“Nothing,” he replied, stepping closer to me to make room. “I’ll talk to you about it some other time.” I rode the rest of the way to the lobby, filled with curiosity, and intensely aware of every centimeter where our bodies were lightly touching. I went home that night and painted. And then I relieved some tension.

Friday 4:00 PM

We took our seats around the conference table and the meeting began. First we discussed how we soon would be taking on several new staff members. We were really growing. Then, when the lawyers started discussing their current caseloads, my mind started to drift.

As usual these days, it drifted to Mark. Specifically, I started having one of my favorite daydreams, about the two of us being alone in the office one evening, and having sex right there on the conference table. The meeting went much more quickly after that. I caught Mark giving me curious looks a couple of times, and I wondered if my expression gave away what I was thinking about.

When the meeting concluded, we all filed back to our offices. Liz stopped me in the hallway a few minutes later, as I was coming back from the ladies room, and asked me if I would drop a file off with Mark for her. I took the file down to his office, but he wasn’t there, so I just put it on his desk. When I turned to go, though, I realized that I had dropped a paper. So I picked it up and bent over the desk to pop it into the file. Just then, I heard Mark’s voice.

“Okay, I’ll be back in a minute,” he called out to somebody. Before I could move, he spoke again. “Oh my God. You’re bent over my desk. And you look even better like that than I imagined. All those times.” I quickly stood up and turned around in time to see him rake both hands through his hair. “Oh shit! I can’t believe I’m sexually harassing you in a law office.”

“You’re not sexually harassing me.” Before I could stop myself, the words were out of my mouth. “It would be sexual harassment if it was unwanted attention. Mark, I want you to bend me over your desk.”

He closed his door and came toward me, pulling me into his arms and bringing his mouth crashing down on mine. I responded by offering him my lips, my tongue, my whole body, arching my back and burying my fingers in his hair as we consumed each other wildly. His hand slid up between us and he began kneading my breast through my blouse, making me want to rip it off, the blouse, not his hand.

I moaned quietly into his mouth, and it seemed to drive him crazy. He backed me up against the desk and thrust his hips against me, but then he groaned and broke away, taking a step back, and staring up at the ceiling. I followed his gaze, half expecting to see God, but all I saw was florescent lighting.

“We have to stop,” he said, breathing hard.

“I know. I’m sorry,” I said, making an effort to compose myself.

“I haven’t been this desperate since I was a teenager. I can’t concentrate. You know those Viagra commercials where they say go to the hospital if you have an erection that lasts longer than four hours?” I nodded. “Well, how long is our work day?”

“I can’t concentrate either; I think about you all the time. And you’re not the only one with a thing for office furniture. I’ve thought about your desk, too and during that meeting, I fantasized about having sex with you on the conference table.”

“Oh my God.” He groaned again. “Don’t tell me that!”

“Mark, I can’t go on like this. I’m going through so many batteries.”

“I wanted to try to take it slowly, because I didn’t want to screw up, but Beth, I want you so much. There’s no blood left in my brain.”

“I was so jealous of Caitlin.”

“Of… what?! Beth! She thinks my name is Mike. I didn’t even remember her name. I’m not sure I ever knew it. The only thing I remember about her is how annoying she was.”

“Still, she’s had sex with you and I haven’t.”

“We can remedy that.”

“Can we?” I asked breathlessly.

“We have to. I’m running out of office furniture to fantasize about banging you on, and I’m Googling ‘injury’ and ‘excessive masturbation’.”

“Okay, well we have a date tomorrow,” I said, in a throaty voice and I saw his eyes darken and start to look hazy as he came closer again.

“And what are the female rules when it comes to physical contact on the second date?” he asked.

“There aren’t really any hard and fast rules.” I paused. “Is it just me, or did that sound kind of dirty?”

“Everything you say sounds dirty to me. In a good way.”

“Will you come out to the pub tonight with everybody? I mean, you’re not going to go out… somewhere else tonight?”

“No! What do you think; I’m going to make a farewell appearance at the clubs?” He was leaning down, about to kiss me again, when the sound of a quick knock and the door opening surprised us.

“Hey, you’d get lost?” Adam asked, and Mark spun around quickly. “Oh! Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt.” He looked amused, as usual.

“And yet there you stand, interrupting,” Mark replied. Adam laughed and I got the feeling that it was an inside joke.

6:00 PM

Happy Hour at the pub was entertaining. We all had a good time joking around and talking about the week, but as it turned out, nobody wanted to stay all that late.

Cam and Jess left first. They wanted to enjoy the warm late May evening by grilling salmon on their deck, and before they left, they invited everyone else over to BBQ with them. Gab and Braden took them up on it, but said they had to go get Bruno first, and they left shortly afterward.