I could leave City Hall, but I'm feeling a powerful need to go to Aiden’s office and sit on his lap. Maybe make out with him for a bit. Maybe both.

Yes, it’s the middle of a workday, and yes, Gabby will probably somehow intuit that I’m there and distracting him. Yes, he’s informed me that this type of behavior is typically frowned upon when he’s in an official building, doing official business. Yes, his desk is government-issued, and therefore a billion years old and liable to crack if I push him down on it too hard.

Yet here I am, on my way to go ignore all of these facts. I know that Aiden is in his work clothes, and probably wearing the glasses, too. I can picture it now, and it’s all very cute.

Lost in dreamy thoughts of him, I nearly walk into a wall in the middle of the City Hall main entry area. Thankfully only the toe of my shoe hits it before I draw up short, but the impact hurts, and I swear to myself.

“I saw that, Jamie!” someone giggles.

I turn to see Alix passing by, wobbling on her high heels, a bundle of newspaper clippings in her arms. She’s grinning at me, fighting down a laugh.

My cheeks start to burn. “No, you didn’t!”

“Oh, yes I did! Tough wall, isn’t it? The way it sticks out like that? I’ve run into it at least four times.”

“City Hall is already punishing me,” I grumble, red in the face. “Don’t tell anyone, Alix! Just cause you’re in the press department, that doesn’t mean you have to blast it!”

“I’ll make sure it goes out from the City Hall official Twitter account!” she calls back, then laughs when I groan loudly.

I limp the rest of the way to Aiden’s office and open the door with a sour expression on my face.

Aiden looks as good as I knew he would. The sleeves of his white dress shirt are folded up to his elbows, and his powerful forearms are resting easily on the desk. He slept at my place, so the ever-present stubble is darker than usual. It goes well with the glasses.

He looks up from his laptop, then raises his eyebrows when he sees my expression.

“Hi,” he says. “What’s that face?”

“You.” I point an accusatory finger at him, scowling deeply. “I hurt my foot, and it’s your fault.”

“What?” Aiden stands up and takes the glasses off, concerned. “You’re hurt?”

“Keep the glasses on, please,” I tell him. “And sit back down, too.”

Aiden tips his head to the side. “What are we-?”

I cross to him, take the glasses from his hands, and put them back on his face. He blinks at me in surprise.

“I thought you hurt your foot.”

I push him back into his chair. “You hurt my foot.”

“Okay, I guess I’m just trying to figure out how?”

“I’m so mad at you.” I climb onto Aiden’s lap, and his hands move to lock behind my back. “You jerk. You owe my toe an apology.”

“What exactly-?” Aiden begins, then breaks off as I tease my lips over his.

He tastes like a blend of caramel and fresh coffee, and his glossy hair is soft beneath my fingers, and - I dissolve in his arms.

“Mmm, I love you,” I sigh, against his mouth.

“I’m very confused.” Aiden sits back to look up at me, and I smooth my palm along the line of his stubbled jaw. “Is this supposed to be punishment for something?”

“Yes, can’t you tell?” I ask, moving my mouth to his neck.

“Okay, clearly you don’t understand what a punishment is - Jamie, you little demon, we’ve been over this, when I’m at work-” Aiden cuts himself off with a sharp hiss through his teeth as I bite down on his neck. “I can’t - can’t, um-” I start undoing the top button of his shirt, and he stops again, huffing out a laugh. “Are you kidding me, right now?”

“Nope,” I say firmly, and Aiden laughs harder. I’m still kissing his neck, and I feel the reverberation of sound in his throat. “Hold still, please.”

“Oh, my god.” Aiden leans back, trying to pull away, but all the movement does is expose more skin for me to put my mouth to. I jump on the opportunity, and whatever objection Aiden had lined up falls apart before he can make more than a soft noise. His fingers spread on my back, and he takes a handful of my flannel. “Jamie…”

Being on his lap, I would know that what I’m doing is starting to take effect even if I couldn’t see the fire gathering in Aiden’s eyes. Not magic fire - or, maybe magic. But of another type.

“You’re not gonna distract me,” he stammers. “I will not be distracted just because something sexy happened. I’m an evolved man, okay?”

“Says the guy who nearly crashed my car the other day because a cute girl jogged past us.”

The gathering blush in Aiden’s cheeks grows darker.

“I barely even looked,” he says, all innocent.

“You nearly veered my car off the road. Pretty sure we could have died.”

“I would have heard it if we were both about to die, so. No, we couldn’t have.”

I climb off of Aiden’s lap and fix him with a devious grin. “Should we take it to the desk?”

“Um.” Aiden takes off the glasses and looks at everything sitting on the desk: his open laptop, stacks of archival materials, the dim lamp, and a specialized scanner. “Probably not?”

