Page 33 of The Protégé

I could almost feel my ovaries jiggle when he stood near me.

Questions sparked in his eyes, but all he said was, “I’ll give you a ride home.”

Though his voice was calm, I could feel the energy thrumming between us. Maybe it was just me feeling this one-way attraction. But I wondered if he was the slightest bit attracted to me.

He’s a handsome, rich man, Elena. You’re out of his orbit.

“You don’t have to. I can call an Uber.”

“You are NOT calling an Uber,” he said and brushed a hand over my cheek.

The unexpected contact made me jerk. Tingles cascaded down my body and pooled in my uterus. Yup, I felt it twitch. Scenarios regarding a twitchy uterus would be a great topic for Random Riddles.

He skimmed a finger down my cheek, and my lips parted with a soft gasp. His eyes darted to my lips. I bit my bottom lip to prevent any other embarrassing sounds from escaping.

Was that a slight smirk on his face?

“As my employee,” he said, moving his hand away from my face, “I can drive you home. I need you safe so you can start working next week.”

Calling an Uber would cost me money, and I didn’t want to know how much it would cost to get a new tire and the metal piece replaced. I knew about the old tires, but I had hoped they would last until winter when I could afford new ones. I had to recalculate my budget yet again.

“Okay. Thanks.” I buckled myself in his SUV and watched as more people from the home poured out to see their injured friends.

“Where do you live?” Orion asked, driving off.

Like my car, my home needed an update. Nerves squirmed in me. The only people who had been to my home were my mom, my ex, and Elliot. My ex only stayed twice and decided he preferred to hang out at his place. His family had money, and he preferred the luxurious lifestyle, which was why he had moved on to someone who could afford the same.

“So what were you doing here today?” he asked.

I looked over at him, studying his profile. So gorgeous. “If I tell you, then you’ll have to tell me why you were in the area too.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

ELENA

Orion turned to me,arching an eyebrow. “Okay.” He punched my home address into his GPS monitor.

“Okay,” I repeated to myself, suddenly feeling flustered.

Being confined to this space with him did so much to my body. I didn’t know how to stop it. It was as though there was an entire team of mischievous fairies waving their wands, stirring up trouble and desires at the most awkward time. Images of his naked body, of him kissing me and doing all kinds of wonderful things to me flipped through my mind like a social media post.

My imagination had gone wild, and I had to tone it down before it got out of hand.

It’s already out of hand.

How had he become a prominent fixture in my mind?

“Are you okay?” he asked, rounding the corner.

“Yeah.” I said, remembering the fear again. “I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Those guys got what they deserved,” he said casually. Too casually.

I stared at him, and the mischievous sparkle in his eyes fascinated the reporter in me. “What do you know about that?”

The corner of his lips tilted. “Enough.”

I sucked in a breath. “You did that? How?”

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