Terra
She was glad to step out into the huge lobby but then she wasn’t sure what to do. Taurex, however, didn’t hesitate for a moment. He walked right up to the broad counter and addressed the well-dressed staff standing behind it.
“Did one of you give my new office manager trouble when she was trying to come up to my apartment this morning?” he demanded, his voice a low, threatening rumble.
The well-dressed staff went pale and Marissa, who was standing near the end of the broad marble counter, looked like she wanted to sink into the floor.
“Well? Did you?” Taurex demanded, when none of them answered.
“She…didn’t look like she belonged here,” Marissa said at last, stepping forward and giving Terra a once-over. “Especially not in the penthouse.”
“Well, she does belong here,” Taurex told her. “Terra has my full trust and authority to come and go as she pleases from my domicile. And none of you is to bother her or try to stop her from accessing my abode. Am I understood?”
He glared at all of them, and they nodded quickly with respectful murmurs of,
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good.” Taurex nodded, the light from the chandeliers catching on his polished horns. He turned to Terra. “Now that we have that all sorted out, let me walk you to the correct elevator.”
Terra was aware of the eyes following them as he walked her to the elevator marked “Parking” but she didn’t look back.
It was enough to know that no one would try to stop her from going up to the penthouse anymore.
In the meantime, maybe she’d better buy some nicer work clothes, so she actually looked like she belonged here.
She could certainly afford it now, thanks to Taurex.
When they got to the elevator, the big Monstrum turned to her again.
He was watching her with the same intense concentration she'd noticed in the VIP lounge, but this time there was nothing openly sexual in his expression.
He wasn't looking at her breasts or her legs or remembering how she'd looked naked in front of him.
He was looking at her as a person, not a sex object, Terra realized. And somehow that made everything so much more personal. She tried not to blush, but she could feel her cheeks getting warm as she met his golden gaze.
“Thank you for all your hard work today,” he murmured.
“You’re welcome. Just doing my job.” Terra smiled, trying to keep things light.
Reaching out, Taurex took her by the hand.
“You are exactly what I need,” he said quietly.
Terra tensed, waiting for a flood of images or emotions, but there was nothing this time but the feeling of his big, warm hand enclosing her own.
“I…I’m glad to hear that,” she said, wishing her voice didn’t sound so breathless and that her heart wouldn’t pound so hard in her chest.
She didn't know why the words and his simple touch affected her so deeply.
Maybe it was because nobody had said anything like that to her in years, or maybe it was because Jackson had spent most of their marriage making her feel as though she was too much of all the wrong things—too opinionated, too loud, too demanding, too curvy, too difficult—and somehow never enough of anything that actually mattered.
But Taurex stood in front of her now, looking her in the eyes and holding her hand and he was telling her that she was exactly what he needed. And somehow, she didn’t think he only meant in the office.
She swallowed past the unexpected tightness in her throat, then forced a smile because suddenly the moment felt much too intimate.
“Just wait until I make you buy filing cabinets,” she tried to joke.
Taurex frowned immediately.
“I told you, I dislike filing cabinets. But if you really want them, we will buy some together tomorrow.”
She raised her eyebrows.
“Really? You’re taking me shopping?”
“Really,” he rumbled. “So come prepared. I’ll see you tomorrow at the same time?”
“Yes, same time.” She nodded, trying to smile but she kept getting lost in his eyes.
God, what was wrong with her? Taurex was leaning over her, and it almost seemed like he was going to kiss her and honestly, the way she felt right now, Terra would have let him.
But that would be career suicide, she told herself.
She had to keep things professional—she had to.
They were saved by the ding! of the elevator arriving just in time.
“Well, I guess this is me.” Terra laughed nervously and drew her hand out of his.
“I will see you tomorrow,” he rumbled. “I am already looking forward to working with you again.”
“Thanks. Uh, you too,” she said, smiling. And it was true.
As Terra stepped inside, she was already anticipating going back again the next day, even though she still wasn’t quite sure how she felt about the big Monstrum.
She just hoped she could keep things professional.