Right Under His Nose

"Yes, you are. For me, you are. Don't you get it? You're pretty, you're real, you dress nice, you have a good heart, you watch my back, you support me, you're funny, you give me a kick when I need it, you're sexy ..."

"Okay, you can stop. I'm sexy? Really? You've never told me that."

"Well yeah, we do work together and I am your boss."

"You could have slipped it in somewhere," Colleen smiled a bit more.

"I think I just did. Oh hell, am I crazy or ...?"

"What?"

"If I say it out loud, that makes it real."

"Say what out loud?"

"That --- I think I loveyou, too."

Colleen's smile almost outshone the sun at that moment. This time it was his assistant who kissed him and she kissed him hard. He felt it, that feeling you get when you're kissing someone who means the world to you. Someone that feels right when you're together. Not once in his life had he ever experienced that. He didn't want their kiss to end, but they did have work to do.

"Okay, that was nice, what next?" Colleen said. She was still wearing the goofiest smile and he wondered if she knew how sexy it made her look.

"Now? Now, we should get to work, we have to finish before lunch."

Colleen let out a big sigh. "All that and he STILL acts like a doofus. I meant NOW as in us. Where do we go from here?"

"You're always going to bust my chops, aren't you?"

"When you need it. Someone has to," Colleen smiled. "Am I going to get an answer?"

"We can talk at lunch since we won't be coming back to the office," he told her. "You know, you should wipe that smile from your face, people will think I gave you a huge raise or something." Then he remembered. "Oh, by the way, Josh told me I could give you a $50 a week raise."

"That's supposed to make mestop smiling?" Colleen giggled.

"No, it's just your alibi if anyone asks why you're grinning like the Cheshire Cat," he smiled as she returned to her desk. Elliot sat behind his desk and kept looking out at hers. How had he been so stupid for so long? The girl he had always been looking for had been right under his nose. He wasn't going to blow this, he would take it slow and make sure he didn't let her get away.

Through the entire morning, he found it hard to focus. He kept looking out to Colleen and wondered what she was thinking. Ever the model of efficiency, she kept working. She did smile when she caught him looking, but she had done that most times anyway. At 12:30, he knew he was going to be useless at work. He grabbed his coat and went out to her desk. "We're leaving early," he told her. "Log off your computer, grab your coat and the champagne, we're gone for the day."

Colleen smiled and for the first time, she linked her arm through his when they left the office. She didn't care if anyone saw them and neither did Elliot, if he was being honest with himself. He was too darned happy.

When they passed their usual 1950's diner, Colleen wondered what he was up to. As they neared Chez Richard, she didn't dare hope, yet that's where he led her. Meals there were very expensive and incredible. They were about to be seated when he asked if they could have somewhere more intimate. The Maitre D' nodded and led them to the back. Instead of sitting across from Colleen as he usually did, Elliot sat right beside her. He put his hand on top of hers. "I can answer your earlier question, I think. Where do you want it to go from here?"

Colleen furrowed her brow and said "Won't people talk if we start going out?"

"I bet a lot of people think we're dating anyway and just not telling anyone," he answered with a chuckle. "Besides, I'm the boss' brother-in-law and you've been with the company for a decade, doing exemplary work. No one's going to accuse me of favoritism."

"You think we can make it work?" Colleen asked him. "I'd hate to lose our relationship."

"We've had each other's backs for ten years, why would that ever change? Yes, we can make it work. It might be weird at first, but you're my best friend and I'm yours. Isn't your partner supposed to be your best friend?" He responded to her question. His answer was in her beautiful smile and a simple nod.

"What should I have for lunch?"

"Why do you always ask me? I give you three suggestions and you never take any of them, you always find something on the menu and say that looks good and order that," he told her. Colleen laughed.

"I do that, don't I?" She smiled. "We do know each other really well. Give me your ideas, I'll listen."

He gave her three ideas and then she saw that they had Chateaubriand and suggested that they order that. "Elliot, it's a meal fortwo," she smiled and put her hand on his.

The meal was good and the company nicer and they enjoyed a nice bottle of wine. The two of them talked about their feelings and yet, didn't speak in generalities. They were both nervous as all of this was so new to them both. It was 6 PM when they called it a day and Elliot paid the bill. "Do you want me to drive you home?" He asked. She smiled and nodded yes.

It wasn't far to Colleen's apartment, about ten minutes. He had driven her home several times when they'd had to work late. This time, she asked him in. She had never done that before. Once inside, she pushed him against the door. It slammed behind him as she kissed him.

"Wow, we've set a record today," he smiled when they broke the kiss. "We've kissed ... three more times than we have in the past ten years," he told her. She punched him in the arm playfully.

"Sit down and get comfortable, I want us to talk some more," Colleen told him. "I just want to get out of this dress and change into something else."

"Sure, take your time," Elliot said. "This is a nice place, I've never seen it before."

"Thanks," she called out from the other room. "It isn't huge, but I like it. Okay, I've changed."

Elliot turned around and that was the understatement of the day! Her dress had been very attractive, but now she was wearing a slinky black negligee and high heels and had her hair slightly tossed so it made her look a little more wild. She walked over to Elliot and sat by him on the couch. She grabbed his tie and pulled him in for a fourth kiss. "I thought you wanted us to talk," he breathed as their kiss ended.

