23. Chapter 23
OLIVER
It’s pathetic to admit this, but I’d practically run away from home.
Only returning to take Theo to school and put him to bed with the excuse I needed to work late; other than that?
I wasn’t home. It was obvious and cowardly to dodge her every time we attempted to cross paths; I can’t imagine what she must think of me, as my avoiding her is no longer subtle.
But maybe things were better that way; the more she hated me, the more she could accept that the further we were, the better it was for both of us.
Because at least that way, I could shove down any feelings demanding their way up and ignore the urge to fight against every instinct telling me this is the right thing to do.
That being said, avoiding her since Sunday evening has been no easy feat. The stress of avoiding her is getting worse, too; it’s putting me more on edge, for example, right now. Being in an environment I thought was safe, yet my heart is pounding against my chest like a game of whack-a-mole.
Thump, thump, thump,
As I’m heading back to the lift after ripping the new interns a new one, my heart starts pounding, my hands turn clammy, and I can feel my stomach in my throat. I’m not sure why until I look up.
Fuck, fuck, shit, fuck. Why?
Because the same nanny I’ve been trying to avoid for the last few days just got off the lift.
She’s here, in my workplace.
The one place I shouldn’t have to worry about the possibility of running into her, but I was wrong.
At first, I forgot where I was, wanting to turn around and bolt in the other direction, but then I realised I’m not on my floor, nor am I near a door that locks, so running is pointless with her blocking my own possible exit.
Not to mention, running away from someone practically half my size will obliterate my street cred as the stone-cold boss I pride myself on portraying myself as.
My inhabitants lower knowing how close she is, making me freeze in place.
I quickly scan the hallway twice and see that no one else is around.
That isn’t to say there aren’t employees watching or that someone could come strolling down the hall any minute.
I need to take control of the situation right now, so regardless of who sees, I march towards her and tug her by the wrist, down the other end of the hall, which is less populated since a few of our older staff retired last week.
“What are you doing here?!” I growl, which comes out more aggressively than I planned.
“I’m sorry, and you are?” she retorts, tilting her head and shooting her dark chocolate daggers into my soul. Had she looked at a normal person in such a way, their whole body shivered, but me? It sent blood flow straight to my cock.
The urge to snatch her throat and kiss that scowl off her face soars through my brain, but I shut it down by smirking. There is no way I plan on showing her that she unravels me.
No bloody way.
“You’ve a lot of nerve walking into my territory, talking to me like that,” I state when my gaze drops, and I get distracted by how well the t-shirt she’s wearing hugs the curve of her breasts.
What I’d give to shove her in a nearby office and tear that shirt to shreds to see what’s underneath. But that would violate several things, and after what happened the last time I lost control…
I open my mouth to speak, but the impulsive urge to trail it down the nape of her neck appears, sending me into a spiral - needing time to recalibrate on what to do next.
Whilst Luna is refusing to back down, her firm gaze is much like she did all those days ago when she had the nerve to swear at me.
“You self-centred Surly Bastard. Who do you think you are?” she snarls, making the situation worse. God, I wanted to throw her over my shoulder and spank her for being defiant.
The needy image of my handprint on her golden-hinted skin seeps into me, making the friction in my slacks increase. Pulling myself out of the depths of my mind, I return my focus to Luna, who I see flicker her face towards my lips.
It’s only for a second, but I caught it. Looks like I’m not the only one struggling to keep myself at bay, which only makes things worse for me.
The second I let my guard down, there is no going back.
Every single boundary I’ve carefully placed between us would shatter, and the binding of her workplace contract would evaporate; she would know everything. From the moment she gives me consent, I’m hers. The moment I touch her skin, she’s mine because this isn’t like the others.
With Luna, there is no once-a-year.
I knew that just by feeling the touch of her lips once, she would become my new obsession, occupying more than 80% of my brain daily, locked in along with the few others I’m bound to.
But with that comes the things I can’t tell her, the baggage that comes with being someone like me, along with the heartbreak, struggle and worst of all, loss.
