1 Chapter 1
To Jack Lasky, she was just another girl in the office. So she might have a crush on him, so what? He was in a committed relationship. That meant more to him than anyone else seemed to realize.
He knew he was a flirt. Hell, he was in his late thirties and still sexy. Firm buttocks, trim stomach, muscled arms from working out in the office gym during his lunch break. Careless blond hair and boyish blue eyes, and a smile that said he cared. He had the goods and knew how to show them off. What was the harm in that? He liked the way girls giggled when he winked or smiled at them. He got a buzz when the male interns did the same. Clients, too—he wasn’t the company’s highest ranking sales rep for nothing. A little tease went a long way in his line of work.
Who could blame him? He knewhe was hot.
But he was with Aiden Smith, a man he first met fifteen years ago, with whom he was truly, madly, deeplyin love. Nothing could come between them. Nothing.
Jack’s philosophy was simple. You can look but you can’t touch.That was all there was to it.
Her name was Leslie something-or-other. Another data entry clerk with her sights set on the office manager job, if she worked out. A pretty redhead with a Colgate smile and some sort of spicy, musky perfume Jack suspected did wicked things to straight men. The way she leaned against him, as if trying to waft the scent his way, made him think she knew how to work it.
Funny, all it really did for him was make him sneeze.
When Timmy in HR had introduced her, he only half-joked, “Don’t go breaking her heart, Jack. She’s a keeper.”
Playfully, Jack sank to one knee and took her hand as the rest of the guys in the office laughed. Even Leslie started to giggle when Jack took her hand in both of his. “Fair maiden, I welcome thee to our kingdom…”
That was as far as he got before Wayne Matthews in accounting nudged him with a knee and pushed him into the aisle. “Let me have a chance for once, what do you say? You’re practically married.”
“And you’ll never be,” Jack shot back.
When Wayne stuck out his foot to nudge Jack again, he didn’t get far. This time Jack hooked his arm around Wayne’s calf and tugged, almost toppling his younger coworker. “Hey!” Wayne cried, catching hold of the nearby filing cabinet before he could join Jack on the floor. “Get off me, will you? Let go!”
Leslie giggled, a girlish sound that easily cut through the men’s laughter. From a nearby cubicle came a familiar, weary sigh. “You guys cut it out. Am I the only one with work to do?”
Releasing Wayne’s foot, Jack sat on the floor and peered around Leslie’s lithe legs. No stockings, he noticed. The girl wastrouble. “Aw, Aiden,” he cooed. “Lighten up.”
His lover’s head poked around the cubicle wall. Thick, dark hair that this morning had been smooth and flat had begun to curl at Aiden’s temples as the day wore on. Now it stood frazzled above the wire glasses framing his large brown eyes. He looked studious, serious, hard at work. Jack felt guilty sitting on the floor, goofing off.
Aiden glared at Jack, then glanced up at Leslie with a look Jack knew all too well. Bitch, it said, loud and clear.
Maybe he was right to be suspicious. As the week wore on, Leslie hovered around Jack, always ready to jump for anything he might need. She was a clerk, not his secretary, but apparently she didn’t get that memo. “Would you like more coffee?” she’d ask. “A glass of water, maybe? Something from the snack machine?”
On the phone with a client, Jack would nod in an absent way, not so much because he wanted any of those things but because he wanted her to go away. Still, he flashed her a quick grin when she refilled his coffee, or brought him some water, or even a candy bar or bag of nuts from the machine in the lounge. He liked be waited on, he had to admit, and if she was willing, why not take advantage of that?
“Your have a little something…” she’d start, touching the side of her face and staring at his. Then she’d lean over his cubicle, reaching for him. “Here, let me.”
Right about then, Aiden would pass behind her, scowling. “Aren’t you supposed to be doing something somewhere else?” he would ask. If she gave him a surprised look, he liked to add, “I thought your office was on the second floor.”
As she sputtered in search of a response, Jack stared at the ceiling and said nothing. Once she was gone, he asked, “What’s your problem? She’s a nice girl.”
“She’s all over you,” Aiden told him. “Can’t you see that?”
“She is not,” Jack would reply. “Jesus, you’re jealous of her? Please. What do I need her for when I have someone like you?”
Before Aiden could object, Jack would pull him into a tight embrace right there in the cubicle and steal a quick kiss before Aiden headed back to his own desk. Jack was right—what did he need Leslie for when he had Aiden? They shared a bed, a home, a life.Each night was spent in the safety of each other’s arms. Each morning he woke beside the man of his dreams.