"I do and we can talk as much as we like," Colleen smiled, running her fingers through his hair. "We've got all night and as much time as we'll ever need. Right now, I want us to make love. I know it's sudden and maybe I'm coming on too strong and ..."

Elliot reached out and stroked her cheek. "You need to let me get a word in edgewise. I said yes, like, a minute ago." He stood up and took Colleen's hand and let her lead him into the bedroom. She started to undress him and noticed for the first time that he was wearing the paisley tie she had bought for him.

"Wow," she smiled as he got his shirt off. "Have you always had such a nice build?"

"I don't know, I guess," Elliot said. "You know, I never realized that you were almost as tall as me."

"I guess we never noticed a lot of things," Colleen smiled as she tugged his pants down. His boxers followed and now he was naked in front of her. It was a bit intimidating to be in front of someone he had known for so long and in an entirely different way. Elliot knew he would get past it. Colleen's beauty would make that simple. Standing in front of him in the filmy negligee, she was absolutely perfect.

"You know, this isn't fair," Elliot said to her. "You get to see me naked and you're wearing a negligee."

"Don't you like it?" She asked. With Colleen, you sometimes couldn't tell if she was teasing or being coy. This was one such time.

"Yeah, I love it, but it might be hard to make love to you if you've got it on," he said.

"Good point," Colleen said and she let it drop to the ground. She was tall and slender, with beautiful breasts and a smooth, flat stomach. Colleen picked it up the negligee and put it on a nearby chair. She was wearing a pretty black thong and the heels and Elliot was already getting past his earlier intimidation. She sat on the edge of her bed and he sat beside her.

"You're beautiful and incredible and I've been such an ass ..."

"Not going to argue with you," Colleen said as she stroked his cheek. "You have your good points. You're good looking and loyal and friendly and you're a good boss and ..."

Elliot kissed her to silence her and the next thing he knew, they were both tumbling over and on to the bed. Their kiss grew more passionate and they were rolling around, her on top, Elliot on top and then, side-by-side. Never once did they break their kiss. It only grew hotter and sweeter and now their hands joined their lips in touching each other.

"Wow," Colleen said as they broke apart, panting. "Who knew? My boss is also a stud." She teased.

"That was amazing and we were only just kissing," Elliot laughed gently.

"Okay, well I think I can take care of that," Colleen grinned playfully. She pushed him down on his back and started kissing him with a passion no other woman had ever displayed. Her mouth seemed to be everywhere and it was soft and hot and talented and a million other adjectives. She was almost like a tornado as she flitted over Elliot's body and yet, she still remained loving and gentle. He felt himself heating up and he would reach out and touch her every so often, as if to reassure himself that this was not merely some wonderful dream. It wasn't, it was all too real and he had to actually restrain himself from saying something stupid in all his joy.

"Wow," he finally sputtered out. "I sure didn't see that coming." Elliot knew that Colleen had dated a lot of interesting men and had experience. He remembered the Irish journalist last year, who he thought was a smug little bastard. Elliot hadn't really liked any of her boyfriends. Had he been jealous all this time and unaware of it?

"I don't think I did either," Colleen smiled as she snuggled in close for a minute. "I just know that it felt really, really good to finally be able to show you the way I feel about you."

"You shouldn't be the only one," Elliot told her. He smiled and kissed her softly and then he moved down her body. He knew that their future depended on his proving to Colleen that he was up for anything. All of her beautiful body became his playground. He kissed and he licked and he touched and he did as much of that as she would let him until her fists were thumping on his back and her moans were sexy little gasps and shrieks. He didn't stop until he had licked her beautiful pussy. He loved the pretty face she made during climax, he could have looked at that all day.

"Make love to me Elliot, please, now?" Colleen asked. She reached for a condom in her nightstand and he put it on. He kissed his beautiful Colleen a lot more times before he entered her. Her walls gripped tight around his cock as he moved in and out of her. At first, Elliot took it slow but after she locked her legs around his back, he began to increase his tempo. Soon, the lovers were working in unison, much as they had over the past decade. In bed, they complimented each other as much as they did in their careers. If Elliot made a move, Colleen instinctively made one that matched it. They weren't afraid to laugh and talk and tease each other while they made love. Elliot was a bit surprised that his new lover could be so naughty and Colleen was a bit surprised that Elliot was surprised. It didn't matter. They would have all the time in the world to adapt to each other and find new quirks they had previously been unaware of. Elliot was positive he wanted her as his partner now in every sense of the word. Colleen was positive that she wanted to support him in all the ways a good woman supports a good man.

On Easter Sunday, Lisa was surprised that her brother accepted her invitation to dinner. She was further surprised when he told her that he would be bringing a guest. She was even MORE surprised when Colleen showed up on his arm.

"You brought your assistant?" Lisa quizzed him as he hung up their coats.

"No, I brought my fiancé," he smiled as Colleen flashed her newly-purchased ring. Lisa gasped and hugged her soon-to-be sister-in-law while Josh thumped his brother-in-law on the back. Elliot and Colleen had been very careful while they had been dating these past few weeks and were very glad that they could finally share their happiness with people they loved and trusted. Valentine's Day had been the beginning of what both knew would be a wonderful life together.