Chapter 29
Chase: Where have you disappeared to?
Emily: I had a facelift and I’m in hiding for recovery.
Chase: You’re full of shit. Where have you really been?
Emily: I’m actually an undercover CIA agent and my cover got blown.
Chase: Cut the shit.
Emily: I got added to the Artemis II crew last minute. I’m currently orbiting the moon.
Chase: These made-up stories are becoming less and less believable.
Emily: Welcome to the game, brother.
CHASE
Laughter rends the air, the kind that people do when they hear a joke that makes their belly hurt.
I round the corner, freezing in my tracks when I see Pepper perched on the edge of Tessa’s desk, a steaming cup of coffee in her hand and the full attention of my secretary. Who is currently wiping tears from beneath her eyes, her slim spectacles held aloft in one hand.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Tessa laugh, and I had kind of written it off as her not knowing how.
“And then she said, ‘Why are you asking me, I’m just an asparagus!’” Pepper’s eyes crinkle around the edges as she delivers this line.
Tessa howls, tipping her head back and slapping her knee. The office door in front of me opens, and Elizabeth walks out to see what all the commotion is, followed shortly by a lady with short blonde hair with a small pink bow that looks vaguely familiar.
“Don’t ask.” I shrug when Elizabeth looks my way in surprise, forcing my legs to move again.
“Mr. Walker?” Elizabeth calls out after me, smoothing her sharply tailored Armani skirt suit. “I find myself needing you to look over some data. Are you free?”
She presses slim spectacles up her nose, blinking rapidly.
Despite her coiffed appearance, Elizabeth has always been a little kooky.
But then again, she’s a tech whiz who used to work for the government, so it kind of comes with the territory sometimes.
She wouldn’t be a senior leadership executive here if she wasn’t worth putting up with a little eccentricity.
I glance back at Pepper, who still snickers into her hand, and then back at Elizabeth and her no-nonsense brunette ponytail. “Er, not right now, sorry. Can I catch you later?” I’m already backing away when I offer her an alternative. “Or could you go to Evelyn instead?”
The woman hesitates for a moment before she speaks, her pale cheeks flushed. “I’ll see Evelyn. Thank you, Mr. Walker.”
I offer her a brief nod and spin around, pulled over to the slim shoulders that face me like a magnet drawn to its opposing pole.
“What’s funny?” I ask as I reach the desk, the two giggling women finally noticing I exist.
“Oh, nothing.” Pepper swipes a hand through to air to brush it off, sighing happily and taking a sip of her coffee.
“Why don’t you ever laugh at my jokes like that?” I raise my eyebrows at Tessa as she slips her glasses back on.
“Because they aren’t funny,” she responds without hesitation.
Pepper snorts into her cup and then promptly begins to choke.
I glance between the two women. “I’m a fucking hoot, I’ll have you know.”
Pepper recovers from her coughing fit and pats me on the arm. “Of course you are, sweetie.”
I didn’t speak to her after I dropped her home last night, owing to the insane amount of work I had piled up.
I’m not ashamed to say that I missed her like crazy.
A soft, creeping copper tinges high cheekbones as she holds eye contact for just a second longer than necessary.
I think I might have accidentally become addicted to the woman who tried to take me down.
The soft curve of her lips, that sharp tongue, and the way that she—nope, don’t go there in the middle of the office, Walker.
I throw my eyes skyward and lean on the upper lip of the desk, a smile playing on my mouth. “If you ladies insist on destroying my ego, could you at least tell me if I’ve missed any calls?”
“How should I know? I’ve been busy.” Tessa looks at me like I’m a madman for expecting my secretary to take messages for me.
“Okay then,” I drawl sarcastically, pushing myself straight again and heading into my office to see for myself.
The soft click of my door closing as I reach my sun-drenched desk tells me that Pepper has followed. I glance down at the blinking lights on my desk phone and then up at her, the corner of my mouth crooked.
She’s dressed as gregariously as ever in black denim dungarees and a long-sleeved stripey top, those trusty flower-print boots completing the ensemble.
I like that about her, though. She doesn’t give a fuck what other people think.
Pink hair? Don’t care. Animal print? What about it?
She twists her hands together a few feet away, her face quietly torn.
“What is it?” I pause with my hand on my phone.
“I kinda…missed you.” It looks like the words take gargantuan force to expel, her nose scrunching.
“Oh yeah?” I grin, taking my seat and sliding a finger and thumb all the way down my tie.
