Page 84 of Implode

Leaning back in my chair, I wait for my girl to make her way through the—

BAM.

The door slams behind Claire as she saunters closer to me and flops down into the cushioned chair.

I prop my hands up behind my head and relax even more. She hates it when I am cool and confident. Drives her mad. I would be fooling myself if I said I didn’t like to toy with her on occasion. I know I shouldn’t, but any emotion I can pull from her—even if it is a negative one—is better than being ignored by her. I cannot stand when she refuses to talk to me. By the sparkle in her eyes, I can tell she has a lot to say.

Seeing her so fragile yesterday caused me to plummet toward my breaking point. Sure, the entire situation sucks, but no matter what happens, I will always try to protect Claire.

“We need to talk,” she announces, eyeing up the monitors behind me. I had enough sense to turn off all of the video footage. She doesn’t need to know the real extent of my obsession.

“Something tells me it doesn’t involve the stock market.”

“You are correct,” she answers tersely.

“Then what brings you here, Claire? Want to share breakfast together?”

“No.”

“Revisit the top of my desk while I eat you out?” I can’t help but meet her glare with a smirk.

“No.”

“Bend you over the chair, while I pump into you from behind?”

“I’m pregnant, Nic.”

“You told me last night,” I say matter-of-factly. While I still need time to process the situation, I haven’t stopped thinking about her. There’s no eradicating this feisty ball of sass from my mind.

“You can’t pretend the baby doesn’t exist.”

“I don’t pretend.”

“Then quit flirting with me.”

“Why? You think being pregnant somehow is making you less attractive? Nope. Quite the opposite.”

How did I miss the glow before now? She is radiant.

Claire tosses her hands into the air, but it doesn’t distract me from seeing the hints of pink warming her cheeks. “That’s the problem with you! You think this whole thing is some joke. There are lives involved, Nic. Real lives. You act like you own the place. Stomping around the building and summoning me and then when I do show up freely, you make it so impossible for me to even want to stay. You and your, your…”

“My?”

“Your broody emo self,” she blurts out. “You need to find a new hobby because it ain’t me! Quit having me followed. Quit keeping tabs. And for the love of every techno nerd in the universe, quit tracking me! I can feel eyes watching me, and it is making me crazy. Everywhere I look I think I see someone who works for you.”

I shrug. “Umm, they probably do work for me.”

It takes everything in me not to burst out into a full-blown smile. Claire is so freaking cute when she is irritated and stuttering about all the little things that piss her off.

“But can we back up to the ‘techno nerd’ part?” I add air quotes just for fun. “What is that? You have piqued my interest.”

“Someone who gets excited over technology and then uses it against people for shits and giggles.”

“Is that what I’m doing, Claire?”

“Nic, if I knew what you were doing, I wouldn’t be here now.”

“Just to clarify, you don’t want me to order breakfast?”

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