“Ah, so you’re a stalker,” I teased, turning around to face him. “Why didn’t you just say so? I know someone who takes care of them for me.”
He put his hand on the wall behind me and leaned in. “If I remember right,” he said, his voice dipping low, “youare the stalker. You followed me to a party some nights ago, remember? With an admirer, no less.”
I pushed him back with my hand. “I was right. You make a terrible spy.” I turned around to face the door to the break room, reaching for my employee badge to get access.
A distant shout from outside caught my attention, and I paused to walk over to a window. The reporters were still circling the hotel grounds like vultures.
“What are they here for?” I asked.
He looked over my shoulder. “We’re planning to expand the hotel business,” he said finally. “Just work. It’s all good.”
I wanted to laugh.
“Well, one of those reporters just flung his well-heeled shoe at the building’s front doors,” I said dryly. “If that’s what a good day looks like, then I’d love to see what a bad day at work is, Desmond McKinley.”
This time, he gave me his signature grin. The one that made me weak in the knees.
“I have no bad days when you’re around, sweetheart,” he said, closing the distance between us. “None.”
The air between us crackled with electricity as he leaned in. I was so close that I could see his dark eyes flash, the sharpness of his cheekbones, and the cut of his jaw.
The blood rushed to my face, and my chest started to rise and fall rapidly just as Desmond moved nearer.
I put one hand on his chest and pushed him back. “I feel like every time we meet, I need to remind you that we’re atwork and you’re the CEO. That’s not something people should be reminding you of.”
He ran a hand over his tousled hair and groaned, looking fairly adorable.
“Working with you does that to me, Ava. It’s like my brain gets wiped clean whenever I see you,” he said as his head dipped dangerously close to mine.
I held my breath.
This time, I’m not going to resist.
He inched nearer, and I could smell his musky scent just as a door opened from a restroom down the corridor. The two of us jumped apart.
Desmond shot me a look that was pure regret before he turned and walked away from me. Juniper Halstead came out of the restroom, dressed in a maroon pantsuit and her silver hair in a bob at the nape of her neck. She smiled when she saw the two of us, her lips stretching.
Juniper always had a no-makeup look that she pulled off really well. She’d informed me long ago that, growing up, she’d seen her mother stick to one rule—moisturize at night and sunscreen during the day—and her mother had the best skin for a woman in her eighties she’d ever seen. She’d also brought me a small bottle of her favorite moisturizer to the café after I saved her a piece of cake during a busy day.
But now, all I wished for was that she had been a tad bit better with her timing.
“Mr. McKinley, just the man I wanted to see,” she said, walking toward him and coming to a stop. She caught sight of me in the distance and waved before turning to Desmond. “How did you know I’d be here?” she asked with a frown.
“A beautiful coincidence,” he said with a smile. “Now, what did you say was troubling you?”
Desmond glanced at me over Juniper’s head as she spoke about an email. I turned and walked into the break room, my heart hammering against my chest.
I shut the door and leaned against it, taking a few deep breaths.
That had been close.
I couldn’t afford to lose my job, and I certainly couldn’t afford to lose my mother’s restaurant along with it.
28
DESMOND
It was a little after ten at night, and I was on my bed, spooning Ava, covered only by a white blanket, while she giggled at pictures of the two of us from years past.
