It was late and Allison knew her boss would probably be settling in for bed with his family, but these files could not wait. They were on a tight deadline with this contract and if they had any hope of getting it settled in time, they needed every second they could. Things had been strained at the office ever since two weeks ago when they'd come so close to each other, come so close giving in to the attraction that had seeded and grown over the last year and a half. He'd kissed her, only for a moment, and she'd kissed him back. It had been so stupid, so reckless, and she was amazed he hadn't found a way to get her let go, or transferred away from him. But she was still his assistant, no matter how little he wanted direct contact with her lately.
She'd weighed these things before coming over. Tony was obviously upset, with her, with himself, she wasn't sure how much of each. And coming to his home was a risky move. But his wife would be there, and their two girls. All she was doing was dropping off some files and then she'd go home, sink into a relaxing bath, and think about anything except the way he had finally acknowledged the unanswered attraction she had seen fleeting in his eyes every now and then for months.
With a deep breath, she gathered herself, put on her professional face, and pressed the doorbell. Almost immediately she heard the frenzied barking of his energetic dog Wilder ("Named for the poet, but shockingly accurate," he'd told her once) as he ran to the door to greet the stranger. She'd never met him, just seen one picture of the beautiful Border Collie on her boss's desk, posing with a smile and a panting tongue, two beautiful girls hanging on him, Tony's daughters.
After a few minutes, Allison heard some swearing in a man's voice, her boss no doubt, and the dog seemed to calm down a little, the barking less frantic. A shuffling sound was heard at the door as the dog was probably pushed away. Finally, it opened, a very familiar man appearing with a dog poking its nose through his legs to try and get a look at the visitor.
Tony's appearance shocked Allison. She was used to pressed shirts, a nice suit, coordinating ties. His thick brown hair was always immaculately combed, the goatee he had adopted recently always trimmed with no stubble straying outside the lines. Tonight his hair was tousled and the morning's stubble was on its way in. He had on a pair of old pajama pants, made out of a solid gray sort of flannel material. He had no shirt on, and that was probably what startled Allison the most. For a man with almost twenty years on her, he was in spectacular shape. There weren't the hard defined lines of the twenty-somethings in her peer group, the ones that spent hours in the gym so they'd look good at a pool, or on a lakeside beach, or anywhere else they'd get an excuse to take their shirts off in front of women. But at forty-two he still had clearly defined shape and musculature that made her really wonder why in the hell she hadn't decided to wait until the morning when he'd be dressed and in the office and not so incredible tempting.
"I—I'm sorry if I woke you or your family... I had some files for you dealing with the Carterman contract. They just came through."
Tony was as shocked by her appearance as she was his, though more by the fact that she was making an appearance rather than what she was wearing. He was used to well-tailored women's suits or professional skirts and blouses. Usually some pumps gave her another two or so inches, but today she was shorter than usual in a pair of sandals. She had on some nice faded jeans, something he'd never seen her in but realized now he liked, and on top was a simple blue and white striped shirt. It didn't fit to her curves, but fluttered over them in an innocent and feminine way. Her hair had been let down out of the messy bun he usually saw it in and he got a better look than usual at the red-and-gold waves as they tumbled down her back. She was absolutely beautiful in a way he hadn't yet seen her, and at the same time he was struck by how young she was compared to him -- only twenty-four.
"Were you working this late?" was the first thing he could think of to say to her, shocked. He didn't even notice as the dog managed to slip out and began to sniff Allison's legs and ankles, tail wagging enthusiastically.
"Well, no. I was up, though, watching a movie and having a glass of wine—" maybe she shouldn't admit that part when she'd driven there, but it hadn't been much "—when the fax came through. I thought you might want to get these so you could at least look over them this weekend before you came in Monday."
He noticed her pretty freckled cheeks were flushed red and then he realized his own state of half-undress. Now he was embarrassed, but he wouldn't let that show like it so easily did on her pale complexion. "Thanks. Um, come in real quick and we can take a quick look at them," he offered, trying to act normal, but the flush on those cheeks was the exact same one that had risen two weeks prior when he'd lost control for just a moment and kissed her. "Wilder, get inside," he barked and his dog slinked inside, realizing that the leniency was over. His tail continued wagging when his new-found friend followed them in, though.
"Sure." Pushing her emotions aside, though knowing how obvious her nerves had to be in her hot cheeks, she stepped over the threshold and into his beautiful, sprawling home. She followed him through the foyer, petting Wilder briefly on the head -- she loved dogs and this one was certainly a charmer -- and into the living room. An empty beer bottle sat on one of the end tables and the TV was on a commercial. "Did I wake anybody?" It seemed like he had been out on the couch still, but she wanted to be sure. There was no sign of his wife, at least.
He shook his head. "Only me, but that's probably a good thing. I'd fallen asleep out here and my neck would have started to cramp up." At the question in her pretty green eyes, he added, "My wife actually isn't here. She took the girls to see her mom and sister for the weekend so I'm living la vida bachelor. So no worries."
That made Allison feel a lot better. There was still some awkward tension as she perched lightly on one of the sofa cushions near him, but the knowledge that she would not have to have any uncomfortable face time with Daphne made her a lot more relaxed. "They countered again, but accepted some of your terms," she began.
He had just sat down but stood up again. "Shocker. Which ones? And can I get you something to drink?"
"Water please." It was a safe answer. "And the ones we didn't actually care about, of course."
