“We work together. Mark specifically told me to shadow you. If anyone finds out—”
“I know.”
“Your career, my job, everything we’ve both worked for—”
“Olivia.” I tilt my head, bringing my lips so close to hers I can feel her breath on my skin. “I. Know.”
For a heartbeat, neither of us moves. We’re balanced on a knife’s edge, the weight of professionalism on one side and something far more dangerous on the other.
Then she shifts, just barely, closing the last millimeter of space between us—
The lights slam back on with an aggressive hum.
We jerk apart like we’ve been electrocuted. Olivia stumbles back against the desk, eyes wide, chest heaving. I stand frozen, phone still clutched in my hand, my entire body screaming at the interruption.
“I—” she starts.
“Olivia—”
Derek “Thunder” Johnson sticks his head in, grinning like an idiot. “Yo, Storm! Power’s back. You still—” He stops, gaze bouncing between us. “Oh. Uh. Am I interrupting?”
“No,” Olivia says, too quickly, too loudly. She grabs her tablet and clutches it to her chest like a shield. “We were just finishing up.”
Derek’s grin widens. Heknows. The bastard knows exactly what he walked in on. “Right. Finishing up. Cool. Well, uh, carry on.”
He disappears, and I hear him laughing down the hallway.
Olivia won’t look at me. She’s staring at her tablet like it holds the secrets of the universe, her knuckles white around the edges.
“Olivia—”
“I need to go.” She moves toward the door, and I let her pass, even though every instinct screams at me to stop her.
She pauses in the doorway, finally meeting my eyes. “This can’t happen, Carter.”
“I know.”
“I mean it. We have to be professional. We have to—”
“I know,” I repeat, softer this time. “But it almost did.”
Her jaw tightens. “That’s the problem.”
Then she’s gone, heels clicking down the corridor at double speed, leaving me alone in my office with the taste ofalmostburning on my tongue.
Chapter Nine
Olivia
By the time I hit my car, the shaking hits hard.
My hands tremble as I fumble with my keys, dropping them once before managing to unlock the door. I slide into the driver’s seat and grip the steering wheel, knuckles white, breathing hard.
What the hell was I thinking?
I wasn’t. That’s the problem. For one reckless, stupid, beautiful moment, I stopped thinking entirely. I justfelt. His hand on my waist. His breath on my skin. The way he looked at me like I was the only thing in the world that mattered.
Tell me to stop.
