Page 30 of As the World Falls

He grins like a Cheshire cat at that, making my body internally shake. “How did someone as incredibly aggressive as you become a little librarian?”

I shrug. “All the books I’ve read about strong warrior women have gotten to my head.”

“Or noble woman that a man can’t control?” he counters.

I can’t help but blush at the reminder of my favorite book and the fact that he listened well enough to remember it a week later and bring it up in conversation. “Yes, that too.”

Hours later, I’m fighting to stay awake after the marketing meeting. James has me following him around like a shadow, and I decided to carry a notebook and pen with me to make it look like I was actually doing something other than determining if any of his other employees are potential threats, but so far, they all seem entirely normal and doing completely normal jobs. Was I the one being crazy here? Is this entire thing I’ve orchestrated absolutely bonkers?

The meeting didn’t go so well, however. They’ve hit a wall recently where sales aren’t climbing, and they’re fresh out of ideas to promote the products they already have out, and their new ideas are…well… they all sucked in my opinion, and I had a feeling James thought so too because he hasn’t said a word of praise to anyone’s pitches. He actually looks like he’s about to pop a vein in his forehead.

He looked…kind of nice today. He was wearing his standard black suit, but this time, he had a stark white button-down underneath it when I’d typically only seen him in black. He had more buttons undone at the top of the shirt than I would expect from a CEO, but I was trying not to focus on that. I liked the white on him, though. It made his features pop even more. Notthat I cared about his features popping or anything. I wanted that vein to pop, though, because that would finally be some entertainment in a so far boring day.

We left the meeting shortly after, and James still hadn’t said a word, so I decided not to either. I could tell he was reeling over the marketing team's lack of progress, so I was going to let him stew on that on his own. We had to leave to go to Buffalo in a little bit to, I guess, check on things, I don’t know.

We met back in his office, and I sat in the same chair again, but I heard a faint ripping noise as I did. My eyes widened just as James’s shot to mine. “I think my pantyhose just ripped,” I squeak out, standing now and discovering the rip clear up the back of my calf.

“Obviously,” he deadpans.

I face him again, glaring at him. “What am I supposed to do? I can’t go to Buffalo with ripped pantyhose?”

“Take them off,” he suggests casually.

“What?” I bluster. “I can’t just take them off. That’s indecent.”

He tilts his head in the way he does when he’s annoyed, and his gaze roams over me, and I start to feel hot under the scrutiny of it. “You’re wearing a skirt. What’s wrong with wearing it without tights?”

“Because it will look a little…leggy, don’t you think?”

“Again, what’s wrong with that?”

“I’ve just never really worn skirts as short as this one without tights,” I admit. It was a mid-thigh purple, black, and green checkered skirt, and I had a white top tucked into it with a black blazer over the top. It was paired so well with the black tights, but now… I didn’t have a choice but to go without.

“Cecilia, we have to leave in five minutes. Just take them off, for God's sake. No one’s going to look twice at your legs in this city filled with them.”

I sigh and grumble as I chuck my heels off and slip my pantyhose down my legs. I lift one of my legs on the chair as I roll the rest off, and I look to my side, spotting James’s gaze fixed on my leg, his eyes traveling with the stocking as they roll down to my ankle.

“I thought you said no one would look?” I muse.

He blinks as if snapping himself out of it. “Just hurry up. You’ve already wasted enough time as is.”

I roll my eyes, slip my heels back on, and toss my tights in the trash. But I don’t miss his eyes on my heels again and traveling back up my legs. It makes me feel even hotter, and I think I’m also beginning to sweat a little now. Was that unprofessional? Taking my tights off like that in his office? I couldn’t take it back now despite wanting to with every fiber of my being because he’d never looked at me this long before, and it was making me feel in ways that I wasn’t used to. But I won’t say anything about it this time. I ignored the tension I was suddenly feeling all over and waited for him to gather his things before he led me out of his office and to his car in Buffalo.

The whole way there, I feel like I can’t breathe. ?

We’ve only been at the Buffalo store for an hour, and I quite literally stand around the store doing absolutely nothing while James seems to be doing everything. He’s in and out of the back office, flipping through random binders and talking to each and every employee. He’s walked around the showcases, inspecting them more than once, and currently, he’s on the computer slash register at the front counter, looking at God knows what.

This was all so freaking boring.

Not only has it been one full, long day of actual work, but I have also yet to see my brother and spy on him once today. He’s supposedly at one of the warehouses. Go figure. My first day on the job, and he was out of the building.

I tip-toe around the store, patiently waiting for James to finish up with whatever it is he’s doing. I’ve had my legs pressed firmly together the entire time I’ve been here. I was not used to the breeze this high up on my bare thighs, and I felt like everyone was staring at me because of it, but in reality, one of the employees here, a very pretty brunette with legs for days, was wearing a suit set with a skirt shorter than mine. She still somehow looked professional, so I should, too, right?

Sparkling green catches my eye, and I prance over, looking inside the case to find the same pair of earrings the woman from the last store had shown me. They really were pretty. Like I’ve said, I’ve never tried to wear earrings because I always assumed they’d get caught in my hair, but maybe it wouldn’t hurt to try. I wonder if I get some kind of employee discount now that I’m working for James. I bet I still couldn’t afford these earrings even then.

“What are you looking at?”

An undignified squeal bursts out of me as I jump at James’s abrupt presence at my back. “You scared the hell out of me,” I breathe out, trying to catch my breath as my heart fights to not have an attack.

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