Chapter 21
Stephanie's chunky heels momentarily drowned out the low sound of the Christmas carol playing on the radio as she walked across the tiled floor of the office bathrooms. "Claire? Are you there?" she called out.
"In here." replied a voice in the direction of the far away cubicle. "I'll just be a sec."
Stephanie smiled in acknowledgment as she walked across to stand in front of the walled mirrors. She removed her black leather shoulder bag placing it down on the ledge next to the small box of tissues. As her fingers rummaged through looking for her lip gloss, she began to absently hum along with Bing who was more than happy to let it snow. Quite frankly she couldn't agree with him more. She loved the snow and outside the big huge flakes had begun to fall steadily, swirling round and covering everything it touched in a blanket of white. The Christmas lights were twinkling brightly too transforming the busy city into a winter wonderland. It was all so pretty and even a little romantic to her mind although she'd never considered Christmas as romantic before but being a woman in love obviously made her see things in a completely new perspective.
Stephanie's expression was almost dream-like as she lifted her head staring back at the face in front of her, her big blue eyes dotting to and fro. She was pleased to see there were no obvious changes, at least none that she could identify. The face reflected in the mirror was exactly the same as yesterday to the point that her cheekbones still weren't as prominent as she would like them to be and her eyebrows most definitely needed attention but all in all, it appeared she was hiding it pretty well. She'd even been careful selecting her wardrobe this morning going for a black turtle neck sweater and trousers that were the exact opposite of what she would class "office seduction". She'd even completed the look by scraping her hair into a neat bun and wearing the minimum amount of make-up settling for a light touch-up of lip gloss and mascara. No one would suspect a thing. Not one person in that office would know what she and Paul got up to last night and it had to stay that way. What they had shared would be some wonderful secret between just the two of them. And it was wonderful. In fact, the night they had shared had been absolutely amazing.
Lifting her slender fingers, she lightly brushed them along the column of her throat as she let her mind drift remembering Paul kissing her there making her sigh with pleasure. In fact, he had kissed her everywhere leaving no part of her body undiscovered. His touch had been so assured yet gentle, thrilling her yet adoring her all at the same time. It was like nothing she had experienced before and although she was far from pure, in a lot of ways last night had been a night of firsts for her. It had been the first time she had given herself to someone so completely. It was the first time she had been with a man knowing she was truly in love with him. It was also the first time she had been with Paul. The faintest of smiles traced her lips as she thought of him. Even now she found it hard to believe that they had actually slept together and that she had spent the night cradled in his arms. Not that she could sleep, not properly, not knowing he was lying next to her close enough that she could smell him and listen to his heartbeat. It seemed like some incredible dream that any moment she could wake up from. So much so that the few times she had drifted off, she would wake up and lose her breath for a second realising Paul really was there holding her, his arms wrapped loosely around her like a soft, warm blanket. Occasionally she would poke him too just to check that he was real and that he wasn't just a figment of her imagination. There was even one time she peeked underneath the covers just to make absolutely sure of course.
The sound of the toilet flushing and the click of the lock quickly snapped Stephanie out of her haze. She shook her head slightly as if to clear it of the fog and glancing down from the mirror, her fingers began to unscrew the lid from her tube of lip gloss as the sound of Claire's footsteps drowned out Bing once more.
"Who the hell organises a Christmas party on a Wednesday night?"
Stephanie smiled to herself as Claire voiced the exact same words Paul had muttered before he had left her apartment in a cab in the early hours of this morning only his expletives had been a little bit stronger and more repetitive too if she remembered correctly.
"Whoever it is, remind me to slap them, will you? I've got the hangover to end all hangovers." Claire continued turning on the faucet.
Stephanie chuckled as she applied her lip gloss. As she rolled her lips together, she realised that for some funny reason she was feeling absolutely fine this morning. Okay she was tired but there was no sign of a hangover whatsoever. Then again, she hadn't been as drunk as Claire who had insisted on drinking those potent apple shooters, something she had deliberately avoided knowing how lethal they had been the last time. In fact it was because of them she'd almost plunged to her death on the winding metal grated staircase at that bar. Of course, Paul had been her white knight and grabbed hold of her, rescuing her.
