Page 43 of Breaking News

“No,” I said quickly, sitting down on the bed. He shifted from his knees to sit on the edge of the bed beside me, the sheet still slung low across his hips. I tried not to let my eyes linger on his abs. “No, you didn’t, Graham. Certain…activitiesenhance the pain sometimes, but it doesn’t matter what I do. Mornings are always hard.”

His brows drew together. “Is there something I can do to help?”

“I don’t know what that would be.”

Graham ran one hand along the stubble of his jaw, the little grays there catching my attention. There was a faint smile on his lips. “I guess… I guess I’m asking this as your boss, not the man who just spent the night with you.”

“Oh.”

He let out a sexy chuckle, and after a moment, his face turned serious again. “I mean it, though. What can I do to make things easier for you at the studio? Say the word, and I’ll make it happen.”

I felt a mix of gratitude and guilt.

Grateful, because I actually felt seen.

But guilty because he didn’t owe me this kindness, and I wasn’t sure I deserved it. Even though I knew in my heart his concern was genuine, something about the offer to “make it happen” made this whole exchange feel a little… transactional.

It didn’t matter that we connected on an emotional level. I was still the employee he’d just fucked. Accepting a favor under these circumstances just felt… wrong.

“You’ve already given me your daughter as my intern, and she’s been a tremendous help,” I said, tucking my hair behindmy ear with a gentle smile. We looked at each other for a beat, and both of our smiles faded. The weight of the consequences of our night together was fully sinking in for both of us.

Graham’s eyes widened with a flicker of horror. “Well, this is awkward, innit?”

As if the whole sexy professor thing wasn’t enough, he’d just spoken those words with the faintest hint of a British accent. God, he was so infuriatingly adorable. “A little bit,” I answered. “Awkward might actually be an understatement.”

Graham inhaled slowly, staring at my knee. “Yeah. Then it’s a good thing you just came over to rest on my couch until you sobered up, and I was a perfect gentleman who kept his hands to himself.”

His eyes lifted to meet mine, and I nodded, accepting this alibi of ours. I swallowed. “And it’s a good thing I kept my clothes on the entire time.”

I turned to the mirror, and his gaze followed. “Look at us.”I looked absolutely wrecked from my smeared mascara to my wrinkly dress. And he was still naked, only partially covered with a sheet, looking sexier than ever with his unshaved face.

He was everything I wanted. And everything I couldn’t have.

Graham pulled on a clean pair of boxers and to walk me to his front door. Again. And we hugged… again. “I’m glad this happened,” he said, brushing my hair away from my eyes with both hands. I lifted my chin and kissed him on the mouth one last time, wishing it could linger forever. He held my face in his hands, tilting my head to deepen the kiss.

His cell phone rang from somewhere in the living room, forcing us apart. “Bye, Graham,” I said, slipping out the door without another look.

That never happened, I told myself as I unlocked my car in front of the Gardners’ house.

But I could still taste him on my lips.

chapter sixteen

Graham

“Wow, Dad. It’s a good thing this isn’t an emergency or anything,” Olivia teased when I finally answered my phone. “I’ve been texting and calling for like an hour.”

“Sorry, I was…” I cleared my throat. “Asleep. What’s so urgent?”

“Nothing’s urgent,” she said, her voice alarmingly perky. She was about to ask me for money, wasn’t she? “I just wondered if you had any dinner plans.”

“Dinner plans? Why, what’s going on?”

“Can’t a girl have dinner with her dad?”

I shuffled into the kitchen and grabbed the orange juice from the fridge, switching my phone to the other ear. “I would love to have dinner with you, kid, but why don’t you just ask me for whatever favor it is that you need?”

“I don’t need a favor. I promise. It’s just dinner.”

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