Page 12 of Never Bed the Boss
Adrian laughs. “You certainly don’t waste any time.”
I pause, considering it for a moment before letting it go.
“You’re right,” I say, grabbing the door.
And I’m not going to waste anymore. Not with Lilah waiting for me. There’s a sinking feeling in my gut. What if she’s not there? What if she was indulging me so she could make a clean escape again? What if…
I rush out of the conference room and make it to my office in record time but my nerves refuse to settle.
“Lilah,” I rasp, letting the door shut behind me.
Her scent permeates the room but I don’t see her. Dread blankets me as a cold sweat erupts all over my body. Not again. But then the chair behind my desk swivels and there she is.
“I was about to leave,” Lilah says.
I drag my hand across my face, shaking off the nerves as I approach, settling myself down on my desk as Lilah looks up at me.
“Meetings ran over,” I say.
Lilah hums, turning her attention to the photo frame in her hand.
“What’s that?” I ask, looking down at it.
“I think you’d be more familiar with your photos than me,” Lilah says, amused. “I found it on one of the shelves while I was cleaning up.”
“Cleaning up?”
“You never gave me any orders, boss.”
I swallow hard, adjusting my collar roughly. “I could order you around if you’d like that, Lilah.”
Lilah sighs. “You can’t help yourself, can you?”
My jaw tenses and my fingers flex against the desk. She has no idea how much self-restraint I’ve been practicing. How much I continue to practice each time I see her. Breathe in her irresistible scent. Hear her voice and the way her lips and tongue move with every syllable. It’s mesmerizing but nothing short of torture.
“I can’t say I’m used to holding back from what I want.”
She sets the frame down next to me and I glance at it as she slips out of the chair and glides around me toward the wall of windows. Once again, I resist the urge to snatch her wrist and pull her to me.
“My family,” I say after a few moments, grabbing the photograph. “We’re at my grandfather’s villa in Italy. We used to spend our summers there growing up. I still visit each year for my mother’s birthday.”
This was the last time we were all together, right before I graduated college and went off to work at the investment firm where I met Adrian. My grandfather had been struggling with health issues and passed months later. And then so did my father only a handful of years later. I haven’t looked at this photo in years.
“I’m so sorry,” Lilah says, turning to me.
I set the frame down and stare at my girl. She’s a sight, standing there with that skyline behind her as the sun sets.
“Thanks,” I say. “But there’s nothing to be sorry about.”
She hums, turning back to the view. We’re silent for a few moments, but it’s not uncomfortable. I could admire my girl forever and be content.
But then the silence is broken as she turns back around. “Villas in Italy. High-rises in New York.” She shrugs, shakes her head once. “You live in a completely different world than me.”
And I’d trade it all to relive that summer. I’d trade it all for Lilah too.
“It’s not all sunshine and Masaratis.”
“Trade?” Lilah asks, smiling at me over her shoulder.
