Page 21 of His Curvy Temptation

For a moment, I feel my heart flutter the way it did last night.

No, Andy! Remember last night? Remember his creepy colleague and the nasty way that he looked at your body like it was his own personal dessert to eat, making your skin crawl?

Last night I had to go upstairs and take an extra, extra hot shower just to scrub off that creepy crawly feeling that this Dan guy left on me. Extra hot water, extra soap, and I scrubbed my skin so hard that even this morning, it feels a little bit raw.

Dramatic? Maybe. I see creepy guys all the time. I mean, I live in New York City for goodness sake. I’ve been cat called and even followed home more than a time or two.

So I thought I’d built up an immunity to being creeped out at this point. But I was wrong.

Maybe it’s the fact that I wasn’t expecting to be creeped out, the fact that I was caught by surprise right after letting my guard down with Elijah.

I don’t know. Or maybe it’s fact that I was being harassed by a man in an expensive designer suit in a fancy office building, instead of some random guy on the street yelling “NICE ASS” as I walk back to my apartment after class.

“So you got my number,” I reply dryly. “However you did it, congratulations on your invasion of my privacy. But if you need to get in touch with me about your next appointment, you should call the spa directly. They can help you there.”

I hang up the phone before he can reply, then stare at the screen. Sure enough, it lights up a few seconds later, the same unfamiliar phone number on the caller ID.

“What do you want?” I sigh.

“To talk,” he says. “Not about my appointment either. I asked you to go on a date with me. Remember? Only you never gave me an answer one way or another.”

“You can’t be serious,” I say numbly. “You’re still trying to take me out? After what happened last night?”

“I’m still trying to take you outespeciallyafter what happened last night,” Elijah replies. “Because I need to make it up to you. What Dan said was not okay. And I’m very sorry.”

“You’re…apologizing to me?” I ask.

“Of course I am,” Elijah says, puzzlement in his voice. “Why on earth wouldn’t I apologize for that?”

“I don’t know,” I say, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Maybe because last night you seemed furious with me? Or…because, both times I’ve done your massage, you haven’t tipped me at all when normally people tip me at least ten percent if I’ve done a good job?”

I don’t mention the fact that Deepti told me that he used to tipher.That feels over the line, like private information I shouldn’t know about him.

“I wasn’t angry with you last night,” Elijah says quickly. “I was angry with Dan. You’re right, I was furious last night. But not with you.”

I bite my lip.

“You thought I was mad atyou?”Elijah asks, breaking our silence.

“Yeah. Kind of.”

“I wasn’t angry at you Andy,” he says again. “Not in the least. I’m just so sorry you had to endure Dan’s filthy mouth. I promise, you won’t see him again. I fired him this morning.”

Holy shit.

“Fired him?” I repeat. “Like…firedfired?”

“Firedfired,” Elijah says firmly. “For cause. He sexually harassed you, Andy, and I don’t tolerate that kind of treatment of anyone, especially not the women I’m seeing.”

Oh? So Elijah isseeingme now?

“Wow,” I say. “I almost feel kind of bad for him.”

“Almost?”

“Almost,” I say. I can’t resist smiling.

“Yeah. Well, that’s good of you. You’re a sweetheart for that. But I don’t feel bad for him at all. In fact, I sort of regret that I didn’t just kick his ass last night as soon as those words were out of his mouth. But I didn’t want to scare you even more than I already do.”

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