Page 24 of Stuck On Them

I finally was able to move and buttoned the button he’d undone. “Look,” I said quietly, trying to break the tension. “We both had a rush of adrenaline and what happened, happened. It’s not like I stopped you. We don’t even have to talk about it. Okay?”

He cleared his throat. “No, I mean… yes. We should talk about it.” He ran a hand over his face. “I knew that mustard wasn’t going to stay on your boob, and I guess I just wanted a chance to touch you since I didn’t get to before.”

My heart thumped in my ears as I met his gaze again. His expression was vulnerable and honest, and for some reason, that made me even more attracted to him than before.

“I can understand that,” I said quietly, my cheeks heating up as a blush spread across them. “Besides, mustard boob is a delicacy in some countries.”

Garrett nodded slowly and breathed out a sigh of relief before looking away from me with a sheepish smile on his face. “I should walk you back.”

He gestured in the direction of the building, and we started walking, both of us silent. What the hell was in that pastrami sandwich and why did I want more?

Chapter9

Mr. Spiky Sea Urchin

Ryker

Everything felt out of control, and it came back to one reason: her.

It was my own damn fault. I’d let my carefully constructed guard down and broke the rules Luca, Garrett, and I had come up with long ago. Not only that, but I’d let myself feel something other than just sexual need.

And now she was employed by our company.

The ramifications of reconnecting with a one-night stand were one thing, but it hadn’t just been simple sex. Luca and Garrett had watched.

Sue hadn’t stopped glaring at me since I’d called her and the heads of both human resources and our legal team into my office. We didn’t have a fraternization policy, but this was unchartered territory.

My mind was racing, trying to figure out how to contain the fallout. If I didn’t handle this the right way, it could be catastrophic for our business. The papers would latch onto a story like this like a hungry infant.

Everyone was staring at me expectantly. It was up to me to come up with a plan that would protect us. I just wished Luca and Garrett were taking things as seriously as I was.

I tapped my pen on the table, feeling the most on edge I had in a while. “Out of all the jobs in the city, she ends up here as our assistant? It’s just too much of a coincidence for me to be comfortable with her remaining employed here.”

Sue rolled her eyes, not even bothering to hide her annoyance with me. “She applied for a data entry position, Ryker. I was the one who decided her resume and interview were too strong. She has the experience and the personality to do a great job.”

“Did you check her references? Didn’t you just interview her today?” I looked down at Paige’s resume and the interview notes Sue had given me. “Why did she leave her last job? What did they say when you called?”

Sue had worked for us for years, and while I usually trusted her judgment, a person with bad intentions could easily worm their way into her good graces. Maybe I needed to reassess not sitting in on interviews.

Javier, the human resources director, cleared his throat. “Regardless of her employment history, your connection to her on an intimate level is the issue. You openly admitted to sleeping with her, and even though it was before she worked here, it’s a precarious situation.”

“We can’t just fire the girl. I’ll just move her to the data entry position she applied for, although the pay is almost half.” Sue’s frown deepened like she knew the damn woman personally. “She’s an adult. You’re an adult. I just don’t understand why you’re so worked up about this.”

She didn’t understand because I’d left out the part about Luca and Garrett being involved. None of our employees knew about that side of our personal lives and they never would.

Fatima, the company’s chief legal counsel, stopped typing on her laptop. “He’s worked up about it because he wants to do it again.” She went back to typing.

I resisted the urge to tell her to get the hell out of my office. She unfortunately was partially correct, but I also couldn’t help but feel like there was a bigger plot here.

As much as I wanted to deny Fatima’s statement, there was a truth to it that I couldn’t ignore. The thrill of that night still lingered in the back of my mind, and the thought of seeing Paige every day at work only made it worse. But there was something more than just a physical attraction; there was a connection that I couldn’t explain.

I closed my eyes and exhaled, trying to push away the unwanted memories of her lips against mine and the soft noises she made for me.

Clearly, it wasn’t working.

“Regardless of my personal feelings, we need to think about the potential consequences for the company. If word gets out about this or she has ulterior motives, I don’t even want to think about what could happen.”

Javier nodded in agreement. “We could face legal action from other employees for preferential treatment. How many in-house applications did we have for the assistant position?”

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