Page 24 of The Lynx and the Llama
Why the hell was he even thinking this way? She was clear with him yesterday. She had no intentions of going out with him long-term. They were focused on their fake-dating relationship for the assignment. And heck—today was a stretch because she only promised him one date. And that was only if he convinced her to do so!
She played with the collar of his golf shirt and smoothed invisible wrinkles out of the top half of the shirt, her skin seemingly branding his pecs with her sensual heat. “You’re right. We should take things slow.” She sucked in a breath, and her brows shot up her forehead. “I mean…”
His lips curled upright. “Wait… Are you having second thoughts about us?”
“Yes. I mean no. I… I don’t know, okay? You scrambled my head. Give me time to sleep on this. I’ll have an answer for you at the office tomorrow.”
“That’s fair.”
10
Settled in at his desk in King Rayan’s palace office, Quinn couldn’t stop thinking about the previous day’s events. Coming face-to-face with Zagan and then watching him escape. Discussing the mystery of Quinn’s parentage with people who might be his relatives.
But the thing that kept his stomach in knots, his heart pounding, and both palms sweaty? Erika and the kisses they’d shared in the car.
He’d arrived at the office fifteen minutes early because he wanted to make a good impression on Erika. It turned out she wasn’t at her desk yet. He sat down and fussed with the mouse pad and keyboard, putting them in a position on the desk that would be comfortable for him. He then adjusted the office chair to a lower position. Whoever had the thing before him must have been pretty short. And a smile sprang from his face when he pictured Carol at a desk with her combat boots and camos on. That woman was fun-sized.
A ding from the elevator broke his thoughts, and he nearly fell off his chair. He wasn’t used to an elevator so close to his office—not that he’d had an office. He had a desk outside of Richard’s, much like the setup Erika had here.
“Hey there, partner!” Erika greeted him immediately and then quickly passed him with a load of files and a cup of to-go coffee.
“You’re in a good mood this morning,” he mused, admiring her. Unlike yesterday, when she’d been in more casual tourist attire, today she was back to her office attire, stirring up all of Quinn’s naughty-librarian fantasies.
“As long as I keep the steady stream of caffeine going.” She chuckled and held up her to-go cup, shaking it to demonstrate it was empty. “I haven’t had nearly enough yet. I usually consume a pot a day.”
“Oh really?” he asked, wondering if she was serious.
Clearly, she was. “Yup. You can come with me to the office cappuccino machine if you want. It’s always my first stop. Gotta keep the good stuff coming.”
He got up and began walking with her down the hall. Their bodies were a couple of feet apart, but he still felt the heat, making his dick strain against the zipper of his pants yet again. How was he going to last the whole day with her? They finally made it to the break area, and Erika started to explain how to use the cappuccino maker. Quinn nodded to make it look like he was listening, but he couldn’t get the images of ripping off her clothes out of his head.
“So now that you know how to work that, let’s get back to the desks. I need to get you signed in and make sure your clearance codes were entered into the palace’s protocol. If they dropped the ball with that, you can’t even access your email. Did they fingerprint you yet?”
“Fingerprint? I… I’m not sure. Wouldn’t Stan send all of that over?”
“Oh, no. I mean a computer scan of your fingerprint to allow you access to your computer.”
Quinn let out a chuckle. “Are you serious? Are you gonna ask for a retinal scan of my eye next?”
Erika’s brows furrowed. “Top-level security clearances usually do. At least here. Don’t they over at FUCN’A?”
“I’m sure they do.” He didn’t add in the fact that he wasn’t top-level security cleared. Hell, he wasn’t even a field agent or a high-ranking admin officer. Just Richard’s assistant-turned-BS-trainee.
His palms began to sweat, and it was probably for no good reason for him. It wasn’t his fault that he didn’t know what she was talking about.
Her face contorted, her eyes widened, and her lips formed an “O” shape. And damn it! Now he was thinking about those lips wrapped around his dick. What was wrong with him?
“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to assume anything.”
“It’s okay. No need to apologize.” His mouth grew bone dry as he tried to push naughty thoughts of her out of his head. No matter what, he wanted to keep their personal feelings and personal life separate from their jobs, even though these past couple of days had blurred the lines.
“Okay, well, let’s get you set up on your personal laptop so you can access your emails and all the updates to our mission.”
He followed her back to their desks, trying not to notice that her body was radiating so much heat as she bent over his desk to click on a few screens. The scent of lilies and roses hit him again. He turned toward her, which was his biggest mistake because he came within an inch of her cleavage. Soft, inviting skin greeted him, almost begging him to place his lips over the tantalizing line and lick all the way down the length of her body.
“Okay. Now all I need from you is to place one of your fingers on that black button over there.”
As if it were even possible, her body got closer to his, and he desperately needed to put some distance between the two of them before he bent her over the damned desk. Quinn jerked his hand up to rake it through his hair but missed, making contact with her chest instead. As he stood, his hand slid down and cupped her breast.