I’d seen that once too many times, and the more I learn about Luna the more I have to lose should she and I ever be something that could ultimately fail…
suddenly that unwanted flashback of tainted past appears, making my ears ring and head spin to the point I can see her lips moving but can’t hear what she’s saying until I ask her to repeat it.
“You arrogant ass- I said this isn’t your floor and I have somewhere to be!” She snaps when I realise I boxed her in, against the wall.
My hands are on either side of her figure, giving her no chance to escape. I’m towering over her in the narrow hallway when suddenly I process what she said. Too busy spiralling after seeing her presence without warning, I forgot I was on the paralegal floor.
She was right; she wasn’t technically in my territory, but I had shares in the company, and I could be where I wanted. But that’s not the point. I step aside to let her pass, but seconds after, I no longer smell her juicy scent; I’m hot on her tail.
“Quit following me,” she demands as I realise I should be the only one she knows in this building, so what the hell was she doing here?! I search through my mind and recall her mentioning something about lunch during my temporary blackout.
The magma-infused heat scorched through my veins at the thought of her going on a lunch date with someone in my company. Now I’m itching to ruin someone’s day. I could have any guy in this company fired just because I felt like it.
The courtesy that comes with the founders of this company, who are willing to bend over backwards to keep me happy.
Luna does her best to sprint back to where she came from, grab the person she’d been waiting for and make her escape, but she forgets I’m a whole foot and two inches taller than her; catching up to her tiny height is light work.
What she may not know, though, is that I hid myself behind the wall but can still see who she got in the lift with before the doors closed.
My body heat returned to normal, and rage inside me subsided when I noticed Macy was the person she was waiting for. Forgetting she is the other person in this building, apart from Nigel, whom Luna knows. She’s her sister-in-law, for god’s sake.
Jesus, I’m losing it, and Luna is the one to blame.
Once I know Luna is gone, I take the first deep breath I’ve held in since I saw her earlier, leaning against the wall, tipping my head towards the ceiling.
I take a moment to recompose myself, then take the other lift back up to my floor and head towards my office, ready to get back to work and thankful that I’d had my fair share of surprises today.
However, the moment I step inside my sanctuary, the look on Nigel’s face, combined with the tapping of angered high heels, tells me I was wrong.
****
This is exactly what happens when you bend the rules.
A contract is as easy as following its terms; step outside of those you might as well be stuck in a minefield. That’s where I am right now. Instead of being in my 1 pm meeting, I’m stuck in my office dealing with Crystal, who’s acting like a spoiled brat because she got too greedy.
After spending most of last week at her place to avoid Luna, without sex has given her the delusion that she’s special; it even states in her contract that quality time without sexual intercourse means nothing; she’s choosing to ignore that right now.
I would have let her off with a warning, but coming to my workplace and threatening to cause a scene? That drove me over the edge and rendered the terms of our contract void.
Don’t ever try to corner me in my own territory; you might as well dig your own grave.
Crystal may have thought she was being smart, appealing to the take-charge side of me, but all she’s done is turn me off so much that I’m done with her, with all the calendar girls. I won’t give the others the chance to pull this shit; this ends today.
After doing this for almost two years, she had the time and freedom to break free of the contract if things got too much. I had a clause built in to avoid these very things from happening, and yet here I am.
I can’t stand a clingy person.
Not in this way; this is just as pathetic as my behaviour towards Luna.
I nod towards Nigel, one only he could understand.
He then left the room and went to terminate all twelve of the calendar contracts.
Now left with Crystal, I calmly explained that not only did she breach her contract, but I let her know how deeply disappointed I was that she made it come to this, meaning the on-paper relationship she and I had was now over.
At first, there was a lot of yelling, which I filtered out.
I didn’t even flinch when she dared to go to the tabloids about our relationship, as if anyone would believe her.
Then she went on to say that she had physical proof and that if I didn’t stay with her, she would drag me down with her, but in all honesty, the whole ordeal just made me laugh.
Did she think I was born yesterday?
That I was the stupid kind of rich?