Chapter 7 #2
Alba laughed as she dropped into the chair opposite Ellie’s desk, her eyes sparkling with amusement. Then she lifted a brow. “You do realise how that sounds, right?”
“Oh, stop it.” Ellie felt the warmth rising up her neck. Then that same heat crept over her cheeks, as though Alba’s teasing had physically touched her. “You’re one of those people who turns everything into something dirty.”
“Guilty.” Alba raised both hands in surrender before her gaze landed on the cake sitting beside Ellie’s keyboard. “It does look good, though.”
Ellie found herself watching Alba across the desk instead of the cake.
Her attention drifted without permission to Alba’s jawline—strong, striking, the kind of shape that made Ellie wonder absently what it might feel like beneath her fingertips.
And then she lifted her gaze slowly. Those huge chocolate-brown eyes were almost unfairly expressive, gentle and kind in a way that could melt a person if they weren’t careful.
And Ellie was only just beginning to realise the effect they had on her.
“Ellie?”
Ellie blinked as she tore her gaze away so quickly that her neck protested, only then realising she had been staring directly at Alba’s cleavage. When the hell had that happened? “Mm?”
“Any chance I could have a taste of the cake?” Alba nodded at the plate and reached for the spoon beside it. Ellie had been left with a fork. “Unless you invited me in here just to tease me with it…”
Alba’s smirk sent a thrill racing up Ellie’s spine. God. She must be hormonal today. Either that, or she’d hit her head against something during the night.
Trying very hard to ignore the way her thoughts were behaving, Ellie cut the cake down the middle and scooped a generous portion onto a spare plate. She slid it across the desk. “Here. Before you climb across my desk for it!”
“In this skirt?” Alba lifted one leg, the movement revealing a toned, tanned thigh that caught Ellie completely off guard. “I don’t think so.”
Ellie swallowed. Then swallowed again. She had no idea where she was supposed to look now. While Alba had always been playful, something about today felt…different. No. Ellie felt different. “Probably a good idea if you remain seated. I wouldn’t want you to break your neck in those heels.”
Thankfully, the room fell into silence for a moment.
Ellie liked quiet pauses. For so long, she’d barely managed to invite anyone into this office without feeling overwhelmed, but Alba’s presence had done something unexpected to her.
Being around her seemed to bring out a small, forgotten joy Ellie hadn’t realised had been missing.
“I was wondering if you’d like to come over tonight for a coffee. Colin is invited too, of course.”
“Sure.” Alba spooned a piece of chocolate cake into her mouth. Then she moaned, and Ellie felt that strange sensation again. God, it was almost like she had the urge to walk around the desk and lick away the small smudge of chocolate sitting at the corner of Alba’s mouth. Or worse.
Oh, sweet Jesus.
Ellie gripped her fork a little tighter and quickly stabbed another bite of cake, keeping her mouth busy before her brain had the chance to betray her. In this moment, she had no idea what could come out of it if she wasn’t careful.
Think of something normal. Anything normal.
“What time?” Alba’s voice cut through Ellie’s thoughts.
“I’m sorry?”
“What time do you want us to come over?”
“Oh!” Ellie laughed and waved a hand between them. She really needed to get out of her own head for the duration that Alba was here. “Whenever you like, really. Providing nothing goes wrong before the end of the day, I’ll be leaving here around three-thirty.”
“Maybe I could bring takeout over? Anything in particular you feel like?”
“Mm. Surprise me.” Ellie kept her focus on the plate of chocolate cake directly in front of her. “Just nothing with shellfish. I’m allergic.”
“Good to know.” Alba nodded slowly as Ellie chanced a look in her direction.
“I found out when I was abroad with my parents years ago. Nothing ruins a holiday like anaphylaxis at the dinner table in Italy.”
Alba’s eyes widened. “Oh, God. So, it’s serious then?”
“Mmhmm.” Ellie nodded. “I’ve never tested just how serious it is now that I know my throat has the ability to close over if I eat the stuff. I’m just going to assume the same will happen again, and I really don’t feel like going down that route.”
“No. Me neither.” Alba puffed out her cheeks. “But now that I know, I won’t kill you in the future. That sort of information is always welcome, especially if I’m cooking dinner for you.”
Ellie’s lips curved into a small smile. The image appeared before she could force it away.
Alba cooking dinner for her, in her house…
just the two of them. Ellie had cooked for people plenty of times in her life, and she’d been cooked for too, but something about the idea of Alba doing it sparked a small, unexpected ache in her chest. “What would we have?”
Alba tapped her chin. “Something delicious, obviously. And something really filling.”
“So you’re planning to put me in a food coma?” Ellie lifted a brow. “I’m one hundred percent in.”
“Yep. Absolutely.” Alba winked before leaning back in the chair and crossing her legs. “The only time I cook something light is if I know the woman I’m cooking for will be in my bed not too long after we’ve finished eating. Food…that is.”
Ellie’s brain completely short-circuited. Because suddenly she had a very clear image in her head of Alba leading her upstairs. Of Alba showing her exactly what women were capable of. Her grip tightened around the fork.
Think of literally anything else. Anything.
But that was proving difficult when Alba was sitting directly opposite her, smiling like that, and the neckline of her blouse had shifted just enough to reveal even more skin than before.
“Shit, I’m sorry.” Alba winced and held up a hand. “That was completely inappropriate and will never happen again.”
Ellie blinked, still lost in her own thoughts. “I’m sorry?”
“What I’ve just said. I forgot where I was for a moment.”
Oh. Right. That comment. Ellie resisted the sudden urge to open the window and let fresh air into the room. “Oh, don’t be. It’s fine. If we can’t joke, what’s the point?”
“The point is that you’re my boss and what I’ve just said likely wouldn’t wash with anyone else.”
Ellie tilted her head and smiled. “Well, isn’t it a good job I’m not anyone else then, and I do have the capacity to laugh and joke at times?”
“You’re right, but I’ll be mindful in the future. I wouldn’t want Susan to come in here and overhear something like that. Christ, you’d be Ellie Hamilton, the newest lesbian in town, the way she spreads rumours!”
Ellie felt something flicker inside her chest. Her name and the word lesbian had never been spoken together before.
Not seriously, not even jokingly, and yet…
she didn’t hate the sound of it. Not being immediately assumed to be straight felt strangely…
freeing. After all, Ellie had always believed that people didn’t choose who they loved. Or even who they were drawn to.
You’re sure as hell drawn to Alba right now.
But what did it mean? Where had it come from? Why now?
“Then Susan ought to mind her own business, and she wouldn’t need to spread a rumour like that.
” Ellie pointed her fork at Alba with a small, knowing look.
She would unpack whatever this was later.
Preferably when Alba wasn’t sitting directly in front of her, making it impossible to think clearly.
“Let’s go for a Chinese takeout tonight. No prawn crackers!”