Page 25 of Forbidden Sins

He had no idea what he wanted to say to her. He just wanted her to stay with him. He didn’t want to say goodbye to this aspect of their relationship. “You know, we’ll still have a while before the marriage is officially annulled,” he told her.

“Yeah.”

He huffed out a breath, and took a step to stand right in front of her. “You can’t deny that we have a certain physical connection. But as long as we’re waiting for the annulment to be official, we might as well, I don’t know,” he stammered. “Hell, I’m usually better at this.” Words and presenting his case was his livelihood, and Ellie turned him into a stuttering fool. “Why don’t we keep seeing each other?”

“You want to still play husband and wife?” she asked him. “Like, sexually?”

“Yeah. Let’s give this—whatever this is between us—until then.”

“Gabe, that’s insane.”

She was right. It was insane. “I know it is. But I don’t want to let you go tonight without exploring what there is between us. What’s the worst that could happen?” Both of them could be ruined; that was a pretty heavyworst.

She didn’t say anything for a while. She looked at the staircase as if to leave, and then she turned back to him. He couldn’t read the emotion that was on her face, and he hoped that he hadn’t just laid everything on the line, and made himself look like a jerk, by saying the stupidest thing he’d ever thought.

“What about work?”

“We’ll keep it separate. Keep it secret. Especially if I’m going to be your mentor.”

“That’s still on?”

He should say no. As soon as he’d said the words, he felt guilt punch him in the stomach. But he didn’t want to trust her career to anyone else. He was the best man for the job. “Yeah. It’s still on.”

“But—”

“I like you, Ellie. You’re smart, fiery, strong. I’ll bet you’re a really good lawyer to boot. If I can learn to keep my hands off you at the office, I do think we’ll be a pretty good match. Whatever is between us physically won’t affect either of our careers. What do you say?” he asked her, trying to not let desperation creep into his voice.

“Okay,” she said. “To both.”

“I’m glad.” He wanted nothing more than to go home with hiswife. But his boss—his unknowingfather-in-law—was waiting for him. For the first time in his life, he didn’t want to jump up and go to work. He turned serious, reached out and cupped her jaw. Her skin was smooth and warm. “I’m sorry I have to go. This is not how I wanted to spend this evening, at the office, working on a takeover.”

“I changed my mind,” she told him. “I do believe that maybe you are the boring one.”

He laughed. “It’s true. Maybe you should have known that about me before you married me,” he told her, winking. He cupped her face with his hands. “I want to see you later, but I really don’t know what time I’ll be done tonight.”

God, he wanted nothing more than to ignore Charles, his client and the millions of dollars at stake, and take Ellie to his house and spend the night exploring her body. For a man who normally held on to control with a firm hold, he felt it start to slip from his grasp.

“That’s okay.” Her casual shrug made him wonder how she was so unaffected. “Thanks again for the tour. I had fun.”

“Me, too,” he assured her. He reached out and cupped her cheek in his palm, before drawing her near and placing a chaste kiss on her lips. He turned away from her while he still could. He had to get to the office.

CHAPTER EIGHT

GABEWASONthe conference call from hell with Charles and his client, and had been for three hours and counting. The other men were talking, but all Gabe could think about was Ellie. He’d gotten home from the office well after midnight the night before, after saying goodbye to Ellie at Di Terrestres. His quiet, empty house wasn’t the comfort it always was. He’d wished that Ellie was there. He’d almost called her, but he figured that it was too late. Was Ellie a night owl? An early bird? Again, he cursed himself for not knowing anything about her. But he went to bed without calling or texting her, even if he’d had to leave his phone downstairs in the kitchen to stop himself from contacting her from his bed.

Finally, the call ended, all matters of the takeover having been discussed. Gabe knew that Charles had noticed he’d not been an active participant in the conversation, and had made several points of it during the call. It bothered Gabe that he was unable to focus on his client. It bothered him that he couldn’t get Ellie, who was probably in her own office several floors down, off his mind. He’d emailed her earlier with some tasks, and he wondered how she was doing with them. Maybe he’d take a trip down there to see if she needed a hand. But he stopped himself. They’d agreed to keep their work separate, and Gabe knew that the minute he was in her office, he would lock the door and take her.

He needed to cool down. He needed to get out of his office. He walked to the lunchroom to get a coffee. Sure, he had a machine in his office, and he could have sent Kellen, his assistant, out for a cup, but he preferred to get his own. But when Ian Smith entered the lunchroom, he wished that he’d left the building and gone to the café around the corner.

“Gabe,” he said. “How’s everything?”

“Pretty good,” Gabe responded without much enthusiasm. He’d known Ian since they’d both started at the firm. The man was an ass-kisser, not one genuine bone in his body, and would do anything to get ahead. He was always jealous and resentful of Gabe’s connections within the firm—his father and Charles. “And yourself?” he asked, not because he was interested, but because the social contract between coworkers dictated it.

“I’m good, man, good. I hear you’ve got Burnham’s daughter working under you now.”

Gabe stiffened at the way Ian spoke.

“I’ll tell you what, I wouldn’t mind having her under me.”

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