Jury of One

44

The view to the east. The city was really a breathtaking sight so late at night, when most of the downtown buildings were dark, the shoreline alive with the goings-on at the pier, the restaurants and lighted carnival rides. She leaned forward and pressed her nose against the window. There was so much promise, so much energy, so much emotion in this enormous metropolis.

Paul thrust himself inside her further. “I’m telling you, Ms. Trotter, you’re going to give me a heart attack.”

With the lights out in Paul’s corner office, she could see the reflection of him standing behind her, pants to his ankles, tie pulled down, applying the same dedication that he brought to any task. “Are you always going to whine like this?” she asked.

He cried out like a wounded animal, gripped her waist for another few seconds. “Damnation, Shelly Trotter.” He left her and attended to his business. Moving quickly, he was dressed and presentable within two minutes. “Sure, a little danger. Why not?”

“Danger, sure.” She had pulled up her panties. “You checked every office on the floor to make sure everyone was gone. On a Sunday.”

“Baby steps.” He opened his hands. “Now can we eat?”

“Back to work,” she said.

“Shelly, really.” He was blocking the doorway. “The sum total of postcoital time you’ve spent with me”-three times, so far, they’d been together-“I wouldn’t have time to fry an egg.”

She gave him a look. “I thought we discussed this.”

“Look, I’m not talking about a lifetime commitment. Or even a one-week commitment. But”-he looked down at himself-“am I nothing but a piece of meat to you?”

She stared at him. They laughed at the same time.

“You know, Riley, a lot of guys would think they hit the gold mine here. No-strings sex?”

Paul threw his hands up. “Yeah, I’m starting to feel like the girl in this relationship.”

“That’s ‘woman,’ not girl.”

“Whatever. I can’t keep up anymore.” He shook his head. “So can we eat?”

“I really have to get back to work,” she said. She ran her hand along his shirt. With a presumptive pat, she left the office.