Page 30 of Devious Temptation
“Uh-huh,” he drawls amusedly, not informing her that Anna let slip about her fake emergency. “I guess you’ll just have to make it up to me.”
Lucy blanches but quickly recovers with a noncommittal laugh as he and Justin pick up either side of the desk and position it the way she wants. Watching them eat up everything she says as she changes her mind multiple times before settling on an arrangement is fascinating. The Lucy I know—knew—would have just dealt with staring into my open office.
Anna appears at Lucy’s side, handing her a stack of files, saying something I can’t hear as the women watch the men rearrange her computer. The whole thing takes less than tenminutes. But when Justin and Anna break off to have their own conversation, Mike steps just a tad too close to Lucy to be professional, and I’m tempted to break up the little soirée.
Another sharp, bitter feeling blooms. It arcs against my chest like the very nickname I’ve given her. She throws her head back, laughing at something he says, and my skin feels hot as it sears through angry shades.
Pink. Red. Purple.
His head dips to say something in her ear—a whispered secret he shares for no one else to hear but her.
Green.
“What are you doing?” I’m surprised to find myself just outside the door. I don’t even remember getting up from my desk.
Four sets of eyes snap to me, wide and alarmed like they’ve all been caught with their hands in the proverbial cookie jar.
Lucy recovers first, her tone saccharine as she replies, “Sorry, Lawson. Just doing a little rearranging.”
They all look at her in surprise at the use of my first name. Her gaze swings to them and back to me before her deep hazel eyes widen in realization. “I mean, Mr. Morgan.”
“Weak save,” Anna mutters, trying to disguise it with a cough.
Mike steps closer to her, setting his hand on the edge of the desk so that it appears as if his arm is actually around her. “Do you two, uh, know each other?” He wags his finger between her and me as he presses into Lucy’s side.
She’s not stupid. She knows exactly what he’s trying to do and takes a step closer to me to put a little distancebetween them. I’m ashamed that it makes me puff my chest up just a bit.
“I dated Mr. Morgan’s son in high school.”
Then it deflates like a balloon before the feeling of utter ridiculousness settles in my bones. What did I think she was going to say? That I finger-banged her on her graduation night after we’d been drinking together because she walked in on my son cheating on her?
“Interesting. It's kind of a conflict of interest, don’t you think? Should at least probably report that to HR.” Mike straightens and moves next to her again, and a feeling of possessiveness burns through my veins.
She was mine first, little boy. Back off.
If it shows on my face, he doesn’t recognize it.
Lucy does, though. Even though we haven’t spoken a word to each other in the past day and a half, other than me asking a few requests and her giving me clipped answers, she’s still able to read me as well as she could six years ago.
“That’s not necessary. Mary already knows. Besides, it’s not likewedated or anything?” She motions between us with a high-pitched, forced laugh.
“Is that a question? Or…” Anna trails off, watching us both through shrewdly amused eyes. The chatter of the cubicles around us has died to near silence, and I quickly look around the room to find multiple pairs of eyes on us.
“Why doesn’t everyone get back to work?” I calmly state, casually putting my hands in my pockets and refocusing on Mike. “Lucy, if I could have a moment?”
I’m being a total dickhead, and I know it. I have no claim on the woman who has plagued my thoughts for thelast six years. My son’s ex-girlfriend. What would I have done if she and Mike were actually dating?
She’s off-limits. Always has been.
Yet, everything in my body relaxes as she steps forward, a familiar sense of home washing over me when our bodies brush as she walks into my office. Instinctively, my hand finds the small of her back as I turn to follow, not missing the way Mike’s eyes narrow on the action.
“I thought you had an open-door policy?” he asks tightly as I begin to shut it behind us.
Smug satisfaction rolls through me, and I throw over my shoulder, “That means you can come to me with any questions or concerns. I didn’t mean it in the literal sense.”
Annoyance flashing over his face is the last thing I see as the door clicks shut, and I pivot to find Lucy staring at me—her arms crossed and full lips set in a frown.
I can’t help the fucking giddy feeling that flutters in my chest and roars to life as we stare at each other. I feel like a goddamn woman, full of emotions I don’t want to be feeling.
