Insomnia fought with me, making me restless and anxious. I couldn't remain in the bed any longer. Nick was sleeping beside me, deep in slumber. A door could be slammed, and he'd still be asleep. I decided to venture downstairs towards the conservatory, my safe haven. It was a dark canvas outside. The few garden patio lights we'd had set out, lit the patio path and illuminated above it, the eerie tall oak tree's witchlike fingered branches. They seemed to claw out as the breeze disturbed its peace. I sat admiring it, feeling imaginary goose bumps lurk upon my skin at the rustle of leaves moving.

I'd almost shifted until I spotted an orange light flooding Shane's garden. He must be up. I didn't think twice as I stood up, shoved my feet into a pair of battered trainers beside the conservatory door. I looked back out, I could see him. Even from the height of our fence, I was able to see him. I had noticed he'd had a wooden decking constructed some time back before the house was occupied. It made sense why I was able to. It wasn't by some chance he'd grown an extra foot in height.

Grabbing the back door keys, I slowly turned them into the door before opening the double glazed door carefully despite already knowing Nick wouldn't budge. It was a little chilly as I stepped out. I was barely clothed. My shorts and tank top weren't enough to fight against the biting breeze, but I wasn't too much concerned. At that moment, all I cared about was seeing him. I walked out onto the patio watching wisps of smoke flicker into the wave of light drowning down onto him.

I hadn't expected a word to come out from me. "I didn't know you smoked," I said, startling him a little as he coughed a little and glanced down towards me.

"Fuck. You scared the shit out of me," he confessed, heading towards the fence that separated our gardens. He was towering above me. "And I don't usually," he added, dragging the cigarette to the corner of his mouth. I watched with curiosity as the smoke slowly snaked from out of his lips, entrancing me.

"Why's that?" I asked.

"I only smoke if I'm anxious or shit. This is my first for about month and a half," he replied earnestly, meeting my gaze as I stood beneath him holding my cold arms.

"Why are you anxious?" I found myself saying, wondering why on earth he'd be. He wasn't the one who was married and had slept with their next door neighbour and was shamefully thinking about them day and night.

"So many questions." A grin surfaced before briefly disappearing as he took some more from his lit cigarette and then hung his arms over the fences loosely. "Shit at work. Exes," he said after some short silence. Smoke fled his lips.

"She's marrying--- I mean—"

"—How you know that?" he interjected softly, amusement plastered across his facial features than shock. "Have you been stalking me? Should I consider that as a warning? Are you going to kidnap me and chop off my dick? Not that would be any good for you," he teased, blowing a cloud of tobacco into the sky.

I was blushing and decided to not say a word. It was embarrassing knowing he'd knew I had been snooping about on him now. What else was I going to blurt out? And why was I out here talking to him at three in the morning? I should be asleep, wrapped up against my husband not out here with him.

"But, yes. She sent a wedding invitation in the post. Must be some pity or gloat-in-my-face some sort of shit move," he explained, thankfully not pestering me any further on my knowledge of his recent ex. I didn't want to have the conversation on how I had snooped on social media captivated by him.

"Oh."

"So. " He grinned again, the lit cigarette between his fingers. "What are you doing up and out here? It's a little chilly for a morning stroll." There was that same trace of humour laced within that voice.

"I can't sleep," I told him truthfully.

"Can't sleep? Why's that?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I suffer from insomnia," I admitted, wondering why on earth I was telling him this. He didn't laugh or follow with a witty remark, instead he embraced silence, smoking the toxic substance as I studied his eyes that had looked up to the sky.

"Fascinating, isn't it? Unlike the city, you can see so many stars. The sky isn't as polluted. Still is. But I've never been able to see as many as that before," he suddenly said, capturing my full attention to the white glint within his eyes and the movement of those lips. Those lips I wanted to touch, feel against mine. It took a matter of seconds for my mind to start replaying our bodies sweaty and clinging together in thirsty passion.

I didn't say a word. I couldn't find them.

"Do you ever wonder if there's something greater than us out there?" he softly said, spellbinding me further into the intoxication of his words.

"I don't know. Space is just unpredictable. Life is."

He looked at me then, his eyes regarding mine. "That it is," he muttered, the intensity of his stare making my face heat up like fireworks shooting off into the sky. I was feeling that overwhelming sensation embrace me as my heart picked up pace and the desire to feel him heightened. "And now I wonder why it bought you to my attention," he stated, not once blinking as he said that.

"I-I," I began but soon defeatedly closed my lips.

"Rose, I know this is unconventional. I take the blame for enticing you, but I don't regret it one bit. Rose, your marriage is breaking. You're decomposing with it. And you know it," he said, breaking our eye contact as he moved the cigarette to his lips, exhaling soon after. "You know just as much as me, that...that night you haven't felt that way in a long time. Maybe ever," he declared, squashing the end of the cigarette on the top of the fence.

