came to a halt at the sight of a man holding an umbrella, a dark silhouette framed by the building’s lights. A momentary shiver of fear ran down her spine, mimicking the chill of the rain that now pelted her head and shoulders.

He began to walk toward her, and she was torn with indecision: should she run or stand her ground? After a moment’s consideration, she decided to stand her ground. She wasn’t going to run, from herself or anyone else. Not again.

“What is it with you and rain? You’re going to get soaked again.”

She blinked as the figure came closer. “Jack?”
 

“Who else do you think would be idiot enough to stand out here in the rain, waiting for you?”

Dropping her bag, she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him down to kiss him, hard. He wrapped his free arm around her and crushed her against his chest, returning her kiss with equal passion.

When she finally, reluctantly, came up for air, she asked, “Why did you leave?”

“I thought that would be obvious. If we couldn’t be together while we were both in the office, one of us had to go.”

“But you just gave up your job!”

He shrugged. “To me, it’s just a job. I enjoy it, but it doesn’t mean nearly as much to me as yours does to you. I’ve got plenty of money stashed away to tide me over, and I can find another job easily enough.” He caressed her cheek. “But finding another woman like you, that’s something I don’t think I’d ever be able to do.”

“So,” Anne said, “should we take a chance together?”

Jack smiled. “Yeah. And let’s get the hell out of this storm.”

***

Six months later, Anne stood up from her desk in the corner office once occupied by Bob. Bob, who was now working at another firm. The shiny name plate on Anne’s door bore both her name and, in slightly smaller letters underneath, the word
Partner
.
 

“Have a good evening, Stephanie,” Anne said with a smile as she passed by her secretary’s desk. “And don’t stay too late.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Stephanie beamed.
 

Anne went home, but hardly remembered the drive, her mood was so good. Grabbing her bag, she headed to her apartment, a smile on her face. As she opened the door, she breathed in the delightful aroma of whatever Jack was cooking for dinner. Among his other qualities, he also turned out to be an excellent cook, and really enjoyed cooking.
 

“It’s about time,” Jack said quietly. He was leaning against the door frame of the bedroom in what he called his home office attire for the contract work he now did: jeans and a t-shirt. Or, as now, just jeans. He looked great the first night they’d made love, but he was rock solid now. Looking down at his crotch, she saw something else that was rock solid.

Dropping her bag on the couch, she approached him slowly, putting one foot in front of the other with a seductive sway of her hips. “Time for what?” she said in an innocent voice. Of course, she knew perfectly well
what
. She was wet before she’d left work, thinking about what awaited her at home, and now her panties were drenched. “Dinner, maybe?”

“I think we’ll have an appetizer first.” He took her in his arms, and she lost herself in his kiss before he picked her up and carried her into the bedroom.

If you enjoyed this story, please check out my other books on
JadeStratton.com