"You know you're looking ridiculously happy for someone who should be grumpy and irritable like the most of the people in this office." commented Claire as she grabbed a paper towel and dried her hands off. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she walked across to the waste bucket staring at Stephanie's reflection in the mirror. "In fact, you're positively glowing. What's going on with you?"
"Nothing." she replied quickly, lifting her shoulder in a casual shrug as she replaced her lip gloss in her bag.
"You're lying. Something's happened with Paul, hasn't it?" Claire stopped in front of her friend and placing her hand on Stephanie's shoulder she turned her around, her green eyes widening instantly. "Oh my God! You had sex last night, didn't you?"
Her loud exclamation caused Stephanie to instantly glance over at the door, her forehead crinkled with apprehension like she was expecting the entire office block to suddenly descend in the bathroom in light of this revelation. God knows it would be just her luck too. "Would you keep your voice down!" she hissed as she glared back at her.
"You did, didn't you?"
Stephanie shrugged her off pressing her lips together tightly.
"You have to tell me."
"No I don't." she sniffed.
"Oh yes, you do." smirked Claire as she turned and leant her back against the ledge. Her green eyes glinted wickedly as she folded her arms across her chest. "Tell me or Libby gets to be my chief bridesmaid at my wedding."
Stephanie's mouth parted in shock. "But that's not fair."
"Neither is keeping secrets from your one of your best friends. So you either give it up or I can give Libby the good news. She'll look great in burgundy, don't you think?"
"Burgundy? But you promised the dresses would be green."
Claire bit down on her lip thoughtfully. "Oh yeah, that whole age superstition thing. Looks like it completely slipped my mind"
Stephanie's lips twitched at the corners. "Bitch!"
"I love you too." grinned Claire. "But you still haven't answered my question about what you got up to last night."
She bit down on the corner of her lip trying her best to conceal the smile that threatened to erupt across her face but it was futile. Before she knew it, she was standing grinning like a complete idiot giving Claire the answer she was looking for without even having to utter a single word.
"I knew it!" cried Claire as she turned to her, clapping her palms together in glee. "I knew when you disappeared that you'd left with Paul."
Stephanie's smile down turned into a worried frown. "Do you think anyone else did? Know that I left with Paul, I mean."
Claire quickly shook her head. "Everyone was far too drunk to notice, Steph. Besides, I think Paul hung around for a while after you took your bag from the table. I'm sure I saw him talking to Nick at the bar."
Just then the door opened and the conversation quickly ended as Lucy the receptionist walked through. The girls nodded their hello as she walked to the cubicle and Stephanie let out a calming breath as she grabbed her bag from the ledge.
"Let's go and grab that coffee." murmured Claire.
She nodded and followed on behind her grateful to escape from the office for fifteen minutes and the eyes she were sure were staring at her somehow suspecting something. But thankfully Paul and Nick were both out of the office this morning so she didn't have to worry about how she acted around him. Although she was pretty sure it was going to take a tremendous amount of self restraint not to just grab him and kiss him like she wanted to and by God, how she wanted to. All her emotions had burst out over the surface last night and she was going to have to find some way to reign them back in at least until they could find a chance to be alone together. God, even just thinking about him, she felt weak. Maybe when Paul got back she could discreetly slip into his office and grab a few minutes with him because suddenly she felt desperate to see him.
But Stephanie was sitting at her computer still waiting for him to return well into the afternoon. She couldn't help but feel disappointed as she looked up to see the clock had struck four already. All day she'd worked herself up about how she would act when she saw him, what she would do, what she would say. In front of everyone else, she would be so cool and collected on the outside maybe offering him a wave or mumbling a hello while inside her whole body would be a mass of delicious tingles.
"Good afternoon Paul."
