Flirting With Magick (8 page)

“It’s okay. I was just sitting at home, all by my lonesome, getting bored, doing nothing.” He chuckled. “Are you free tonight?”

I tried to suppress a grin. “I’m having a drink right now with a
friend from work, but I can see you later.” In the corner of my eye, I
could see Rachel raise a questioning eyebrow.

“That’s cool, take your time. I’ll just be home anyway. See you soon.”

“Anyone special?” Rachel leaned forward as I tossed the phone
back in my bag.

“Just a guy I know.” I looked around the room, unsuccessfully
attempting to hide the small smile that lifted the edges of my lips.

“’Just a guy’ hey?” She wasn’t buying it. “Boyfriend in training?”

“Not even that.” It didn’t feel right talking about someone I wasn’t
really in a relationship with, especially with a co-worker I only met two
days previously, so I attempted to change the subject. “So what’s your
boyfriend like?”

Her eyes went all dreamy.
Is this what I used to look like when I spoke
about Josh? Bleuggh, How pathetic.
Cute, but pathetic. Maybe I was just a little envious.

“He’s WONDERFUL,” she gushed. “His name’s Lachlan, and he’s
one of the couriers that comes into the office. That’s how we met. Been
together for two months now.”

Ahh… new love. I remembered that. That high you got from just
knowing you will be soon seeing that person, the little shiver from just
the thought of a kiss, the weeks of non-stop sex. I thought of how in just hours I would have Scott’s lips on mine. How he kissed perfectly right from the beginning-– not like Josh, whom I had to ‘train’ to kiss
me the way I liked. How my own stomach had performed flip flops
at the sound of Scott's voice on the phone just now. NO. This was
different. I concentrated on what Rachel was saying, reminding myse
lf she was most likely in love and I was, well, in lust if anything.

“And we’ve been joined at the hip ever since,” she finished with a broad smile.

“
He sounds lovely,” I told her, although I had rather rudely tuned
out. “You sound like you’re very happy.”

“I am.” She looked at her watch and slurped up the last of her
drink. “Sorry Abby, I really should go. Lachlan will be waiting for me
, and you sound like you’ve got a hot date. I expect details tomorrow, and they’d better be good; otherwise, I’m still batting for Sean.”

“See you tomorrow, Rachel,” I said wearily, as though I was bored
with the conversation, picking up my handbag and following her ou
t.
On my way home, I couldn’t help but laugh at Rachel’s enthusiasm over
my love life. Why is it that those who are in love aren’t happy unless everyone around them is in love as well? I thought Sean seemed nice
and was very good-looking, but I wasn’t going to get excited about it.
At the very least, he would make work more enjoyable. The love spell
crossed my mind. It was entirely probable that I could meet someone
at work; people had been doing that for years. But despite Rachel’s high
hopes, I knew it was silly to dwell on it too much; otherwise every
man I met would be a potential boyfriend, and that was bordering o
n desperate. No thanks. For now, I was just going to enjoy myself.

I pulled up on the street outside my block of flats, rather than park
around the back as usual, and ran up the stairs with the intent of picking
up a few necessities for the evening at Scott’s. I stopped abruptly when a
thought hit me. What was the etiquette for this type of thing? Do I lea
ve
straight after or do I stay the night if it’s late? Would it be presumptuous
of me to bring a change of clothes or was he expecting me to go to work
in the morning straight from his place? Although it would be easier
to go to work from his unit in the morning rather than double back to my
house first, it wasn’t really something that had come up in conversation
—
not that it would even occur to me to bring it up until now. Deciding to play it safe, I popped a change of undies and some make up wipes into my handbag with the intention to come home later anyway.

Scott greeted me at the door, pleasingly shirtless, wearing just a pair
of loose navy drawstring pants. The black tattoos on his arms were
almost animated against his fair skin. “Aren’t you cold?” I asked, allowing
myself to be drawn into a hello kiss.

“No, not really. I don’t feel the cold much.” He led me to the
lounge. “Drink?”

“Tea would be great, thanks.” I took off my jacket and sat down
on the couch as he banged around in the kitchen. A shoot-em-up gam
e
on the TV had been paused. “Where’s my cousin this evening?” I
yelled to him.

“Out with Dan and Silas,” Scott called back. “I think there’s a girl
involved, so I doubt he’ll be home tonight.” When he returned, he handed
me my tea and resumed his game.

“I’ve just got to finish this bit, and then I’ll be right with you.”

I sipped on my beverage and sat forward, watching the progress
as the main character wandered through a spaceship shooting a range
of evil droids, battling monsters, and completing various missions. I
ended up helping him with some of the puzzles, discovering that they
were my strong point while he was better at the tactical fighting. Not
that his lack of cerebral skills during console games was something h
e was willing to admit.

“That’s not going to work,” he argued stubbornly. “I’ve been playing
these games for ages.”

“It’s a coordinate; five rows across, three rows down. That’s what
those numbers mean. Just humour me at least, and try it.” I was getti
ng so frustrated I was practically shouting.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” He sighed. “Alright.” His character performed
the action I had suggested. The wall moved, exposing a new path. The
puzzle had been solved. “Oh,” he said sheepishly. “Sorry, you’re pretty
good at these.”

We got so involved that I didn’t notice the two hours that passed un
til Scott’s character finally got killed during a rather arduous mission
and he decided to give it up for the night.

“Shit. Is that the time? You should have said something. Sorry, Abby
.”

“It’s okay, I got into it. Can I have a go sometime?”

“Sure.” He moved closer to me and gave me a soft kiss on my cheek.
“You look really sexy in your work clothes.”

“Thank you.” I unsuccessfully tried to suppress a yawn. It had jus
t gone ten o’clock, my usual bed time.

