Chapter 26 #2
A light slap across my bottom makes my insides jolt.
Only one person would have the balls to do that.
The little minx.
“What are you doing in here, big boy?” Her smile vanishes when she looks at me. “What's wrong?”
She instantly takes my hands in hers. She’s very good at noticing my moods.
“Nothing.” I lie. “Just need a little TLC.”
She steps closer, sliding her arms around me.
“Boundaries,” I whisper, putting my arms around her waist with absolutely no intention of keeping those boundaries.
“You sure everything's okay?” She looks up at me, concern filling her eyes, while her hand skates quickly over my bottom. She gives me a playful squeeze, but it only presses my cock further against her.
“Oooooh,” she murmurs, appreciation dripping from her voice.
“Like the feel of that?” I raise a brow.
“Very much.” She squeezes me again.
I smile in response. “What are you doing tonight?” Because I don’t want to think about tissue typing and surgery.
“It depends.” She rises onto her tiptoes, and her luscious, hard-to-resist lips curve into a smile. “What do you have in mind?”
I cup her face and kiss her. It’s not gentle, or soft. It’s fire and hunger, it’s frustration coupled with lust. I claim her mouth greedily, the kiss stealing the breath from my lungs, and every thought and worry from my head. Her hands slide up my chest and she grinds her hips against me.
“Come back to my place,” I rasp, when we finally pull apart. It’s bold, but I wait with bated breath for her answer.
She doesn’t say anything, she doesn’t say ‘No’.
“We don’t have to—” I don’t want her to think I’m just inviting her over for sex.
“I know.” Her eyes never leave mine.
“Stay overnight?” I add, “Only if you want to.”
“Okay.”
“It’ll be nice,” I say quickly. “I’ll make dinner.”
“You can cook?”
“I sure can.”
A quiet moment passes, the realization that we won’t have to steal glances or secret kisses. We’ll be able to exist together. We move away, slowly, awareness sinking in of where we are, but our fingers brush together.
She seems to consider it.
“We’ll spend the evening together,” I tell her. “It’ll be nice.” It’s what I need, something to look forward to after the heaviness of the day. “We can plan the vacation.”
Her eyes light up. “I'll come.”
Just then the door opens, and the old man walks in.
Though we're not kissing, or have our arms wrapped around one another, we're still standing close enough that it looks inappropriate.
Elizabeth springs away quickly, turns to the monitor screen before us, and starts explaining.
“I'll have another dig around and let you know,” she says, sounding professional. “Mr. Knight. You’re at work today?”
“Need to keep an eye on things.”
She nods at my father before making a swift exit.
The old man turns to me, the twinkle in his eyes making me uneasy. He’s still dressed immaculately, but his crisp shirt hangs a little looser on his frame. I notice the paleness of his skin, and the exhaustion deep in his eyes.
“Catch your eye, did she?” He grins. “Nothing wrong with a bit of fun, boy. Even if you're the boss. Women like authority.”
Bile rises in my throat at that. He didn't catch us doing anything, but I know how his mind works.
“We were talking about the server logs,” I reply calmly. I don't respond to him, but his comment makes me uncomfortable.
“You might have been. I'm sure she's happy just to be around you.”
What the fuck?
“It's not like that,” I grate out. The old man has misread the situation in his usual misogynistic way. I'm disgusted that he's my father. That he thinks Elizabeth would be part of something casual, that her reputation is of no importance, that she's mine for the taking.
I'm ashamed to be connected to him by blood.
“What are you doing here?” I snap, hating that he's here, in my lab, for the second time. It's like he's stalking me. Creeping up on me. What's he hoping to find?
“I heard from my doctor—”
I put up my hand. “I don't want to talk about it.”
“It's just you and Zach.”
“Don't. I told you I don’t want to talk about it.”
My jaw aches from how tightly I'm clenching it. Every muscle in my body is coiled tight, anger simmering just beneath the surface. For once, he seems to take the hint. Then his gaze drifts across the office toward Elizabeth.
Understanding flashes in his eyes. Something ugly. Something calculating.
“You seem rather frustrated,” he says mildly. “If she's offering it on a plate, you should take it.”
For a second, I can't breathe. His words land like a punch to the gut. Not only because it's offensive, but because it's about Elizabeth. He's reduced her to something to be taken.
Just another acquisition.
A transaction.
The way he views everything in life.
My hands curl into fists. Rage surges through me so fiercely that I have to physically stop myself from following him out the door. “Get out,” I growl.
He merely inclines his head and walks away.
I wipe a hand over my face, standing in disbelief at what he just said, treating Elizabeth like a piece of meat, mine for the taking. I shiver when I recall Zach telling us about Maya's mom.
“Fuck,” I say out loud, resting a hand against the wall, steadying myself. This man is the lowest of the low.
This is how he sees Elizabeth? As a plaything? This, after he's interviewed her, and knows how bright and smart she is.
Take it.
His words disgust me.
The dirty bastard.
I pride myself on being a good man. Honest and decent, and I put it down to seeing Mama falling apart because of what was done to her. And because I would never treat a woman as if she were an object.
How, I wonder, did Aurora Knight ever marry him?
How did Mama not see him for the monster he is?
I understand now why Elizabeth doesn't want anyone to find out about us. I've never been so shocked to witness such misogynistic behavior in the workplace.
From my old man.