Stephanie's fingers froze on her keyboard, her senses immediately heightened by the sound of his name. Just the simple knowledge of his presence caused her heart to start pounding madly and her insides were performing somersaults at the thought of seeing him. Not that she was sure she could actually trust herself to look at Paul at any point today, not without completely giving the game away in front of their work colleagues. She was scared that the overwhelming feelings she had for him after their new level of intimacy would somehow spill out onto her face betraying them. God knows people were suspicious enough after the kiss they had shared under the mistletoe last night. Although no one had actually said anything, she could tell by the odd inquisitive stares thrown her way throughout the day. She sure as hell wasn't adding fuel to that particular fire by having a meltdown every time she looked into those smouldering brown eyes. Ducking her head down, Stephanie pondered over what to do. It wasn't like she could avoid him all day. In fact, there was every chance he'd stop by her desk right now. He usually did checking for any messages that might have been left while he was out of the office. God and now she could hear Violet talking to him. That meant he was only a matter of feet away. Feeling the panic beginning to creep in, Stephanie's eyes quickly scoured around her desk. She was about to pick up the phone in an attempt to appear distracted and busy when she noticed the sunglasses she had discarded earlier this morning. It was before the snow had fallen and the low sun had been shining in the sky nipping at her tired eyes. Grabbing them, she quickly put them on. Now she could avoid getting lost in those amazing brown pools of his. She could divert her eyes elsewhere while talking to him and no one would be any the wiser or think anything of it. After all, Cosmopolitan had listed them as the new "must-have" fashion accessory. Okay, it hadn't been referring to the office environment but maybe she could start a new trend. Yes. Maybe even in a couple of months every woman in New York would be sitting at their desk with their Fendi sunglasses looking terribly sophisticated and chic. And of course Fendi would be more than grateful for the exposure and the increased sales and would send her free gifts as a way of saying thank you. Maybe she could recommend that their gratitude extended to the cute Fendi handbag she had been admiring just last week with the pretty diamante encrusted shoulder straps….
"Hey Stephanie."
Suddenly all thoughts about Fendi handbags were forgotten as she heard his voice and felt Paul standing behind her in her cubicle. God, she loved how her name fell from his lips. Her whole body began to tingle, completely aware of his proximity as he moved closer to the desk. Letting out a calming breath in some attempt to reduce her heart rate, she tried to discreetly glance to the side watching him flick through the few messages she had left beside the telephone. That was when he turned and flashed her that heart breaking smile and suddenly she could hear his whispers in her ear, taste his kisses on her lips and feel his hard heat pressed up against her. Stephanie felt a rush of blood to her face and her fingers began to toy with the neck of her sweater pulling at it gently in a lame attempt to try and aid her skin colouring back to normal.
"Is the sun bothering you?"
"What?" she asked swivelling round in her chair and realising she had no clue what Paul had just said to her. It was extremely hard to focus feeling so flustered and hot. Of course it was even harder with him looking so handsome this afternoon immaculately dressed in a dark grey suit and blue shirt, his soft strands tucked behind his ears. Though really she had no chance in hell of concentrating at all, not when she knew the type of underwear he would be wearing underneath that suit. And Holy Christ, she even knew what was concealed under the actual underwear.
"The sun. I asked if it was bothering you."
Grabbing the handful of envelopes by her in-tray, Stephanie briefly shook her head as she lifted them to her face and began to fan herself with the stationery. As she wondered when the snow had stopped, she realised the small bursts of cold air did little to cool her down. In fact, she swore it was getting even warmer especially with Paul perched on the edge of the desk like that, watching her.
"Steph, are you okay?" he asked, his nose wrinkled cutely in concern.
"She's obviously hung over, bless her."
Stephanie almost snarled at Nick as she looked up to see him peering over the wall of her cubicle. "I'm not hung over." she told him matter of factly. Even through the dark lenses of her glasses, she could feel the bright glare of his Hawaiian print shirt. It was that ridiculous one with the pink flamingos. Surely to God, he hadn't attended a meeting looking like that.
"Then what's with the dark glasses?" Nick enquired.
"They are the height of fashion actually." she sniffed. "Not that I would expect you to know anything about that."
Paul's amused snort at her retort was quickly concealed by a cough as stood up from the desk. "I'm going to take care of these messages. Steph, I'll see you in my office? We need to run over a press release before five."
Stephanie nodded as she watched him walk away followed closely by Nick, her heart lifting at the thought of finally getting the chance to see him alone even if she did actually have to play the dutiful assistant. Although once the release was out the way, there would be plenty of time to show Paul exactly how much she had missed him this morning. She smiled to herself as she swivelled in her chair.
"Oh and maybe you could bring some coffee too." His voice startled her as he leant over the wall of her cubicle, the corners of his mouth curving up irresistibly. "I reckon I could probably use the sustenance."
