DowntoBusiness by Dena Garson Page B

of
lettuce with her fork then continued, “I used to want to choke him.”
    John wiped his mouth with a napkin and swallowed the bite
he’d been chewing. “I’m about ready to tell him what he can do with his
changing priorities. I’d like to knock him on his ass as I walk out the door
too.”
    Needing to reassure John of her support, Leigh patted his
arm. “You can always find another job if he’s getting to you.”
    “I know. I’ve been thinking about it.”
    Leigh nodded and went back to eating. Whether or not to quit
the job was something John would have to decide for himself. “So, what do you
need to get done tonight?”
    “I have to get through that real estate contract so I can
send it to Legal for their review. If I don’t, I’m afraid I’m going to have to
work on it this weekend.” John finished the last of his food. “I just haven’t
been motivated to even start it. There’ve been a hundred little things popping
up over the last couple of weeks that I let myself get distracted with. Not
sure what my hang-up is with this contract.”
    “Anything I can do to help?”
    “Whip my ass or find some kind of motivation to make me just
do it.”
    Leigh stared at John with her fork raised halfway to her
mouth. She imagined herself wearing black leather and whipping John’s bare
butt. Nah. She shook her head to clear the image. That was never a path either
of them had been interested in exploring. However, she felt certain she could
motivate him another way.
    “What?” John asked, startling Leigh out of her wayward
thoughts.
    “Sorry. Had a thought.” Leigh’s cheeks felt warm.
    “About what?”
    “Nothing I’m going to share.”
    “It must have been a doozy to make you turn as red as that
vase over there.” John pointed toward the bookshelf behind her. “C’mon, tell
me.”
    “Not a chance.” She tapped the empty food container in front
of John, hoping to distract him. “Are you finished with yours?”
    “Yeah. But I’ll take your roll if you’re not going to eat
it.”
    She was surprised she was able to distract him so easily. He
must really be busy.
    “Go ahead, you can have it,” she told him. John had a
weakness for bread so she usually let him have hers. It was a mutual
understanding. “If you need to get back to what you were working on, I’ll clean
this up when I finish.”
    “You’re wonderful, you know that?” He leaned over to kiss
her lightly on the lips.
    Leigh soaked up the scent of him as he lingered, his tongue
teasing the edge of her lips. When he stopped, she knew she was grinning like a
love-struck fool. Which she pretty much was.
    John got up and went back to his desk as Leigh finished
nibbling on her salad. Her head was spinning from the kiss and she tried to
think of a way to help motivate him to get the contract done. They had plans to
go to the lake that weekend. She could tell he needed some downtime and she
didn’t want him worrying about a looming deadline while they were away. If he
finished the contract today or tomorrow, he might be able to get a couple of
days’ rest and escape for a bit.
    There was one thing she could think of that she had at her
disposal to motivate him—sex. But how could she apply that to the contract he
needed to finish? It wasn’t as if she was going to cut him off from sex if he
didn’t get his work done. That would be stupid on her part and not positively
motivating for him.
    Thinking back on some of their interludes in the office when
they’d first started dating gave her an idea. She gathered up their dinner
containers and told John, “I’m going to take these down to the break room, then
wash up.”
    He glanced up at her from where he sat at his desk. “Okay.”
    On the way back from the break room, she stopped in the
ladies room. She quickly took care of necessary business then slipped out of
her hose. On her way out, she dropped them in the trash. John preferred bare
skin anyway.
    When she returned to his