Page 55 of His Temptation
“You ended it, didn’t you?” Walker accuses.
I look away from his knowing eyes. “There wasn’t anything to end in the first place.”
“Right, and that’s why you requested our company and downed your forty-dollar scotch in two minutes,” Roman mutters.
I stare at my empty glass. “So, what if I did end it? It was the right thing to do.”
“Lincoln, whatever you’re running from is going to catch up with you,” Walker says seriously.
My body stiffens. I spot the waitress across the room and hold up my glass to signal another. She nods her head at me. I need to get these guys off my back. They think this is much deeper than it is.
“Nah, she was just hot, and I made a mistake by letting my dick get in the way. Now I’ve done what’s right and brought it back to a strictly professional relationship.”
I can tell they don’t buy it, but just like usual, after they try to push me on anything related to my feelings, they let it go. I can tell Walker wants to say something else, but he just shakes his head and looks away from me. The disappointing gesture hurts more than I thought it would.
Dean and Sawyer bring the night back to what I was looking for—some good laughs. They tell stories about playing one-on-one basketball on the court in their building to make business decisions when they can’t agree. I think it’s a completely insane way of doing business, but that’s a tech company for you.
After I get home, I lie awake in bed, and all I can think about is Kylie’s face when I ended it. It went from such concern for my well-being to confusion then moved to hatred. I don’t want to go back to her hating me, but it’s the safest way to keep us from making a big mistake.
21
KYLIE
The lobby is bustling with its normal morning chaos, but the noise barely registers with me. I clutch my coffee in my hand as I take heavy steps toward the elevator. I’m running on little sleep after lying awake, willing myself not to shed a tear over my boss.
I keep trying to tell myself that it’s just another day in the office. But as I ride up the elevator, I know that’s not true. It’s not just another day in the office. Because now I know what his lips feel like against mine. I know what it feels like to have our naked bodies touch. We know the taste of each other.
But I have to pretend like none of it ever happened. I have to see him in the boardroom, dressed in a sharp suit that makes his ass look phenomenal, and pretend like it doesn’t affect me.
When I get to my desk, I place my stuff down and go straight to the break room to make his coffee. I keep thinking when he sees me, he’s going to apologize and tell me he overreacted. I’m sure there’s some simple explanation as to why he had a moment of panic.
I walk into his office and place his coffee on his desk. “Your coffee.”
“Thank you,” he replies as he keeps typing away on his keyboard without looking at me.
I hesitate, waiting for some moment of acknowledgment of what he did the other day, but nothing. I walk away, feeling smaller and more insignificant than I have in a long time.
“Kylie,” he calls when I’m halfway to the door.
“Yes?” I answer with my heart in my throat.
“Make sure to confirm that Mr. Clover got those contracts.”
The air leaves my lungs. That’s all he has to say. No apology. No explanation for his abrupt decision to end what we had.
“Of course. I’ll confirm and let you know.”
As I get to work for the day, I try to figure out where it all went wrong. But more importantly, why do I care so much? There were never any expectations for this to be anything but a fling. Am I just butthurt that he ended it sooner than I would have liked?
Who am I kidding? He’s one of the most eligible bachelors in the city. He can have any woman he wants. He got a taste of me, but that wasn’t going to last long. I’m still a virgin. I can’t expect him to hang around.
But why did it feel like there was something bigger between us? Each touch felt explosive. Does it feel like that with everybody? There’s no way.
Morgan marches up to my desk. “There you are,” she says, as if I haven’t been here all morning.
“Here I am.” I smile at her.
We’ve had lunch a couple of times together in the last month, along with Paris and Joey. I like them. Although I’ve been a bit distracted lately.
