Chapter 12 I think I am attracted to you

Martin didn’t know why he let the girl be so cheeky with him. Any other employee of his wouldn’t even dream of acting like that around him. Zoe felt entirely too comfortable around him, which was… perplexing. Martin had never given Zoe a reason to think that it would be acceptable to behave this way.

He glanced back at his model and found Zoe watching his hands with a strange expression.

“What?” Martin said, his attention back on the sketch. While Zoe’s face still wasn’t quite right, it was better than his previous attempts.

“I think I’m attracted to you.”  

Martin’s pencil froze.

He lifted his gaze.

Zoe was chewing on her lip. She seemed… bewildered.

“Umm.. Right,” Martin have a hard time thinking.

Zoe shrugged, then she pulled a funny face. “I mean, I thought...ugh. probably. I don’t know. But wanting to lick your forearms probably means that yeah, I'm attracted to you.” She smiled, looking bemused and intrigued, as if she hadn’t just told her boss that she wanted to lick his forearms.  What the fuck, seriously.

“Are you always so weird or am I just getting special treatment?” Martin said, squashing down the inappropriate urge to laugh.

Zoe scrunched up her nose. It looked disgustingly adorable. A young woman of twenty shouldn’t look adorable, what the fuck.

“I don’t think I’m all that weird,” Zoe said. “I just say what I think. What’s wrong with it?”

“It might be a bit wrong when you tell your employer that you want to lick his forearms.”

Zoe laughed. “Sorry, I’m just confused, I guess. Attraction is such a foreign feeling for me.”

Martin stared at her. “You’ve never had sex?”

“I have,” Zoe said, making a face. “Well, sort of. Yes and no. But I was never… Like, they were objectively good-looking. But I’ve never really looked at a person and wanted to put my mouth on them, you know? It’s like... I wanted sex theoretically, but as soon as I got naked with someone, I didn’t really want to touch them. I felt uncomfortable more than anything.” A look of frustration flickered across Zoe’s face. “Am I making sense? Anyway, I never understood the fuss about sex, to be honest. It felt like a nerve-wracking chore every time I tried to do 'it' with someone.” She smiled wryly. “But maybe...maybe I just have a weird fetish for forearms. That can be a thing, right?”

“You’re ridiculous,” Martin said, sketching Zoe’s mouth. The shape of it was a little off…

He studied the original intently. A pink tongue emerged to lick the corner of the mouth.

“Do you have to stare at my lips? You aren’t helping, you know.”

“I thought you just had a fetish for forearms,” Martin said, smiling faintly.

“Well, let’s just say it’s looking increasingly unlikely,” Zoe said with laughter in her voice. “May I suck your cock?”

Martin’s gaze snapped up.

Zoe met his gaze head-on. “Just as an experiment, to see if I’ll actually like it?” She laughed. “What? Too weird?”

Martin returned his eyes to the half-finished sketch. “I’m going to pretend we didn’t have this conversation.”

“Oh, come on! What guy turns down a blowjob? To a young girl? Isn’t it every guy's wet dream?!”

Martin pinched the bridge of his nose. The entire conversation would be amusing if it weren’t so exasperating. “Because, I’m not the least bit attracted to you.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Zoe said. “A mouth is a mouth, isn’t it?”

“No, actually. I’m very selective about where I put my cock, your mouth isn’t one of them.”

“Ouch...” Zoe winced. “I kind of thought you would like it. Now I feel kind of shitty for asking a prick like you.”

Fucking hell, this was ridiculous.

Martin sighed. “I don’t know where you got that idea. But first of all, not wanting to have sex with you doesn’t make me a prick...”

“You really dislike..." Zoe bit her lips. "Doing it with me.”

Martin looked back at the sketch. He didn't knew why but he felt a little but flustered. “I think we should stop Zoe.” he said evenly.  

Zoe heaved a sigh. “What’s the second?”

“Pardon?”

“You said, ‘First of all.’ That means there’s a second point.”

“Second, you should never tell your boss that you want to suck his cock. That would have gotten you fired if you had another employer. Not everyone is as lenient as me.”

Zoe snorted. “Lenient isn’t the word I would use to describe you. And I’m not stupid. I’d never say something like that if I had another boss. I told you that because I knew you wouldn’t fire me for something like that.”

Martin looked back at her. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Zoe cocked her head to the side. “I think I know you pretty well at this point. You’re a lot like my eldest brother: bossy as hell but actually pretty soft on the inside.” Zoe wrinkled her nose funnily. “Well, he isn’t quite as arrogant as you, but my point stands.”

Martin almost laughed. The girl had no idea. “I’m not ‘soft.’ The only reason you still have your job is because my son needs you.”  

Zoe’s lips twitched, her eyes flashing with amusement. “That only proves my point, doesn’t it?”

Martin gave her a pinched look. “Caring for my son hardly makes me soft.”

To his surprise, Zoe nodded. “I know. I just…” She smiled sheepishly. “It’s hard to explain why I feel so comfortable with you, actually. I just do. If it makes you feel better, most people back at the office seemed to think you were very intimidating— Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Keep smiling that way.” Flipping to a new page in his sketchbook, Martin quickly started sketching. Yes, Zoe’s lips looked a little thinner when she smiled, and there was a barely noticeable dimple at the right corner…

Zoe laughed. “What? I can’t make myself keep smiling just because you say so.”

“Why not?”

Zoe rolled her eyes. “I think you were born in the wrong century. I know actual lords who are less high-handed than you. There must be something wrong with me that I find it attractive.”

Martin snorted a laugh. “Stop coming onto me. I’m not interested.”

Zoe gave an exaggerated sigh. “It figures that the only person I’ve been attracted to wouldn’t be interested back. Just my luck, I guess.”  

Although she was smiling, Martin could see something like real dejection in Zoe’s body language. Zoe was… upset. Really upset, no matter how brightly she smiled.

Martin clenched his jaw, unsure why he suddenly felt as though he’d kicked a puppy. “Are you actually sulking because I’m not letting you suck my dick?”