I didn't find the will to argue.

He stepped back. "I'm going now but I'm going to leave the latch on the front door. You can choose," he said and with that he left. I exhaled shakily, not from the cold but the state of breathlessness he left me in. I couldn't even argue, I was pathetic. I should have been, for Nick, for me, for our marriage but I let his words win.

I knew what I was doing when I returned inside, locked the back door and opened the front. I knew Nick was asleep, I could hear his soft snores echo through the house and I knew that when I opened Shane's door, he was standing there. And I knew that when my lips met his, they were hungry just as I felt for him.

My fingers combing through his hair, the lust inside driving me insane. I begged for his touch. I let him on his cream carpet in front of the fireplace take me, our fingers burning on naked skin as I felt him inside of me. Our bodies wrapped tightly together, completely subsiding from reality as I melted into him. No longer anxious, no longer afraid, just there with him. I needed him. He needed me.

***

His fingers brushed the strands of hair from my cheek as daylight peeked through the blinds of the bay window. I was nestled within his arms, his legs over mine and completely ignorant to the man sleeping next door. I hadn't given thought to Nick and I wasn't planning to either at that moment. Shane felt so good. More than good. I knew at that moment, I was craving him like tobacco to his lungs. I could taste it when I had kissed him. There had been no repulsion as I knew passion had drove me. It took first gear.

"It's half five," I heard Shane say behind me. I didn't care as I continued to caress my thumb across the surface of his hand, the hand I had held onto all night. "Don't you need to get back soon?"

"Not yet. Nick won't be up till seven," I replied, turning over as I faced him. He smiled at me before leaning in as I felt his magical lips press against my mine. They made me breathless.

"Why are you still with him?" he asked, running his hand down my shoulder. His brows furrowed together as he exhaled lightly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean why are you with him. Even before me. You must have been unhappy for some while. Why stay?" Shane explained.

"Because, because, I don't know. At this point, Shane, I'm not even sure how I was feeling. Still now...I'm trying to deny them, those feelings of doubt. I've been with Nick, only Nick. We got together in early college and then Uni and then marriage sort of glued us together more. I've only loved Nick," I confessed earnestly, feeling saddened at the loss of intimacy I had shared with Nick feel suddenly like a lost memory.

Shane kissed my bare shoulder before he muttered. "You've only known him. You have never been with someone else. It meant that the intensity of it was strong. And now it's breaking now. What else can you expect? It was young love. Did he ever?"

I nodded, resting my hand against his chest. "He had a couple before me. He was my first. But why do other first loves last? Hm?"

"Romance fantasy shit for you, no offence," he joked.

I scoffed.

"Is it true?"

"What?"

"Those male characters you wrote about. You were inspired by Nick," he said, blushing a little as I smiled. "I mean, no, I didn't just search you up on the browser and come across an interview where you told the magazine that." He smiled adorably then melting my heart as I pecked his cheek before pulling back.

"Yes. They were. I mean who else did I have for that? The romance is vanilla. That's all I ever had—"

"---Wait, he's never gone down on you or---"

"---Sssh," I cut him off, feeling awkward as I pressed my finger against his lips. "I-I, no. I mean, sometimes. Can we not? I was just trying to say that the romance is corny. I don't have anyone like you—I mean." I shut up then as I embarrassingly craned my head into his neck.

"Wait, you're writing about me?"

"No," I lied, "I mean, maybe. But as inspiration, remember? I just don't have those typical cool—"

"Ah, I see," he laughed, before he kissed my lips again. "The next sex god next door," he added, smirking as he wrapped his arm around my waist pulling me closer. We were silent then as I listened to his heart beat thud inside the chamber of his ribcage.

"Nick...is away until Friday. He goes away on Wednesday," I meekly hinted at, daring to look up at him.

"And? You thought I should be aware of this vital information?" Shane said with humour.

"I don't know," I mumbled, blushing some more as I turned into his shoulder. My fingers began to trail circles across his bicep that was draped across my hipbone. "What are we doing?" I whispered, feeling guilt biting my happiness.

"We're on the floor, naked and we're talking," he replied.

"No," I chuckled nudging his shoulder. "I mean, what are we really doing?"

His tongue slid across his bottom lip as he reached out and caressed his fingers across my cheek softly. "We're just two people infused with a connection. Just two people lying here together. I don't know what we're planning or what you're thinking but for this time, I'm just living in this moment."

I bit my bottom lip as I rolled onto my back. "I just don't like lying. I didn't ever think I'd...cheat." I swallowed, sitting up and running my hands through my hair. "I wasn't supposed to let this happen again." I sounded more frustrated and Shane was keen to erase this as he sat up too, pulling me into his arms. I wrapped my arms around his neck, my breasts pressed against him as he held me close.

"I know this is wrong. And I'm sorry I fell for someone who's married. But, there is a way out of this, Rose," he said against my ear. I swallowed knowing what he meant.

