Page 34 of Getting Down to Business

On Friday night, Chanda took him home to her warehouse loft. It was huge, but filled with half-finished sculptures. The two bedrooms were small in comparison to the rest of the space, but there was a bed, and that was all that had mattered once they got inside. Which wasn’t easy.

It had taken longer than it should have to open the door, but he couldn’t keep his lips off her, and she wasn’t able to put the key in the lock when his face was stuck to hers.

Eventually, they got in and the clothes came off. He followed her up the stairs to her room and there he lost track of the sounds and the feelings. He never understood the hype about chemistry. He assumed it was something people made up to get out of a relationship. After all, his ex had told him that very thing. “We don’t have any chemistry.”

But it wasn’t hype. It was real, and he had tons of it with Chanda. The reason he’d never understood it before was because he had never truly experienced it. Now he had.

He couldn’t remember the last time he had sex with Julie, his ex, more than once in a row. Maybe their honeymoon? He thought he was too old for multiple sessions. He was wrong. He just needed the proper motivation.

Chanda provided plenty of motivation.

Unfortunately, his stellar mood was cut short when Randy called a meeting.

“I think we have more meetings about work, than we work,” he whispered to Grayson as they took their seats in the conference room.

“I think you’re right.”

“First thing. The Knott account needs a new home.” Everyone groaned, knowing it had been passed around like a plague. The owner was a crabby bastard who was never happy with anyone. “Lester is leaving and I’m not going to turn this mess over to someone new. So who wants it?”

Doug was careful not to make eye contact.

“Give it to Doug. He’s used to getting his ass handed to him,” Reynolds joked.

“Great, Doug. Thanks for volunteering,” Randy said, and flipped the page on his tablet like it was a done deal. Doug might have stood up to them, but he had the fight beaten out of him years ago by his ex-wife. He’d learned it was just easier to go with the flow and not make a fuss.

The meeting went on like all the rest. Randy wanted to keep everyone in the loop. Apparently, they were moving one of the account managers up to a senior auditor position.

“So if you have any suggestions regarding the open position, let me know. We’ll be conducting interviews next week.”

They were dismissed shortly after, but as he waited to walk out with Gray, his friend had stopped to offer a name.

“Alyssa Sinclair.”

Doug frowned as they went back to their offices.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? You’re already sleeping with her—and living with her. Now you want to work with her too? You shouldn’t put your meat where you get your bread.”

“What?” Gray chuckled.

“It’s a saying.” Something his father had said.

“You get a sandwich when you put meat and bread together. Sandwiches are awesome.”

Doug hoped for Grayson’s sake, this turned out to be as great as a sandwich.

* * * *

By the third night of living with Alyssa, her screaming no longer had him running to her rescue. Though it was difficult to fall back to sleep when he knew she was probably lying in her bed with the light on trying to convince herself she was safe.

“You look like hell,” Doug said Friday morning as Gray walked into his office. “Is it a good kind of hell or a bad kind?”

Before Gray had a chance to answer, he was interrupted by a tapping on the door. Alyssa was standing there with a paper bag.

“Hey,” he greeted her with a tired smile.

“Hi. You were running late and I realized you left your wallet. So it’s in here with the lunch I made you. Mainly because I noticed there was no cash in your wallet.” She smiled and held out the bag.

“Were you looking in my wallet for a finder’s fee?” he asked.