Chapter 8 #2
Before she could respond, I winked and then made my way to the bedroom door. I knew once that door was open, she wasn’t going to say anything out of fear of waking Samuel.
The hot shower was just the soothing balm I needed.
Sure, the cut and bruises on my face stung, but I needed to wash off the stress of last night that had mixed with the confusion I felt when Sabrina touched me this morning.
I felt like a rejuvenated man when I flipped off the water, grabbed a towel, and wrapped it around my waist.
The bathmat was soft as I stepped out onto it. I grabbed one of the small hand towels and quickly gave my head a rubdown until my hair was no longer dripping water.
I threaded the hand towel through the holder affixed to the wall and then pulled open the bathroom door.
Sabrina was standing next to the bed, playing with Samuel.
Her gaze first lifted to my chest, and then a few seconds later, she brought her wide eyes up to meet mine like she’d suddenly realized that she had been staring.
If she thought I wasn’t going to notice the way her cheeks flushed or that her eyes had lingered, she was dead wrong.
But I’d already overwhelmed her with my flirting earlier and I knew she was trying hard to stay professional, so I muscled down my natural instinct to tease her and just enjoyed the fact that I got a reaction.
“How’s little man?” I asked as I walked further into the bedroom. My body was charged with flirtatious energy, so I decided the best way to dispel some of it was to push my hand through my hair in an effort to get it to dry faster.
Sabrina blinked a few times before she brought her attention back to Samuel and picked him up.
“He’s great,” she said as she brought her attention back to me.
She dropped her gaze yet again. “Do you want some privacy?” She had her arm firmly under Samuel’s bum and had angled him so I couldn’t see her face.
I wanted to flirt. God, I wanted to flirt with that woman.
There was so much going on between us, and I wanted to point it out.
I wanted to tease her. I wanted to be the reason her cheeks reddened and that wild light came into her gaze.
But I knew it would make her uncomfortable.
And that was the last emotion I wanted Sabrina to feel when it came to me.
So I went with a boring, mundane response. “Uh, sure. That’d be great.”
Sabrina didn’t respond. She was out of the room by the time I spoke the “t” in great.
The sound of the door’s release engaging marked her departure, and I was now alone.
I sighed as I stared at the shut door, frustrated that I couldn’t flirt with the woman on the other side like I wanted to.
Suddenly, my grand plan of hiring her as my assistant didn’t seem so genius anymore.
I wanted to wallow in my misfortune. I wanted to curse myself for my decisions, but I had things to do.
Bonnie wanted me at rehearsals at nine, and the last thing I wanted was for Bonnie to think Sabrina was incompetent because I showed up fifteen minutes late.
Sabrina had done everything right today, and I wanted her to feel that accomplishment.
I dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans. After I applied some pomade to my hair so the curls would have some definition to them, I pulled open the bedroom door, walked through to the living room, and plopped down on the couch.
Sabrina was sitting on the floor in front of the windows with Samuel. They were looking at a board book.
When her attention landed on me, my heart picked up speed. I moved my gaze to meet hers and just held it. No flirting. No winking. Just her and me. I knew I needed to break the connection between us, but I just wanted to linger for a few seconds more…
“Are you ready for me?” Sabrina asked as she helped Samuel lie down on the floor. He cooed and kicked his feet while his hands waved in the air above him.
I had to bite down my desire to flirt once more as I leaned back against the couch and nodded. “I’m at your mercy,” I murmured. That was the tamest response I could conjure up.
She shot me a look but didn’t otherwise respond as she went over to the side table where she’d set down the antiseptic cream and bandages that the front desk had brought up. I didn’t move as she made her way over to me.
It was akin to torture, sitting there, letting her smooth fingers touch my skin.
My entire body was acutely aware of her proximity.
I could smell her laundry soap mixed with peach—which I could only assume was her shampoo.
It was intoxicating to be close to this woman, and desire was boiling up inside of me.
My usual antidote to feeling this way was to flirt, but I had been forbidden to do so.
I might die. This woman might actually kill me.
And yet, I was okay with it. I’d rather die a happy man than go back to the way my life had been before I met Sabrina.
Back when my days were bland and my nights were full of silence.
With her around, everything was brighter and more colorful.
She made me…excited…for the first time in a long, long time.
“There,” she whispered. “All fixed up.”
I kept my eyes closed for a bit longer. A part of me didn’t want to wake up from this dream.
I knew as soon as I did, I was going to have to face my reality.
Face my responsibilities. Right here, on this couch, I could pretend that my life was simple.
That I was just a guy, and she was just a girl. Then a future with her seemed possible.
As soon as I opened my eyes, I knew what was waiting for me.
I sighed as I slowly opened my eyes. I couldn’t sit here forever, avoiding my responsibilities. The last thing I wanted was for Sabrina to catch a hint as to what I was feeling, so I flashed her a smile. “How do I look?” I asked as I pulled myself up so I was now sitting straight.
She shrugged. “Acceptable.”
I frowned. “Just acceptable?”
Her eyes narrowed. “You look like you got in a dumb fight, but then your amazing assistant did her job and took care of you.”
I nodded. “Good.”
I watched her walk over to Samuel and pick him up. He was babbling and cooing as she set him on her hip. I chuckled as he reached up and grabbed her chin. I glanced toward the bedroom, where my suitcase was tucked in the closet. Our quiet, intimate moment was over.
“Guess I should get my shoes on so we can get going.”
Sabrina had grabbed ahold of Samuel’s hand and was holding it as she bounced him around. She glanced over at me. “Okay,” she said.
It frustrated me how badly I wanted some kind of reciprocation from her. I wanted her to show me in her gaze, the way she smiled at me, or the tenderness in her voice that she was feeling what I was feeling. That, maybe, I caused the same reaction in her that she caused in me.
But the longer I stayed there, the more apparent her apathy became. She didn’t see me like I saw her. I was just her boss, and she was just my assistant.
The sooner I accepted that fact, the happier we would all be.