Page 113 of When The Night Falls

I started by moisturising my face, hoping it would treat the symptoms of my exhaustion. Then I grabbed my corrector, applied it under my eyes, and covered it with my concealer. Eventually I had managed to hide any sign of sleep deprivation. Since I preferred a natural look, I didn’t apply anything else on my skin. As I got started on my eyes, on a whim I decided to add a very faint smoky eye. I would look fiercer like this. Ready to attack the day. Ready to fend off any daydreams about my tantalising boss.

§ § §

As intended, I arrived before William. Since he had wanted me to work in his office all of last week, I headed straight into it at ten to eight to clear his desk and organise the files on it for him. He would probably assume that I had done it as a favour to him, but I was determined to do it solely because I couldn’t stand untidiness. Mum had always said, ‘Order around you, order within you’, and that statement had stayed with me.

A few minutes later, I heard the doorknob turn. My gaze dashed to it just as William came in, dressed in a light-grey suit. The smile he wore nearly made me sob. The fact that he looked even better in reality than in my dreams was hardly fair. Looking him in the eye right then, when I had just had a vivid and erotic dream about him, was mortifying. To keep from blushing was impossible, and I was certain he noticed, because his smile suddenly broadened.

‘Well, good morning to you too,’ he said amusedly. ‘I don’t think anyone’s blushed so hard at the sight of me before.’

‘Don’t point it out,’ I muttered and looked back at the files. ‘And don’t flatter yourself. I’m blushing because you caught me tidying up your mess, and I don’t want you thinking it’s to suck up to you.’

He shut the door, murmuring, ‘Somebody got out of bed on the wrong side.’

I kept my eyes off him as he approached the desk, and my heart plummeted when he put a Starbucks cup in front of me. He had to stop doing this. I couldn’t bear his kindness. All it did was remind me of how irresistible he was. If he carried on this way, I might as well wave my sanity goodbye.

‘Perhaps this will help,’ he said.

I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. ‘You need to stop bringing me coffee, Will.’

‘Er, why?’

‘Because it’s unnecessary. I’ve got a machine at home.’

‘So? I thought it could be a nice custom. Besides, you can’t make flat whites at home, can you?’

I let out a loud breath. ‘I don’t need flat whites.’

‘Well, I have to stop by the shop anyway. Might as well—’

‘Fine.’

My hostile attitude made him pause. ‘Are you all right?’

‘Yes, I’m fine. Sorry.’

What he did next nearly made me smile. Very slowly, he pushed the coffee toward me as though I were a wild animal that would chew off his hand if he did anything too abrupt.

I grabbed it with a sigh and raised it to read the black ink.

True grit is what leads to success, it said, and my heart missed a beat.

I frowned. Was it a reference to our conversation the night we first met? I remembered I had pointed out his grit then. What else could it mean? Was it merely a coincidence? Or was he implying perseverance? Then, regarding what? Me? Was this his way of telling me not to give up on him? Or was he trying to say that he hadn’t actually given up on me?

No, he wouldn’t do that. He couldn’t possibly be trying to flirt with me, not when he had Francesca.

Puzzled, I looked at him. ‘What’s this supposed to mean?’

‘That you should never give up on your dreams despite the obstacles you might face.’ He shrugged. ‘Just some inspirational words. You’ve done an excellent job so far, and I wanted to motivate you to continue with it.’

My eyes narrowed with suspicion. ‘Hm. “Grit” sounds familiar, though.’

His facial expression was blank. ‘Does it?’

‘Never mind,’ I murmured, as I didn’t feel like bringing up the night we met. Pretending that I didn’t remember anything at all from our first encounter was much more tempting. ‘Thanks.’

‘I’ll help you out,’ he said as he rounded the desk.

I froze when he stopped right next to me. Delicious electricity seemed to charge between our bodies, and mercy was nowhere to be found when I caught his seductive scent.

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