Page 45 of The Protégé

“Hey! It’s you!” It was the friendly man who had been present on the day of the car accident. He’d told me to leave before the owner found out.

“Hello,” I said, studying his cargo vest over a T-shirt and dark khakis.

He glanced down at his attire. “It’s a casual dress code for me. How are you?” He extended a hand. “I’ve been worried about you, Elena.”

He knew my name?

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Ralph.” His friendly eyes eased the nerves in me.

“Worried about me? Why?”

“Because you damaged my boss’sprecious car.”

“He’syourboss?”

Why hadn’t he said anything that day? I thought he was a random personwho’d walked by and witnessed my misfortune.

“Unfortunately, yes,” he said with a wink.

“Unfortunately, Ralph?” Orion repeated, emergingfrom the hallway.

Our eyes met, and my stomach flipped. This man could fill the room with intense energy. It was hard not to notice him. A white shirt with sleeves rolled up to his forearms and fitted dark pants, cutting a mysterious figure. Like a decadent and dangerous secret no one could see. My curious nature desperately wanted to know what that was.

Smiling, Ralph walked over and patted Orion’s back. “Unfortunately,it’s time for me to go. I have a long to-do list.”

“Apparently, it’s not long enough if you’re standing here complaining about me. Maybe I should add a few more items to it.” He smirked.

I loved the playful relationship between Orion and Ralph. What was their relationship? An employee who had worked for him for a long time?

Ralph laughed. “Go ahead. I’m used to it.” He turned to me. “Watch out for him. He can be very sneaky,steering you to do things you didn’t think you’d want to do. But then somehow you end up doing it and believing it wasyouridea to begin with. He’sdangerous.” He narrowed his eyes at Orion. “You’re just like your mother—cunning and...kind.”

Kind.

Of all the adjectives I would have used to describe Orion, kind wasn’t one. I hadn’t met a kind business executive. Orion was wealthier than any wealthy man I’d encountered. From my various encounters with him, I’d concluded he was an intelligent and calculating man who had an active mind. It was easy for a wealthy person to donate a lot of money to charity. Was that the gesture Ralph was referring to?

Regardless, I got to see a glimpse of the mystery inside the Orion conundrum. What else was in there?

“Nice seeing you, Elena. Be gentle with this guy, okay?” He elbowed Orion playfully. “Otherwise, he’ll take it out on me. Then my to-do list will be miles long.” He winked at me and left the office promptly.

The air in the spacious room suddenly thickened. The walls seemed to shrink as sexual energy swelled around us. I never knew what it meant when I read these kinds of descriptions in romance books. But right now, that tension in the room was palpable. My skin tingled from his gray eyes.

Orion felt the energy too. He swallowed, and his Adam’s apple shifted. We stood about four feet from each other, and I could see his vein throbbing on his neck.

His eyes fixated on me, and I should have looked away, but I couldn’t. What was he thinking? Why wasn’t he saying anything?

Why wasn’tIsaying anything?

Did he think I overdressed for the first day of work? He said I could wear anything, but still. I felt self-conscious underneath that potent stare that probably made most people cower. I tugged at my dress, pretending to straighten out the perfectly fine sweep. Ugh. I’d never been this nervous around a man—a boss.

A boss who was in your sex dream.

Shut up,I scolded myself.

Orion’s eyes roamed my body, and I could almost feel the gaze traveling from my face down to my shoes.

Oh, God.My body was overheating, and I was going to combust under his stare. I needed to do something before I leaped onto him, climbinghis body like a fool and getting myself fired.

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