Accidental Delivery

Chapter 6 – Discovered

She shifted against the hard surface she was resting against and sighed as her eyes fluttered open. Awareness came to her like a jolt, remembering all the naughty things she had done with Nick all through the night. A secret grin crept across her face as she remembered waking Nick up with a little surprise. She wondered if she could manage to do the same again.

Just as she was considering what to do, Nick's arms tightened against her, he kissed her neck and asked "Morning beautiful, how did you sleep?"

She groaned and turned in his arms until she faced him, she kissed him softly before saying, "Brilliantly, but I ache all over."

He chuckled and questioned, "It was a real workout wasn't it?"

"That indeed it was, now I need a shower," she muttered.

He grinned and said, "I'll do your back."

"Well then I get to do yours too," she said huskily.

"None of that, we don't have enough time. I've got to get back home and get ready considering you destroyed my clothes last night," he said gruffly.

"You liked it though didn't you?" she asked cheekily as she slid out of bed and into the bathroom. His gaze lingered on her ass as he watched her sway to the bathroom door.

She turned at the door and asked, "You coming?"

He grinned sexily and climbed out of bed and strode towards her, "Of course." There was no way he was going to be able to resist those sexy curves regardless of the time constraints.

***

Michael looked at the screen in a mixture of amusement and disbelief. He couldn't believe that one of his most timid employees would be up to such illicit acts. He closed the recorded security feed shaking his head. What on earth was he going to do about this. They were good and loyal employees, he'd hate to lose them over something that seemed more than just a fling. Grateful that he was the one that found out and not his co-manager, that guy didn't have a forgiving bone in his body.

Nick and Marie? Who would have thought? Though it might actually be good for them, Nick was known for being a workaholic, and Marie was too timid for her own good at times. Maybe it was true what they said about opposites attracting. A romantic at heart he knew that he had to give them a shot. The best thing that he could do for them was to send them off together for a while.

He still couldn't believe that mousy Marie had instigated the whole thing as he looked again at the email the security head had sent him. Erotic letters and that video feed, he'd certainly felt the heat of their encounter. However, company policy was strict and he had to at least make it appear that he was disciplining them. They didn't have to know that though he thought as he chuckled. He'd let them sweat it a bit first then he'd send them off.

He pressed a button on the intercom and said, "Jessica could you please send Marie Pierce and Nick Hammond to my office, I need to speak with them both."

"Sure thing Michael, I'll send them up when they get in," she said.

He grinned, Nick still wasn't in, he was usually early all the time. It was good that he was focusing some energy elsewhere for a change.

"Thank you Jessica, make that four p.m it's not urgent. I just need to talk to them before they leave for the day," he said.

"Sure, I'll let them know," she replied.

"Thanks," he said and released the button.

He sent a quick note to his security chief informing him that the situation was being dealt with and that he expected absolute discretion on the matter.

***

"Dinner tonight at my place?" Nick asked Marie as they stepped out of the elevator.

"Of course, I'd love to taste you're cooking for myself," she said grinning.

"You'll be surprised, I like to cook," he said as they neared the office.

"Ok, do you want to get lunch together?" asked Marie regretting it the moment it came out of her mouth. He may not want to spend that much time together. He'd just asked her to dinner, she was probably pushing her luck..

"Sure, depends on how much work we need to get done. We did kind of lose quite a bit of working time yesterday," he said his eyes darkening. At the moment he wanted nothing more than to spend every waking moment with her.

Marie groaned, misunderstanding his hedging response. "Yeah, ok maybe then," she stammered.

Nick looked at the disappointed look on her face and it dawned on him how his words would have come across. He chuckled and then leaned in and kissed her hard before pulling back, "See you at 12:30 right here," he said.

"Ok," she said a little breathlessly as she watched him walk away. Well that just settled that question. The man was dangerous.

