Love Is Hard, Book I, Jill's Secret

By Boots Hudson

Dennis, a database engineer, meets Jill, a project manager in another division at his company. He's intrigued by her and pursues her. She runs hot and cold and he can't figure her out, especially after a fantastic bout of sex, after which she acts like nothing really happened. There is a secret she is hiding as he knows nothing about her past. Is it really bad? Just a case off trying to cut ties? No matter what it is, after a few months, he realizes he is in love with her, and must face the truth when she is finally forced to come clean, by his own brother. Can he deal with it? Is he ready for this? Will his love be enough?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Boots Hudson
• Release date: Apr 29, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310695872

Boots Hudson

Boots Hudson is the pseudonym for a lover of erotic fiction. He loves to both read and write erotic fiction. He is a retired Army veteran and father of one.

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Love Is Hard, Book I

Jill’s Secret

Published by Boots Hudson at Smashwords

Copyright 2016 Boots Hudson

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy.

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Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1. Infatuation

Chapter 2. A Friend in Need

Chapter 3. Hints of the Past

Chapter 4. Things Look Good

Chapter 5. The Past Haunts Us

Chapter 6. Finally, the Past Revealed

Chapter 7. Confrontation and Even More History

Chapter 8. The Complete Truth

Chapter 9. We Try Dating

Chapter 10. Facing the Truth

Chapter 11. Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places

About the Author

Connect with Me

Excerpt from next book

Prologue

February 11th, 2012

It gave me time to think about my predicament. It was a cold, blustery February day. It was one of those days where the sunshine made everything look warm, but a step outside immediately corrected that thought. And here I was sitting in a car at a Jack in the Box restaurant waiting for a glimpse of Jill. Is this really what I wanted? Did I really love her enough? I took another long draw on my vanilla milkshake and stared at the establishment with the name Reggie’s in bright neon. All I could do is sit and wait.

Chapter 1. Infatuation

September 16th, 2011, five months earlier.

I had been working at Robert Trask, Inc. for about 3 years. It was my first job out of college and I liked working there. I had graduated with a degree in Computer Science in 2008 and had been hired into a junior database engineer position. They trained me to be a database administrator and then a PL/SQL Programmer, which means writing code to update data, views, and tables received and used by the databases our applications used.

I worked in a nice, but small cubicle. The cubicles were about 8 foot square, which was pretty generous in the world of saving overhead for companies. There were about 60 cubes and 10 offices on my floor and this meant that there were about 5 small projects belonging to two different divisions in the company. My company had several floors of this office building and I was on the 5th floor.

In the cube next to me was a woman named Denise. She was on the same project and we got jokes about being Dennis and Denise right next to each other and sometimes our neighbors delighted in switching our interoffice mail. Denise and I had become very good friends. She was living with her boyfriend in an apartment not far from me and I got together with them to watch sports that we both liked. I knew her and her boyfriend, Mike, pretty well. But Denise and I talked about everything. She had become my best friend even though she was a woman, which was a first for me.

One of the projects at the other end of the building had a manager, Jill, who was probably near 30 years old. She was fairly pretty and slim, about 5’7", with just enough curves to be attractive. I had been in a couple of meetings where the different projects shared their lessons learned and discussed ways to improve. I had come away impressed with Jill. When asked to present something she was always extremely professional, very knowledgeable, and completely prepared.

This Friday evening, we had a very large group that had gathered at a local watering hole for the obligatory monthly gathering and happy hour. At least all the single people felt it was an obligatory affair. If you didn’t show up, drink, and have fun, you could end up the butt of several jokes over the next few weeks. Of course, that was only if someone didn’t make a bigger fool of themselves at the bar. I, of course, never, ever did so – I swear!

We were gathered around laughing and drinking, some people flirting with others when Jill showed up. She had only shown up once before that I could remember and that had been about a year before. As a manager, I think she tried to maintain a little separation from the rest of us and I had not had a chance to talk to her that previous time. We had a large gathering of tables scrambled together and the drinks were flowing. When she showed up she took the only vacant chair that was on the very end of the formed line of tables, right next to me. The later you showed up the more likely it was that you wouldn’t get a place to sit and have to congregate behind people or sit on the end, kind of out of the mainstream of the merriment. I was at the end of the table near where she sat down in that last empty chair, having shown up late myself. I was on my fourth beer already and knew I would have to get something to eat before driving home.

I turned to her when she sat down and put my hand out. Hi, I’m Dennis Watson.

She smiled and took my hand to shake it. Hers was warm. She gave me a friendly smile. Jill – Jill Mathewson. She looked toward the center of the table at the pitchers of beer. Can you reach the pitchers and empty mugs?

Sure. I reached over and was able to get a fresh mug and a pitcher and brought it down to our end. I poured her a beer.

