***
James was waiting for her at the entrance to the staff restaurant, and her stomach fluttered a little when she saw him. What the fuck? She’d just been masturbating over some guy’s words and now she was getting turned on by colleagues she liked but just hadn’t seen in that way before this weekend. She shook her head. I don’t even know if he’s married, attached, or interested, or what!
He insisted on paying for her sandwich so she announced she’d buy next time and they found a table away from the main crowd, James pulling the seat out for her before taking his own. He passed her lunchtimes items over to her and their fingers touched briefly, Rachel shooting her eyes up to meeting his, before smiling and busying herself with opening her sandwich pack.
They stuck to safe ground chatting about colleagues and current workloads, James moaning that he had a huge project just kicking off and no extra resource so he was stuck working through the research phase on his own because ‘I like to be thorough!’
Rachel shifted uneasily on her seat, the phrase echoing around her head. PeepingTom had said that. It didn’t mean anything though, lots of people said it. I’m just being hyper-aware of everything today, like coming back to life after a period of slumber.
“Hey, are you okay?” James asked concerned.
She smiled and shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts, “Yes, sorry. My mind’s just jumping all over the place at the minute.”
He nodded, “You’ve got a lot on, I understand. If you need to get back…?”
She stared at his hands, thinking about the thumbs PeepingTom spoke of putting on her clit while he ate her out. What would James’s thumbs feel like on me? Shit, I’m getting a hot flush again. She forced a smile, “No. No, sorry. I’m enjoying being here with you, I feel like I don’t know you too well, yet you’ve supported me several times, now I think back. You’re a genuinely good guy and I hope you’ve been snapped up by a woman, or man, who truly appreciates you.” There, that was fishing for info without being too obvious, wasn’t it? She held a breath, eager to see what his reply would be.
His eyes dipped a little, the first sign of vulnerability he’d shown, which made that stomach flutter come back, damn it. “In the past, yes, and now and again, but right now, no. But I do try to encourage others where I can, challenge them to stretch themselves. I even tried a random act of kindness this morning but it nearly backfired.”
No. No. This couldn’t be happening. He could not be PeepingTom. Just fucking no! “Wha-what happened?” Rachel coughed the words out.
“Oh, I was dared to do one by a…friend, and I tried to help a woman and her kids off the bus. Gave her some money and she looked like she was about to scream her head off so I legged it.” He shrugged.
Rachel gripped the table for support and rose to her feet. “Sorry, I need…to go,” she said faintly, grabbing her phone and walking away quickly.