Page 39 of Waiting for Tuesday

I shook my head and tried to leave the room, realizing this conversation was going nowhere good, but his hand on my arm stilled me.

“She's just a friend, Tuesday.”

His eyes were deep and searching, causing my hopeful heart to squeeze. “Did you bring her here to make me jealous?”

One of his brows lifted. “Are you?”

It was a ridiculous question; one there was no point in answering. I turned to leave again, but he held me tighter.

“She’s a friend who needed someone to talk to. That's it.” Then he dropped his hand, allowing me to leave, but there was an edge to his voice that made me look up.

Here was my chance to go, to put the distance between us, but my heart was caught in quicksand—uncontrollably sinking. I found myself wanting to help, even though I didn’t know what was wrong. “Is everything okay?” My voice wavered, but for once I didn’t care.

He shook his head and looked up to the ceiling. “It’s her story to tell, not mine.” Then his gaze settled on me again. “You haven’t answered my question.”

I backed up a step, finding the wall at my feet. “What question?”

“Are you jealous?”

I looked away, annoyed by the fact he was pushing me like this. “Why do you even care?” My chest heaved as I pulled in a breath. “Does it give you pleasure, knowing I want you? That everyone does? So you can add another notch to your bedpost?”

His jaw constricted, but he didn’t speak.

“My being jealous has nothing to do with us. How I feel about the women you go out with doesn’t matter. You’re my employee, that’s it.”

He stepped toward me, causing the air to deflate from my lungs. “I'm not your employee.” His voice was firm, filled with a gravel that overwhelmed my stomach with tiny flutters. “And how you feel has everything to do with this.” His eyes raked over my face, down to my mouth, and then up to my eyes again. “If my working here is a problem, I’ll walk out that door right now and tell Jake to find someone else.”

A knot formed in my throat. All of a sudden, the one thing I thought I wanted sounded like my worst idea ever. I didn’t want him to stop working for me. I couldn’t stand the thought of never seeing him again. “W-why would you do that?”

He looked at me for a second, not moving, then he took a step backward. “Because.” He paused for so long I thought he was finished, but then he spoke again. “Because there’s something between us, Tuesday. Something I haven’t felt in a long time. And judging by the way you kissed me, you feel it too.”

I shook my head and swallowed. “I didn’t kiss you. You kissed me.”

The corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. His voice lowered, soft and rough at the same time… A voice just for me. “You kissed me, Tuesday. You kissed me so good I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Not with your mouth, but your whole body. Every part of you was in that kiss, and I want more. ”

My eyes widened. Never in my life had I been spoken to like that. So brazenly honest, not hiding an ounce of the truth. It did something to my insides that made me want to kiss him again. “What do you want from me?”

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to hear, but I needed more time. I needed time to think, time to figure out how to get out of this mess…or decide if I wanted out at all.

He leaned against the counter, crossing his feet out in front of him. “I think you know what I want.”

I swallowed. I knew I should leave, but my feet were glued to the floor— and my eyes, they were transfixed on a man who just admitted, not for the first time, that he wanted me. Blood rushed to every part of my body, and my mouth fell open.

“The way I see it,” he continued, “I can walk out of this office, and we can never talk about this again, or”—his eyes held onto mine, taking them captive in his deep, seductive gaze—“we can stop denying this attraction, and you can meet me after work tonight. But I’ll warn you Tuesday, if you were one of my sisters, I’d tell you to run. You deserve better than I’ll ever be able to give you, but the thing is, I’m too goddamned selfish not to ask.”

His eyes never left mine, his face serious as he watched for my reaction.

On the one hand, I was pretty sure I should be offended. He just admitted he wanted me—maybe only for sex. But on the other hand, maybe it wasn’t the worst idea in the world. I had needs, needs I was certain he could take care of, and he was offering himself to me on a golden platter.

One of the guys called from the back room, and my heart jumped to my throat. In the midst of this heated conversation, I forgot we weren’t alone. Which was a good thing in the moment… I didn’t know what would happen if we were. John looked over his shoulder, calling back that he’d be there in a minute then met my eyes again.

“Yes or no, Tuesday?”

Every nerve in my body was on fire, but my brain must’ve been full of cotton wool, as the only word I could think of was, “Yes.”

He nodded then but didn’t smile, just pushed himself off the counter again and headed for the back room. “I’ll pick you up at your place at seven.”

I shook my head and fisted my hands at my sides. “I’ll meet you here.”

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