Jesus, she’s fun to mess with.
Fun.
Dangerous.
Too damn tempting.
I move around the room pretending to check fire extinguishers that don’t need checking. She keeps stealing glances like she thinks I won’t notice.
I notice everything.
The way she bites her lip when I lean down to check the outlet cover. The way she shifts in place when I walk behind her. The way her voice shakes every time she says my name.
Eventually she corners me by the supply drawer, hands on her hips.
“Okay,” she whispers harshly, “what are you really doing here?”
I look down at her—too close, too aware of her body heat brushing mine.
“Told you. Safety check.”
She folds her arms. “Captain.”
“Briar.”
Her breath stutters.
And I shouldn’t enjoy that as much as I do.
She tries again. “If you keep coming here, people are going to talk.”
“Let them.”
“That’s not— I have a job. And a kid. And you…” She gestures to me like I’m a problem she doesn’t have instructions for. “You show up everywhere.”
“You noticed.”
“Of course I noticed!”
I step in before she can retreat, boxing her against the drawer. Not touching. Just close enough she forgets how to breathe properly.
“You want me to stop coming?”
Her eyes flick to my mouth.
She swallows.
Hard.
“That’s not— I didn’t say—” She tries to find the right words and fails miserably. “You make it hard to think.”
My pulse spikes. “Do I?”
“Stop looking at me like that,” she whispers.
“Like what?”
“Like you’re flirting. Like you…want to eat me.”
