Falling for the Fire

Chapter 35

*Ariana's POV

My stomach fluttered nervously as Brooklyn sat down next to me that morning.

Things were a lot different this time around, and I wasn't sure how to act. She didn't hate me like I was pretty sure she had before, so that was always a plus.

"How's it going?" I asked her, doing my best to sound casual.

"Pretty good," she grinned, "what about you?"

The attempt to make awkward small talk was slightly painful, but I could tell that both of us were trying to figure out this new dynamic.

"I'm good," I said before lowering my voice, "feeling very awkward, but good."

Brooklyn laughed quietly as she nodded in agreement.

"At least I'm not the only one feeling that way," she said.

"Nope," I told her, "definitely not."

We settled into things as the day went on, but I very quickly realized that Brooklyn was not going to make this easy.

She started doing little things to tease me, and it was driving me crazy.

"I need to grab this folder, sorry," she said.

She stood up out of her chair and leaned in front of me to get it, and she got as close as she possibly could without anyone else noticing. Her arm grazed against mine as she did, and it sent an immediate shudder through my body.

"Would you knock it off," I mumbled.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said innocently.

"Uh huh," I grinned, "sure you don't."

"Definitely not," she shook her head.

As soon as the words left her mouth, I felt her hand on my thigh underneath the table.

"Brooklyn..." I whispered.

My eyes quickly looked around the room, making sure that no one else knew what was going on. They were all deep into their work, and no one seemed to have a clue.

Brooklyn pretended like she was leaning over to show me something on a piece of paper as her hand wandered further up my thigh.

"Don't you fucking dare," I said under my breath.

I glanced over at her and saw a mischievous smirk spreading across her lips. She slid her hand down to my inner thigh, and I quickly pushed my legs together to stop her from going any further.

"You're ruining my fun," she said.

"Good," I responded in a low whisper.

She shook her head at me and grinned as she discreetly pulled her hand away.

"You can't do that," I told her.

"Why not?" She asked.

I shot her a look and found her still smirking at me. She knew exactly what she was doing.

She didn't do anything quite as obvious the rest of the day, but the little things here and there didn't stop.

Her fingers brushed against my hand when she grabbed a paper, her chair kept inching closer, her leg rested against mine, it was never ending.

I finally decided that I needed to get away for a minute, or I was going to do something that I'd regret.

"I'll be right back," I told her.

I walked back to my office and let out a deep sigh when I got there. I jumped when I heard a knock on the door a moment later.

"What are you doing back here?" Brooklyn asked teasingly.

"Oh jeez, I don't know," I said sarcastically, "trying to get myself to stop thinking about getting you into bed again."

She smirked at me, knowing that she'd done exactly what she'd set out to do.

She shut the door behind her as she came closer to me, and I quickly shook my head.

"We can't do this here," I said.

Her arm wrapped around my waist, and I was quickly losing any willpower that I had left.

"You can at least let me kiss you," she said as she continued to inch closer.

"I - I still don't think that's a good idea," I stammered, "but I also don't think that I'm going to stop you."

Her lips curled into a grin as she pressed them against mine. It was gentle at first, but it didn't stay that way for long.

This was so dangerous to be doing here, dangerous and stupid, but that was one of the reasons that it was so hot.

Brooklyn's soft lips continued to explore mine as I brought my hands up and wrapped them around her neck.

I got lost in the kiss, it was easy to do with her, and I had no idea how long it ended up going on for.

When she started to kiss along my jaw and down my neck, I finally pulled back.

I slid my hands down to her shoulders and watched as she gave me a slightly disappointed look.

"We should probably um," I started, "not let this go any further...and get back out there before people start looking for us."

"I suppose you're right," she said, "as much as that pains me to say."

"Save everything else you have in mind for some other time," I grinned.

"Oh I will," she responded with a playful smile, "I guess I'll go back out there now."

"I'll be out in a minute," I told her.

I rubbed my hand over my face as she left, and I took a minute to compose myself. We were going to have to be a lot more careful than this.

                                      ***

As the next few weeks went on, Brooklyn and I continued to spend more time together. The majority of it was spent in bed, but hey, that's what we had agreed on.

We were having a lot of fun, but I couldn't help but wonder how long we could keep doing this.

I was perfectly fine with our plan now, but I obviously wasn't expecting it to last forever. I tried not to think about it that way, but the thought was always there in the back of my mind.

"Do you want to come to my place tonight?" Brooklyn asked as we were leaving work one day.

"Yeah sure," I said, "let me go home and grab some dinner and change and I'll be there."

"Just come over and I'll order us something," she said.

I stopped walking and looked over at her, raising an eyebrow.

"You want me to...come for dinner?" I questioned.

It had been somewhat of an unspoken rule that we didn't do anything else at each other's houses since we were doing our best to keep things casual.

"Yes," she said hesitantly, "unless...you don't want to?"

"No I - I do but you just, it caught me off guard," I told her.

"Well I'm fine with it if you are," she shrugged.

"Yeah," I said, "that's perfectly fine with me."

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