Marie took a moment to compose herself and walked over to her workstation, started up the computer and got right to it. Nick was right, they certainly did have a lot of work to get through today, having had that distraction yesterday. Looking at her paper strewn desk she noticed a note that was obviously from management. She picked it up and scanned it quickly..

Meeting with the boss at 4pm

- Jessica

Trembling she dropped the paper back on the desk. The implications of the note were too many to count but her mind strayed to the worst possible scenario. Maybe he had already seen her emails, the thought shocked her and had her scared witless. Again she was back in that place she was yesterday after accidentally the first email to Nick, full of fear and apprehension. Within 24 hours she could be the cause of getting bother herself and Nick fired as well. Trying to remain positive and knowing there was nothing she could do now anyway, she opened up a file, she had a lot of work to do.

***

Nick leaned against a wall outside of the office doors and waited for Marie to emerge. He was also anxious about the note he had received about the meeting. It was bothering him more than it should, mainly because he didn't know how much the boss knew. He realized that even the emails could be grounds for sacking but if he knew about their encounter in the supply closet, no he wasn't going to think about that. He knew Michael pretty well, not enough to call him a friend, but enough to know that he would be fair.

Before he could get himself more wound up Marie stepped out and walked over to him. "Ready to go?" she asked.

"Are you ok Marie?" he asked as he noticed her tense expression.

"Nothing, just a note I got about a meeting so I might be late finishing," she said.

"Same note I got then," he said sighing.

"Damn I thought it was just me. I feel bad, I've gotten you into trouble," said Marie.

Nick grinned and said, "Nothing I can't handle, besides I replied to your email didn't I? That letter fried my logical brain. I have no regrets though, given the choice I'd do it again."

"I'm glad you feel that way, me too, I just wanted the floor to swallow me up once I realized what happened and the trouble we could get into," she said worriedly.

"Let's go and worry about the meeting later," He chuckled trying to ease the tension.

"Good idea," said Marie as they walked towards the elevator. Staring at him over lunch was going to be a wonderful distraction.

***

Michael looked at the time on the monitor as he finished up a contract proposal. It was time for his meeting with Nick and Marie. He reached over to the intercom and pressed down the button, "Are Nick and Marie here yet?" he asked.

"Yes they're here but not exactly patient, they're both pacing like they've been sent to the principal's office, what on earth have they done?," she asked inquisitively.

"It's nothing major Jess, send them in please," he said firmly his tone implying no further discussion.

"Right away," came the chastised voice of Jess over the intercom .

***

"The boss will see you both now," said Jessica.

Nick and Marie looked at her with acknowledgement and turned towards the door. Nick reached the door and pulled it open. "Ladies first," he said.

Marie flashed him a smile and whispered, "Coward."

He grinned and followed her into the room pulling the door shut.

"Have a seat, I have something serious to discuss with both of you," Michael said in a serious tone. He didn't really want to do it but he had to otherwise head management would step in and they'd probably end up in much worse trouble. He figured if he got the heavy handedness out of the way first, make them understand the seriousness he could then indulge his romantic side.

They sat down slowly, their tense expressions mirror images. "I have brought you here to discuss a very important matter. This company takes this kind of behaviour very seriously." Michael said with a stern look. He then turned the computer monitor to face them and pressed play.

On it was video footage from the supply closet from their tryst yesterday. Nick felt the blood drain from his face and Marie found she couldn't breathe properly. This was not what they expected.

"Now before you say anything, this camera was placed in the room because supplies have been disappearing. This was not it's intended purpose, however it seems to have been effective to an extent as you can see," Michael said with a sigh. "I also know about the emails," he continued.

Marie felt like she was going to throw up. This wasn't a game both of their careers were on the line. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it again. There was no defence for this sort of behaviour in the workplace. If you got caught that is.

Michael looked at them and held back a chuckle. Time to put them out of their misery. "You have put me in a tough position. You're both great workers but I can't let this go unpunished if upper management review your files they won't be as lenient. You are fortunate that it wasn't the other manager that found out about this, he would have destroyed you," he continued.

