“I imagine it would.” With that, I finally escape.
Grateful I need to go to HR, I grab my new, ridiculously extravagant purse from my desk and hurry from the office.
I expect things will take only a few minutes, but the NDA, getting my picture taken, filling out my direct deposit form, tax info, and acknowledging receipt of the employee handbook takes almost an hour. Then I’m told I have to watch a video about the company and the corporate culture.
I enter a small room, and an image of Blackwell fills the oversize screen that occupies almost an entire wall.
His voice, low and modulated, wraps around me like it had in the bedroom yesterday, making me shiver. I wish I didn’t have such a powerful response to his scent, his voice, his jade-colored eyes, his presence.
Then I’m jolted back to reality when the camera zooms in and he starts talking about the importance of telling the truth to your teammates and boss.
The exact reason I was fired. “Hypocrite.”
For brief moments, I may succumb to his charms, but he always plunges me back to reality.
Before the video finishes, I walk out.
The HR rep at the desk looks up and frowns. “The video isn’t over yet. Everything okay?”
“I used to work here. So it’s kind of a repeat of information.”
“Mr. Blackwell?—”
“I promise I’ll tell him you tried to get me to watch the whole thing.” I smile. “He told me be as fast as I could.” That fib wasn’t an outright lie. After all, Blackwell does want me at my desk.
When I walk into his suite, I regret hurrying.
Instantly I see him through the glass that divides his office from the reception area.
He’s on the phone, pacing, but he stops to sweep his gaze over me.
Flushing, I sink into my desk chair.
Then it hits me like ice water down my spine. With where my desk is, he can watch every breath I take, see every lie I tell myself about him.
The force that is Xavier Blackwell is truly devouring my life.
Determined to do my job despite him, I power up my computer.
There’s a note on my screen with some sort of temporary code on it. Obviously someone from IT had been in here while I was gone.
The moment I login, I’m prompted to create a super-strong password that I’ll never remember.
With more determination than I’ve ever had, I sort through the files that I have access to.
As I go, I remember things, find my rhythm.
Even though I didn’t want this job, I need it. And I’m damn well going to excel at it and prove to him he made a huge mistake three years ago.
I’m so lost in my work that I don’t realize he’s near until I inhale his signature scent, untamed power interlaced with masculine spice.
I jerk my head up.
He’s not even a foot in front of my desk, taking me in.
“You’re deep in the zone.”
Shaking my head, I blink.
