Page 166 of When The Night Falls

I wrinkled my nose and regretted the fact that he’d had to see me like that. I didn’t want to imagine how dreadful I must have looked, puking my guts out while he held my hair.

Ellie chuckled. ‘Well, you’re a gent for helping her home.’

‘Just doing my part as an upstanding member of society.’ He shrugged. ‘Anyway, we need to get to work, Cara,’ he said and walked past us. ‘We’ve got a tight schedule today.’

‘I’ll see you for lunch, Ellie,’ I said fondly and proceeded after him.

He opened the door with his elbow and jerked his head to indicate that I should enter first. I gave him a shy smile as I passed him.

‘This one’s for you,’ he said and handed me one of the coffees. I turned it to read the writing on the side.

Behind every great man is a great woman.

I grinned. ‘Aw, how sweet,’ I said as he closed the door after us.

‘Obviously I don’t mean “behind” as in you’re less important. I find that a lot of people often misinterpret that phrase. What it actually means, at least from my understanding, is that it takes a great woman to make a great man – we’d be nothing without you. To draw a parallel, you could say: behind every building is an architect. The message is the same.’

I laughed. ‘I appreciate the clarification, but there’s no need. It’s clear as day that you don’t have a trace of misogyny in you. To be honest, it would say more about me if I thought anything else.’

Smiling, he lowered his head to invite my lips, but I hesitated. Then I remembered that nobody could see us, so I dared to take the risk. Stretching up on my toes, I gave him a peck.

‘That was a reluctant kiss,’ he said as I pulled away.

‘Yeah, we need to talk about this.’

He nodded. ‘I already know what you mean to say.’

‘Don’t you agree, though?’ I walked over to his desk.

‘For clarity’s sake, tell me anyway.’

‘That we should remain strictly professional while at work?’

‘No, I agree, but a kiss now and then can’t hurt, can it?’

I smiled at him. ‘All right, how about this? At work, you get two kisses per day. One for hello, and one for goodbye, but it’s a requirement that they are shared in secret.’

He walked around his desk with a vague smile. ‘I can work with that.’

‘Another thing,’ I said.

He dropped his bag on the floor and met my eyes. ‘Yes?’

‘Violet and Andy know about us, don’t they?’

He looked slightly ashamed. ‘They do.’

‘I’m all right with that,’ I said, ‘but can you please ask them not to tell anyone?’

‘That’s not even necessary, but since you want me to, I’ll do it anyway.’

I released a sigh of relief. ‘Thank you. I just don’t want to take any chances.’

‘Reasonable as ever.’

‘As for Ellie, I think she’s starting to suspect.’

‘Me too.’

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