"I don't want you to worry about the emails, they have been removed from the server, and this footage has been deleted so your reputations will remain intact." Michael assured them.

Marie was in shock, she knew she had gone extremely pale. The crushing tight grip of Nick's hand on her thigh told her that he was experiencing a similar reaction.

Nick was shaking, he couldn't believe his total lack of control yesterday had lead to this. It was completely reckless and he had never considered for a moment any of the possible consequences.

"Because of the seriousness of this situation I am required to give you both a formal reprimand. I can make it as vague as possible so that no one knows what exactly happened here but it will still be on your files. I also have to suspend you both for unprofessional conduct. Two weeks. I realize that it isn't my place to comment but you two have something here so I suggest that you take this time off to have a holiday and come back refreshed. Maybe then you won't be tempted to use the office as your own personal playground," Michael said with a smile as he turned the monitor back towards facing him. He cleared the screen and deleted the files.

"Now go and relax, besides you do need a holiday anyway. You both work so hard," he said and it was clear that it was a dismissal.

They stood up and walked shakily towards the door, Nick grabbed Marie's arm to hold her steady. He pulled the door open and followed her through. Before the door closed Michael called out, "Have fun!." He grinned at the door as it shut.

They both looked at the door in surprise before Nick asked in a careful tone "Marie are you going to be ok?"

"I think I'm going to be sick," she said not daring to think about how close they both came to losing their jobs.

"I know the feeling," he said.

"It's all my fault Nick, if I hadn't been so careless none of this would have happened," she said distraught.

"Hey, I was part of this too. You didn't force me into anything. I know that was tense in there but as I said before: No regrets. Besides I'm more worried about you," he said and he gently stroked her arm.

"It's ok I'll be fine once the shock wears off," she said trying to smile.

"Sure?" he asked.

"I'm sure, Now didn't you promise me dinner?" she asked with a cheeky grin.

"Of course, I'll see you outside," he said relieved that Marie wasn't scared off by the turn of events.

***

Sitting across from her at a table in a cafe, after their afternoon he couldn't even begin to think about cooking, Nick studied Marie. She wasn't conventionally beautiful but to him she was stunning. Moreover she was, so warm and kind. He hated seeing her as distraught as she had been earlier. "There's something I want to ask you Marie," said Nick.

"Yes?" said Marie as she sat up straighter as she played with her salad.

"Where do you see this going? Us I mean," he asked.

Marie hesitated for a moment, how honest was she suppose to be? Sure he was hot but was this more than just great sex? What about what they had done, the trouble they'd caused each other? He sat their waiting patiently for her to respond looking much like a god come to life while she was sure she sat slumped probably with her mouth gaping open like a fish. She had to say something quickly before he thought the worst.

"I think I agree with Michael. I think there is something more between us. I'm hoping you feel the same way," she said simply.

He grinned and said, "Good, then we can go on holiday together, let me make the travel arrangements and then we'll talk about it. I think Michael might actually be on our side especially since he didn't just fire us."

Her earlier discomfort had slowly melted away and now hearing this, she grinned, "Maybe he's a romantic deep inside, it sure wasn't the reaction I expected to get. But, you said you were going to make the travel arrangements, what about us going over to my place first to discuss the details?"

"Hmm, no. I'm taking you back to my place. Tonight you are my hostage," he said a slow smile forming as his eyes darkened with passion.

"I'm your hostage then am I?" she asked pretending to be offended.

"Of course, and there is no ransom so you're coming with me," he growled. He stood up, grabbed her hand and pulled her up against him. Leaning in close he whispered hotly in her ear. "You're mine now." Half dragging her along he escorted her towards his car and opened the door pushing her in. "Buckle up," he said huskily his control tenuous at this point.

A shiver ran down her spine, it was going to be hot out again tonight and she couldn't wait.