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By the time Rebecca made it to the Crown and Anchor, the table Ted had reserved was packed with the team.
“Rebecca!” Keeley yelled to get her attention from the far end where she sat between Ted and Roy. “Over here!”
There were no empty chairs left so Rebecca weighed her options. Roy’s lap was out of the question. She’d completely obscure Keeley. Beard. Jamie. Dani. No. No. No. And then there was Ted.
Roy and Ted both immediately stood to offer her their seats.
“No, no, boys sit. Here, I’ll just…” She scooted around Keeley to where Ted was and motioned for him to sit back down. Ted agreed and Rebecca eyed his lap.
“I’ll just?” She pointed.
“Oh sure!” Ted pushed his knee out and brushed it off as an offering.
Rebecca delicately sat down. “Thanks.” She blushed.
“Anytime, Boss. Consider my knee, your knee. Though, I am going to need it most of the time to walk around and stuff, but anytime you need it as a seat--”
“Thanks, Ted.” Rebecca put an end to his babbling.
Rebecca couldn’t help but take in the light scent of his cologne as leather and jasmine tickled her nose.
Keeley immediately started talking about their plans for brunch the next day and Rebecca could feel by his upper body that Ted was now leaning away from her to talk to Beard.
Ted’s hands gently rested on the sides of her thighs to steady her, but still be a safe enough distance from her hips. Everytime Roy would say something, Rebecca had to lean forward a bit more to hear him, which inadvertently pushed her rear further onto Ted’s lap as he brought his knees together.
Ted’s strong thighs felt warm and comfortable. Being that she wasn’t a small woman, she always felt self conscious sitting on a man’s lap, but she felt secure on Ted. She wasn’t sure if he realized he was doing it, but his fingers tapped gently against where they rested on her thighs.
She wiggled again to lean over to say something to Roy and when she leaned back she felt Ted’s hands grip her hips and his breath against her ear.
“Stop.” His voice was deep and tight.
She stilled in his lap. Shit. For a split second she contemplated one more shift of her hips to feel what he must be trying to avoid her knowing about.
“Keeley, come spend a penny with me.”
Keeley was always up for girls’ trip to the loo. When they got inside, Rebecca covered her mouth and stared at Keeley with wide eyes.
“What? What happened?”
She removed her hand. “I think I just gave Ted a boner.”
Keeley’s mouth dropped. “Did you feel it? Did it feel big? I feel like he’s big.”
“No, I didn’t feel it, but he gripped my arse and just said ‘Stop’ and he sounded a little wrecked.”
“Oi, shit. Yeah, well you were wiggling all over on his lap. He was probably totally hard and afraid you’d notice it.”
“Shit. He smelled good too.”
“You have the hots for Ted?”
“No! I mean, no. He’s Ted. He doesn’t think of me that way. And he’s Ted!”
“Rebecca! He obviously thinks of you that way, he just got a stiffy while you were on his lap.”
“Oh, stop! It would have happened if you sat on his lap too.”
“Fuck yeah, but I’m also mad fit. Rebecca, if you ever made a move on Ted he would follow you around like a little horny puppy.”
“Gross.”
“You know what I mean,” Keeley suddenly went serious, “but don’t do it though.”
“Why not?”
“Because he's Ted and I don’t want him to get hurt. Ted would want love, not just a shag.”
Rebecca knew this was true, but why were they even discussing this? She wasn’t going to make a move on Ted.
But that didn’t stop the butterflies in her stomach and the tightening of muscles between her legs every time she thought about him getting hard while she was in his lap.
When they got back out to the table, a few players had already gone home and there were plenty of seats so she took the one next to Ted.
He gave her a shy smile before offering her a beer from the pitcher on the table.
As they were all getting ready to leave, Ted tapped her gently on the arm. “Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?”
She agreed and he led her outside to a quiet spot away from everyone.
“I just wanted to say I’m sorry about what happened earlier.”
“No, Ted. You have nothing to be sorry about. It was wildly inappropriate for me to sit on your lap. I’m the one who should be apologizing. I, I just quickly scanned my options and felt safest with you.”
“That’s great. I always want you to feel safe with me, and I never want to be anything but a gentleman with you, but…”
Rebecca felt anxious about what he was going to say next.
“... you were just about an inch away from realizing that part of my body was not interested in being a gentleman and I panicked, which gave me away and probably made it worse.”
“It didn’t. Well, it did. I mean, it didn’t make it worse.”
“Are we okay?”
“Of course.”
“I respect you as a boss and friend and I’m sorry. Sometimes, biology overrules and it wasn’t voluntary.”
“No, I get it. I know you don’t see me that way.”
There was an awkward silence until Ted spoke again.
“I do see you that way. I don’t think it’s possible to not see you that way, but I respect what we have and I would never want to make you uncomfortable.”
Rebecca looked at him and smiled. “Say there was ever a time when I wanted you to not be a perfect gentleman and to, in fact, make me a little uncomfortable. Would you be open to that?”
“Well, that’s something to think about right there. We’d have to consider our friendship and our working relationship, and that with some recent exceptions, I prefer to be in a relationship before making anyone “uncomfortable.” In conclusion, I’d be as open as a 24 hour 7-Eleven, yes Ma’am.”
Rebecca nodded, “Good to know.”
“Rebecca! Your car is going to leave without you if you don’t hurry your bum over here!” Keeley yelled from the curb. Rebecca suddenly cursed her offer to give everyone left a lift home.
“I should go. Goodnight, Ted.”
“Goodnight, Rebecca.”