Page 151 of The Re-Proposal

He sighs so hard the tiny curls hanging around my ears dance. Gruffly, he says, “Morning.”

When we get to the door, we pause to let someone in.

“Morning,” I say.

“Morning,” Cody says.

The guy drops his files. Color flushes his cheeks and he fumbles to pick up the papers while mumbling, “M-morning, Mr. Bolton, sir.”

I drop to my knees to help him.

“Oh you don’t have to.” The guy reaches out to me.

Cody makes a low growl in the back of his throat.

The man retracts his hand like it got bitten by a snake.

I squint up at the Ice King and then look down pointedly at a document by his foot. Cody frowns, weighs my silent request for a second and drops to his knees to help.

Behind me, I hear a camera click.

I’m sure this moment will be on rotation in many group chats tonight.

“Here you go,” I say with a smile, handing over the documents we gathered.

“T-thanks.” The man hurries off, his footsteps loud in the stunned silence.

We continue outside.

Vargas clears his throat. “I’ll, uh, follow you in my car, Bolton.”

Cody nods and gestures for me to slide into his town car first. This one looks brand-spanking-new. Does he have a spare car just lying around? What happened to the one with the broken window?

He gets in after me and the driver shuts the door.

“Look at you, being a nice boss for once. Didn’t that feel good?”

He scowls like the Alaskan winter that he is. “Debatable.” Sliding across the seat, he whispers, “But I could think of a few things that feel better.”

“Like seatbelts?” I smirk, gesturing to the one across the car.

“Hm.” He does a little nose scrunch of disapproval.

I watch as he reluctantly pulls away and fastens the seatbelt. His fingers are long and slender. He grips the harness and plunges it into the receptor, his eyes on me.

I lick my lips and squeeze my legs together.

The tension between us is hot and thick, desperate to be snapped.

But at least he’s not pushing.

If he did, I’d jump into his lap and suck his lips like my favorite candy.

Let me keep what little defense I have left.

Let me surround my heart with barbed wire.

I’m not ready yet. I can’t forget the past. Or the fact that our worlds are even further apart in the present.

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