Page 84 of Possession

“Not allowed to play with your toys?”

He hooked his glasses into the small pocket of his vest. “I prefer to keep your blouse white.”

“You do, huh?”

“Yes.”

“And you think I’m going to make your precious pen explode?”

“You have a habit of chewing on pens.”

My lips twitched as I glanced down at his lips, then lower to the edge of his vest and belt. “Are you saying I have an oral fixation?”

That jaw thingie was back. Man, I had a deep and abiding love for that muscle. I really hoped he didn’t figure out that was his tell. I did love to exploit it.

“Save it for the chopsticks.”

“Damn.”

He brushed by me. “For now,” he said low against my ear as he moved beside Jack.

I swallowed and glanced at Jack. Luckily, he seemed engrossed in the screen. Like I should be. I dropped into Blake’s chair, which of course was not set for someone my size—you know, normal.

I could feel him staring a few holes into my back for daring to touch his set-up but scrolled through a few of the different sites, anyway.

Instead of sitting down to lunch, we all brainstormed over the data and ate from cartons near the worktable. Notonthe worktable, of course—Blake would have a mild coronary if there was food near his computers—but I was allowed to hover three feet away.

Jack was quiet most of the lunch hour but eventually, he seemed to get over his snit. A reminder alarm beeped from the corner of the screen, and I stuck my chopsticks back into my carton of noodles.

“Jack, we have that conference call in thirty minutes.”

He scooped the last of his carton into his mouth and pitched it into the garbage in the corner of the room. “Right. If I look at any more of this, my eyes are going to cross, anyway.” Jack glanced at Blake. “You hiding out the rest of the day down here?”

Blake glanced from Jack to me. “Unless you need me?”

I shook my head. “Nope. All is copacetic upstairs.”

“Then, yes. I’ve only dug into the surface of the data. I’ll need all the time I can manage.”

Jack nodded. “We’ll make sure you get it.” He nodded at me. “I’ll head up and meet you in his office in twenty.”

He still seemed stiff, so I clasped my fingers around his wrist before he could pass us by. “Thank you, Jack. We really appreciate all your help.”

He sighed. “Anything for you, Blondie.”

“I’ll be right up.”

He nodded.

When we were alone, I grasped Blake’s collar and dragged him down to me. “What was that all about?”

He tried to pull back, but I pushed him into his chair instead and pressed my knee between his legs, grazing his precious manhood. His dark brows beetled. “Grace.”

Ah, so he could say it when I wasn’t naked. “Since when don’t you trust Jack?”

“I believe that I mentioned it wasn’t personal.”

“Bullshit.” His lips thinned. Taking that as an answer, I tilted my head. “There’s a reason for it. And I want to know.”

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