Double Exposure

Though one could argue she and Kyle didn’t technically work together. They just overlapped in the same office space. Which was a lame rationalization and she knew it. It would be hard to sit in a meeting with ten people if one of them had seen you naked.

But Kyle had basically already seen her naked. She was almost naked right now.

Emma dug her fingernails into her emerald knees. Why did it seem like all her reasoning was evaporating into thin air and they hadn’t even gotten to Kyle’s yet?

She reminded herself that Claire would never be okay with an in-office affair between two staff writers. And if anyone would pay the price for it, it would most likely be her, since Claire was fond of Kyle. As in, Claire wanted to bang him herself, Emma was fairly certain.

“Sure, of course you can take a shower. And I’m sure I have something you can wear home.” Kyle pulled out of the parking lot. “Man, I’m starving. I want to go through the drive-thru, but that’s probably not a good idea.”

“No.” Emma shook her head vehemently. “Definitely not a good idea. They have cameras, you know.”

Kyle laughed. “That would really get people at McDonald’s talking, huh? Good thing we don’t have that far to go. I live downtown.”

It was a good thing, Emma realized, as they cruised to a stop at a red light. She glanced to her right and was met with the startled gaze of an older woman in the car next to them, her hands gripping the steering wheel. Before she opened her mouth to comment to Kyle that they were already getting people talking, the woman whipped out her cell phone and snapped a picture of Emma.

Horrified, Emma simultaneously slouched down in her seat and yelled at the woman. “Hey! You can’t do that! Delete that! Delete!”

Realizing the woman probably couldn’t hear her, she hit the button for the window to glide down and pointed, gesturing to the phone and making frantic throat-cutting motions in what she hoped was the universal language for “get rid of that shit.”

“What’s the matter?” Kyle asked.

“She took my picture!” Emma felt the heat of mortification flushing her green cheeks. The woman was resolutely looking in the other direction, clearly having no intention of deleting anything.

“No one will recognize you. And she couldn’t have gotten anything from the neck down.”

“Somebody could recognize me!” As the light turned green and Kyle started driving, Emma flipped the visor down and angled it so she could see herself in the mirror. What she saw had her gasping in horror. My God, it was worse than she’d thought. “I look...insane,” she said, feeling faint.

Her hair was shot out in all directions, the paint acting as a holding gel, her face the bright emerald green of the rest of her body, with the whites of her eyes and her teeth gleaming in stark contrast. The napkins tufted up from her chest. “I look like a frog eating barbecue!”

Kyle started laughing so hard he ended up coughing. After a second, Emma flipped the mirror shut and felt the corners of her mouth turning up. Maybe it was a little funny. Besides, his laughter was infectious. He laughed with zero restraint, deep from his gut. Emma couldn’t even remember the last time she had laughed like that.

“It’s not funny!” she protested, even as she started giggling. He was right. No one would ever recognize her. That was a definite positive.

“Oh, yes, it is,” he managed to say between chuckles. “I’ve never heard anyone describe themselves in quite that way, and the hilarious thing is, it’s true.”

“Oh, it is, is it?” Emma exclaimed, unable to deny the ridiculousness of the situation. “Thanks a lot!” She peeled one of the napkins off her breast, balled it up and threw it at him.

It bounced off his green chest. He just laughed harder, but he did give a token “ow.”

“Be quiet. There is no way that hurt.”

Kyle glanced at her and his eyes bugged out. With a finger he reached over and pointed, stopping a few inches short of touching her. “You left some napkin behind.”

Emma glanced down and couldn’t hold in a sharp burst of laughter. It just got better and better. Now she had a piece of napkin stuck to her nipple. “Are we there yet?” she asked, because really, what else was there to say?

Kyle grinned at her. “As a matter of fact, yes. We’re pulling into my building now.”

“Thank you, baby Jesus.” Before any other Sunday drivers decided to immortalize her on the internet.

Kyle lived in an old warehouse that had clearly been turned into chichi apartments. Normally Emma would have loved a leisurely stroll around the building to admire its brick-and-iron architecture, but today she just wanted to get behind a closed door without anyone else seeing her.

