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you heading back?”
    “Do we have to? Can we cool down with a short walk? It’s only 7:30.”
    “Sure.” We trudge on slowly along the cement path towards the starting point. I look around worriedly, prepared to turn the other way the minute we see someone from the office.
    “Relax, we’re just running together.” He reads my thoughts. How does he do that?
    “I know,” I respond defensively, stopping in my tracks when a large group of birds blocks me from moving any further.
    Lucas keeps going until he realizes that I’m no longer walking alongside him. He turns around with a questioning look, about to open his mouth to speak.
    “Birds. I can’t,” I say, standing there helplessly. “Don’t shoo them this way, then they’ll all start flying towards me!” I shriek, backing away, terrified as he begins to approach me.
    He circles around them until he’s back at the place where I stand. To my astonishment, he lifts me up and slings me over his shoulders, running through them and flapping his arms.
    “Lucas! Put me down! What are you doing?” I giggle, bouncing up and down in his arms.
    “I’m protecting you from the birds!” he reminds me as if this is totally normal, running and keeping a firm grip on my legs at the same time.
    A flash of light sparks the corner of my upside down eye. “Luke! Did you just see that lightning? It’s going to rain! We’d better head back!” I cry, my words bouncing disjointedly as I’m jostled up and down. The birds are long gone but I’m still enclosed in his arms.
    “First the birds and then the rain. Jade! Is there anything you aren’t afraid of?” He runs effortlessly for a few more feet and then stops to put me down. He looks around and turns to me seriously. “Okay, the coast is clear.”
    The clouds choose that moment to open up and the raindrops fall like buckets of water. We’re soaked in a matter of seconds. For some reason, we find it extremely funny, bursting into laughter at the same time.
    “So much for that!” He snags my hand and we run for what little shelter there is, the drinking fountain shed, which has a little awning that extends a few inches past the structure. I’m not surprised that there’s no one there. People must have sought more dependable refuge once the lightning started to hit.
    “Look at my hair!” I exclaim, running my fingers through my thoroughly flat head.
    “Jade. That’s not what I’m worried about,” he says as his eyes darken and his look changes. I follow the direction of his gaze to find my shirt soaked through and totally transparent.
    “Oh my God, Luke!” I wrap both arms around my chest in embarrassment, but his eyes never move.
    His hand gently reaches out to wipe the drops of water from my cheek, slowly trailing downwards towards my crossed arms. He bends his head down and growls provocatively in my ear, “I’m dying to touch you.”
    I don’t know what comes over me. I drop my arms to reveal myself and allow his eyes to rest upon me for a few seconds. “Lucas, we have to go. Please. The merger. Too much at stake. For you. For me.” I can’t say the words. I can’t be here anymore. I’m dizzy with arousal.
    “Okay.” He quickly fusses with the hem of his shirt as he lifts his arms to remove it. “Put this on, please.”
    I slip the shirt over my head, trying not to think about how good it smells. “Thank you. I’ll see you at the office?”
    “Yes. I need to cool down a bit. Go ahead.”
    “See you later,” I whisper, reaching out to touch the gloriously rugged stubble on his face before turning on my heels and running back to the locker room.

 
     
    THE NIGHT BEFORE his last full day at the office, I wake up in the middle of the night in a panic. I’ve had these attacks before, and my doctor has given me many ways to deal with the cold sweats and shallow breathing that accompanies these onslaughts. As I sit up on my bed to switch on the light, my thoughts are filled with memories of