***

Nick hadn't suspected anything as I tiptoed through the front door. He wasn't even awake. I had made sure I had left around six just in case he'd decided that an extra hour wasn't necessary. Although, could I be sure that he hadn't been up and about already? Maybe, he knew. Maybe, he was upstairs waiting for me. To yell and tell me to leave. Then my readers would know. Somehow, it would leak. I hadn't even thought of that. What would they think of me if they knew this? Of course, writers weren't as always closely inspected but sometimes, if love scandals were involved, it could interest unwanted attention.

"Morning, hun," I heard Nick say to me as he went downstairs. I nearly jumped at that point, I hadn't heard him. I was at that point taking my trainers off. "Where you been?" he asked curiously as he reached the floor.

"Err, morning jog," I lied, brushing my hair from face as I snatched the bobble from my wrist and put my hair in a ponytail.

"Like that? Isn't it cold outside?" He smiled with humour.

"Well, yeah. But once you're running, you warm up easily. I'm just going to have a shower," I said, kissing his cheek quickly as I rushed upstairs.

That was too close. I slid against the bathroom door wondering on how earth I managed that. I couldn't carry on like this. I knew that. But I secretly loved the tension, the sneaking about that I had engaged in. If last night wasn't a clear hint, I knew whatever I was trying to stop with Shane, wasn't the case. It was going on. I was planning on doing whatever I liked with him whilst deceiving my clueless husband.

After I showered, I headed downstairs hearing Nick on the phone. He playfully slapped my ass as I passed him. My body flinched but he didn't notice as he continued to chatter. I was about to grab the mug from the side when the front door went. I nodded to Nick as I stumbled off towards it.

Without expectations, I jumped nearly to the ceiling as I opened the door inwards not expecting Shane there. He was smirking holding my red knickers and dangling them teasingly between his finger and thumb as if I were a cat and he was holding a ball of cotton. I hissed as I snatched them and shoved them in my jean pocket.

"What are you doing here? Don't do that. If he saw that, he would kill you and me." I looked behind my shoulder quickly.

"You left those on the floor. I thought you would miss them," he replied, without remorse.

"Well, thank you. But you can go now," I said, scolding at him but not really convincing him or myself as I broke out with another smile. "Seriously, Shane. Go."

"One quick kiss," he muttered, " he's not looking. Then I'll go."

"No." I shook my head. I was biting my bottom lip trying to supress my smiles and the begging lust driving through my entire body.

"Hey Shane. Good morning," I heard Nick behind me call out. Shane smirked at me, before replying back to Nick with a friendly wave. "Good morning, Nick. I was just passing by. Wanted to apologise for not being able to come out yesterday. I might just join the next time you go out to the local."

Nick shook his head. "It's no problem. I'm just about to head out soon to work. Are you there today?"

"Unfortunately, yes," he said that as he looked at me. "It's like they can't get enough of me."

"I know. I'm away this Wednesday till Friday. They've got me working double for this promotion. I feel bad for leaving Rose, don't I hun?" he directed that towards me. I nodded, acting as if I hadn't shared this conversation with Shane moments earlier.

"That just sucks," Shane responded, although I could detect the sarcasm and I was right when he looked at me with amusement in the depths of his eyes.

"Yes, it does. I'll be back for mine and Rose's meal with her parents. I can't miss that or this one," he stated, squeezing my shoulder. "Will castrate me if I miss out on it."

I offered a weak smile but broadened it as I looked at Shane.

"Well, I better be off. Early start. Nice seeing you guys. You might want to wrap up today. It's a little chilly. Wouldn't want you to get cold. I'll see you sometime," he bid, before turning on his heel. I longed to follow him, but I knew that wasn't possible.

"I guess I should start cracking down on my writing," I told Nick as I closed the front door.

"Okay, babe—wait, what's that on your neck?" he held me back.

THANK YOU FOR READING! PLEASE VOTE, COMMENT AND SHARE! IF YOU ENJOYED LET ME KNOW! LEAVE A SINGLE WORD TELLING ME HOW YOU'RE FINDING THIS SO FAR? OR MORE! AND YES I'M CRUEL FOR LEAVING THIS ON A CLIFFHANGER! DID YOU KNOW? YOU CAN PURCHASE BOSS UNDERCOVER ON AMAZON!!! THE PLOT HAS BEEN CHANGED TO SUIT THE BOOK BEING BROKEN IN THREE PARTS AND IN GENERAL IT NEEDED A FRESH LICK OF PAINT! PUBLISHED WITH LIMITESS PUBLISHING! TAG ME IF YOU GET IT!

AND IF NICK NEEDED A SUITABLE SONG, IT WOULD BE SAM SMITH'S 'I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE' AS C'MON ON, ROSE ISN'T INNOCENT AS WE KNOW!

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