Chapter 8 #2
“Oh.” I forcibly dragged my thoughts out of the bedroom. “I have to get one first. It’s on my to-do list.”
“What happened to the phone you were texting with last week?”
My nose wrinkled. “My mother was using it to track my movements around the city. She’s a tad . . . overprotective.”
“I see.” He brushed the backs of his fingers down my cheek. “That’s what you were talking about when you said your mom is stalking you.”
“Yes, unfortunately.”
“Okay, then. We’ll take care of the phone after work before we head to the gym. It’s safer for you to have one. And I want to be able to call you whenever I feel like it.”
I set down the quarter of my burger that I couldn’t eat and wiped my hands and mouth. “That was delicious. Thank you.”
“It was my pleasure.” He leaned over me and pressed his lips briefly to mine. “Do you need to use the washroom?”
“Yes. I need my toothbrush from my purse, too.”
A few minutes later, I found myself standing in a washroom hidden behind a door that blended seamlessly with the mahogany paneling behind the flatscreens.
We brushed our teeth side by side at the double-sink vanity, our gazes meeting in our mirrored reflections.
It was such a domestic, normal thing to do and yet we both seemed to delight in it.
“I’ll take you back down,” he said, crossing his office to the coatrack.
I followed him but veered off when we reached his desk. I went to it and put my hand on the clear space in front of his chair. “Is this where you are most of the day?”
“Yes.” He shrugged into his jacket and I wanted to bite him, he looked so delectable.
Instead, I hopped up to sit directly in front of his chair. According to my watch I had five minutes. Barely enough time to get back to work, but still. I couldn’t resist exercising my new rights. I pointed at his chair. “Sit.”
His brows rose, but he came over without argument and settled gracefully into the seat.
I spread my legs and crooked my finger. “Closer.”
He rolled forward, filling the space between my thighs. He wrapped his arms around my hips and looked up at me. “One day soon, Eva, I’m going to fuck you right here.”
“Just a kiss for now,” I murmured, bending forward to take his mouth. With my hands on his shoulders for balance, I licked across his parted lips; then I slipped inside and teased him with gentleness.
Groaning, he deepened the kiss, eating at my mouth in a way that made me achy and wet.
“One day soon,” I repeated against his lips, “I’m going to kneel beneath this desk and suck you off. Maybe while you’re on the phone playing with your millions like Monopoly. You, Mr. Cross, will pass Go and collect your two hundred dollars.”
His mouth curved against mine. “I can see how this is going to go. You’re going to make me lose my mind coming everywhere I can in your tight, sexy body.”
“Are you complaining?”
“Angel, I’m salivating.”
I was bemused by the endearment, although I liked its sweetness. “Angel?”
He hummed a soft assent and kissed me.
I couldn’t believe what a difference an hour made. I left Gideon’s office in a completely different frame of mind than when I’d entered it. The feel of his hand at the small of my back made my body hum with anticipation rather than the misery I’d felt on the way in.
I waved bye to Scott and smiled brightly at the unsmiling receptionist.
“I don’t think she likes me,” I told Gideon, as we waited for the elevator.
“Who?”
“Your receptionist.”
He glanced over that way, and the redhead beamed at him.
“Well,” I murmured. “She likes you.”
“I guarantee her paychecks.”
My mouth curved. “Yes, I’m sure that’s what it is. It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with you being the sexiest man alive.”
“Am I now?” He caged me to the wall and burned me with a searing gaze.
I set my hands against his abdomen, licking my lower lip when I felt the hard ridges of muscle tighten under my touch. “Just an observation.”
“I like you.” With his palms pressed flat to the wall on either side of my head, he lowered his mouth to mine and kissed me softly.
“I like you back. You do realize you’re at work, don’t you?”
“What good is being the boss if you can’t do what you want?”
“Hmm.”
When a car arrived, I ducked under Gideon’s arm and slid into it.
He prowled in after me, then circled me like a predator, sliding up behind me to pull me back against him.
His hands pushed into my front pockets and splayed against my hip bones, keeping me tucked close.
The warmth of his touch so close to where I ached for him was a special brand of torture.
In retaliation, I wriggled my butt against him and smiled when he hissed out a breath and hardened.
“Behave,” he admonished gruffly. “I have a meeting in fifteen minutes.”
“Will you think of me while you’re sitting at your desk?”
“Undoubtedly. You’ll definitely think about me while you’re sitting at yours. That’s an order, Miss Tramell.”
My head fell back against his chest, loving the bite of command in his voice. “I don’t see how I couldn’t, Mr. Cross, considering how I think of you everywhere else I go.”
He stepped out with me when we reached the twentieth floor. “Thank you for lunch.”
“I think that’s my line.” I backed away. “See you later, Dark and Dangerous.”
