Gem in the Rough

Chapter 7

A smile grows on my lips, and I breathe in slowly, preparing myself to make an advance. My body continues to move in tandem with the beat, but suddenly the song ends and a new one comes on, Slow Motion by Juvenile. I smirk to myself thinking about the irony, especially since this song is such a throwback.

I make eye contact with Alice, an evil glint in her eye; she knows what I'm up to. She shows her approval with a laugh as I back up slowly, moving my hips to the music. I feel him closer, and I take another breath, this time getting a waft of his scent. He smells of soap, something with a woodsy undertone.

As I take one more step back, Alice winks in my direction and then turns away, giving me my privacy now that our mission had been accomplished.

My back end feels him first, and before I can react, his hands grip my hips. I gasp lightly, continuing to move against him erotically. This continues for a few beats and when I feel more comfortable, I bend my head back to rest on his leather-clad shoulder. I can feel his breath on my neck, smelling slightly of Jack Daniels. Goosebumps fill my arms from the contact. My head turns slowly towards his ear as I whisper his name.

"Kieran."

I hear a growl come from him as he takes one of his hands from my hip, brushing my hair from my neck, placing his lips right underneath my ear. My ass continues to grind into his pelvis slowly with the song, never breaking contact, and begins to become more aggressive when his lips don't leave me after many moments. They sit against my skin, his breathing becoming ragged.

The heat and butterflies in my stomach don't let up. I silently thank the alcohol for considerably lifting my inhibitions.

When he removes his soft lips, he only redirects them slightly upwards to my ear. "What are you doing, Gem?"

I shiver at his nickname for me. "Dancing. Can't you tell?" I answer breathlessly.

He chuckles and nibbles at my earlobe, "Oh yeah, I can tell. You look gorgeous tonight. Trying to impress someone?"

This question causes a spark in me. I don't stop my movement, but I turn in his arms so we're facing one another, though I need to look up slightly to look into his smoldering blue eyes. Even in heels he's taller than me by a few inches. My arms rise and land around his neck, his hands finding them and then running down my body, over my sides and back to my hips in a sensually slow pace. I shiver in delight.

"Maybe. Do I look impressive?"

"Maybe."

Our eyes meet as our bodies move together, neither of us willing to stop first. This is feeling more and more like a game, and I honestly don't want to play anymore. I want to feel his lips on mine, not just on my neck, and I want to know I'm the only one he wants. At least for tonight. But only my mind knows I'd like him for longer.

My gaze leaves his and falls to his lips briefly, and as soon as they do I know it was a mistake. Kieran's eyes turn soft instead of the previous fiery stare I had been receiving.

"I'm sorry, Gem. I keep doing this. I...I can't."

Kieran brushes my left cheek with his knuckles and kisses the other softly, whispering "beautiful", before turning away and losing himself in the crowd. Suddenly I'm left alone in the middle of the dance floor, nobody realizing the emotional turmoil I'm feeling inside.

At least it feels that way until I feel an arm move around my waist and Alice's head lands on my shoulder. Best friend to the rescue, as always.

--

It's now Wednesday. I had been avoiding Kieran since Saturday night and it's driving me insane. Trying to get work done is almost impossible when I know he's probably in the other room. I've been showing up a couple minutes late, so I won't run into him when our shifts start. I guess this is what my dad meant about guys being a distraction.

"Gemma? Hello? Your phone is ringing."

I stop daydreaming and smile lamely at Anthony, answering the phone on my desk.

"WSU Tech Office, this is Gemma."

"Uh, hey Gemma. It's Kieran." My mouth goes dry. When I attempt to answer, nothing comes out. "Sorry, I was looking for Anthony. Can you get him for me?"

"Sure," I state firmly, trying to get my shit together. I'm not this person, I don't get flustered like this. I need to retrain my brain to get back to my bad bitch ways, stat. In my defense, I thought he was working so I did not expect his voice to be on the other end of the call.

I hand the phone to Anthony, mouthing Kieran's name. Anthony takes the call and from what I can hear, it sounds like Kieran isn't coming to the office today for his shift. Anthony hangs up and sighs.

"What's up?" I ask, more curious than I'd like to admit. Anthony smiles knowingly at my question.

"He isn't coming in today and said he may need to get a few shifts covered over the next couple of days. Something came up, I guess. We can do without him today, but can you text him and see if you can help with some shifts? Or maybe even see if you can get others to help him out since you're not exactly a tech? I don't want us to be too short-staffed before the tech fair."

"You know, I'd love to, but I don't have his number. Sorry!" I stand up quickly and sprint to the bathroom, hoping to avoid the inevitable. I think I succeed, until I return to my desk and see a post-it on my laptop with Kieran's number.

The note from Anthony reads, "Here's Kieran's number. Nice try." It also includes a smiley face. I roll my eyes and snatch the note off my screen.

I contemplate not doing what Anthony asked because it's technically his job to do the scheduling, but I depend so much on this job that I can't risk losing it. Not like he'd fire me, but I hate letting people down.

Huffing in annoyance, I finish off the last few hours of my shift. When I'm about to leave the office, I receive a text message from Abby, one of the students I've been tutoring. She's confirming our session that's due to begin in twenty minutes. I send her a quick confirmation and start to pack my bag.

I make my way to the library and get there in record time, climbing the steps to the second floor where I usually spend my time tutoring. I enter the room that I booked for the next two hours and find Abby waiting for me, laptop open and ready to go.

"Hey Abby! How have you been?"

"Great, thanks. This psychology paper is giving me trouble though, not going to lie." Abby laughs and shakes her head.

"Yeah, I bet. I remember taking that class last year and writing that paper was the worst. The rest of the class was a breeze."

Abby and I get to work, going over her paper for the next couple of hours. A knock at the door stops our thoughts. A guy with a WSU hat opens the door and says another group needs the room.

"I hope that helped a little, Abby. Text me if you need anything else! Also, please remember to log that I tutored you today." I smile at Abby, waving to her as she walks towards the tutoring center as I leave the library.

After starting my walk home, I receive a text from another student that I tutor. That's when I remember who I still haven't texted and decide that it's better to get it over with now.

I enter Kieran's contact information into my phone and spend a few minutes trying to come up with something to say. After typing and deleting for ten minutes, I finally send my first text to him. It's the perfect amount of friendly and witty while not being too awkward. It's too late to turn back now anyway, the damage has already been done.

Me: Key Kieran, it's Gemma. I heard you need my services? :)