Page 19 of Surprise Me Tonight
I stop in front of the cupboards and open the one above the kettle.
“Top shelf,” I say, tapping the box of filters with two fingers.
She steps in beside me, close enough that her arm brushes mine. She tilts her head up, squinting slightly before stretching to reach the box.
“Bit high,” she mutters.
I don’t think. I just move.
One step forward, into her space.
I reach up at the same time she does, deliberately not rushing, close enough to feel the warmth of her back against my chest. The scent of her… it’s clean and fresh with a hint of lemon.
She goes still.
I grab the box and slowly lower it, her hand brushing mine as I do.
She turns her head slightly, only just… enough that I can see the blush rising along her cheek.
I should step back.
I should return to my office.
But all I can think about is the shape of her body in that dress and how bloody tempting it is to stay right here for a moment longer.
Too close.
Way too close.
A low growl slips out before I can stop it. She has that effect on me.
Stella takes a step back, her body lining up with mine. She stills the second her bum brushes against the hard-on I’m very much not able to hide.
No way she didn’t feel that.
I lean down just enough, my mouth near her ear before I can talk myself out of it.
“Let me know if you need anything else.”
My voice drops, slow and deliberate, wrapping around that last word like a promise.Anything.
She doesn’t move. Doesn’t speak.
And I don’t wait. I step back, turn, and walk out of the kitchen before I do something even more fucking stupid. My jaw’s tight. Shoulders tense. Heat still buzzing low and hard in my stomach.
Back in my office, I shut the door behind me and sit down harder than I mean to.
Idiot! What the hell was that?
I’ve handled negotiations worth millions with less adrenaline than what’s currently punching through mysystem. All because she smells like lemon and shows of her curves in the best possible way.
And now she’s in my kitchen. Alone. Probably wondering whether she should call Jess and report me for being a bloody creep.
I wouldn’t blame her.
That was too far.
She didn’t say a word, didn’t look back, but it doesn’t take a genius to know I crossed a line.
