Infatuation (18+)

Part One: Chapter Five

Monday morning I get a memo from Blaine asking me to come to his office half an hour before lunch. I figure he must want to go over the plans for Padget.

When I get to his office, he's shuffling through a massive pile of papers. He glances up and says, "Good, you're here. I have good news and bad news."

"What is it?"

"We have a date scheduled for the meeting with Padget."

"That's great! Next week?"

"Actually, no, that's the bad news." He stands up straight. "They would like to meet tomorrow at five."

My jaw drops. "Wait. We haven't gotten the designs or the—"

"I know. It'll be fine, though. I need you to be my right hand woman and get everyone to work together on this."

"Me?" I squeaked, my heart dropping to my stomach.

"Yes, you." Blaine smiles. "Don't underestimate yourself. I believe in your idea being the one thing that can save us from losing Padget."

My cheeks flush. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he says as he comes back around the desk with a paper in his hand. "This is everything that needs to be done. I'll help you with anything you're unfamiliar with."

I take the paper from him. "Okay."

"Also, I'd like you in the conference room with them."

"What?" Is he kidding me right now? Not only am I getting the opportunity to expand my experience, but I'm even being invited into the negotiation room? "Why me? I mean, yes, it's my idea, but... putting your faith in me for something this big when I'm one of your newest employees is a big risk."

"You're right, it is. But I have faith in you for a reason. I've spent years observing the people who work here and have learned to spot the ones who are capable and those who aren't. You may feel you fall into the latter category, but I would disagree."

Wow. Blaine believes not only in my idea, but in me. I take in a deep breath. "Thanks. I needed that."

"How have you been? We haven't had the chance to talk since last week. Did you get my email?"

"Uh, yeah, I got it. I haven't had the chance to call anyone, though." Haven't really had the chance to get the courage enough to do much of anything except work and helping Eleanor with the baby room.

"It's not easy. It took my sister almost half a year to call a lawyer when she wanted to divorce my brother-in-law. When you're ready, you'll know." He places his hand on my shoulder.

"I really appreciate it."

He gives my shoulder a gentle squeeze before letting go. "All right. Let's do this."

~~~

After Monday overtime and Tuesday scrambling, it's now a quarter til five and I'm panicking. Did I forget anything? Are there sweat stains under my armpits?

Just breathe, Lorelei.

Blaine walks up to me and asks, "Are you ready?"

I press my lips together, shaking my head. "I don't know if I can do this."

"Hey," he says softly, "you've done a great job. Your practice session went perfectly earlier. You can do this."

I nod, his belief in my ability builds my confidence. "Okay."

A couple minutes before our meeting three of the people from Padget arrive. Blaine introduces me to them and then we go into the conference room. After a brief overview of the new idea, Blaine turns it over to me.

This is it.

After a deep breath, I smile and go through my pitch for our new ad campaign. The ten minute speech I prepared goes off without a hitch. When I finish, the three of them glance between eachother. Their faces are expressionless and it causes my stomach to turn. They're going to find someone else. My idea wasn't as good as we—

"It's perfect."

My head snaps toward the voice. It was Greg, the vice president of Padget.

"I'll admit I was reluctant at first when you called me up, Blaine, but you clearly knew this is exactly what we needed."

The tension in my body releases as we all shake hands. They tell us to write up the contract and fax it over tomorrow morning. After they leave, Blaine and I walk to his office in silence. When he closes the door, he turns to me with a beaming grin. "Lorelei, you were amazing in there."

"I couldn't have done it without you."

He takes my hands in his. "No, I couldn't have done it without you."

The warmth in his voice is nothing compared to the heat from his palms. My breath hitches and I remind myself that I'm not even divorced yet. I'm not allowed to have these feelings or desires.

"Lorelei?"

My eyes meet his grey-blue eyes and I can't speak. I can barely comprehend what's going through my mind right now. I step closer to him, not letting go of his hands.

"Blaine, I..."

Before I can continue, he presses his lips to mine. I gasp, my whole body freezing in place. Blaine is kissing me. Mr. Jensen is kissing me. My boss is kissing me.

He pulls away, letting go of my hands. "I'm sorry," he says, running a hand through his dark hair. "Lorelei, I shouldn't have done that."

"No, no, it was my fault, I—"

"It wasn't your fault. I thought I was picking up on—"

"I know, I shouldn't have sent mixed signals, but I—"

"It was inappropriate for us to—"

"Blaine, I wanted you to kiss me."

He stops arguing and stares at me. "What did you say?"

I swallow. "I... I wanted you to kiss me. I know it's not appropriate, and that I haven't even filed for divorce, but I felt something. And it scared me. I don't know what it is or why. And I certainly don't want to ruin anything here. But I... I wanted you to kiss me." I say the last part barely above a whisper.

Blaine continues to stare at me, saying nothing. I can't help but feel like I've messed everything up. Here I am, fresh out of a meeting with our biggest clients, my first ever direct pitch, and then I go and do something stupid.

I whisper, "I'm going to go now," as I turn around and head to the door.

Before I can open it, Blaine's hand presses against the door. I turn slowly, afraid to look at him. He tips my chin up and I stare into his eyes. I bite my bottom lip and will myself to resist the temptation.

"We shouldn't," I say quietly.

"I know."

"You're my boss."

"I know."

"I'm not even divorced yet."

"I know." He places a hand on my cheek and leans down to press a kiss to my forehead. "As much as I'd like to, the timing isn't right. Maybe someday."

"Yeah," I whisper. Maybe someday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Thank you for your patience in getting more chapters up of this serial! I hope you like these scenes between Lorelei and Blaine. Let me know what you think of their relationship so far. :)