His parting wink sent a flash of heat to her face. Once again, she was all hot and flustered and it was entirely all his fault. Damn him.
After somehow managing to regain her composure and remembering to save the drafts she'd been working on, Stephanie stood up from her cubicle and made her way across the office to the coffee machine. She deliberately didn't even look once in the direction of Mandy's desk. She wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of casting her that knowing glance or the chance to comment about the kiss last night because God knows, she would be dying to. In fact the Mouth was probably dangerously close to exploding having to keep it all in for the last seven hours. Well, at least in front of her anyway. She really had to ask Paul what he said to her the time he pulled Mandy into his office because since that day, the bitch had been practically mute and it was a welcome turn of events that was for sure.
Humming a tune to herself, Stephanie picked up the large glass coffee pot. Her left hand selected the large blue ceramic mug sitting at the corner and she pulled it across the tray towards her. As she poured the hot dark liquid, she wondered if Paul had any plans for tonight and if he did, if they included her. He had mentioned taking her to the gym just the other day. The brochure for the new Oakfield health club was scheduled for release in early February. That meant she had less than six weeks to hone up on her gym skills and right now, she needed all the time and help she could get. Although she wasn't sure she could muster up the energy for the gym tonight. She was tired and fancied an early night but not that tired that she wondered if she could persuade Paul to join her.
"You're spilling that everywhere."
Nick's voice jolted her out of her trance-like state and Stephanie glanced down to see coffee trickling over the side of the mug.
"Maybe you should take off the glasses so you can actually see where you're pouring it?" suggested Nick as he stood beside her, his arms folded across his chest and his black rimmed spectacles perched at the end of his nose.
Stephanie scowled at him as she placed the coffee pot down and pushed the glasses up into her hair, silently cursing him under her breath and daring him to ask her for a cup just so she could have the satisfaction of spitting in it, the bastard!
"You know water rehydrates you far better than coffee does."
Stephanie pressed her lips together as she let out a slow, calming breath, grabbing a piece of paper towel as she started to mop up the spilled drink. "Actually it's not for me. Paul wanted a cup before we go over the press release."
"Oh, well Mandy just took him a cup a couple of minutes ago with a file he was looking for." he replied.
Stephanie bit down on her tongue resisting the urge to ask him why the bitch was doing that in the first place when quite clearly it was her job, her responsibility. After all, she was the one that was Paul's acting assistant, not Mandy. But then again, that had never stopped her before.
"So, did you have a good time last night?"
Stephanie lifted her eyes as she deposited the coffee soaked paper towel in the waste bin. She eyed Nick cautiously as she nodded her head, feeling a little wary of the fact that he was wilfully engaging in a form of conversation with her.
"Well, you certainly looked like you were enjoying yourself, especially out on that dance floor."
"I was."
"Unfortunately I never caught the chance for a dance myself. I was too busy mingling."
Stephanie smiled silently wondering if there was a point to all of this because if there was, she wished Nick would just get to it instead of standing here and wasting her valuable time.
"Of course it was mostly with Paul although he seemed to disappear towards the end of the night."
Stephanie tried her best to be non-chalant, casually lifting her shoulder in a shrug as she pressed her lips together thoughtfully. "Hmmm, I can't say I noticed."
"And come to think of it, I don't think I remember seeing you either."
Stephanie felt herself begin to panic. "Oh, em, I was in the bathrooms." she blurted out, silently congratulating herself for her quick thinking while deciding to embellish to make it a little more believable. Blowing her hair from her eye, she smiled at him sheepishly. "Actually it's a little embarrassing to admit it, but I threw up twice. See, I stupidly over indulged on those little apple shooters. Take my advice, Nick. Don't ever try them because they are sneaky little suckers. I mean you may think that they taste nice and everything and they may even sparkle prettily in the glass but let me tell you, they are absolutely lethal."
When she finished, Nick raised his brow and stood there for a second just looking at her. Stephanie half-suspected him to point at her and scream liar. Her nerves had made her completely ramble on like an idiot but she was pleasantly surprised when a smug grin spread across his face as he pointed towards the glasses perched on her head.
"I knew when I saw you wearing those that you were hung over."
