Johnson

Six

Monday morning, he found himself standing by the coffee machine outside of his office, filling up his third mug.

It probably wasn't doing much good for his new plan of healthier living but he knew that he needed the caffeine to stay awake.

Callum was across the room, chatting to one of the other men, and for some reason Jack's eyes kept straying in that direction.

Above the potent smell of hot, melting coffee granules, and the bland air freshener, Callum's aftershave smelt stronger than usual. It was making his nose itch. So was the artificial lavender scent of the fabric softener attached to his clothes and the waxy smell of shoe polish coming from his shoes.

Jack swallowed down a curse and gulped down a few mouthfuls of the streaming coffee to temper his annoyance.

Of course, he had been searching for Summer's scent through her father's.

What an idiot, he thought to himself.

With a repressed sigh, he went back into his office and sat as his desk, placing his mug a safe distance from the computer keyboard.

Even Eliot had stopped trying to wind him up a couple hours ago, noticing the amount of negative energy flowing off of the man.

The mood was something that Jack hadn't been able to shake since he'd woken up in the morning from a particularly intense dream. He couldn't even remember what the dream was, but it didn't take a genius to guess what the wetness against his boxers meant.

Since then, he'd been on the edge of his seat, body coiled in a strange anticipation.

He needed to run.

Somewhere that wasn't the office.

But his instincts wanted him to run to Summer and he was not doing that.

"Damn, Jack. Way to stink up the whole room with frustration." Eliot finally burst, standing up from his chair. The man covered his nose like he couldn't take it anymore and yanked open the window to air the room out. "I can't work like this. I need to take a smoke."

He stormed out and left Jack to brood alone.

The numbers on his screen were starting to blur together in a nonsensical manner, leaving Jack no choice but to close his eyes and lean his forehead on the table.

He tried counting to ten and then opening them again, to see if that would help, but the numbers still ran together in an undecipherable muddle.

He even tried taking his glasses off and cleaning the lenses, as if they were to blame for his marred concentration, but that didn't make a lick of difference either.

Eventually, he settled for staring blankly at the screen, coming to terms with the fact that he probably wasn't going to get any work done today.

He thought he was hallucinating when the scent of cocoa and cream caught his notice, body standing to attention as though a live wire had been put against his skin. But then the door to his office was opening, and his eyes widened at the sight of Summer and her father walking in.

He wasn't imagining it.

He almost stood from his chair at her entrance, longing springing up in his chest.

There was a moment of awkward silence before Callum cleared his throat pointedly at his daughter.

"Jack. My dad said I have to say sorry for what happened last week." Her face was bright red and she looked at the floor, a wobble in her bottom lip. "I was drunk." She added weakly at the end.