I point to a pile of aged yellow papers covered with inky script. “Where can I put these old forms, or whatever?”

“Those are very old, very fragile documents that relate to the original town charter of Ketterbridge.”

“Cool, I’m gonna put them on the floor.”

In one swift movement, Aiden gets to his feet and blocks me before I can reach the desk.

“Okay,” he laughs, “I love the enthusiasm, but I can’t do this right now. As much as I-” He falters, catching the way I’m looking at him. “As much as I want to,” he finishes more slowly, a spark flaring behind his blue eyes again.

I slide my hands over his sides, place my palms on his lower back. I bring him closer, until he’s pressed against me.

“Are you sure?” I murmur, reaching up to drag my fingernails through his stubble. “Like very, super, one hundred percent sure?”

Aiden, now a little breathless, loses control and skims his hand up the back of my neck, sinks his fingers into my hair. I flatten my hands on his chest, feel the contours of his muscle beneath the soft fabric.

I lean up and slowly, caressingly take Aiden’s bottom lip between my teeth. Roll it very gently, and then - bite down, hard.

Beneath my hands, I feel a tiny spasm move through Aiden’s body. I hear the way his breath stutters. That spark in his eyes catches, and starts to burn.

Heat sweeps through the entire room.

Is Aiden doing that? It feels like I could actually be the one responsible, because my body is suddenly on fire with how badly I want him.

Aiden must be experiencing a similar sensation. Before I can blink, I’m backed up against the wall, his mouth covering mine, his hands cupping my face. I'm lost in the feeling, and I want more. I drag his shirt up in two fistfuls, untucking it. It’s a dress shirt, which means a lot of buttons, but I only need to undo enough of them to get it up over his head -

A dress shirt. Which he wore to work. Work. He’s at work.

I come back to myself and break off the kiss, gasping. It’s an effort to make myself do it, when all I want to do is keep going. Aiden tries to pull me right back into it, and it’s even more of an effort to make myself stop him.

“Hang on - whoa whoa whoa - Aiden!” I let out a breathless laugh as he starts to slip his hands up the inside of my flannel, my t-shirt. “Wait, stop for a sec!”

The second the word stop leaves my mouth, Aiden lets go of me and takes a step back, though it looks like it’s killing him to do so. He makes a pleading face at me, paired with a noise of frustration.

“I’m sorry," I tell him, smoothing his messy hair back into place. “I got carried away, but you’re right. You’re at work. I don’t want to get you in trouble, and Gabby is omniscient, so.”

“Wh-?” Aiden makes an agonized sound, putting his forehead to mine. “You’re gonna do a one-eighty on that now? Look, I don't care, just please-” He moves to kiss me again, then groans when I put a finger over his mouth. “Jamie.”

My toes curl in my Converse to hear him say my name like that, his low voice rough and hungry. I’m tempted to give in, and I just barely manage to hold it together long enough to say:

“Aiden. We’re in City Hall.”

Aiden stops, faintly confused, and glances around.

“Right,” he says. “Oh - what am I talking about? We can’t do this - I work here. I’m - I’m-” He struggles for a moment. “The archivist!”

I have to bite back a smile, looking up at Aiden. He forgot everything for a second, just like I did. Feeling slightly less embarrassed, I trace my fingers down his cheek.

“I’m sorry. I came here just to sit on your lap and make out with you for a minute. The plan, um - got a little out of hand.”

“You think?” Aiden asks, tucking his shirt back into his pants.

I wince at him, biting my lip.

“I’m sorry,” I say again, and he pauses, his eyes flitting to meet mine. “I really didn’t mean to - it’s just that - when I look at you - like, why do you have to look so - it’s unnecessary, okay? And I get all - forget my-”

I’m kneading my palm anxiously, my eyes widening with horror as I stumble so badly trying to get to a full sentence.

But Aiden’s expression is growing warmer and warmer the longer I go on fumfering.

“Holy shit,” he says softly, around a quiet, airy laugh.

I find myself the recipient of a long, sweet, thorough kiss, one that sends my thoughts scattering in every direction.

Sometimes I’m still caught off guard by how much I love Aiden. The difference between the way I feel about him and the way I felt about everyone before him is so unimaginably vast. It’s the distance between planets - between galaxies.

I live with that knowledge every day, but every now and then, the true scope of this thing between us rises like a wave and breaks over my head, stopping my heart still. Like right now, for example.

My cheeks are burning by the time that Aiden pulls back. He doesn’t say anything, and for a moment, I don’t either. I’m speechless, trying to remember how to talk.

“So, um - does that mean we’re cool, man?” is what I eventually manage, and Aiden snickers softly.