Stephanie let out a relieved giggle. "You got me."
"Well maybe next time you'll take your own advice and avoid those "sneaky little suckers"." he smirked before turning round and walking back to his desk.
Stephanie was tempted to flip him off but instead she turned and walked in the opposite direction towards Paul's office, her spirits lifted at the thought of seeing him and spending a moment alone with him. Smiling at Violet as she passed by, she wondered what he would say to her or how he would act with her. Hopefully things wouldn't be horribly awkward between them now they had taken things to the next level although there had been no evidence of that at all when he had winked at her suggestively over her cubicle wall.
Hesitating for a split second, Stephanie knocked on the door. She was surprised to see her hand was trembling ever so slightly. But then again, she had been building herself up for this all day so maybe it was expected that she feel a little nervous about seeing him again. In fact, the current flutter of butterflies in her chest would attest to that fact. Letting out a slow, calming breath, Stephanie stepped into the office telling herself that it was only Paul and that she had seen him a hundred times before so there was really no reason to feel this way at all. She just needed to calm down and relax.
As she closed the door behind her, she turned round to see Paul standing just in front of her, his brown eyes twinkling at her as she swallowed thickly.
"Hey." he smiled.
Without giving her a chance to reply, Paul curled his big hands around her face lowering his head and silencing her soft, surprised gasp with his warm and tender kiss. In that moment, the world stopped and her heart raced as his tongue slid into her open mouth brushing over her tongue. The familiar taste of him made her knees tremble with longing and at that moment she was grateful that he was cupping her face otherwise there was every chance she would have melted away to a puddle on the floor. Stephanie sighed softly, her lips parting further allowing Paul to deepen the kiss, his tongue gently sweeping over her mouth causing her to feel every sensation to the tips of her fingers. When they finally broke apart, she was breathless, her eyes blinking heavily as they struggled to open, still caught up in the aftermath of his kiss.
"Hey." she finally managed to stammer out as she met those incredible brown eyes.
"I thought I should apologise for rushing out on you this morning." smiled Paul, his hands still resting gently on her arms, lightly rubbing them underneath the wool of her sweater. "Forgive me?"
Stephanie's mouth curved up gently as she somehow managed to find her breath again. "Well your lips can be very persuasive."
"Really?"
She nodded realising that not only were his lips persuasive but Paul's kiss had also soothed those fears silently lingering in the back of her mind. Fears that she hadn't even been aware of until she'd walked into the office and saw him standing there.
"But the question is, are they going to be persuasive enough for you to agree to come over to my place tonight?"
Her blue eyes widened with surprise. "Your place, huh?"
Paul nodded as his finger playfully tapped her nose. "I've got a little something I want to give you."
The left hand side of her mouth curved into a smirk. "Oh yeah?"
His deep chuckle made his shoulders shake. "Get your mind out of the gutter, McMahon. I meant a gift."
"Oh."
"And the fact I used the word little should have proved that my intentions were nothing but honourable." He paused for a second as he guided her to his desk, sitting down on the edge and pulling her to stand in between his parted thighs. "Well, until after the main course at least." he winked.
Stephanie felt a rush of heat as she realised what his implications meant, her body tingling at the delicious thoughts of him touching her again. "So you're cooking, too?" she said. "I am impressed."
"Oh there's no end to my talents as you may have discovered last night."
Suddenly that heat rushed to her cheeks and she dipped her head, quickly glancing at the plush beige carpet. However, it was only a matter of seconds before Paul tucked his warm fingers underneath her chin drawing her face up to meet his. She saw the flicker of amusement in his eyes.
"Are you blushing?" he asked her, teasingly.
"No." she replied with a small shake of her head.
"You are. You're blushing."
Stephanie squirmed under the intensity of his stare her blue eyes darting back and forwards trying her best to look away. "Stop it, Paul. You're embarrassing me."
"Why?" he chuckled. "I think it's cute."
