Mortification flooded my veins faster than I could blink.
“We, uh, should probably head inside,” I said, hooking a thumb over my shoulder. I moved out of Tristan’s reach. One look at the heat still burning in his gaze, I knew it was the right thing to do.
I liked kissing him. A lot. But I was no exhibitionist. Was I?
He wasn’t stupid. I’d barely taken another step when his arm slipped around my waist.
Pressing into me from behind, he whispered low next to my ear, “Tell me something, baby.” Hot breath skittered across my skin. Like it always did when this man touched me, my pulse sped up. “Are you running away because the cameras freak you out? Or…” He tightened his hold, his rock-hard erection digging into my ass. “You’re freaked out because the idea of someone watching us turns you on.”
My gaze flicked to the cameras. I thought of someone sitting in the control room, eyes glued to the screen while Tristan slowly pulled my dress over my hips.
“I…” I licked my lips and pushed back against him. “I don’t know. Maybe the second one.”
A deep throaty groan rumbled from his chest. “Shit, baby.” His fingers dug deeper into my skin, so deep a sting of pain rippled through my body. “When you know, when you’re absolutely sure, we’ll give them a show they’ll never forget. In the meantime.” He jerked his head in the direction of the building. “Let’s get to my office where we can be alone.”
Four long, long hours later, we still hadn’t been alone. Turned out being away from work for three days led to a ton of piled up work. By lunch time, I was spent.
And in serious need of food.
Since Tristan wasn’t back from his meeting yet, and because I really didn’t want to eat alone in his office, I pushed away from my desk and headed to the break room. Unfortunately, it wasn’t empty.
“Kate.” Wendy looked me up and down. “Haven’t seen you in a while. How have you been?”
I didn’t care for her scrutinizing gaze tracking my every move as I made my way to the coffee machine. Her eyes were still on me when I plopped a vanilla latte pod into its slot and slipped a mug under the spout. I was about to ask her what the heck she was staring at when my phone buzzed to life. One look at the screen and my heart went into overdrive.
“This is Kate,” I said, answering the call in a somewhat shaky voice.
“Miss Rivera. Maggie here from Serenity Medical Center.” Her tone was so serious, I was afraid to speak. Thankfully, I didn’t have to. “I’m calling about your test results.”
She went on to inform me of what they’d found in my blood. My stomach dropped.
Surely, I couldn’t have heard her right. “I’m sorry…what was that?”
Maggie, as patient as she was, slowly repeated herself. I shook my head. It made no freaking sense.
“A-are you sure?” I asked. There was no hiding the tremor in my voice. “There’s no chance the bloodwork got mixed up in the lab or something?”
“I’m sure,” she said. More words filtered through the line, but I couldn’t hear a thing. My head spun. Round and around it went as I desperately tried to make sense of this bomb she’d so casually dropped on me.
The phone I clutched to my ear clattered to the ground. I felt dizzy. Shooting my arm out, I grabbed hold of the counter to steady myself.
“Kate?” Wendy called. I heard her. I just couldn’t get my damn mouth to move to answer her. “Are you okay?”
“Kate?” This time it wasn’t Wendy’s voice saying my name filled with concern. It was Tristan.
An instant rush of relief soaked into my bones. Somehow this man always seemed to show up exactly when I needed him most. I released the counter to go to him, but he was already there. Arms banding around me, he pulled me into his embrace.
“Baby?” His fingers smoothed over my hair. “What’s going on?”
If I said it out loud, it would make it true. Pressing my lips into a thin line, I burrowed deeper into his chest instead.
He wasn’t having it. Stepping back, he cupped my chin, and with a firm grip, guided my gaze to his. “Words baby. I need your words.”
“The hospital called.” My voice sounded like I’d swallowed a handful of glass. Felt like it too. “They found poison in my blood.Poison.”
Tristan’s “What the fuck?” sounded at the same time as Wendy’s gasp. She was still there, which meant the entire office would know about the poisoning before the day was over.
“Who would do this?” I sobbed. “And why? Or how? Was it even someone? Maybe I ingested it by accident? Did I eat it? Drink it? Inhale it? Is it something in the apartment? Is Millie sick too?” I was spiraling again, one word rolling off my tongue faster than the other. “Or was it takeout? Should I warn my sisters and parents. Or maybe it’s—”
