Dating a coworker was never a good idea. Hank had learned this numerous times before, no matter how many times he'd tried it had blown up in his face. Mimi had cheated on him and then blamed him for pushing her away. Rachel kept saying she wanted more but shied away whenever he tried to kiss her and Heather wanted nothing but sex.
He didn't know why all of these women blamed him, he was always nice to them and tried to treat them respectfully but it didn't matter, once they had broken up work became unbearable until they inevitably quit or found a new man. So when Jess started to show interest in him he did everything to push her away. He tried to focus on work, openly hit on other women in front of her and even declined numerous offers to hang out. Hank was convinced if he kept on going it would get his point across but he couldn't help being attracted to her.
Jess was funny, kind of a goof and beautiful, she was exactly his type and from what she had told him of her exes he was hers, a husky nerd. Jess must have realized that he was struggling to resist her because her shirts started to become lower cut and she went from always wearing jeans to wearing shorts and skirts.
Hank almost broke one night at a work party, the company had made a donation to a charity and had sent a number of representatives to the ceremony including Hank and Jess. Hank showed up in a suit and found Jess wearing a strapless red dress that showed as much cleavage as it could. The two of them spent the night together as they didn't know anyone else at the event. When they were seated for dinner Jess took the spot next to him and spent the night telling jokes and constantly putting her hand on his thigh under the table. Hank tried his best to hide his erection but there wasn't much he could do. Just when he thought he would break she got the call that her ride was there to get her. Hank breathed a sigh of relief and walked her to the door where she gave him a kiss on the cheek and they said goodnight.
Hank's whole attempt to keep Jess at arm's length came to a head about a week later after work. Hank always got out an hour after Jess once he'd closed up the office. Today he came out to find the parking lot empty except for their two cars and Jess standing by his car waiting for him.
"Hey," said Hank, "what are you still doing here?"
"Waiting for you," said Jess as she looked up at him, "do you have a minute?"
"Of course," said Hank, "is everything ok?"
"I just wanted to," said Jess as she walked up to him, "I can't do this anymore."
Jess pulled Hank's face down to hers and pressed her lips to his.
"Tell me you haven't been waiting for that," said Jess desperately, "tell me you haven't thought about me."
He couldn't lie, he had been thinking about her, he had been thinking about her as a friend, and as more than a friend and yes he'd also thought about her sexually. She was gorgeous but she never carried herself like that. He had been thinking about this for a while, and since the charity event it had become unbearable. But how could he express that, how could he say all of that without tripping over his words. He looked down at her begging him to say something and kissed her.
He pulled her to him as close as he could and pressed his tongue into her mouth and she greeted him with hers. After a kiss that seemed to go on forever but was over too soon Hank finally let her go and they caught their breath as they looked into each other's eyes.
"That was exactly the answer I was looking for," said Jess. "My place tonight," she said handing him a slip of paper with her address on it.
Hank stood in disbelief as Jess got in her car and drove away. Hank finally got into his car and felt his pants struggling to hold his erection so alone in the empty parking lot he tugged one out and went home to get ready.
Hank went through outfits, what to wear, he finally decided on a button down shirt and jeans. Then he paced waiting until he psyched himself up enough to go, any thoughts about why he shouldn't were completely forgotten.