Chapter 15 #2
“It’s not that I don’t want to. I remember what you told me the other morning. About the part of me I’m afraid to embrace.”
“What about her?”
I’m trying not to get my hopes up, but I want her to realize she can be both. She can have it both ways with me. The sweet and meek as well as the sultry and seductive parts of her.
She keeps her eyes trained on her nails, which she’s fiddling with in her lap. When she finally looks up at me, both my heart and my dick feel like they could explode.
“I want to be more like her ...”
“But …?”
No, Carley. No buts.
“But I don’t know how.”
Keep going. Ask me what you’re dying to ask me, théa.
I lick my lips and lean in slightly. Placing my hand on her knee, I can feel her shaking beneath my touch.
“Don’t be scared. You don’t need to feel embarrassed in front of me. Ever. Understand?”
She nods her head in response.
“I need your help,” she finally admits, lightly dragging her teeth along her bottom lip.
I can imagine the devious smile she sees forming on my face as she looks at me.
“I want to help you. I want you to trust that you can be your full, authentic self around me without fear. Can you do that?”
Taking a final, nervous swallow, she answers.
“Yes.”
“You’re a good girl, théa mou.”
“What does that mean? You never did tell me after dinner in Greece.”
Moving closer to her, I can’t help myself any longer. I gently place my finger under her chin and lift her lips to mine.
“It means my goddess.”
Her pupils dilate, and I close my lips over hers. I breathe easy when she doesn’t pull away. She isn’t just my assistant, and she never will be. She’s so much more than that. Cupping her cheek in my palm, she lets out a tiny moan. Fisting the front of my shirt, she pulls me in closer to her still.
Uh-oh.
I’m getting dangerously close to the point of no return. Just when I’m about to make the decision to push the staff meeting back, I hear the ding from the elevator in the lobby, signaling someone’s arrival.
I’m so fucking glad that elevator is as far away as it is.
It gives us plenty of time to pull away from one another and act like all we’re doing here is eating.
I hear several voices echo through the lobby and a set of heels clicking closer and closer to my office door.
A moment later, I see the face of Carol, the head of human resources, appear in my doorway.
That’s the last person I need to catch us making out.
“Hey D, are we still meeting at one?” She checks her watch to make sure she’s not early or late.
“Yeah. We’re just about through here.”
“Great. See you in a few.”
“I can get this, if you need to get in there,” Carley offers.
“No, I don’t want you cleaning up after me. Plus, I’d like you to attend the meeting. If you want to run your own business someday, it will be helpful for you to see how a successful business runs.”
“That’s incredible. I don’t mean for this to sound harsh, but I was feeling as though my skills were going to waste behind that desk. I’d love the opportunity to be more involved in the day-to-day life of the business.”
The shocked look on her face makes me feel guilty for treating her so badly before realizing who she was.
“I really am sorry for the way I treated you for the past month. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t have a genuine issue with any of the tasks you completed for me. It was just my asshole way of keeping you at a distance.”
I watch as a grateful smile crosses her face, and I know she’s accepted my apology.
“I would love to attend. Thank you so much.”
We finish cleaning up and walk out to the lobby together.
“I’m going to grab a mint and some paper to take notes on. I’ll be right in.”
“Okay,” I agree, but I wait for her.
She grabs her things, and I follow her into the boardroom.
“Hello, everyone.” Carley walks to the back corner and takes a seat. “Carley, please feel free to take a spot at the table with everyone else. Have you all had the chance to meet my new assistant?”
I glance around the room to several people nodding their heads. A couple of them wave to her casually. Ronald, my head of finance, looks at her for a little too long, and it takes all the power in my body not to react too noticeably to him.
It was tough to keep my attention on my staff as we went through our agenda with Carley sitting at the other end of the table.
The knowing looks we shared reminded me of our night together and had me visualizing all the places in this room I wanted to lay her down and claim her over and over again as mine.
She showed up today. A small part of me was terrified she wouldn’t.
That she would realize what a schmuck I am and that she’s too good for me.
I’m sure she does know that; she’s a smart girl.
But she’s here anyway, and she admitted she wants me to help her be comfortable enough to let loose and be the girl she was in Greece.
This has all the potential to turn into one regrettable disaster. But I didn’t pick up my entire life and move three-thousand miles to play it safe.
If we’re going to do this, we’re going all in.