Chapter 12
POV: Kiera?
To say I was nervous would be an understatement.
My entire body was shaking—shaking because of what? Well, I have no idea. Like before, it was just the way he….effected me.
I read books about this—about what it means when your legs are constantly wobbly, and when you’re constantly fantasizing about their touch, and when you can’t stop thinking about them.
And in the books, the romance books, it all meant one thing.
Love.
But how can you love somebody you don’t even know?
I thought that after a few days, that things would start to feel…less intense, less sensational, and less confusing.
But I was wrong.
I was totally wrong because things seemed to only get worse.
Especially after the kiss.
The kiss changed everything. It made me daydream. It made me crave. It made me feel less..delusional.
And right now, I was going to dinner with my boss, sitting next to him in his sleek black suv, being taken to one of the nicest steakhouses in the city.
Cain hadn’t said a word since our journey began. He hadn’t taken his gaze off of the window. He had purposefully kept himself separated from me by two feet exactly.
But every sense inside me begged for his eyes on me—-his lips on me—his hands on me. Anything and everything.
I needed to stop thinking about it. For my own sake.
But every time he let out a breath or when I felt him move even an inch, my heart beat increased, dramatically. I tried to hide it, but no matter how clever I thought I was at concealing my emotions, it looked like Cain saw through me. And that unsettled even further.
Finally, the car came to a halting stop.
Before I could open my door, Cain was on the other side, waiting for me.
“But you were just—” I said, confused.
“I’m quick on my feet,” he murmured, offering me his hand to help me escort me into the restaurant.
The touch of his hand on mine almost sent me into a frenzy.
We were escorted by the matrede to a large corner booth, it had to be the nicest seat in the restaurant. Private. Low lighting. Intimate.
I looked at the menu but much longer than I should have before I snuck a peek at him.
He wasn’t looking at the menu. He was staring straight at me.
That unsettled me even further, causing me to shift back into the booth in surprise.
A small smirk formed on his lips as he looked me over, tracing his eyes over my face and landing on my lips for a second too long.“Have you decided what you’d like to order?”
I bit my lip. His eyes steadied right on the spot I bit.
I forced my gaze down and back onto the menu. “I think a ribeye with brown butter green beans.”
“And to drink?”
I didn’t look up. “A cosmo?” I glanced up at him and his eyes were on mine.
He waved over the waiter with a flick of his wrist and rattled off our order.
The waiter came back within a few minutes with our drinks.
I fixated on the bourbon glass nestled in his hands, instead of his face. Anything but his face.
Because those eyes—-those eyes that were usually blue but somehow turned gold, would make me fall right apart.
But like an idiot, I looked up at him anyway then shifted my gaze immediately back down to my purse and rifled through it, tugging out a pen and paper to distract myself from the fact I was at dinner with a man who I was clearly attracted to—who happened to be my boss.
“So, I screened most of your e-mails and calls from today and I think we should set up a meeting with Peterson Corporation next week to try to entice them into becoming customers and looking at your schedule. You have Tuesday open.” I glanced up to get his response.
His gaze seared through me as he tapped the rim of his glass. “No work.”
“No—work?” I stuttered.
He slumped his arm around the backside of the booth. “No work, tonight.”
I fixated on it.
The way he looked in a perfectly tailored blazer. The way his muscles contoured around it.
As my gaze traveled back down to his, he was already smirking with satisfaction. “I want to learn about you.”
“Learn about me?” I asked, in disbelief. “Well there’s not much to learn.”
“I hardly believe that,” he replied, studying me.
I thought a moment.
What should I even tell him? Should I tell him about my boring childhood? About my failed relationships? About my tiny apartment?
I didn’t even know where to start.
“Start with your childhood,” he said, deciding for me.
And like a puppet, I obeyed. “Well there’s not much to know. I grew up in Boulder. My mom’s a nurse, my dad’s an accountant. I’m the only child. I went to college for business management and here I am—working as your assistant.”
“Go on.”
So I did. “The last person I dated, actually dated, was an asshole, as you know and has tried to ruin any employment prospects for me, so I guess you can say I have shitty taste in men.”
That one made his jaw tick.
“Well in relationships, not in bosses.”
His expression didn’t change.
“I live in Denver, in a four story apartment building, I have a lot of plants, and there’s a park nearby. That’s it. That sums up my life.”
He leaned forward, changing his position closer to me. “Do you like nature?”
Strange question.
I laughed nervously.
“It’s a serious question, Kiera.”
“Well—I guess I really hadn’t thought about it,” I shook my head in confusion. “I guess I do. I sit outside and read whenever I can and I used to take day trips out to Rocky Mountain National Park when we were…together.” I cringed at the thought.
He nodded. It seemed, so did he.
“What about dogs?”
“Dogs?” I laughed. “You’re serious?”
Straight faced. No humor. At all. “Crystal.”
“Yes, I like dogs.
“Good.”
Good?
“What about wolves?”
I sipped my cosmo. “Wolves?” I almost spit out my drink.
Silence.
“I wouldn’t know. I haven’t seen one up close…and I’m thankful for that.”
Silence.
He took a sip of his drink, as if he was preparing for the final, big question. Then said, “Do you see yourself as a leader?”
I laughed, a loud belly aching laugh. “A leader? I’m your assistant.”
He didn’t flinch. “Yes, but you can still lead.”
“Well I believe in doing what’s right but I’ve never led anyone in my life besides myself.”
He leaned back as if he was contemplating what I said but before he could give any type of response the waiter set down our meals and saved us from that strange encounter.
We ate quietly, that was until he set down his fork with a soft clink and I felt his gaze upon me again.
“I think we should talk about what happened,” I finally said, staring down at my empty plate.
His face had no emotion on it.
“About the kiss…” I trailed off.
He cocked an eyebrow, studying me some more and scooting towards me in the circular booth until he was inches away from my face.
The rate of my breathing increased ten fold.
“The kiss,” he began, looking at my eyes—then my lips—then my clevage—then my thighs—then my hand. His hand slowly clasped my hand in his and my heart rate shot up dramatically. “Have you been thinking about it?”
“Yes.”
“Often?”
His touch felt incredible.
I nodded, unable to speak.
He smirked, a cocky grin that had a mix of possessiveness in it. “I thought about it, too. A lot.”
I fought back a gasp as he tightened his grip on my hand.
“I think about a lot of things, Kiera.”
My eyes widened.
“Do you want me to tell you what I think about it?”
God, yes.
“Say it, out loud,” he demanded.
So I did. “Tell me what you think about.”
He looked more like an animal now than a human as his grin widened. He leaned in and whispered in my ear, his hot breath warming and tickling my skin, “I think about what it would feel like to be inside you.”
Wetness pooled at my core instantly.
He ran his nose down my neck, sniffing me.
Everything inside me should have told me to run but instead I stayed frozen, desperate for his touch, ready to do anything he asked me to do.
“I can smell it on you,” he rasped out.
“Wh–what?”
“I can smell the desire. You’re imagining it.” He paused. “You’re imagining what it would be like.”
I gulped, avoiding the truth. “I’m not imagining anything.”
“So stubborn. But I can smell it on you. You know you’re thinking about it, sweet girl,” he pressed a kiss into my neck and caused me to moan softly.
Here I was in a private restaurant, horny as fuck for my boss, looking like some hired call-girl.
Cain removed his gaze from me instantly, retrieving his wallet and placing 400 hundred dollars on the table then getting to his feet and towering over me.
“Come,” he said.
I thought about defying him but knew my body wouldn’t allow me to.
So, I got to my feet.
Cain wrapped his arm around my waist, tugging me closely against him, “Good girl.”