Page 76 of Indiscretion

“Naomi, stop for a second. Talk to me.”

But she kept on spraying.

“Naomi.” I touched her arm. She pulled it away like my hand was hot. But at least she was looking at me now.

“What do you want from me, Dawson?” Tears welled in her eyes, causing a giant ache in my chest. She quickly looked away, so I slipped two fingers under her chin and nudged until her eyes met mine.

“I swear, nothing happened.”

Rebecca, the new receptionist, walked back at that moment. Her gait faltered when she saw Naomi and me. “Uhh…Mr. Langone is on the phone. He says it’s urgent. I tried to get you on the intercom, but you didn’t answer. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

My eyes never budged from Naomi’s. “Tell him I’ll call him back.”

“He said it was urgent.”

“I don’t give a shit.”

“Ohhhhkay. Whatever you say.”

A fat tear spilled down Naomi’s cheek. I grabbed her elbow and started us walking. “Let’s go into my office so we can talk in private.”

“I don’t want to talk.”

“Well, then you can listen.”

I was surprised as shit that she didn’t fight me as I guided her into my office and closed the door. Maybe I should’ve been scared she was going to give me another black eye once we were alone. But I didn’t give a fuck. I only gave a shit that she didn’t think the worst of me.

I motioned to the seating area. “Do you want to sit?”

She folded her arms across her chest. “No.”

My hands found my hips. “Fine. We’ll talk right here. I have no idea what you think happened with Emily that’s got you pissed off, but nothing happened.”

She looked away yet again.

“Damn it, Naomi, look at me.”

This time, her eyes roamed my face, gauging my sincerity. “But you said things heated up?”

I thought back to our text exchange last night. “I said thingsgotheated, as in we had a huge blowout.”

“Oh.” Her face thawed a bit, though not entirely.

“Do you believe me?”

She looked away. “It’s not important.”

“Clearly it is.”

“Just forget it. It doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me.” The tears in her eyes meant she wasn’t as much pissed off as she was hurt. And if she was hurt, that meant it mattered to her, too. And if it mattered that much to her, then… “Were youjealous, Naomi?”

Her cheeks pinked. “No.”

But I knew in my bones, that was it. I took a step closer, and the scent of coconut hit me. I had the strongest impulse to run my nose all over her skin, take in every last delicious smell on her body. Instead, I caught her eyes. “You smell good enough to eat.”

She swallowed. My office was pretty big by New York standards, yet suddenly it felt very small.

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