"No. Nothing." I reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, then immediately regretted the nervous gesture.
His mouth curved into a faint smirk. "You're fidgeting."
"I'm not fidgeting."
"You are." The corner of his mouth lifted in amusement. "You touched your hair. Now you're touching your face. You do that when you're nervous."
I dropped my hand to my lap and glowered at him. "I'm fine, really."
"You're thinking about that kiss, aren't you?"
My breath caught. "I'm not."
"You are" he said, shifting.
The way he was sitting, right next to me on the edge of the desk, I got a whiff of his cologne and breathed him in.
The same intoxicating scent that made me swoon when he kissed me earlier. "I can't stop thinking about it either."
"Dr. Bradley, we shouldn't?—"
"You're right," he interrupted. "We absolutely shouldn't. You're my assistant. I'm your employer. There are a dozen reasons this is inappropriate."
"Exactly." I sighed in relief, but his stare was so intense, it was very short-lived. "So we agree. We forget about the kiss and move on."
The way his eyes bounced around my face unnerved me.
First my whole face, then my eyes, then his gaze locked on my lips.
"The problem is, I don't want to forget about it. That kiss turned me on, Ember. And I've never been particularly good at self-control in situations where I want something."
Heat flooded my face until it felt like I was breathing lava.
I stood up so quickly it tipped my chair over, but I needed air.
And the space was so small, there was no way of getting around him without touching him.
It effectively left me pinned between him and the filing cabinet with burning cheeks and a swarm of butterflies in my gut.
"This is a bad idea," I whispered.
"Terrible idea," he agreed.
"We could both get in trouble."
"Almost certainly."
"Then why are we having this conversation?" I was breathless, betraying how fast my heart was beating.
He lifted one hand and brushed his knuckles along my jawline.
The touch was so gentle but it sent shockwaves through my body. "Because I want to kiss you again. Properly this time.Without the crowd and the cameras and the mistletoe. I want to know if you're as good a kisser as I think you are."
My knees felt weak. I pressed my hand flat on the wall behind me, trying to anchor myself. "And if I'm not?"
"Then I'll have my answer, and we can both move on." His thumb traced a slow path to my bottom lip, which he curled downward slightly before letting go. "But I don't think that's going to be the case."
Every instinct I had screamed at me to turn my head as he leaned in slowly, giving me time to change my mind.
