"I can only stay for one drink. The nanny agreed to stay an extra hour, but I don't want to push my luck." Maryann pulled open the door to the dive bar, the warm air a welcome after their brief walk across the crunchy snow.
"No worries. I think it's more perfunctory than anything. The company is trying to encourage us to mingle in hopes that we'll bond and naturally want to make our hybrid work environment more in-office." Veronica unwound her scarf from her neck, scanning the dim lighting for anyone they knew.
"Good luck with that." Maryann laughed. "Oh look, there's Jesse."
The two women made their way to a corner booth where the vibrant redhead from Legal was waving them down.
"Thanks for coming out, ladies. Good to see you. Here let me slide in. It's tight, but we should all fit." Jesse grinned, sliding his drink in front of his new seat.
They sat down, untangling themselves from their coats. Veronica was happy for the end seat at the already cramped table as she busied herself looking at the drink menu.
"Hey guys, room for one more?"
Veronica looked up to see Ryan, the resident IT guy standing at the edge of their booth.
"Of course! I think we can squeeze one more in." Jesse answered for everyone, encouraging Maryann and Veronica to push in further to accommodate the newest guest. "Anyone else comes and we'll have to grab some chairs."
"Hey," Ryan smiled as he pushed in next to her. "Sorry for the tight squeeze."
"No worries," Veronica smiled. She hoped the dim lights made her blush less obvious. Why, of all people, did she now have her leg pushed up against Ryan's?
She was still embarrassed from the day three weeks ago when he came up while she was in a meeting to fix a cable under her desk. She hadn't been paying attention and sat down, effectively trapping him under her desk.
"Umm, excuse me." His voice had come from under her desk, startling her back to the point where she had almost fallen back out of her chair. She yelped, flailing in the air. Still crouched on the ground, Ryan put his hands on her knees as a counter balance and preventing her from tipping out of her chair entirely.
They composed themselves in a flurry of apologies, him standing as he explained her printer should work better now. She felt embarrassed and foolish all day.
That was, until she got home. As she sat alone on her couch and she remembered the feeling of his hands on her legs. Those cool, steady hands. She imagined him staying under that desk and using those steady hands to slide her knees open. She imagined him sliding his hands up her thighs and pulling her to the edge of her chair. She could almost feel the cool of his fingers as he slid her panties to the side to give his tongue access to her clit.
Her hand was in her panties there on the couch, stroking herself in the same rhythm she imagined his tongue would work her. She imagined sitting at her desk and seeing nothing but his dark tousled hair and horn-rimmed glasses between her legs. She came with that image in her mind, blinking back stars as she thought about mischief in his green eyes.
It wouldn't be so bad, but she had gotten herself off to variations of that fantasy at least a half dozen times since then- including one that ended with her bent over her desk as he took her from behind.
And now here she was trapped in a booth next to him, their thighs pressed together and his arm rubbing against her.
"And for you, miss?"
Veronica had been lost in her head and hadn't noticed the waitress arrive to take drink orders.
"Old fashioned, please." She tried to sound casual, and not like she was sitting here with slightly damp panties.
Get yourself together.
"I didn't peg you as a whiskey drinker," Ryan raised an eyebrow at her, a smile on his lips that exposed his dimples.
Too late.
"Really? What were you expecting?"
He shrugged, those dimples still visible. "You seemed like more a white wine sort of woman. Maybe a vodka cranberry if you were feeling a bit wild."
She laughed. "I mean, I will drink both of those as well. But after this week, I need something stronger."
"Tell me about it," Maryann chimed in. "I thought we were never going to make it through that presentation."
"Hey, no work talk! This is happy hour." Jesse playfully chided.
Veronica threw her hands up in mock protest. "Don't blame me, all I did was order whiskey."
The table bubbles in laughter before people started returning to their individual conversations.
"Is your printer working better?" Ryan turned back to her, his green eyes glinting under his glasses.
She felt herself blush, worried he could read her thoughts. He looked so nice, like someone she could take home and introduce to her grandmother. And here he was staring in her dirtiest fantasies. "Much better, thanks for fixing it."
"No problem, just doing my job. Sorry again for startling you."
"If it makes you feel better, I have checked my desk before sitting down every time since," she smiled at him. She wasn't kidding.
He gave a warm laugh. "I promise I'll wear a bell if I have to go under there again. I'm not going to lie, I momentarily felt like Bender in the Breakfast Club. Although hopefully less predatory."
She remembered the scene of Bender under the desk, looking up Claire's skirt. She hadn't considered what he might have seen, but now she was wondering if he had seen her panties too. The thought made her more wet than she would like to admit.
Thankfully the waitress arrived with their drinks, preventing her needing to respond.
"I wasn't being nosy, but I noticed a picture of you in front of the Golden Gate Bridge on your desk. I'm going out to San Francisco for a friend's wedding next month. Do you have any can't-miss recommendations?"
"Yes! So many. I went to college out at SF State and lived there for like 5 years after." She began rattling off her top 5 favorite taquerias in order.
They fell into an easy conversation, so much so that Veronica was startled when Maryann nudged her. "I'm sorry. I've got to go relieve the nanny."
