Chapter 96: Caffeine Fix
** Harper **
Aftercare was wonderful, Harper concluded after her first not-at-all-serious experience of it. It wasn’t as much of a tender loving session for Eli as it was for herself, though, since the way he snuggled up to her so naturally the entire time was nothing but perfect for soothing the uncertainty lingering within her. So what if they weren’t a real couple yet? She was making a hell lot of progress, and all she needed was time.
That thought made her cheery again, even as she left Eli’s apartment with reluctance at the end of the night, and kept her cheery every time she peeked into that shopping bag she brought home with her, grinning at the blindfold and all the memories that went with it.
So it was probably little surprise that, by the time Monday rolled around and she arrived at her office to find a small shopping bag sitting on her desk, the thought of those sex shop accessories was the first one to cross her mind.
... Um, wait, but this was the office ...
"Ah, Wallace got you some coffee from that new shop down the street." Lindsey waved a good-morning from her computer when she saw Harper’s dazed stare. "He said it’s for our meeting at nine, though apparently I didn’t get the same special treatment. Did he forget that I’m officially a part of the secret cult now too?"
Oh. Just coffee. Harper let out a breath that she had no idea why she was holding. "Right, coffee is good for morning meetings ..." she mumbled absentmindedly and picked up the drink, internally ridiculing herself for thinking that the bag could contain something unspeakable. Then she registered belatedly the envious tone in Lindsey’s words. "Oh, I suppose you can take it instead if you want? I had a K-cup already before I left my apartment, and I won’t tell Wallace a thing."
Lindsey let out a puff of snort, turning back in her chair with a wiggle of eyebrows. "Nah, I’m not sure if I should. There might be some secret ingredients in there for you that I don’t want to know about ... Anyway, I gotta go get this doc scanned. See you at the meeting?" Without further elaboration, she was gone.
Hmm? Harper looked at the coffee in her hand, not sure what her coworker was getting at. Did she somehow come across as the kind of person to need double shot strength for the morning? Or too much sugar for a sweet tooth? Mystified, she shook her head and made her way to the meeting room.
The meeting wasn’t going to start for another fifteen minutes, but Harper liked being there early to settle down and prepare, maybe read through the agenda and powerpoints ahead of time. She pushed the meeting room door open, expecting to be the first arriver to find a good seat—