Note: Thank you to everyone who read my first story! I appreciated your responses very much, especially since I'm new to this. This is the second part to Unbidden, and you can go and read that first if you haven't yet, but this one has a bit of background. It also has some build-up before the sex so, heads up! I'd welcome your responses, good or bad, so please feel free to leave me some feedback. Thanks again!
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I woke up in a strange hotel bed, still pressed against Shaie with my head on her shoulder. My left arm draped across her shirted torso but my legs met bare skin under the white sheet that covered my own nakedness. I stretched lazily, breathing in her scent. Shaie's perfume still clung to her skin and mixed with her warmth, making her smell like a rose garden in summer.
I smiled as bits and pieces of the night before began running through my head. Not many people get to have their fantasies realized and have them turn out to be so much more than they could have ever imagined. And last night, Shaie did that—no, Shaie
was
that—for me.
Slowly, I propped myself on one arm and gazed down at her. She looked even more beautiful in sleep, her Hispanic features even softer. Instinctively, my hand reached out to brush a wayward curl off her forehead.
It was then that the implications of what we did last night decided to hit me, and I drew my hand back.
What the hell was I thinking?
Last that I heard, Shaie was in a relationship with a woman named Lucy. I have seen them together at parties, too, and two people couldn't be more perfect for each other. Both unbelievably gorgeous and successful women in their early thirties, I wouldn't dream of getting in between them, even if I thought I could.
Not that I thought I was ugly. I was fair-complexioned, with long brown curly hair falling just below my shoulders, deep brown eyes, button nose, and thin lips. My 36b's may be a tad big for my slim frame and, okay, I was a bit on the short side at 5'3", but that was nothing a couple inches of heels couldn't fix. I knew I have drawn in a fair number of people in my 28 years of existence.
Besides, Shaie found me plenty attractive enough last night.
Lucy, however, was in a whole other level. She had a strong personality to match her looks, too—the kind that would fight tooth and nail to get
and
keep what she wanted—and the last thing I needed in my life right now was unnecessary drama.
Which was why I had been, for the most part, content to simply nurse the crush I had on Shaie from afar. It never even crossed my mind to act on it before. I lived a pretty uncomplicated life and I liked it just the way it was.
But then, last night happened.
Clearly, it was a mistake, but that didn't mean it had to disrupt our lives, did it? I just needed to make sure it didn't happen again, which shouldn't be a problem. I had avoided Shaie before. I could easily do it again.
One night stands happen all the time
, I thought as I got off the bed. I found my clothes neatly folded on a desk, my phone sitting on top. The time read 5:18, Sunday morning.
I dressed hastily, eager to get away before Shaie woke up. I didn't want to have
that
conversation. Once fully clothed, I turned to leave, my eyes falling back on the beautiful woman I had just spent the night with.
Shaie looked so innocent, so peaceful while she slept that, for a moment, I was incredibly tempted to lie back down beside her. Instead, I did the right thing and walked out of the door.
I went to work Monday morning, confident that I had my Saturday night indiscretion safely behind me. No contact had been made by either parties since and, while I could admit feeling a little disappointed, I was also very relieved that Shaie and I seemed to be on the same page about it.
One perk of working for a small advertising firm was that we got to dress casually at the office. That day, I wore a plain royal blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up over tight denims and a pair of heels. The coffee brown scarf I had on was a bit odd, given that it was one of the hottest days this summer, but it was either that or show everyone the hickeys I still had on my neck that no amount of concealer could hide.
There were three of us in brand management—Brad, Kayla, and I—and we all shared the same small space at work. As I approached our cube that morning though, I could tell that they weren't too pleased about something.
"Should I even ask?" I quipped as I set my energy drink on my desk and sat in front of my computer.
Brad angled his chair slightly toward me and replied, "Check your emails."
I did, and saw that we all got an urgent one from our boss about a new potential client. A small, relatively new fitness company called Floe was looking to run an ad campaign in the city. Big whoop, right?
But Floe was apparently blanketed by a much bigger company that owned a lot of popular chains all over the country. Reeling in this small fish just might give us a shot at a bigger fish, and possibly get our foot in the door of national advertisement. Because of that, all three of us were expected to prepare and present ad pitches in a client meeting at 3 PM...
"
This