Page 64 of The Woman

I peek up at Phoenix to watch his reaction but still keep my head lowered. His brows pinch together in a good imitation of a confused person.

“What do you mean out of the ordinary? She does whatever I want, whenever I want it.”

“Nothing. Never mind.” Allard pushes to his feet, and I quickly flick my eyes to the sheet in front of me again, a pleasant half-smile pasted on my face. “Your grandfather will probably pay a visit to you this afternoon. He had a couple of other meetings today. Perhaps you can convince him that your reasoning is valid.”

I don’t look up again until Allard walks out of the office and closes the door behind him. Then, although it has been a stressful couple of minutes, I rise to my feet and cross my arms.

“I do whatever you want, whenever you want it?” I ask, a brow raised in question.

His eyes glitter with what I feel is amusement. “You know I had to say that. Now, come here.”

“No.” I tilt my chin, standing my ground.

“Avery.”

My body shivers at how my name sounds, rolling off his tongue with such a sensual baritone. I’m torn between going over to him because I actually want to be close to him and simply resisting because he told me to do it.

I take a single step, unable to hold myself back. And then, when I see the spark of enjoyment flash across his face, it leads me the rest of the way.

The second I’m within arms reach, he’s pulling me to him, connecting our mouths in a passionate kiss, spearing his fingers into my hair and tilting his head. He brushes his tongue against mine before sucking on it and nibbling on my lip.

“Do you think he suspects me?” I ask after pulling back, my concerns from a few minutes ago resurfacing.

Phoenix trails those gray eyes over my face as if taking in every detail. “I don’t think so. Maybe just keeping an eye out for me.”

I nod against his hold on my hair. If he’s not worried about it, then I feel somewhat better.

A short while later, I’m still perched on Phoenix’s lap while he’s working on his laptop. I tried to get up, but he held on tighter and kissed my shoulder. So, I picked up a pen and started drawing again, happily settling back.

The desk phone beeps, and Phoenix shifts to answer it while I finish up the abstract image in front of me.

“Yes?”

“I’ll be right in.”

He hangs up with a sigh and nudges me to stand. “My grandfather wants to see me in his office. Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.”

I watch as he walks to the door, anxiety starting to swim in my stomach. I don’t want him to get into trouble. I know he’s risking a lot because of me.

Right before he opens the door, he angles his head over his shoulder to catch my gaze. “Don’t worry. It will be alright.”

He must have heard the concern in my voice, and I appreciate the reassurance from him.

“Okay,” I repeat, smiling at him for real this time, and then I watch as his eyes drop to my lips. After a lingering look, he walks out of the office and closes the door.

I wander over to the large windows to look out at the city, tapping my hands on my thighs as I go. We’re up so high that glancing down at the street below has my stomach feeling queasy. It’s amazing that Phoenix designs buildings like this.

I lift my hand to trace along the top of the cityscape with my finger on the glass, hearing the door open again a moment later. “That was quick. Did you miss me?” I smirk as I continue my tracing. “I was thinking. It would be nice if you had a piano in here for me to play. Then I would never get bored.”

“Umm. What?”

My body goes stone-still at the sound of someone else’s voice who is not Phoenix, and my heart jumps right into my throat so that the air gets trapped in my lungs. Slowly dropping my hand from the window, I close my eyes, quickly inhaling a breath past the constriction before altering the expression on my face and turning around.

Thomas stands there, his mouth parted, folder in one hand and a note in the other. A look of disbelief remains on his face as he stares at me for what feels like hours but is mere seconds.

I try to keep my eyes blank and expression neutral, but I’m sure he can see how rigid my body has gone and the panic that has my heart beating out of control. Even if he’s had no other contact with women, he would know a normal one wouldn’t say any of the things I just did.

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