I really had to force myself to stop thinking about those big hands on my face and on my waist as he’d kissed the ever-loving shit out of me mere hours before.
“Nope,” I managed, reaching over to unzip my bag. “Against the rules.”
“We have rules,” he said with a raised eyebrow.
“The most important part of my plan,” I explained as I took out my laptop and turned it on, “are the rules.”
“Did you sleep at all last night?” he asked.
I looked up from my computer, shocked by how concerned he sounded. And dear Lord, helookedconcerned, too. He was watching me like the last thing in the world he wanted was for me to miss out on a good night’s sleep, and it was too much.
Questions like that—from him—could totally destroy me.
I returned my focus to my laptop, feeling shaky. “Yeah, I only need four hours, so I’m good.”
Blake
She wasn’t wearing any makeup.
For some reason, as I watched her clicking into files on her computer, I loved that she wasn’t wearing makeup. Not in a sexist she-doesn’t-need-it or I-like-the-natural-look way—hell, I didn’t care who wore what—but I was glad she didn’t feel compelled to put it on in order to meet me at Scooter’s.
It felt like she was comfortable with me.
“Okay. So.” She turned her laptop so I could see the display, and said, “Scooch closer.”
I followed her order, moving my chair closer, and wanted to laugh when she muttered under her breath, “Good boy.”
She opened a PowerPoint and immediately started talking. “As we both know, you are above me on the Ellis org chart, which means we cannot have any sort of romantic relationship—or contact—whatsoever.”
“Correct,” I agreed, even though I didn’t like the way it felt in my mouth. It was a thousand percent accurate, but acknowledging the fact out loud was depressing.
However, Ididlike the big redXshe’d put over our names on her slide; that was pretty funny shit.
“Since that is nonnegotiable,” she said, clicking on another slide, “we can never be alone together.”
“That seems a little overdramatic, don’t you think?”
I regretted it the instant I said it, because she looked embarrassed. But before I could backtrack, she said, “Would you trust us to finish this meeting in your car? Or at my apartment?”
Our eyes locked, and holy shit, she was right; we could never be alone together. I’d been staring at her mouth since the minute she sat down, remembering the way it’d felt to kiss her.
“Touché,” I said casually, as if it didn’t matter. “You’re right.”
She nodded very seriously. “So rule number one: We’re never alone.”
“Agreed,” I said, wondering if that fruity smell was her hair or her perfume.
“I read the entire handbook last night,” she continued, rubbing her lips together like she needed Chapstick, “and there is no rule that says an executive cannot be friends with a subordinate outside of work.”
I watched her resolute face.I read the entire handbook.
“So if you’re interested in pursuing a casual friendship—and it’s totally fine if you’re not—I have some ideas on how we can keep it entirely separate from work.”
Her blue gaze moved from her computer to my face, and I wondered if it were possible for me to say no to her. Somethingabout her eye contact, the directness of her pretty gaze, made me want to give her every single thing she needed.
Fucking dangerous, that.
Izzy