Page 2 of Rookie Move

She turned her attention back to the files in front of her, skimming over the other two new additions. She pulled up their social media accounts to make sure everything looked good.

And there he was. No shirt on. Big smile. That damn dimple that she’d had to kiss during their night together.

To be fair, the man was Scottish and had a faint accent to prove it. How was she supposed to resist?

She pushed back from her desk. She needed more coffee, and the espresso machine in the breakroom gave her life. She was halfway in love with that thing already.

“Oomph,” she sputtered as she walked into a solid wall—a breathing, solid wall.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I wasn’t paying attention.”

“No worries,” a familiar, accented voice said.

For fuck’s sake.

She looked up, meeting Desmond’s gaze, watching his eyes widen with recognition. Damn, she’d needed more time—and more coffee—to prepare for this.

“Rylie?” he asked, his hands gripping her arms, theRrolling from his lips. Her skin tingled at his touch—goddamn tingled.

“Oh, umm…yeah, what are you doing here?” she asked.Play it cool.She took a deep breath and stepped back, instantly missing his warm grip.

Which was ridiculous.

“Uh, I’m on the team. What are you doing here?” he asked, his voice gruff.

It did unacceptable things to her stomach. The lilt of his voice was just plain unfair.

“Oh, you’re a hockey player?” she asked, digging a hole she would probably not be able to scramble out of.

“Hey, Rylie, there you are. Did you get a chance to look over the files for the new players?” her boss, Brenda, asked. “Oh, Desmond Lachley, right? One of our new guys. Glad to see you both met.”

“Files?” Desmond asked, his gaze never leaving Rylie’s as his eyes narrowed and she knew she was busted.

Rylie turned to focus on her boss. She could do this. Act normal now. Hyperventilate later—in private.

“Hi, Brenda. I did take a look at them. Everything looks great. I have some ideas,” she said, trying to ignore the throat being cleared next to her.

“You work here?” he asked, and Rylie did not miss the question in Brenda’s eyes.

“Yep. Marketing assistant,” she said, trying to sound nonchalant, but inside she was totally chalant—if that was even a thing.

“I wanted to catch you to make sure you were settling in okay. I can’t wait to hear your ideas,” Brenda said, drawing her words out as if she were trying to navigate through the sludge-like tension.

“Great. I should probably get back to my desk. It was great meeting you, Desmond. Sorry about bumping into you,” she said, flashing Brenda a smile and trying not to think about all the bumping they’d done the other night. She could feel the heat in her cheeks.

“No harm done,” he said, his words clipped.

“Are you sure you two don’t know each other?” Brenda asked.

“Nope. First time we’ve met,” Rylie replied, refusing to look at him.

“Okay. Well, come by my office later if you want to discuss those ideas,” Brenda said.

“Great,” Rylie said before she spun on her heel and headed back to her desk. She heard Brenda ask Desmond what she could help him with, but Rylie was around the corner before he responded.

She’d barely dodged that bullet. Now she would have to hope that he wouldn’t come looking for her while she figured out what she was going to do. Avoiding him wasn’t an easy option anymore.

“Rylie, wait,” he said from behind her as she stepped into her cubicle. Every curse word she knew rolled through her head. Of all the guys she could’ve picked up in a bar. Of all of them.

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