“I’m sorry the game went so late. You can stay over, you know.” Now he told me.

“I didn’t bring anything...” He planted a kiss on my neck, distracting
my train of thought. “I guess I can just get up early...”

“I’ll make it up to you.” We explored each other’s mouths intensely
, him leaning farther on me until I was lying back on the sofa with his
body stretched out over mine. I ran my hands over his strong arms and
down his bare torso. There was no way I was going home now. His
knee was between my legs, pushing my skirt up as his hand burrowed under my shirt. I was about to reach for the drawstring of his trousers
when he suddenly jumped off me, pulling my top back down in the
process. The front door opened and in walked Luke, with an unfamiliar
girl right behind him. I quickly sat up, pushing my skirt down, but slightly too late to hide what we were up to—or about to be up to.

“Oh shit. Sorry, Luke mumbled, his face flushing.

“Er... hi.” Embarrassed, Scott ran his hand through his long fringe
,
then looked at me, and burst out laughing. “You should see your hair.”
I reached up and realised half of my hair had come out of its bun and
gained an instant visual of my dazed self. That, together with the fact
that we had been caught red-handed, made me collapse in a fit of giggles.

“You dickheads.” Luke shook his head at us as we composed
ourselves
then turned towards his companion. “Guys, this is Jennifer. These idiots are Scott and Abby.”

“Hi.” She waved shyly. She had very long, straight, golden hair, big
breasts atop a slim frame, and big blue eyes framed by dark lashes.
Her hair and lashes were obvious extensions, and her breasts made
mine look tiny. She looked like she could be a model and was exactly what I had learned to be Luke’s type. She wasn’t any different to the
other girls I had seen him with. I found myself wondering if Scott was
attracted to the same women and shot a glance at him to try and gau
ge
his interest. If anything he looked a bit annoyed at having been interrupted
during a pleasurable moment.

“Take a seat,” Luke said to Jennifer, knowing full well what had
been disrupted and teasingly attempting to irritate us further. Jennifer
took the one-seater while Luke ambled off to the kitchen, returning seconds
later with an opened bottle of beer for each of us. “How’s work, Abs?”
He moved to playfully sit between Scott and myself, but not before
Scott glared at him and moved to the middle of the couch, closer to
me, forcing Luke to take the outside seat.

“
Fine, thanks,” I replied, casually stretching my legs out over Scott’s
lap, and he rested his hand on my stockinged knee.

“Abby just started a new job this week,” he informed Jennifer, who
responded with a polite nod.

“How long have you two been together?” she asked me.

Stunned, I look at Scott, not quite knowing how to answer. “Oh, um, we… aren’t really…” I stammered.

“Couple of weeks now, isn’t it, guys?” Luke responded for me. I
felt somewhat relieved, but couldn’t quite look Scott in the eye, knowing
Luke’s answer had given a false impression of our relationship.

“What did you do tonight?” Scott smoothly changed the subject on to Luke and Jennifer. They began telling us about a restaurant, a
bar, a nightclub, and then another restaurant with Daniel, Stacy, Silas, and
his current date, a make-up artist named Dee.

When the story was over, I got up. “I’d better go.”

Scott stood as well. “Me, too.” He looked at me meaningfully. I
was intending to go home, but he apparently had other plans. He
picked up my handbag from between us on the floor and walked me to his bedroom. “Can you believe him?” he said when the door had closed behind us.

“I didn’t realise he was such a stirrer,” I replied, not quite sure if
Scott was annoyed about being interrupted or if it was Luke’s a
nswer about our relationship.

“
Yep, that’s Luke.” He took an old Pearl Jam t-shirt from his wardrobe
and handed it to me. “You can sleep in this if you like, unless you prefer
to sleep naked.” He grinned mischievously, all irritation out of his system
.
Maybe it was the interruption he was annoyed about; that thought lifted
my spirits slightly. “I promise to keep you warm.” It was past midnight
, and he was still obviously not yet sleepy. "We don't have to do this now if you're tired." He placed his hand on the small of my back and
pulled me to him, undoing the top two buttons of my work shirt. "B
ut
you can still stay here tonight." He ran his lips from my shoulder up m
y
neck, and I smiled, defeated. Taking my cue, he kissed me fra
ntically,
pulling off my clothes in the process, then lay me gently down on the be
d, knelt down next to it, and pulled me to him by my legs, his breath
warm against the inside of my thighs. Soon I was in heaven, my sle
epiness
and
the fact that Luke and Jennifer were only metres away in the other room
forgotten, lost in the moment. I orgasmed seconds later, barely managing
to stifle a squeal. He reached for a condom and kissed me gently.

“I could keep doing this with you all day, everyday.” Scott later rolled off me and lay back, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

“Thanks.” I was exhausted and could hardly keep my eyes open. There were only a few hours before I had to be back at work. “Could
you please set your alarm for six?” I murmured, “so I can go home before
work in the morning.”

“Sure,” I heard
him say before I drifted
off into a satisfied, restful sleep
.

***

“Someone had a good night!” Rachel was wide eyed as I strode
into Avalon IT, miraculously on time. I knew I looked like shit. It wa
s
a very late night and an unusually early morning. The alarm clock buzzer
had gone off as planned, and Scott, still asleep, thumped it off in an
automatic move. I had immediately jumped out of bed, knowing tha
t if I didn’t I would have easily gone back to sleep, cuddled up to Scott with my head on his chest. I watched him sleep as I quickly dressed,
careful not to wake him, then lightly kissed his forehead before turning
to leave.

He suddenly grabbed me around my waist as he had done befo
re
and pulled me back on to the bed. “What time do you start work?” Hi
s voice was husky first thing in the morning.