That was too much to ask for, though. Almost immediately when they stepped out of the car, they encountered a man who was potentially homeless, given his layers of crusty denim and flannel, despite the warm June day. He pushed a shopping cart. Emma figured her hair was on par with this guy’s, which was matted and uneven. Trying not to make eye contact, she crossed her arms over her chest and let Kyle usher her toward the door.

The shopping cart’s squeaky wheels quieted as the cart slowed down, the man probably gawking at the picture they made.

“Damn hippies,” they heard him grumble.

As the heavy fire door to the building closed behind them, Emma let out a laugh. “Oh, my God, he just called us hippies! What hippies do you know who look like this?”

“I don’t know any hippies.” Kyle shook his head. “I think they’re actually extinct. But you’re right, I can’t imagine they would look like alien extras from a B-budget film. Let’s take the stairs so we don’t run into anyone on the elevator. That could be awkward.”

“Very.” Emma shuddered at the thought, her breast napkin flapping as she walked.

Kyle’s apartment was on the second floor, so they were inside and free from any potential encounters in a matter of a few steps. Emma let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

“What a day,” Kyle said, tossing his baseball hat onto the console table in the entry.

“No kidding.” Emma stood just inside the doorway, eyes sweeping quickly around the room, feeling hugely self-conscious again. For some reason, she had expected Kyle’s place to be a glorified dorm room. Messy, with mismatched furniture and beer cans lying around. It was nothing remotely resembling her vision.

Kyle’s place was neat as a pin, his granite kitchen counter bare of all clutter except for a coffeemaker. His couch was streamlined and modern, with one throw blanket on the arm, folded to perfection. The loft-style windows gave huge amounts of light to the space, and Emma glanced down, aware of her dirty feet on his pristine floors. There wasn’t a speck of dust or dirt anywhere, and she felt the need to walk with paper towels wrapped around her unfortunate feet.

“Nice place.”

“Thanks. I like it. I can walk to work.” He moved into the room. “Bathroom’s this way. Come on, I’ll get you a towel.”

“Thanks.” Emma followed behind Kyle, her eyes focused on his tight butt and his firm thighs. He was very muscular, but not in a bodybuilder way. Just athletic. Natural. Her fingers itched to reach out and squeeze all that muscle in front of her. Not paying attention to anything other than his ass, Emma didn’t realize he had stopped walking until she plowed into him, her hands brushing across the back of his thighs.

“Oh! Sorry.” Emma jumped back a foot as she realized he had stopped to open a linen closet, and was pulling out towels.

Kyle turned, his eyes dark and unreadable. “I’m really good at keeping secrets, you know.”

Her heart rate kicked up a notch and her nipples firmed, goose bumps rushing over her skin. “Oh, yeah? I imagine that’s helpful in journalism. The whole Deep Throat thing.”

God, did she really just say deep throat to him? Emma felt her cheeks burn, but hoped the paint camouflaged her embarrassment.

Kyle shook his head. “Emma, you’re killing me. You know that, right?”

“No. I had no idea.” Which was a lie. She was very much aware of the sexual tension running between them. They were mostly naked, standing inches apart. She had accidentally touched his thighs and his mouth was close enough that with one short lean she could be kissing him.

“You are. And I most definitely can keep a secret, so if anything else happens here today, you can be sure it will never be mentioned at the office. Or ever, for that matter, if that’s what you want.”

“What could happen?” Because she was a girl who liked things to be spelled out. She knew what he meant, but she needed to hear confirmation that the man she’d been attracted to for quite some time was equally attracted to her, and was offering her an afternoon delight.

“This.” Kyle closed the gap between them, the towels he was holding crushing against her chest, his hand coming up to cup the back of her head.

Emma didn’t hesitate, but let her eyes flutter shut as his mouth covered hers in a deep, tantalizing kiss. Yowza. It was as perfect as she could have imagined. Kyle’s lips teased hers with just the right amount of pressure and finesse, his touch confident and smooth but not arrogant. There was something very soft and worshipful about his kiss, and she sighed as he pulled back.

Kyle had surprised her.