Page 61 of Love Not Qualified

I was waitingin my office at the Graves Company one hour later, my foot tapping on the floor as I kept glancing at the watch on my wrist. She was supposed to be here any minute.

What if she didn’t show up? What if she really kept her word and considered Gorig’s proposal?

No. She wouldn’t have done that without notice.

My jaw clenched and I stood up. For some reason, I didn’t want Haelyn to leave, not only because she was smart and goodat her job, but because it felt right to have her around. Shit. And she was a good sight to see. With those tempting pink lips of hers, the softness of her deep brown skin, and that beautiful frown on her forehead when she was concentrating.

I ignored my beating heart and walked out to Lo to inform her no one could come up today, but I stopped in my tracks when I saw a frozen Haelyn in front of the closing doors of the elevator.

Her round eyes stared at the ringing phone in her hand as she swallowed a lump in her throat. She put the device to her ear and I stepped forward, my hands reaching out to her.

“Haelyn.”

“Did something happen?” she asked the other person on the end, her voice cracking as her steps sped up to her office without a look my way.

I stood there, my hand still in the air as I registered her disregard. As much as I knew she had every right to never want to speak with me again, something told me it was more than that as the haunting image with the panic on her face settled in.

My heart picked up speed as I found myself wondering what I should do. Go after her with the possibility of making everything ten times worse or go back into my office and forget that anything happened?

I ground my teeth, turned on my feet and pressed the doorknob of my office with hesitance. This was the right thing to do. I had no business getting involved in her personal life—she was my assistant after all and I promised myself I’d keep a professional relationship.

Yet I couldn’t stop thinking about the way her head lowered as she walked past me, her eyes watching her feet step one after the other or the way she bit her lips in desperation.

Fuck it. I couldn’t just sit in my office pretending I didn’t give a shit.

I walked past the glass windows, heading directly to her office, then I knocked on her door with my breath caught in my throat, frustrated I couldn’t see through her windows. She was alone in there and somehow I knew something was wrong.

When I was about to knock a second time, a loud thud reached my ears and panic settled in my throat. I immediately burst into her room.

Her phone was on the floor, two inches from the top of my shoes as she slid down on the side of the desk, hugging her knees to her chest. She sucked in deep breaths, her chest rising and falling with rapid intakes of air. Her cheeks reddened as tears ran down.

Before I knew it, I kneeled down to her, my hand caressing her hair. She jolted, as if she didn’t even realize I was here before I touched her. For a few seconds, she stared at me with an emptiness I didn’t recognize, my heart aching at the sight of her.

What the hell happened?

When she realized I wasn’t leaving, she broke into sobs, her fingers latching onto my shirt. I dropped on the ground, putting a hand on her back until she rested her hand on my chest. I continued stroking her curly hair, hoping the action would calm her down the same way it calmed Lacey when Mom left us.

“You’re okay,” I reassured her, my lips finding the top of her head. I immediately inhaled the strawberry scent, my senses going crazy at the innocent closeness.

She shook her head, her pained cries getting louder. Each sound dug a hole in my chest. Sweat slid down my back as I found myself on a cliff.

What do I do now? How do I make her stop? How do I make her feel better?

What the fuck was wrong with me? I usually knew how to react in critical situations, but now my head was a fucking mess.

I took her burning cheeks between my palms, her red eyes watching me through rivers of tears. Even her lips trembled and I cursed myself for thinking about kissing her in a moment like this. Taking my attention back to her face, I caressed her skin with a thumb.

“Tell me how to make it better for you.”

Haelyn quietened a bit, her mouth falling open. “Why do you care, Tristan Graves?” she asked, her voice shaking.

The question caught me off guard. Why did I care? I had no fucking clue.

I grabbed a strand of hair and locked it behind her ear, my finger grazing over her lips. My cock hardened in my pants at the warm breaths cascading over my thumb. She waited for my reply and I wondered if I leaned down to kiss her right now, was she going to let me? Was she going to let me suck those sinful lips between my teeth? Was she going to let me hear her pretty moans?

Instead of acting on anything like that, I spoke the truth.

“I know I shouldn’t,” I whispered on the closeness of her lips. “But I can’t help myself.”

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