“Yes, we’re cool. I wasn’t even mad, dude.” He ruffles my hair, smiling down at me. “I only wish that I didn’t have two more hours of work. How can I get out of here faster? What’s a very sudden illness I can pretend I have?”

“No, come on,” I laugh, relieved that he's not upset. “I’ve distracted you enough. I’ll get out of your way.”

I cross to the door and pull it open, then freeze. Gabby is striding down the hallway, speaking over her shoulder while her secretary hurries after her and scribbles down notes.

I shut the door, spin around, and flatten my back against it.

“What?” Aiden asks, alarmed.

“Gabby’s out there!”

“So?”

“So? She’s gonna know I was in here making out with you! All she has to do is look you in the eyes and she knows everything.”

“Well - yeah, that’s true,” Aiden chuckles.

“Oh, my god. I can’t go out there.” I cast my eyes around Aiden’s office. “I - guess I live here, now?”

“Or you can just wait five minutes, and Gabby will go back to her office?” Aiden laughs. “You dumbass.”

I look at Aiden, the laughter on his face, his chestnut hair so messed up, despite my attempts to fix it.

Leaving sounds damn near impossible, all of a sudden.

“Can I stay, actually?” I blurt out. “I know you’re busy, but - can I chill until you’re done?”

Aiden blinks in surprise.

“Um - you heard me say that I have two hours left, right? And it won’t be like when I hang out with you at the shop. I can’t talk and work at the same time.”

“Mm, that’s okay. I have my phone, and I've got an email from Devin I can respond to.”

Aiden looks confused for a moment, then gapes at me.

“Devin? The security guard from the FIC who let you into the archives? You two are still in touch?”

“Yeah, I mean - he’s interested in ghosts and stuff, too, so I keep him up to date on the hunt.” I pull out my phone and find the most recent email, show it to Aiden. “See? I told him that we caught the ghost we were hunting, and he’s super excited about it. He wants me to send him a picture of us with Will.”

“A picture-? That’ll just be a picture of us, you realize? Will won’t show up.”

“I do realize, and I explained that to Devin, but he wants it, anyways.” I blush again as Aiden lets out a half-laugh, half-groan, shaking his head. “I thought we said that we're not hiding the fact that we’re ghost hunters anymore!”

“We did, but this is next level. We can’t tell everyone, dude. We’re gonna get a reputation. People are gonna start coming to us with cases, if we’re not careful.”

“Oh, ha, ha.” I make a face at Aiden, then hesitate. “Really, though, can I stay? I promise I won’t distract you anymore.” I stand on my toes, so I can put the tip of my nose to his. “I just know I’m going to miss you, when I leave.”

Aiden is silent for a long moment, working on what he wants to say.

But instead of saying anything, he brushes a kiss onto my mouth, and I know I’ve got permission.

I smile against his lips, then retreat to the chair in the corner. I curl up in it, pull my feet up. Aiden puts the glasses back on and switches off the overhead light. The glow of the dim lamp falls softly over him as he pulls on his cotton gloves.

Very carefully, he holds one of the fragile papers under the light, blue eyes narrowed as he reads.

I love watching Aiden do this. It brings him calm, and his calm is contagious. 

His broad shoulders relax as he sinks into deeper focus. The room grows quiet. The only sounds are the quiet ruffling of paper, and Aiden’s steady breathing.

In the semidarkness, with only the golden glimmer of the dim lamp for light, I sit and watch the archivist work.

Some time later, he looks at me over his shoulder, and I stir from my peaceful reverie.

“I wish we could hang out tonight,” he says, making an exaggerated pouty face at me. “I’m sorry that we can’t.”

“It’s okay,” I answer, sort of undone by his very cute expression. “What are you up to, though?”

“I’m gonna go lift.”

“Typical. Of course you are, Bicep Boy. Wait - you can’t just do that tomorrow? You said you had plans, but that’s not really like, plans.”

“I do have plans. Ripley asked if he could come with me. He wants to try it out, so we’re going together. I’m going to show him the ropes.”

“Oh.” I smile again, resting my chin on my palm. “Well, you have been searching for a gym buddy. Guess you might have found one, finally?”

"Maybe." Aiden matches my smile. “You can come with us, if you want.”

My phone buzzes, and I quickly pull it out of my pocket. I'm hoping that whoever texted me will provide a good excuse to get me out of exercising.

My heart stumbles when I open the text.

Raj 🔨 5:37 PM: Hey brother! You got time to talk tonight?

Me 5:37 PM: Omg yes! I’m dying to hear about your talk with Mel! Free all night, whenever!

Raj 🔨 5:38 PM: Dope. I’ll pick you up at 9!😊

“Who was it?” Aiden asks, closing some papers in a protective sleeve.

“Raj,” I say, looking up from my phone. “Looks like I’ve got plans tonight, too.”