It feels weird to be wearing one after so long away. Equally as weird as the busy, sprawling city that hammers at my back after so much peace and quiet. I don’t think I’ve ever taken that long away from the business—I’ll need to add an extra zero onto Evelyn’s year-end bonus as a thank you.
She dips her nose in the direction of the coffee cup still clutched in her hands, and something cinches deep in my chest. I’m out of my seat and around my desk, removing the cup and placing it next to my blinking phone.
“Don’t ever feel embarrassed to say things like that to me.” I cup her face and stroke my thumb along her cheekbone. She blinks, those long, thick eyelashes bouncing once, and then twice.
“It makes me feel silly,” she whispers, casting stunning hazelnut eyes away from me.
“Why?” Most women I know don’t seem to have any problem being forthcoming with their emotions, but with Pepper there seems to be a guard up—some final part of herself that she always holds back.
“Because I feel things that I’m not used to feeling,” she huffs, drawing her face out of my hand and beginning to pace the width of my office.
I sense a full-on spiral inbound and lean back on the edge of my desk, gripping the ledge with a hand each side of my hips as I watch her fretfully wear a hole in my carpet.
“Good or bad feelings?”
“Good!” She hesitates and then nibbles her lower lip. “And also bad.”
I want to grab her and tell her to stop overthinking it, but I also don’t want to bulldoze over her. “Can you explain it to me?”
She swipes a small hand across her brow, and I can tell this is something that has been eating at her behind the veil for a while. Perhaps it’s what brought her here to my office an hour earlier than we agreed.
“Hell no.” She scoffs, spinning and beginning to march back along her pensive route, eyes glued to the floor. “Maybe we should just…I don’t know, back off for a bit?”
Not this again. My teeth grind together, and I could swear I hear the wood protest beneath my tightened grip. I take in the way her breath rushes quickly in and out of her mouth, the downturned slant to her lips and the way she can’t meet my gaze. Anxiety.
“Are you saying this because it’s truly what you want? Or are you pushing me away to try and protect yourself from some perceived emotional risk?”
Her eyes dart to mine, alarm creasing her brow. “How did you—”
“I’m not letting you run from this just because you are scared, Pepper.
” My voice sounds a little frosty to my own ears, so I make a conscious effort to regain control before I speak again.
“If you choose to walk away because you truly don’t want this, then that is fine, but I won’t accept any other reason. ”
A small part of me is beginning to wonder if I would truthfully accept any reason at all.
The dark swirling thing inside me wants to follow her to the ends of the earth to make sure she’s mine.
I mentally shake off the stark thought, writing myself off as still being drunk from all the sun, sand, and filthy sex.
“You won’t?” She breathes, eyes as clear and stunned as a summer sky.
“Not only will I not accept it”—I stand, covering the distance between us in one stride and pulling her into my arms—“but I’ll be banging at your door every damn day if you try.”
Her breathing stutters and I count every faint freckle painting the bridge of her nose as I wait. Instead of speaking, she flings her arms around my neck, rolling onto her tiptoes and dragging my head down to kiss me with such force that it takes me a moment to catch up.
I groan, melting into her warmth, and scoop her off the floor, wrapping her long legs around my waist. My skin prickles and I want to rip my clothes off just to feel more of her.
She’s like a deer in headlights, and I’d do anything to get her to see that they’re actually the sun.
This thing between us, it’s the sun. Blinding, molten, sizzling.
I knew I missed her, but I didn’t realize until this moment how much I need her.
She whimpers as I thrust my tongue into her mouth, stroking, flicking with each swipe of hers, meeting her in the dance of need she vibrates with.
Her fingers clutch my hair, her nails digging in and sending all of my blood rushing south.
The front of my thighs hit something solid, and I set her down, ignoring the faint clatter of objects falling—one of which splashes droplets of warm liquid over my leg.
I draw away from her puffy lips, both of our breaths coming in hard as I glance at the large coffee stain seeping across the beige carpet.
“Oops.” She giggles, her hands dropping to my shoulders.
“Not important,” I growl, diving right back in for more and dragging her hips to mine in a way that makes her squeal.
A sharp buzz splits the air, followed by Tessa’s voice over my intercom. “I have Zeke Guerra on line one for you.”
“Fuck’s sake.” I drop my forehead to her shoulder.
The tinny voice cuts in again. “And he told me to tell you that if you don’t take his call, he’ll deliver ten tons of manure to the lobby.”