Mr. Good Bad Guy

47 - Explain

I watched as his eyes flickered to me, then over my shoulder again. "Is there someone else here?"

"No," he said, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "I'm just...thinking. About something else." He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I apologize if I'm being rude. I'm still trying to process everything."

I smiled at him, trying to reassure him. "It's okay. I understand." I glanced around the restaurant, feeling a little awkward. "So, um...what would you like to talk about?"

Isaias looked at me, his expression unreadable. "I...I want to know what happened. Did you purposely leave your shoes behind? And that note?"

"The note was on purpose. I thought I'd risk waking you up, if I went back inside to grab my shoes."

"And you thought that was a good idea?" Isaias's voice was tight.

"I thought...I thought you'd want to talk about it." I shrugged helplessly. "I didn't want to leave, but..."

There was a long silence. Isaias closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then opened them again. "And you were right. I do want to talk about it. I've been going over and over everything in my head since I read the note. I've been trying to figure out why you didn't just stay. I would have pretended nothing happened."

He paused, looking down at the table. "I don't know what to think, Irene. You were so...intense that night. Like you wanted more than just a one-time thing."

I reached across the table, taking his hand in mine. His skin was warm and smooth. He pulled away. "I wanted to be more than a one-time thing, but you're my boss. I was afraid that if anything went wrong, I'd regret ever...liking you."

"You don't like me," Isaias said, his voice harsh. "You're just infatuated with me, because you see me as some sort of forbidden fruit. You're young, and you're attracted to the power I have over you. It's not real."

Who hurt this man! They deserve to be hurt the same way. Maybe worse. I didn't like seeing him like this. I never admitted liking him before. What made him think I was some woman infatuated with the idea of fucking my hot boss? I only saw him as my boss, and that was enough to keep me from jumping his bones whenever we were alone. If I were that crazy, I would have fucked him in the basement.

"Isaias, I do like you. Honestly, it took me forever to admit that to myself. I left my shoes, because I was afraid I'd have to verbally admit I liked what I didn't remember. I was afraid you'd say it was a mistake and that we should be careful. I didn't want to risk losing you as my boss, or as a friend. I thought I could just forget about it and move on, but..."

He looked at me then, really looked at me, his eyes boring into mine. "But what?" he asked.

"But I can't forget about it. I wanted more. I wanted to know what would have happened if I'd stayed."

There was another long silence as we stared at each other across the table. Isaias looked down at his hands, then back up at me. "Irene," he began, his voice strained, "I don't want to lose you as a friend or as a colleague. If we do this, I need to know that we can both be honest with each other. That we can trust each other."

I nodded, swallowing hard. "I can be honest. I can trust you. You can trust me."

He took a deep breath, then reached out and took my hand. This time, his grip was gentle, almost tentative. "Good," he said, his voice softening. "Because I want to see where this goes. But we need to be careful. We can't let anyone find out."

"I understand," I said, squeezing his hand back. "I'll do whatever you need me to."

Isaias smiled then, a real, genuine smile that lit up his whole face. It was like seeing the sun break through the clouds after a storm. "Good," he said, his voice still gentle. "Because I want to see a lot more of that infatuation from you." He leaned in closer, his breath warm against my ear. "And I want to see where it leads us."