CHAPTER 6DENISE
CHAPTER 6
DENISE
It took me a minute—well, more than a minute—but I was finally back at it. I was in my groove, peering over all the papers that I had on my desk. I had a whole method. Paper, electronic, web search, and color-coordinated highlighting. Anything that seemed a little suspicious got an orange checkbox for further research, if it was glaring that checkbox would be red and if it seemed okay, it would get highlighted green. I had three orange checkboxes so far.
My goal was to get through the first pass. I wasn’t even a third of the way through the list. I was making another highlight when I got a ping from Hugh on chat.
Ready to head out?
Glancing over, I saw that it was only half past five, and I frowned. I’d never seen him leave before six. Pulling open the chat, I typed my reply.
I’m still looking through financials.
My computer pinged again, and I glared at the message.
We have time. Let’s finish up in the morning.
I didn’t reply and minimized the chat. I was tired as hell. Maybe I’d go grab a coffee and stretch my legs. Sitting at ho– Hugh’s place when I could be here, knocking out this list was silly. There was another ping and I didn’t bother opening it. If he was ready to go, he could go. I was a big girl. I could walk ten minutes without him holding my hand.
A voice spoke up in the back of my head that I should say something about the call. But if I did that, we’d have to talk about all the darkness that he was trying to push down. I didn’t need him to fight my battles for me. I tried to get my mind to where I needed it to be: in other people’s business.
When my office door opened, I didn’t need to glance up to feel the disapproving stare from the doorway.
“Go without me,” I said, checking the spelling of someone’s name as I typed it into a search engine. I had to pull up relevant news articles, social media handles, and any organizations they were attached to that could catch us up later.
“We can work on this in the morning,” he said.
Sighing, I eyed him. Even when he was being irritating, he was still fine as hell for no damn reason. His overcoat was on, but the suit he wore made the bronze in his skin glow. His hand held the bag he’d brought with him this morning, and he was fixing me with a glare.
“Glare away, cute man,” I said, turning back to my computer. We’d stayed late for the last week. Now he had a problem with it?
“You think I’m cute?” he asked.
I huffed and didn’t turn around, and I resisted the urge to ask him what it was. It could wait.
“Denny.”
I didn’t want to talk, I wanted to work.
Everything was off at the edge of my mind when I was here. When it was just the two of us, the weight of everything threatened to suffocate me. I couldn’t do that. Not tonight. Not right now.
Work made me feel like I was actually accomplishing something instead of drowning in whatever bullshit was swirling around me. I was going to cling to it. Because, without it, I would fucking scream.
The door closed, and I heard him throw his stuff onto the chair. I was scrolling my mouse when he pulled my chair back from the desk and turned me around.
“Okay, let me start over,” he said. I didn’t reply. Taking that as a sign, he continued, “Denise, I have a surprise for you. There’s a car waiting downstairs.”
I blinked and then frowned, staring at him like he was crazy.
He pulled out his phone, dialing a number and putting it on speaker. The phone rang once.
“She ain’t listening, is she?” Cleo’s voice piped through the speaker and I sat forward.
“What the—” I said, studying both him and the phone.
“You’re on speaker,” he said, watching at me.
“I told you she wasn’t gonna—Denny, I told him you weren’t—look, bring your ass, we got places to be.”
I sputtered for a second before replying, “I’m working.” It sounded more like a question than a statement.
Cleo laughed and talked right into the microphone.
“I’m under strict orders to call your boss if you don’t leave. Now, let’s go.”
“What?” I half-screeched. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
“Hold on, I’m going to conference in Lucian,” Cleo said.
I scrutinized him to see if she was bluffing. I couldn’t tell, and I didn’t know if it was worth the risk. Lucian had asked me twice if I needed to take some time. If they called him I didn’t think it would be a question anymore, it would be a requirement.
I definitely didn’t want to be sitting around with nothing but my thoughts in a house that wasn’t mine—alone.
“Stop,” I said, leaning closer to the phone. “Fine. Fine. I’m going,” I said, before turning around in my seat and putting my computer to sleep.
He hung up the phone and said, “Good choice.”
Standing, I gave him the finger over my shoulder as I packed a few things into my briefcase. When I turned around, He was inches away from me. His hand grabbed my chin. I was expecting him to use his grown-man voice and get all grumpy, but instead, he leaned forward and gently captured my lips with his.
His mouth was soft and pliant against mine, and I was taken off guard by how sweet it felt. He swallowed my gasp as his tongue teased my lips before he sipped at them. His hands went up into my hair and gave the nape of my neck a squeeze before pulling away and thumbing my cheek.
“No more double-time. We’ll figure this out,” he surveyed the papers on my desk, “And we’ll figure that out,” he nodded to my phone in my hand, “and we’ll figure this out too,” he grabbed my hand and placed it on his chest. My eyes stung and I tried to look away but he wouldn’t let me.
“Okay?” he asked.
I nodded and watched him quirk an eyebrow.
“Yeah,” the word caught on the lump in my throat, and my hand came up to touch his cheek.
He took a step back as I leaned down and held out an arm for me to use as I pulled off my slingbacks and stepped into my outside shoes. He grabbed and opened my overcoat, so I could slide it on. After I buttoned it up, he handed me my wallet and the small bag I had seen this morning.
“Some pajamas and a change of clothes.”
My heart stuttered in my chest as I gripped the bag tight.
“Ready?” he was watching me with a soft smile.
“I—” Whatever I thought I was going to say died on my lips as he closed the distance between us, his gaze glued to my mouth.
“Denny,” he whispered.
“Yeah?” I asked, far breathier than I intended.
His gaze came back to mine as his thumb brushed against my bottom lip. Words formed on his lips before he stopped himself. We stood in silence.
“Cleo is waiting,” he finally said.
I was so tired of all my conversations revolving around my ex, thinking about him, and stuffing shopping carts full of shit to replace what he’d destroyed. I needed to live in the moment with the man who kept doing everything he could to show me that I was cared for.
He stepped forward to open my office door and ushered me through it. He closed my door behind us and put his hand on my lower back, guiding me towards the exit. My phone buzzed, and a text from an unsaved number popped up on my screen.
Enjoy y our evening, Ms. Roberts.
I eyed Lucian’s office and met his gaze as Hugh pushed me toward the elevator.