Chapter 23
TWENTY-THREE
T hora felt a strange ripple of awareness pass between them, as though something inside them recognized each other. Her skin tingled where he touched her, and a low purr built in her chest. She forced it down, horrified at her animal’s response.
The bathroom door swung open, a startled assistant freezing in the doorway.
“Oh! Mr. Maxen, I’m so sorry?—”
Thora and Artair sprang apart as if burned, the tether mercifully loosening again.
“We were just leaving,” Artair said smoothly, though his voice carried a rough edge.
Thora slipped past them both, face flaming, and hurried into the hallway. She took several deep breaths, trying to slow her racing pulse.
What the hell was that? The intensity of her reaction to him unnerved her. She’d been close to plenty of attractive men before without turning into a flustered teenager.
When Artair emerged moments later, his composed expression revealed nothing of what had transpired between them. Only the slight disarray of his normally perfect hair suggested anything unusual had occurred.
“My office next,” he said, his professional demeanor firmly back in place. “I need to gather some files before our next meeting.”
Thora nodded stiffly, grateful for the pretense of normalcy. Neither mentioned the incident as they headed toward the elevator. But with every step, she remained alert to his presence beside her, the tether between them humming with unacknowledged tension.
By late afternoon, Thora’s head throbbed from corporate jargon overload. She stared out the window of Artair’s private office, watching the town of Enchanted Falls spread out below. From this height, she could see the quaint shops circling the town square and the enchanted waterfall that gave the place its name glimmering in the distance.
“Bored?” Artair’s voice interrupted her thoughts.
She turned to find him watching her, his tie loosened and the top button of his shirt undone. The small concession to comfort humanized him somehow.
“Wondering if my bounty is lurking somewhere down there while I’m stuck in Corporate America: The Experience.”
A slight smile touched his lips. “Not your natural habitat?”
“What gave it away? The excessive eye-rolling during your budget meeting or my homicidal thoughts during the marketing presentation?”
“The latter wasn’t visible, thankfully.” His smile widened. “But you did mutter ‘kill me now’ twice during the slideshow on quarterly projections.”
Thora winced. “You heard that?”
“Bear hearing.” He tapped his ear. “Though I believe several humans caught it too.”
“Sorry,” she said, not feeling sorry at all. “I don’t do well with confinement. Especially when it involves PowerPoint.”
Artair leaned against his desk, the casual posture at odds with his formal attire. “What do you normally do on a Tuesday afternoon?”
The question caught her off guard. Most people didn’t ask about her life, just about her captures or her abilities.
“Depends on the bounty,” she replied after a moment. “Surveillance. Tracking. Sometimes just waiting for my target to make a mistake.”
“Sounds more exciting than quarterly reports.”
“Sometimes. Other times it’s twelve hours in a car with cold coffee and a numb backside.” She studied him curiously. “Do you actually enjoy all this?” She gestured around his expansive office.
Something flickered across his face—a brief glimpse of unexpected candor. “Not all of it. The politics, the posturing—I could do without those. But building something, seeing plans come to life, creating jobs...” He shrugged. “That part matters.”