She looked back at him, his brown eyes watching her and drawing her in once more. Before she knew it, her face began to move slowly towards his and she licked her lips in anticipation of his kiss, her heart skipping a beat at the simple thought of it. Their noses brushed together as his warm breath danced on her mouth. Her eyelids began to flicker when suddenly there was a knock at the door and they quickly jumped apart. Paul raked his fingers through his hair as Stephanie slid into the seat just as the door opened and Nick poked his head through. She gritted her teeth together at the sight of him, resisting the need to throttle him. Really, what was it with this man? If she had a dollar for every time he had interrupted them or gate crashed a date, she could probably have enough money to pay off her credit card. Or maybe she could buy that cute little Fendi handbag after all. Hmmm…
"Paul, the agency has just been on the phone."
Stephanie's brow crinkled in curiosity, all thoughts of the handbag forgotten.
"It looks like your new personal assistant can start the Monday after New Years." smiled Nick as he hovered in the doorway.
"Okay. Thanks."
Stephanie's heart felt heavy as she glanced over at Paul. His lips were curved up gently as he looked over at Nick. He obviously wasn't as disappointed as she was at the news of the new personal assistant. God, she'd forgotten her post was temporary. Now it meant her time with him would be even less. She'd have to settle for odd moments here and there at the office and no doubt under the watchful eye of everyone. Their time alone would be scarce. It just wasn't fair.
"I told her a ten o'clock start."
"Perfect." nodded Paul.
Stephanie narrowed her eyes in his direction silently trying to communicate the fact that he could at least have the decency to look a little bit put out about all this. Instead he looked pleased. In fact he looked far too pleased for her liking.
"So Steph, it looks like you and I will be working together on that new liquor promotion after all."
Stephanie rolled her eyes before she shifted on her chair and turned to Nick forcing a smile on her face. "Great. I can't wait."
"Well I'm going to get off now. Eleanor's got her Pilates class tonight and I told her I would look after the kids."
"Okay." said Paul as he stood up from his desk, his soft hands smoothing down the wrinkles in his trousers. "Goodnight Nick and thanks for today."
"You're welcome." he replied as he pushed up his glasses, his grey eyes darting across to Stephanie. "Goodnight Steph."
She lifted her hand in a wave. "Goodnight."
The door clicked shut behind him. She turned around pleasantly surprised to feel Paul's warm fingers taking hold of her hand and pulling her to her feet.
"You know if I didn't know any better, I would swear I detected a hint of sarcasm in your tone to Nick." he grinned.
As he slid his arms around her waist, she noticed the faint shadows cross his handsome face and she glanced at the window behind him to realise it was now dark outside. The low sun had already disappeared behind the high rise buildings and the sky had turned a dark navy blue. She wondered if it would snow again tonight. She loved walking home in the snow. Maybe she and Paul could even walk home together. She had to make the most out of leaving the office with him. In less than a couple of weeks, he'd be leaving with someone else.
"Hey, what's up?"
She shook her head mentally kicking herself for making it obvious that something was troubling her especially over something that clearly didn't trouble him. She looked at Paul deliberately putting a smile on her face. "It's nothing."
His brown eyes narrowed, seeming to survey her thoughtfully. "Well I don't think it's nothing. If it was nothing, you wouldn't have been wearing that frown that I saw just a second ago."
Stephanie shook her head silently cursing him for being so observant but at the same time wanting to hug him for caring enough to ask. She never had anyone care about her before. Not like Paul. That's when she realised she was fretting over nothing. Just because they weren't working together as closely any more, it didn't mean they wouldn't be seeing one another. They were dating after all. Nothing was going to change between them. Not in that way. Licking her lips, she reached up to brush her fingers through his soft, blonde strands. "I'm just being stupid, that's all."
"About what?"
Stephanie pressed her lips together tightly as she pushed his hair behind his ear, her fingers dropping to trail over his jaw. "You don't want to know."
"Yes I do. That's why I'm asking."
She said nothing and rested her head on his shoulder, breathing him in and hoping he would forget about it and kiss her instead.
"Am I going to have to force it out of you because I have it on good authority that you're quite ticklish."
Stephanie quickly lifted her head, her blue eyes staring at him incredulously. "You wouldn't dare!"
"Try me."
As his fingers gently poked her side, she cried out squirming against the strength of his grip. "Paul! No!"
Her plea fell on deaf ears as he began to tickle her side, a scream escaping from her lips as her body writhed against his. The sensations were shooting up her body causing her to snort and protest all at the same time.
"Paul, stop it please! Paul!" she whined.
