Page 33 of Brew
“Nova?”
“Keep it in the family?” I shrug. “You know she could handle the accounting, and like I said, something to keep her busy. She needs the money.”
“I’ll talk to Haze and Logan about it.”
We’re both standing, and while I’m not tall, he seems bigger in this dull light. He takes up all of the room between my desk and the wall, essentially caging me in.
A flutter goes through me that I’m not just locked in here with him in the dead of night, but that I like it. I want it. Holy crap, what’s come over me? I didn’t want to admit to myself I didn’t like him not being around. I missed him.
You’re losing it. LOSING IT.
I clear my throat. “Was there something else?”
“Yes. You don’t need to be here workin’ at night.”
“I honestly don’t mind.”
“Well, I do,” he says. “Feel like shit thinkin’ you’re here burnin’ the candle at both ends and don’t speak up about it.”
“That’s probably true, and I should have said something, but?—”
“But you don’t like to make waves?”
I shake my head. “No, I don’t, but I should know by now that I can talk to my bosses.”
I smell the whiskey on him, mixed with his intoxicating, faded cologne. He’s not drunk, but the liquor makes his tone seem deeper than normal, huskier. His deep tenor gets me in the feels at the best of times, but this is insanity. It seems every time our paths cross, I’m lusting after my boss and trying to hide it.
“Is that what I am?”
I blink.Huh?“My b-boss?” I stammer, but I don’t mean to.
He moves closer. “You’re not afraid of me.” It’s not a question.
“Why would I be? You’d never hurt me.”
“What if I told you I hurt people all the time?”
“I would say that’s not intentional unless they deserved it.”
He snickers. “Don’t be so sure about that.”
He keeps freaking staring me down. This man. He is a walking conundrum, and my mind tells me to leap over the desk and run. My body, however? My body is all over it. My heart rate kicks in so loud I’m sure he can hear it. The blood pumps in my ears, making my cheeks flush. And I’m so wet for him, for my boss, the man I should not be lusting after.
“Is that what you want, Brew? For me to agree with you? Tell you’re a big, bad wolf who terrifies me? Even though I know you’d never hurt me?”What in the world has gotten into me?Still, I plow on. “That I should keep my mouth shut and my eyes straight ahead and never question anything?”
When did he get so close to me? For a large man, he moves so stealthily that I didn’t even notice him coming closer.
He reaches for me, and I flinch. Instead of pulling back, he does the opposite; he cups one side of my face. “Don’t ever flinch from me. You’re right about one thing; I do hurt people, but I’d never hurt you.”
Oh, god. He’s touching me. He’s touching me!
“I said I know that already.”
“How can you be so sure?” He towers over me, and I want to reach out to him right back. Run my palms over his chest, down his long-sleeved Henley and over his rippling muscles.
Instead, I brush over his dirty MC patch that reads:Brew-NOLA Rebels MCwith the club’s skull emblem.
Usually the guys have the position they serve underneath that, if they hold one, but regular club members just have their names. “Because I see what’s behind here.” I flatten my palm against his patch, over his heart. “Don’t tell me how, but I see it.”
