Page 47 of Bonus Daddy
Too close, really.
In this tiny office, it was virtually impossible to put an appropriate amount of space between us. Like this, I was only a few inches from the hard planes of his chest. Like this, I could still feel the heat of his strong body. His golden eyes blazed as he assessed me in return. They kept me pinned to the spot. I couldn’t move. I didn’t want to move. I wanted to lean in closer, to pull his face down to mine.
A muscle in his jaw pulsed, and of its own accord, my body swayed closer. Wanting—needing—something I couldn’t name or understand.
He reached out, his fingers brushing a strand of my hair behind my ear. “Jess.” My name on his lips was a plea.
His eyes, still locked on me, darkened to amber as he flattened a palm on the desk and grazed my hip with the long fingers of his free hand.
My heart hammered, pounding against my rib cage. I was going to kiss Brian Machon. My first love and my lawyer. There was no other outcome.
“Yes?” I said, placing my hand on his chest and angling in.
He tilted his head closer, and in response, my eyes fluttered closed. I held my breath in anticipation of?—
A snarl followed by a crash made my heart jump. Brian and I stumbled apart, eyes darting around the room. It took a moment to understand what was going on.
Fuzzy tore across the room like a furry missile. He jumped and bounded from the bookshelf onto the desk, sending the cup of pens flying. He padded over the top of Brian’s keyboard, then jumped toward us, causing me to step back and get out of the way.
Without slowing, he leaped to the ground and took off again. He crashed headfirst into the bookshelf, causing a stack of documents to drop to the floor.
“Dammit,” Brian roared, but the cat didn’t slow.
As if they’d attacked him, Fuzzy shredded the papers with his claws. Once he’d laid waste to them, he circled, made eye contact with Brian, and bolted out of the room with a gutturalmrowbattle cry.
Laughter bubbled up inside me, an uncontrollable effervescent sensation. “What just happened?”
Brian ran his hands through his hair, surveying the mess. “T.J. and Murphy call it the zoomies of doom. Personally, I believe it’s demonic possession.”
His lips twitched, and when he made eye contact with me, he barked a laugh.
Before I knew it, we were both howling with laughter. I clutched the arm of the chair as tears ran down my cheeks.
It felt as though we’d just witnessed the rampage of a wild animal.
Brian rubbed his eyes and shook his head, collecting himself. “I want to sue that fucking cat for intentional infliction of emotional distress.”
That sent me into another fit of giggles.
The romantic tension was gone, but watching Brian cackle while cursing out a dog-sized cat brought me a strange sense of happiness.
As we cleaned up the books and pens, we couldn’t stop laughing, and God, was he handsome when he laughed. The sound triggered so many college memories, reminding me of all the fun we’d had. Once upon a time, we’d laughed our way through Boston together. He’d been my safe place, so familiar and so comforting.
Life sure had changed in the last twenty years.
“I’d better get my kids,” I said as I handed him a stack of papers.
He took them from me, and as our fingers brushed, an electriccharge rushed up my arm. The sensation urged me to step closer, to touch him more.
Clearing my throat, I fought the desire. I needed to get myself out of this office before I did something stupid like jump on top of him and kiss his handsome face off.
“We’re gonna win this,” he said, his serious lawyer face firmly in place once more.
“I hope so.” I picked up my bag and shuffled to the door, trying to calm my racing heart.
Brian Machon had almost kissed me.
And I’d been more than eager to kiss him back.