His deep laughter made her stomach coil with desire not to mention the fact that her body was still pressed firmly against his. Struggling to catch her breath, she deliberately stepped back putting some distance between them well aware of where they were and what they shouldn't be doing. Nick may have gone home but there was every chance that Violet and Mandy were still out there. She wasn't prepared to take the risk. God knows it was bad enough that people had seen them kiss last night albeit they had the excuse of the mistletoe all thanks to Paul and his damn traditions!
Tugging down the hem of her sweater, Stephanie removed the lopsided sun glasses from her hair and threw them down on the desk casting Paul a less than amused glance. "People could have heard that, you know."
He lifted his shoulder in a casual shrug as he moved to walk behind his desk. "Let them." he replied.
Stephanie raised her eyebrow in surprise as she watched him sit down and start to flick through a file that was lying open in front of him. Sitting down on the edge of his desk, she picked up a pen and absently began to click the lid., her brow furrowed in concern. "You know you've developed a sudden devilish I don't care attitude lately." As Paul looked up, she sighed softly. "I mean doesn't it bother you that people will find out about us because it should?"
"Why?"
Stephanie's mouth parted open in surprise. "Paul, you know why!" she exclaimed as she watched him sit back in his chair. His big hand lifted to scratch at his stubbled chin, his shoulders rising and falling with his heavy sigh.
"Have you ever considered that fact that maybe, just maybe, I'm sick and tired of hiding our relationship?"
"But Paul, we have to." she replied, not sure what else to say, her panic getting the better of her. Quite honestly she didn't want to lose her job. She didn't want Paul to lose his either no matter how loudly she wanted to shout to the world that they were together. But wow, he said they were in a relationship, a proper grown up relationship. How wonderful was that?
"See I don't think so. Do you that nowhere in the terms of my contract does it actually state that I can't date a member of my staff."
Stephanie pressed her lips together as she struggled to take in what he was trying to tell her. She shook her head, remembering the situation with Katie and the reason why Paul was sitting here in the first place. "But Bob Sinclair….."
Paul shook his head interrupting her. "He was married, Steph and his affair with Katie wasn't exactly his first. In fact, it was just one in a long line over the years. But when word got out to one of our major accounts and they threatened to pull their business, the Board probably had no option but to fire him."
"But still we don't know that for sure….." she said uncertainly, the element of worry still lingering in the back of her mind. It was a big thing going public with this. There was also the chance that Paul was completely wrong and one whiff of their romance and he would be out the door. Maybe he'd have to move to another state and she'd never even see him again. There was no way she would let that happen. She wasn't prepared to lose him. Not now. Not after falling head over heels in love with him. Paul was the one for her. She knew it. She felt it with everything inside her. She was even wearing a green bridesmaids dress, she was that certain and she fucking hated green. Letting out a shaky breath, she looked up to see Paul smiling at her.
"Come here." he said softly.
Placing down the pen, Stephanie crossed the short distance between them. Paul took her hand once more guiding her down onto his lap. His brown eyes were tender and gentle as he wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her close as she rested her head on his shoulder, his blonde strands gently brushing against her cheek. As he dropped a kiss on her temple, she closed her eyes relishing the feel of being close to him and the scent of him.
"Look, we can keep all this cloak and dagger stuff going if you want to. If you still want to keep this secret then of course, I'm going to respect that."
Stephanie smiled her thanks as she inhaled his spicy cologne
"But I care about you, Steph and as far as I'm concerned, I want the whole world to know just how much I care about you."
She lifted her head, her blue eyes staring back at his in stunned disbelief. "You…you do?"
Paul nodded his head as something simmered in his brown depths, something she was sure she had seen last night as he had lain beside her, tenderly brushing her hair across her forehead. "I'm crazy about you, Steph."
His mouth met hers in a kiss and Stephanie felt her hear soar. His words rolled around deliciously in her head as his warm lips brushed over her. Paul was crazy about her. Crazy! God, he was practically telling her he loved her. Well, almost. She wasn't going to get ahead of herself here but just to make sure she was going to check that Claire wasn't joking about the whole burgundy thing because nothing was going to jinx this for the world. Wow. Paul was crazy about her. How amazing and wonderfully romantic was that?