Lunch was a little bit strained. They engaged in small talk, covering the weather, office politics, and a bit about the project. They even laughed a small bit, but neither wanted to address the elephant in the room. The walk back to office was mostly silent and, at times, awkward.
After brief rest stops they both returned to the conference room where their laptops and work papers remained side by side, just as they'd left them. Once again almost shoulder to shoulder in their seats they began working. The work seemed to break the spell and they pointed to each other's laptop screen, traded ideas and shifted papers between them just as they had before lunch.
Jack stopped working and turned to face Emma. "I'm sorry, I can't do this."
Her heart fell into a pit below her stomach.
"It's just too distracting having you this close to me. I can't get any work done because I keep looking at you and thinking about you and wanting to hold your hand again", he said, his voice a mixture of anguish and longing.
Her heart vaulted back to her chest and started beating faster.
"It's not right. I'm 16 years older than you and I'm technically your boss, or at least I'm a boss so it's against company policy. I need to do the right thing and not put you in a compromising position. I'm going to move my stuff back to my office."
Amid the desperation to stay close to Jack and growing sadness inside her, Emma felt a twinge of lust for Jack as her mind flashed on one or two positions she would like Jack to put her in.
As Jack began to gather his things Emma looked up and laid a hand on his arm. Fighting to keep tears from welling up in her eyes she gently spoke, "It's okay. You're not doing anything that compromises me. I'm a big girl, I can handle myself. Just stay here."
Emma couldn't tell what she saw in Jack's eyes as he looked down at her. If she had to place a label on it she would have chosen 'pain'.
"I'm sorry, Emma. I don't know that I can handle myself around you." He turned and in a few strides was out of the room.
Emma's hands returned to her keyboard and typed some gobbledygook. She was looking at the screen but wasn't seeing. Even if she had seen the typed page, it would have been all blurry as a single tear spilled out of one eye and ran down her cheek.
Sitting at his desk Jack still couldn't concentrate. His mind couldn't, wouldn't focus on work. It was on one track only and that track lead straight to Emmaville. He debated the issues in his head, only instead of debating the reasons why he shouldn't do anything with her or all of the negative issues and complications that would surround any type of relationship that might develop, all he could do was remember what she looked like standing in his doorway this morning, the feel of her hand in his, that cute little giggle, that softness and sweetness in her eyes, how smart she was, how infinitely better he was working with her.
He drifted into fantasizing about what it would be like to hold more than just her hand, about what it would be like to be the sole focus of that softness and sweetness that was at her core, of what he could and would like to do to make her happy. He stopped for a moment, ran his hand over his face, opened his eyes and stood. This woman was worth it and he'd be a fool not to let her know how he felt. He stood in his doorway from which he could see the top of her head over the wall of her cubicle. "Emma", he called softly, "would you mind coming here for a minute when you're free?"
She had been back in her cube for no more than twenty minutes when she heard him call her name. His voice was firm and gentle at the same time, commanding yet with a trace of pleading, no, expectation, no, hope, that's what she heard in it. She must have looked like a prairie dog as she popped up out of her chair so quickly.
"Sure, be right there..., Sir", she added trying to keep the tone light.
It was all she could do to keep from running to him. He stood aside, one hand on the door the other inviting her into his office. She looked in his eyes as she entered and could not read what she saw in them. Before she knew it the door was closing behind her, the inviting hand and arm were on one side of her and the other on the other side. Jack was moving forward eliminating any space between them until his body pinned hers against the back of the door.
"Emma" he said in a throaty whisper staring straight into her eyes as he brought his right hand up to tenderly cup the left side of her face and his left hand moved to the small of her back to pull her even closer to him. He leaned in and kissed her on the lips; a soft, tender kiss that would be all too short.
Her right hand flew to the back of his neck and held him tight, her left hand slipped behind him to press his right shoulder closer to her and she kissed him back.
Jack's kiss changed in an instant. He held her tighter with both hands, his lips and mouth became more insistent, more demanding and soon his tongue was in on the act exploring her lips for more.
Emma moaned and felt the moisture gushing inside her. 30 seconds more of this and she would have a wet spot in her jeans let alone her panties!
Jack heard her little moan and responded with a deep, guttural half "mmmmm", half "grrrrrr". He was acutely aware of the blood flow suddenly racing to swell his penis. His attention was immediately redirected as Emma broke off the kiss only to bite and hold his lower lip between her teeth for a few moments.
He looked directly in her blue eyes and said "ooohhh, you..., you..."
"Yes?" she taunted with a teasing, playful look on her face, her fingernails lightly scratching through the hair on the back of his head as she stared back directly into his eyes. Those hazel eyes that looked green one minute, gold another and a soft grey another.
"I think work is done for the day" he said softly, kissing her forehead.
Emma leaned in and rested her cheek on his shoulder. Her left arm continued to hold him tightly and the fingers of her right hand weaved through his hair. Tears welled in her eyes and spilled out, collecting and creating a wet spot on his shirt.
Jack felt the wetness on his shoulder and leaned back, "Are you all right?" he asked with concern.
"I'm perfectly fine. I'm more than fine, I'm very happy."
He gently tucked her head back in against his shoulder and placed soft kisses on the top of her head feeling the silken texture of her hair and breathing in the light fragrance of her shampoo.
"Mmmmmmmm", she almost purred as she relaxed in his arms, leaning more against him, "you are such a man."
They stayed like that for an unmeasured amount of time, eons or seconds felt the same. Each became aware of the others heartbeat. Jack became aware of the pleasant feeling of Emma's breasts pressing against his rib cage. Emma became aware of the new shape at the top of Jack's left thigh. She tried to shift her hips so that she could feel it press more against her mound than her hip.
Jack felt her shift and leaned his head back. When Emma leaned hers back to look up at him he raised both eyebrows putting a silent question to her. Emma answered by slowly grinding her pelvis against his bulge.
Jack's hands moved to cup Emma's ass and pull her off the floor while pushing her back harder against the door. Emma threw both her legs over his hips and hooked her heels just under his ass while throwing both hands around his neck.
Jack could not help himself. He began dry humping her with a sense of urgency. "Oh, Emma Catherine Richardson, what you do to me!"