She took it and picked it up. Thanks, and cheers. I reciprocated and we each took a long drink. She leaned back. Wow! After this week, I definitely needed that.

Tough week?

She was taking another large drink as I asked that. She finished drinking and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, trying to avoid doing it in a vulgar manner, but still not self-conscious about it. Oh, yes. She took another quick drink and I liked the way she did it. She was not trying to be little miss manners, she was just drinking and showing that she was relaxed and having fun. You know, we were introduced a long time ago not long after you started.

Yeah? Do you remember that? I wondered if she remembered me. She had made a good impression and I could remember everything about her from our first introduction, including the fact that she was attractive. I remembered that she was in the middle of something very important for her team and seemed a little rushed when I was brought into her office to meet her. Her office was professional with little personal effects except for a diploma. I didn’t have time to look at it because she immediately went into her spiel. She was professional and courteous and took her time to look me in the eye and talk to me for a couple of minutes. She didn’t look at her computer, she didn’t check her phone, she didn’t act fidgety, and she was calm and composed. Not something I saw in all the managers. She had been dressed in a woman’s business suit with a nice jacket and skirt, all in grey with a peach blouse. I remember it because I saw her leave immediately after our meeting to gather her team. She had not shouted, just been very direct and courteous to them as well. She made an impression and I was reminded of it during the meetings we held. I just had never had a chance to talk to her.

You were probably introduced to a lot of people when you were first starting, so maybe you don’t remember.

Well, ummm, I mean, yes, I remember and I know who you are. I realized that she was watching me carefully and smirking. Okay, I admit that I remember the meeting and it’s because I think you are very good at your job, you were very professional and courteous in our meeting, and well, you are also a good looking woman.

She arched her eyebrows. You’re saying that you remember me because I was professional and good at my job when we first met? Or is that last part the only reason you remember me? You noticed me for just my looks at first, didn’t you? She was grinning and I thought that she was teasing me.

Well, you were dressed in a grey suit and peach blouse, but I mostly remember that you took the time to talk to me, not to your computer, not to the guy who brought me in, and you didn’t act distracted. You were direct and nice, and I liked that.

She studied me for a minute with a small smile. That’s one of my favorite suits. I can’t believe you remember that. Most people don’t remember my outfits. She then studied my clothes and looks closely. I knew what she was doing and I grinned as she looked up at me and realized I was smirking. What?

Are you studying me to see if I’m gay because the cliché is that a gay man would remember your clothes better than a straight man?

Her eyes went wide and she stared at me for a second. Oh! Sorry. I didn’t mean anything and I definitely wasn’t passing any judgments.

I held up my hand to stop her. Hey, no problem. I wasn’t saying you were prejudiced or biased or anything like that. I was just guessing and kidding you.

She looked at me seriously for a little while longer until she suddenly seemed to decide that that was fine. Okay, let’s have another beer. She had finished hers and held up her mug. I retrieved the nearest pitcher and refilled her glass but not mine. She looked at my mug and back up at me. Aren’t you going to join me?

No, I don’t think so. I just finished my fifth and I think I’m going to the Indian restaurant next door to get something to eat before I drive home. I don’t have anything going on tonight and I just want to relax and take my time having dinner and sobering up.

Oh, yeah. Indian sounds good. Mind if I join you? She blurted that out and then quickly looked up at me to see my reaction. It’s not a date or an offer or anything. I just meant that we could get something to eat at the same time, you know?

I smiled at her. She was actually very cute when seeming to backtrack or apologize and this was her second in a few minutes. Hey, not a problem. I wasn’t taking it that way. Let’s just go have something to eat at the same time.

We decided to settle up with the group by dropping some cash in the middle. She made me do it first and go to the restaurant to get a table. She waited a couple of minutes and talked to some other people so that there would be no office gossip. I knew that as a manager and a woman she had to be careful of that.

When she arrived I had already made sure to order and get a mixed bread basket. I loved all the Indian breads, especially the garlic and potato filled ones. Jill came in and sat across from me. She smiled. Sorry that took so long. I had to at least converse with some of my project folks.

No problem. I got us some bread, but only asked for water to drink. If you want something else, we can call the waiter over.

She looked around. Well, I didn’t guzzle as much alcohol as you. She grinned as she teased me. I think I’ll have one of those large Flying Horse beers. She finally got the waiter’s attention and ordered the beer. Then she looked back at me. So – you’ve been here for a few years. How do you like Trask?

I enjoy the work environment and my manager. There’s not that much pressure. As long as we work on our assigned job and meet the estimates we provided, we seem to just perk along nicely. How is it being a manager?

Well, I’m still just a project manager of a small project. I want to be a Director and then a VP if I can. I like the company and want to stay and move up in it. I think it’s a great company and right now I can’t see myself leaving.

We continued to discuss a