Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
SEVEN
I watch intently as Grace’s jaw works around a mouthful of her chicken Caesar salad. Her tongue swipes across her lower lip, catching a stray crumb, and my balls tighten at the sight, imagining the feel of the muscle sliding over the head of my cock.
But then I remember that she’s not wearing my present, and rage replaces some of the lust heating my blood.
Sweet little Grace doesn’t listen. A fact that will have to be rectified.
I’m imagining all the twisted punishments I want to give her when she lets out a sound of distress, breaking my train of thought.
I zero in on her wide-eyed expression, heart thrumming at the thought of her in pain. “Grace? What’s wrong?”
Grace covers her mouth with the paper napkin, discreetly spitting out her bite.
“Sorry.” Her face heats in embarrassment. “Chicken bone.”
“A bone? In your food?” I work to keep my expression calm despite the rage burning in my veins. I’m going to burn this fucking place to ash.
“It happens.” She waves it off like it’s no big deal, but I notice she doesn’t go for another bite. “I was getting full anyway.”
I frown, but don’t push the issue. She’s hardly eaten half of it—and it’s a salad, for fuck’s sake—so there’s no way she’s full.
Without a word, I swap our meals, giving her the other half of my Italian sub and chips.
She’s been eyeing it wantingly since we sat down, so I’m hoping she’ll accept it without too much fuss.
“You don’t have to do that…”
“I know you’re not full, Grace. You’ve barely had five bites of your salad. It’ll make me feel better to know you’ve had a good lunch,” I add.
With a grateful smile, Grace picks up the sandwich and takes a small bite. Her eyes roll back as a heavenly moan escapes, and I have to grip the edge of the table to keep myself from lunging across the distance like a wolf in heat.
“I’m glad you like it.” My voice is unusually hoarse.
“So good!” Grace reaches for a potato chip, popping it into her mouth as her eyes light with a mischievous twinkle. Before I realize what’s happening, Grace reaches across the table with a chip between her fingers, her smile wide as she nudges the snack toward my lips.
Dutifully, I open my mouth and allow her to feed me, my chest squeezing with a foreign emotion. “No one’s ever fed me before,” I say, my gaze heated. “No one.”
“Oh.” Grace lowers her eyes, suddenly shy. “Sorry if I overstepped…”
I reach out, grabbing her hand and pulling it back to me. Entwining my fingers with hers, I lower my arm so our hands are lying in the middle of the table.
“Mr. Graves... what are you doing?” Grace jerks her gaze around the room nervously, though she doesn’t try to remove her hand from mine.
“Holding your hand.”
“Yeah, but… what if someone sees?”
“Let them.” I squeeze her tighter. “I don’t care.”
Grace lets out a breath, dropping her eyes to the table. “Maybe you don’t, but I do. If someone from the office saw us like this, there’d be rumors… I could lose my job.”
“I’m simply here with my employee, grabbing lunch.” I tilt my head with a grin. “There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s perfectly innocent.”
She pointedly looks at our clasped hands.
“There’s no rule against holding hands, Grace.”
“I suppose not…” She looks up, her gaze heated. “But anything else would be frowned upon.”
“I’ve never been a fan of rules.” I rub my thumb across her palm, painfully aware of my body’s reaction to the way she’s looking at me. “But I’m good at keeping secrets. Are you, Grace?”
She sucks in a breath. “What do you mean?”
“I think you know exactly what I mean,” I whisper, leaning in. “I want to get to know you, Grace. More than this, more than lunch.”
“I, um… I don’t know if that’s such a great idea.”
Again, her gaze moves around the restaurant. Like she’s looking for something. Or someone. I work to hide my grin. I know exactly who Grace is looking for. The irony is, he’s sitting right across the table from her.
Before I have the chance to convince her of breaking any rules, Grace begins rummaging in her purse, her demeanor a complete one-eighty from how it was a moment ago. “I should probably get back to work. I’ll cover my half.”
“Nonsense.” I reach across the distance, placing my hand on her arm to stop her. Grace bites her lip, looking up through impossibly thick dark lashes, and I lose it. “I’m sorry I said what I did, Grace. I wasn’t trying to push.”
“It’s okay…” But it’s clearly not.
“Grace—”
“Listen, I’m not going to sit here and lie. I’m attracted to you, too, and a big part of me wants to see where it goes.”
“But?”
She worries her lip. “But I like my job. I can’t risk it. No matter how much I might want to.”
Her last statement fills me with exhilaration, and I have to fight to keep the bloodthirsty grin from showing. Want is just a small step away from giving in. Soon, Grace will be mine, and only mine.
“I understand,” I say, trying to look disappointed. “I won’t push the issue any further.” I stare pointedly at her purse. “But I will be getting lunch. At the very least, to make up for any mistakes on my end.”
Grace nods, relaxing back into her chair with a small smile. “You’re a good man, Mr. Graves. Thank you for understanding.”
If only she knew the truth.
Grace finishes up the rest of her lunch, and while we ease back into polite conversation, she doesn’t attempt to feed me again. On our walk back to the office, there’s a heavy silence between us that’s normally not there.
“Thank you again for lunch.” Grace is unable to meet my eyes fully. “I really do appreciate it.”
“We’ll have to do it again soon.”
She nods, but I get the funny feeling she’s running through the different excuses she’ll give me in the future to get out of it.
If I wasn’t the other man who’s stopping her from getting closer to Mr. Graves, I might be angry.
But seeing as Red 7 is the reason for her hesitation, I can’t help but be filled with a sense of dark satisfaction.
“Bye, Mr. Graves.” Grace scurries back to her desk, her head lowered and cheeks heated.
I’m a little upset at her abrupt departure, but I can’t blame Grace. She spooks easily, and I got a little too excited at lunch. She just needs more time to warm up to me, and she’ll be begging for everything I can give her.
But if she doesn’t come around soon, I’ll have to speed things along. And I know exactly which of Grace’s buttons to push.