Page 31 of Secret Desire

Stretching my arms up above my head, I let out a loud yawn. Late nights crunching numbers. I loved my life.

Christmas music played from the speakers in the hall. I hummed along to “Jingle Bells.”

I shuffled over to our door.

It was open. It was always open now. Unless he had meetings.

Steven was typing away, his back to me. He had taken off his blazer and vest. His muscles moved slightly under the snug fit of his shirt. The white material had a diagonal crease.

I imagined myself smoothing out the wrinkle. My hand gliding over his muscular back, over the crisp thin material, as his body heat penetrated the fabric, warming my palm.

Heat flooded my body at the thought.

I shook my head to chase it away. “Do you need anything else, boss?”

Without looking up, he said, “No, go home. It’s late.”

“What about you?”

His fingers typed away without pausing. “I still have another couple of hours to put in to finish this merger report for the board of directors.”

Back in my office, I shut down my computer, bundled up, grabbed my purse, and headed out into the hall.

Steven was already waiting for me, wearing a winter coat and gloves.

This was getting ridiculous. The CFO shouldn’t be taking time out of his busy schedule to walk me to my car every night. Not that I was complaining. I enjoyed our walks together. Way too much. To the point that I was looking forward to them every night. But it had to stop. I couldn’t let myself fall for my boss. “It’s ok, you don’t need to walk me—”

He held up his hand like a crosswalk monitor. “Enough. We’ve been through this before. Let’s go.”

I had thought the first time was a fluke. That he had really only wanted to take a walk.

The second time I thought it was because he was worried I would get attacked again. So, I thought, eventually, he’d let the guards take over. But every evening after work, he insisted on walking me to my car. All the way. I could never talk him out of it. He said either he walked me, or I let him give me a parking spot in the building.

Either he didn’t trust Jim to protect me, or he wanted to spend more time with me.

No. Don’t think like that. It’s useless. Pointless. Men were not part of my plan.

We walked down the hall toward the elevator. Any straggling employees left on the floor stared in bewilderment. “What was happening to their CFO?” seemed to be the question on their faces. I would peek up at him in those moments to see his reaction. Either he was oblivious to their stares, or he simply didn’t give a shit about what people thought.

Once we got off the elevator, we walked through the lobby. Employees working late were lined up at the Starbucks on the south side. Next to it was a lounge area with carved wooden benches that looked more like pieces of art rather than something to sit on. The giant TV screens lining the wall displayed the stock prices at closing time, while others displayed real-time data of the overseas market stocks.

A living wall lined the north side, providing lush greenery, bright flowers, and soothing sounds from the built-in waterfall. An oasis.

This was the best. Place. Ever.

I peeked at my boss: a commanding presence, oozing confidence and sex appeal, taking the time to walk me to my car.

Tonight, a young security guard I didn’t recognize jumped out of his seat and ran toward us. “I’ll escort you, miss. Are you taking the trains, or do you have a car nearby?”

Would tonight be different?

Damn employees. They should be working, not staring at me with dumbass looks on their faces. So what if I was walking my intern to her car? It was late and dark. The streets were dangerous, and Andrew wouldn’t replace the octogenarian security guard. No way was I going to leave Laura’s safety in Jim’s hands.

Should I scowl at those who dared to throw sideways glances at me?

Nah. Couldn’t bring myself to look pissed off when I was around her. It was taking all my energy to keep a neutral expression when all I wanted to do was grin from ear to ear because I had the pleasure of walking her safely to her car.

I glanced at the security desk.

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