Eli
Eli
H e wasn’t sure that he had heard her correctly. Had she just said that she had feelings for him? “I’m sorry, what?” he asked.
“Give me a second,” she insisted, holding up her finger at him. “I just need time to think.”
“There is nothing to think about,” Eli insisted. “You kissed me.”
“Actually,” she spat, “I believe that you are the one who kissed me. I simply pressed my lips to yours. You were the one who pushed me against the sofa and kissed me.”
Eli cleared his throat as if he had wanted to say something but was refraining. “And I shouldn’t have done that. We work together and me kissing you was very inappropriate.”
“We aren’t at work right now, Eli,” she reminded. “We’re in my apartment, on the couch. There is no HR here and no one to stop us from kissing or doing anything else that we want to do. What would it hurt if we just let things happen?” she asked.
“It would hurt our working relationship and I’m not willing to do that. I like working with you, Mina,” he admitted. He liked more than working with her, he liked her, but he wasn’t willing to tell her that while he was trying to make a point about how wrong a relationship would be between the two of them.
“I’m sorry that you feel that way, Eli,” she said. “I shouldn’t have told you the way that I feel about you. It was wrong of me. I guess I just got caught up in the moment. Blame it on being sleepy and having brain fog,” she said. He could tell that he had hurt her feelings, denying that he wanted her, but he needed to keep things professional between the two of them, no matter how loudly his dick was screaming at him to take what he wanted from her.
“I think that I need to get going,” he insisted. “It’s late, and I’ve already overstayed my welcome.” He stood and grabbed both of their plates to take back to her kitchen.
“Don’t worry about cleaning up,” Mina insisted. “I’ll walk you out. Daisy needs to have a walk before we go to bed.” She stood from the sofa and grabbed Daisy’s leash from the hook by her front door. Daisy happily jumped off the couch, following her to the entryway, excited by the prospect of a walk.
Eli grabbed his jacket from the hook and pulled it on. They were back to complete, awkward silence and he hated that. Mina had been so easy to talk to at his brother’s wedding. He hated that they seemed to have nothing to say to each other now. He only had himself to blame too. He was the one who had taken things too far when she kissed him. He should have pushed her away when she leaned in to kiss him, not push her back against the sofa and kiss her the way that he did. He was going to have to figure out how to fix this mess that he caused between the two of them.
“This is me,” he said, nodding to his car after they got out to the parking lot. She paused and for a split second, he wondered if she was going to kiss him again.
Mina leaned in and smiled, “Goodnight, Eli,” she said. He watched as she walked past him with Daisy and all Eli could think about was how much he wanted her. He wanted her to lean in and kiss him again, even if it would have been a mistake.
She had a little bit more of a sway in her hips and all he could do was watch her walk away. “Tease,” he whispered to himself as she disappeared around the corner of her building.
It had been two days since Mina and his “Not” a date night. Eli had spent the whole day Sunday kicking himself for being so stupid and kissing Mina. When he really should have been upset with himself about not taking things further with her. He liked her, and what was wrong with that? Nothing. Plenty of the other guys around McTavish had dated their assistants and even ended up marrying them. But he wasn’t like the other guys. They were smooth with women, and he wasn’t. Hell, the last time he had a proper date was almost six months ago, and by the time they got to their third date, things had fizzled out between the two of them. They had a few nights of some really hot sex, and then, she ghosted him. Eli had been out on a few dates since, but honestly, Mina was the first woman he had found interesting in a damn long time.
By the time Monday morning rolled around, he was ready to call in sick and tell Mina to cancel his appointments for the day, but he was sure that she’d see right through his lie. Instead, he showed up to work and when he saw her, he pretended nothing happened between the two of them. He could tell that she was relieved that he didn’t bring Saturday night up, but he also felt like a coward. He hated that he was running and hiding from what he considered a pretty good night with a woman he liked.
He had a ton of meetings during the morning, but his afternoon was wide open. He decided that acting the coward wasn’t his way, and maybe clearing the air might be the best thing for him and Mina. He’d ask her to lunch, since both of their schedules were free, and set things straight between them. Sure, he was stalking Mina’s calendar, but she was his assistant, and knowing her availability was important to him as her boss.
He ducked his head out of his office and found her sitting at her desk. “Hey, can you come into my office for a second, Mina?” he asked. She stood from behind her desk and smoothed her hands down her pencil skirt and he nearly lost it. God, what he’d give to be those hands right now, running the length of her long legs.
“Sure,” she breathed. “Should I bring my laptop?” she asked.
“Um, no,” he said. She walked into his office, and he shut the door behind her.
“What’s up, Eli?” she asked. He could tell that she was nervous, and he hated that she felt that way around him.
“I was wondering if you’d like to have lunch with me today,” he said.
“Lunch with you?” she squeaked. “I thought that we did the whole, let’s share a meal thing the other night, and it didn’t go so well.”
“Right, and that’s why I want a do-over. I acted like an ass, and I’d like to make it up to you,” Eli said.
“I already have lunch plans,” she said.
“Oh,” he breathed, “I checked your schedule, and you didn’t have anything down on your calendar.” Yeah, he sounded like a stalker.
“Sorry, I forgot to put my lunch date down. It’s kind of a last-minute thing. I just set it up this morning.” He wanted to ask her a million questions about her so-called lunch date. He didn’t really believe that she had one since it wasn’t on her schedule, but he wouldn’t call her a liar.
She checked her phone, “He should be here in about a half hour. I still have time to cancel, if you still want to have lunch. But if it’s only to make up for what happened at my place on Saturday night, don’t worry about it. I’m over it, Eli,” she said. Now, he could tell that she was lying. There was no way that she’d be over the way that he dismissed her. He wasn’t lying when he said that he acted like an ass that night toward her.
“You’re over it?” he asked.
“I am,” she insisted. Eli took two steps closer to her, testing to see if she was truly over it—over him kissing her. He could tell by the way that her breath hitched when he invaded her personal space that she was in no way over it or their shared kiss.
“Keep telling yourself that, Mina,” he whispered. “But when you’re ready to talk, let me know. I think that we need to hash things out if we don’t want our working relationship to suffer.” Jesus, he sounded like he was threatening her job at McTavish now. What the fuck was wrong with him? He was out of his mind, and Eli was sure that it had everything to do with his sexy assistant.
“Got it,” she spat. “Is there anything else, boss?” she asked.
“No,” he said, feeling even more like an ass than before he called her into his office. He needed to get himself together and if that meant letting Mina go without apologizing again, that’s what he’d do. Sooner or later, he’d get himself together but now wasn’t that time.