His brows rose at my nickname for him. “Five o’clock. Don’t make me wait.”
One of the cars in the left bank of elevators arrived. Megumi stepped out and Gideon stepped in, his gaze locked with mine until the doors closed.
“Whew,” she said. “You scored. I’m pea green with envy.”
I couldn’t think of anything to say to that. It was all still too new and I was afraid to jinx it. In the back of my mind, I knew these feelings of happiness couldn’t last. Everything was going too well.
I rushed to my desk and got to work.
“Eva.” I looked up to see Mark standing in the threshold of his office. “Could I talk to you a minute?”
“Of course.” I grabbed my tablet, even though his grim face and tone warned me it might not be needed. When Mark shut the door behind me, my apprehension increased. “Is everything all right?”
“Yes.” He waited until I was seated, then took the chair beside me rather than the one behind his desk. “I don’t know how to say this . . .”
“Just say it. I’ll figure it out.”
He looked at me with compassionate eyes and a cringe of embarrassment. “It’s not my place to interfere. I’m just your boss and there’s a line that comes with that, but I’m going to cross it because I like you, Eva, and I want you to work here for a long time.”
My stomach tightened. “That’s great. I really love my job.”
“Good. Good, I’m glad.” He shot me a quick smile. “Just . . . be careful with Cross, okay?”
I blinked, startled by the direction of the conversation. “Okay.”
“He’s brilliant, rich, and sexy, so I understand the appeal.
As much as I love Steven, I get a little flustered around Cross myself.
He’s just got that kind of pull.” Mark talked fast and shifted with obvious embarrassment.
“And I can totally see why he’s interested in you.
You’re beautiful, smart, honest, considerate .
. . I could go on, because you’re great. ”
“Thanks,” I said quietly, hoping I didn’t look as ill as I felt. This sort of warning from a friend, and knowing that others would think of me as just another babe-of-the-week, was exactly the type of thing that preyed on my insecurities.
“I just don’t want to see you get hurt,” he muttered, looking as miserable as I felt. “Part of that’s selfish, I’ll admit. I don’t want to lose a great assistant because she doesn’t want to work in a building owned by an ex.”
“Mark, it means a lot to me that you care and that I’m valuable to you around here. But you don’t have to worry about me. I’m a big girl. Besides, nothing is going to get me to quit this job.”
He blew out his breath, clearly relieved. “All right. Let’s put it away and get to work.”
So we did, but I set myself up for future torture by subscribing to a daily Google alert for Gideon’s name. And when five o’clock rolled around, my awareness of my many inadequacies was still spreading through my happiness like a stain.
Gideon was as prompt as he’d threatened to be, and he didn’t seem to notice my introspective mood as we rode down in a crowded elevator.
More than one woman in the car cast furtive glances in his direction, but that sort of thing I didn’t mind.
He was hot. I would’ve been surprised if they hadn’t looked.
He caught my hand when we cleared the turnstiles, linking his fingers with mine.
The simple, intimate gesture meant so much to me in that moment that my grip tightened on his.
And I’d really have to watch out for that.
The moment I became grateful he was spending time with me would be the beginning of the end.
Neither of us would respect me if that happened.
The Bentley SUV sat at the curb and Gideon’s driver stood at the ready by the rear door. Gideon looked at me. “I had some workout clothes packed and brought over, in case you were set on visiting your gym. Equinox, right? Or we can go to mine.”
“Where’s yours?”
“I prefer to go to the CrossTrainer on Thirty-fifth.”
My curiosity over how he knew which gym I frequented vanished when I heard the “Cross” in the name of his gym. “You wouldn’t happen to own the gym, would you?”
His grin flashed. “The chain. Usually, I practice mixed martial arts with a personal trainer, but I use the gym occasionally.”
“The chain,” I repeated. “Of course.”
“Your choice,” he said considerately. “I’ll go wherever you want.”
“By all means, let’s go to your gym.”
He opened the back door, and I slid in and over.
I set my purse and my gym bag on my lap, and looked out the window as the car pulled away from the curb.
The sedan driving next to us was so close I wouldn’t have to lean far to touch it.
Rush hour in Manhattan was something I was still getting used to.
SoCal had bumper-to-bumper traffic, too, but it moved at a snail’s pace.
Here in New York, speed mixed with the crush in a way that often made me close my eyes and pray to survive the trip.
It was a whole new world. A new city, new apartment, new job, and new man. It was a lot to take on at once. I supposed it was understandable that I felt off-balance.
I glanced at Gideon and found him staring at me with an unreadable expression. Everything inside me twisted into a mess of wild lust and vibrating anxiety. I had no idea what I was doing with him, only that I couldn’t stop even if I wanted to.