Ronnie held the door open as Rose came through on her crutches. “Laura, I’d like you to meet Rose Grayson. Rose, this is Laura.” The women exchanged pleasantries while Ronnie flipped through her messages. “All set? Rose, Laura will show you around and get you situated. I’ll be in my office if you need anything.” She exchanged a wink with Rose before closing the door.
The executive’s desk was piled high with paperwork and lunch was the last thing on her mind when Rose knocked and poked her head around the door. “Hungry?”
“Is it that time already?” Ronnie looked at her watch and raised an eyebrow with surprise at the amount of time that had passed. “There’s a deli downstairs if you want to call and have them deliver something.” She looked up and found herself lost in jade eyes. She stood and nodded at the door. “Come inside and close it.” Rose did as she bade and sat down on the couch, letting her left leg rest on the cushions. Ronnie knelt down next to her, nuzzling soft lips against the shell of the young woman’s ear. “You know how much I love you?” she whispered.
“You know I could sue for sexual harassment,” Rose teased. “The big bad boss coming on to her innocent young secretary…ohh…” Her eyes fluttered shut when the exploring mouth moved down to nip her throat. “Mmm, lucky secretary.”
“Lucky boss,” Ronnie murmured in reply as her lips traveled along Rose’s neck. “Let’s forget about lunch.” Her long fingers reached to undo the rust colored top but found themselves stopped.
“Ronnie, we can’t do this. How are either of us supposed to get any work done if you keep me trapped on your couch?” She released the older woman’s fingers and put her hands on broad shoulders in an attempt to keep Ronnie’s mouth from traveling any lower. “What do you want for lunch?” She saw the wicked glint in blue eyes before she felt warm breath caressing her ear. Her eyes widened at the erotic words whispered in an incredibly sensual tone. “Um…oh God…you can’t talk to me like that.”
“You like it, do you?” Ronnie’s eyebrow quirked at the thought. “Hmm….” She brushed golden hair out of her way and lowered her lips to the young woman’s ear. “I have every intention of making love to you right here on this couch.” Her voice was pure seduction and her hands moved to deliver on her promise, cupping Rose’s breast.
“Ronnie, we can’t do this now.” She shifted away from the all too erotic touch. “I have my period, remember?”
“You know, a brave warrior would be willing to enter a bloody battlefield.”
“Veronica!” she squeaked as she playfully slapped the older woman’s shoulder. “I can’t believe you said that.” She gently pushed Ronnie away and sat up. “You need to get your mind out of the gutter and think about lunch.”
“I already told you I’m not hungry…for food.” Her mouth claimed Rose’s as she moved onto the couch, covering the smaller body with her own.
The door opened quickly. “Hey Ronnie, I thought maybe we could catch some lunch at…” Susan’s voice trailed off as she watched her sister bolt up off the couch and turn away. The redhead smirked as a rather embarrassed Rose sat up and hastily refastened the buttons that skillful fingers had undone. “Oh, I guess you already have plans for lunch. Hello, Rose.”
“Hi, Susan.” The young woman looked down guiltily.
Unable to resist, the younger Cartwright looked at her sister. “Hey Ronnie, you really need to remember to lock your door when you don’t want to be interrupted or do you still want to keep telling me that nothing’s going on?”
“Most people know better than to walk into my office unannounced,” the executive growled, clearly as embarrassed as Rose. “You said something about lunch?”
“Well, I don’t want to interrupt your plans.”
“We didn’t have plans yet,” Rose said, regaining most of her composure. “I had just come in to ask Ronnie what she wanted when…” The feeling of her lover’s hands on her body was still fresh, causing her to take a deep breath. “Um, what did you have in mind?” She forced herself not to look at Ronnie.
Susan smirked before continuing. “They just opened a new Chinese place on North Pearl Street. I heard their buffet is fabulous.”
“You know what Mother would say if she knew you ate from a buffet in public?” Ronnie teased.
“Sure, sounds good to me.” She saw Rose reach for her crutches. “Oh…there’s absolutely no parking near it.” She thought for a moment. “I know, I’ll meet you downstairs, drive you over, then bring the car back to the garage. It’s only a five minute walk from here.”
“You don’t have to do that,” the young woman replied. “That’s not far at all. I can make it.”
“I don’t know, Rose…crossing State Street with all that traffic at noontime.” Ronnie shook her head. “Susan, why don’t we just have them deliver something here?”
“That’s fine with me.”
“Are you sure?” Rose asked. “You seemed like you wanted to get out for a while.”
“No, just wanted something other than the soaps to keep me company for lunch today.” The redhead looked at her watch, the phone, and then her sister. “But I really am hungry.” Another thought occurred to her. “Where are we going to eat?”
“Why not the conference room?” Ronnie replied.
“Can’t. Brooker has a meeting in there.”
“Isn’t there a lunchroom?” Rose asked innocently. The sisters looked at each other and chuckled.
“There’s a deli in the lobby and a break room down the hall but not really any lunch room,” Susan said. “Most people go out for lunch or eat at their desks. Lunchrooms tend to make people take longer breaks and that reduces productivity.”
“Oh, don’t get her started on that again,” Ronnie warned. “First it’ll be the slackers, then the smokers, then the gossipers.” She walked over and put her hands on the younger sibling’s shoulders. “Before you know it she’ll issue all sorts of memos and I’ll have the Clerical Union screaming at me again.”
Lunch and the rest of the work day flew by. As Ronnie expected, everyone who met Rose liked her immediately and the young woman quickly settled into her new position. The executive quickly learned the fringe benefit of having her lover be her secretary. Ronnie couldn’t get enough of the blonde woman’s kisses and would call her into the office just to taste the sweetness of Rose’s mouth one more time. Fantasies played through the executive’s mind. Fantasies which included her, the overstuffed leather couch in her office, and Rose naked and waiting for her. Alas, she knew they would remain only that. As much as they loved each other, there was a time and place for everything and in her office during working hours was not it. Opening her datebook, blue eyes fell on the upcoming Saturday. She was certain Rose would be over her period by then. The marbled blue-green pen twiddled in her fingers before she absently drew a heart in the memo section of the page. Soon the heart found letters doodled within it.Pitiful renditions of roses began filling the margins but when Rose spotted them later, they caused the young woman to burst into happy tears. While Ronnie was surprised by the reaction, she was more than willing to offer comfort, taking her lover into her arms and resting her chin on top of the golden hair. It was one of the times she enjoyed most, holding Rose in her arms. It was at those moments that Ronnie felt whole, complete. She knew that she could never live without the dancing green eyes and laughing smile of her precious Rose.