Page 2 of Elevating Eve

Her big brown eyes shifted toward her boss warily. But then she swallowed and stood up a little taller, meeting Jonathan’s gaze again. “Yes, Mr. Hale, I did.” Cheeks turning a deeper shade of red, she looked down toward her feet. “Sorry,” she mumbled in Talley’s direction.

Talley ran a hand over his flushed face, trying to hide his embarrassment. “No, I should be the one apologizing.” He cleared his throat, as if the words got stuck there. “Sorry, sweetie. I’ll make it up to you later.”

Sweetie?

What the actual fuck? Six months he’d worked with Eve and Talley on this project. Half a year, and never once did he get the impression they were anything other than boss and assistant. If they were a couple...

No, Talley was well into his sixties, with the iron gray hair and wrinkles to prove it. And frankly, he was an asshole. Someone as sweet and stunning as Eve wouldn’t go forthat.

Would she?

The box hit his desk with athud, yanking him out of his spiraling thoughts. “It would be good if you could make a decision by tomorrow,” Talley said, still sounding as if he’d just sucked on a lemon. “To avoid any further delays.”

Jonathan resisted the urge to roll his eyes. That made it sound like he and the other Manor partners caused the delays, which couldn’t be further from the truth. “I’ll do my best.”

“Well, I’m afraid I’m needed elsewhere.” Talley inched toward the door, not meeting anyone’s gaze. “Eve, answer any questions he has about the tiles.” With that, he shot out of the room as if the antique Persian rug was on fire. The fucking coward.

Eve let out the tiniest of sighs, staring at the closed door with disappointment in her eyes and deep frown lines around her mouth.

No, disappointment wasn’t the right word. Every inch of her screamed defeat.

“Let’s look at these tiles, shall we?” Jonathan said, trying to soundcheerful rather than pissed off. If he could do anything to brighten the poor woman’s day, he’d do it without question.

Eve’s gaze lingered on the door for a few more seconds. Then she plastered a smile on her face and turned fully toward the desk. “There are some truly beautiful options here, Mr. Hale,” she said, a perkiness to her voice that rang as false as a thousand-dollar bill. “I think we’ll find something you love even more than the original tile.”

He had his work cut out for him.

They’d narrowed it down to three tiles over the course of the last hour. Unsurprisingly, Eve knew every imaginable detail about all the tiles in the box—a profound attention to detail Jonathan had come to expect from her. He’d yet to find a single aspect of the project she couldn’t talk about with near-encyclopedic knowledge.

No wonder she managed the site and crew instead of Talley.

“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your expertise. You’ve been a godsend these last six months.” Jonathan studied her as he spoke, taking in the subtle shift in her posture and dilation of her pupils. Beautiful. So incredibly beautiful. She blossomed under praise.

And she was absolutely fucking starved for it.

“I’m so glad I can be of service,” she said, blushing.

“It’ll definitely be one of these.” Jonathan ran his fingertips over the three remaining samples for at least the hundredth time. “I’ll talk to my partners and get our final decision to you by ten AM.”

She smiled, and this time it reached her eyes. Though her shoulders remained far too tense for his liking, he’d managed to loosen her up quite a bit since Talley left. “I look forward to hearing from you in the morning, Mr. Hale.”

Jonathan snorted. “Eve, you’ve seen me naked. I think it’s time you finally start calling me Jonathan, don’t you?”

Laughter burst out of her, and she clamped a hand over her mouth, as if to keep any more sound from escaping. “I, uh...” Her cheeks turned a deep crimson, and she began twisting the heavy gold ring on her right middle finger around and around—a nervous habit he’dwitnessed countless times in the last six months. “I didn’t realize you knew I saw you.”

Sawhim? Fuck, she didn’t just see him. She watched an entire scene out by the pool—first punishing his guest, and then giving her a pair of orgasms so explosive she slipped into subspace for half an hour.

Jonathan had seen Eve eating lunch in one of the garden’s many little alcoves before the festivities began. Part of his brain insisted he take his guest inside. Though the construction crew knew exactly what kind of establishment they were working for, that didn’t mean they signed up to be kinky voyeurs.

The larger part of his brain—the one controlled by his dick, if he was being honest—told him to proceed as planned just to see how she’d react. And sweet Christ, he wasn’t disappointed. Eve stayed for the entire scene, hardly blinking as she took in every single detail.

With a smile he feared was a little too wolfish, Jonathan said, “Please don’t be embarrassed. Voyeurism is not only allowed at the Manor. It’s encouraged.”

Eve turned her head away, trying to hide her smile of pleasure. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Her voice came out quite a bit lower than normal. “Until tomorrow morning, Mr. Ha—Jonathan.” She took two steps toward the door, but then stopped, shoulders hunching forward again.

With his smile fading away, Jonathan asked, “Is everything okay?”

After a few seconds, she turned to face him again. She’d gone back to fidgeting with her ring, its square-cut emerald flashing in the lamplight. “There’s something I think you should know.”

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