Page 19 of Secret Baby for Dr. Grump

“For pushing things with you when you’ve repeatedly set up boundaries and just want to prioritize your career. For demanding more than the brilliant work ethics that you’ve already been giving. It’s unfair, especially because you’re still new and working under me, and the power dynamics are unequal.”

Her eyes widen. Understanding sparks in them as she takes a deep breath, too.

“Luke…”

My jaw clenches, liking the sound. Too much. But I lock my reaction in. “And you don’t have to call me Luke if you don’t want to. Dr. Jennings is fine.”

Silence.

“Luke is fine.”

Shit.

Her granting me that derails my thought process, but I will myself to keep going. “I’ll leave you alone if that’s what you want, too. No personal talk and no personal questions.”

“Okay.”

“In fact, I’ll never speak to you unless it’s related to work.”

Her mouth parts. “I…okay.”

“We just need to be cordial to each other, that’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. There will be no pressure for anything else.”

Silence, then, “Okay.”

Why is it that the more I solidify the boundaries she started putting up, the more she sounds unsure? Am I being delusional again?

I observe her closely, not wanting to make the same mistake earlier. Or yesterday. Or the days before that.

Her expression is unreadable. Other than the tinge of uncertainty, nothing in her voice indicates any protest, either. A defeated feeling courses through me that this might be the last time I can ever talk to her like this again, so I open my mouth one last time.

Then I stop when my gaze strays down and lands on something.

Olivia is gripping the cabinet so tightly that her hand is red. Worry jumps, and I take a step to check on her hand, but the small movement that’s supposed to be insignificant causes a change in her.

Her eyes flare. Desire radiates in the blink of an eye before it’s gone, but yes…I saw it. I’m sure I did.

Her breath hitches, a sound that betrays her and her awareness of how much I caught on—and just like that, my body's response is positively maddening. The speech I’ve formulated is wiped out of my head as I’m confronted with something new, effectively throwing me off-kilter.

Because this new information?

It’s the truth. The eyes don’t lie.

“Is that what you want?”

It’s a simple question, meant to keep the reins in her hands. She startles, also not expecting that.

Then she glares—a far cry from the cordial, distant Olivia that it feels like an invisible caress to my skin. “We haven’t known each other long enough for you to know what I want.”

There’s a roaring inside me that I can’t stop. It’s a miracle that my voice and steps are so calm as I approach her, bit by slow bit. “I was asking you. But I’m also not blind. You felt what I felt in the car, didn’t you?”

She sucks in a breath at the word car. My hands fist at my sides as I try not to get carried away by visions of that hot, magical moment…of the grip that it has on me and how close I was to touching her. I focus on the present, looking her in the eye and daring her to deny it.

Olivia lifts her chin. “It was a spontaneous reaction. Derived from stress.”

“Work stress?”

“Among others.”

---