Page 36 of Moonlit Thorns

I flip it over to find the back blank. It’s so… impersonal. Maybe he was afraid someone else who works for him would see it if they were in here cleaning or taking out the garbage?

With a frown, I sit at my desk and reach for the phone to find out from Clarise what I need to be working on. This week is not going to be what I hoped.

Chapter

Seventeen

ANABELLE

By the time the following Monday rolls around, I’m nearly desperate to see Asher. It’s been over a week since I’ve seen him and more than that since we’ve been alone together. It’s as though our time in the maze has infected me, and the only relief I’ll get from my craving for him is to be around him.

I make sure to arrive early for work this morning, and to my relief, he’s already in his office, sitting at his desk.

Asher doesn’t look up when I enter and walk over to my desk, so I say a tentative, “Good morning.” Maybe he’s just really into whatever he’s working on and didn’t hear me walk in.

“Morning.” He doesn’t glance up from whatever he’s writing.

My heart sinks a little, and I sit at my desk to get to work. Are we really not going to talk about what happened that night?

An hour passes and then another. The longer we sit in silence, pretending that nothing happened, the more irritated and angrier I become. If he doesn’t ever want a repeat or if he regrets what happened between us, that’s fine, he can just say that. But to just act like it never happened stokes a fire inside me.

I can do this. I can be brave and confront him about it. Maybe he thinks I don’t want to talk about it.

Pushing my chair away from my desk, I stand and walk over to stand in front of his desk.

“What can I help you with, Miss Boudreaux?” He keeps typing on his computer, not sparing me a glance.

“Are we really not going to talk about it?” I cross my arms.

He lets out a long-suffering sigh. “Talk about what exactly?”

“About how you made me come twice with your mouth two weeks ago, and you’ve been avoiding me since.”

That gets his attention. I figured being brash might work.

He leans back in his chair, smoothing his black silk tie down his torso. God, he looks good in an expensive suit. He looks me up and down lazily, not appearing all that impressed with what he sees. “What is there to talk about?”

I don’t know what to say to that exactly. His demeanor once again makes me feel too young, too inexperienced compared to him. Maybe he does this kind of thing all the time, and it’s no big deal. He has fourteen years of experience that I don’t have.

“I don’t know. It just felt like we should talk about it.” My hands drop to my sides.

He sighs again, and I want to throat punch him.

“It happened. It won’t be happening again, especially now that you work as my right hand.” He shrugs. “We’re both adults, right? It shouldn’t be that big a deal.” He arches an eyebrow as if challenging me to disagree with him and prove to him I am the child he thought I was.

I breathe hard through my nose, forcing myself to relax. “Sure, no biggie. Just wanted to make sure we were on the same page.” I give him a tight smile while my chest squeezes with disappointment.

“Perfect. Nothing more to discuss then.” He looks away from me and returns his attention to his computer.

I spin on my heel and ignore the stinging in my eyes as I return to my desk. I’m about to get back to work when he calls my name.

“Miss Boudreaux.”

One last tiny lick of a flame flares to life in the hopes that maybe he’s changed his mind.

“Yes?” I turn to face him with a hopeful expression.

“I need you to call Madeline Ridgeway and let her know I’ll pick her up at seven on Friday evening. Her contact information should be in the system Clarise trained you on.”

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