Paige watches me over the edge of her drink, a hint of a smile on her mouth. “You think I will distract you?”
I take a step toward her and tilt my head until I’m close enough to kiss her neck if I choose. “You already do.”
Her throat bobs as I lean back. Her eyes are almost black now.
I’m an asshole for taunting her, but her reaction sends a jolt of pleasure through my veins. “Two days isn’t that long to wait.”
I’ve lasted almost three months.
She looks at me in surprise and a little confusion. “I’m leaving for the airport from the office on my last day.”
A sinking feeling takes over my chest and stomach. “Where are you going?”
“Europe.”
“For how long?”
“One year.” She looks as rattled as I feel. “It’s a working vacation. I’ve been planning it for years.”
We spend hours together every weekday. How could I not have known this?
Because I’m so consumed by work, I pay little attention to anything else. It’s one of the many faults my ex listed during the breakup.
Fuck.
My life is governed by laws and rules that make it possible to achieve desired outcomes. Fucking Paige, before her employment contract is up, will mix my personal desires with my professional expectations and potentially threaten the stability I’ve worked so hard to create for myself and my clients. “I have rules for a reason.”
Her usual soft, playful expression tightens. “I understand. Your work ethic is one of the things that makes you so attractive.”
Her confession stuns us both.
Pink flushes her cheeks, and she diverts her attention to the crowd. “I’m going to, um, go somewhere else.”
She places her glass on an empty table and slips into the crowd.
I watch her walk away.
Panic makes my body jittery, like a junkie needing a fix. Only I’ve never had a hit of my drug of choice. The thought of never even getting a taste makes me want to claw at my skin and sell my soul.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I don’t know what I expected Paige to do after she finished working for me, but I never thought of her final day in the office as the last day I’d see her for a year.
I gulp the rest of my drink, then drag a hand through my hair. I want to fuck her. That’s it, and it’s pretty clear she wants the same thing. It’s not as if I’m going to fall for her in forty-eight hours and upend my entire life.
So listen to your fucking dick and go get her.
CHAPTER 5
Paige
I walk to the empty restroom and look at myself in the mirror. I’m tired—drained from the tennis match being played with my emotions, bouncing from annoyance to arousal, relief to disappointment and then rage.
Mr. Carlson leaves work early to jerk off to my posts but thinks sleeping with me will be too distracting?
Hypocrite.
I scowl at my reflection. “You’re getting on that plane on Friday and forgetting all about sandalwood aftershave, secret sticky note grins, and how sexy your boss looks when he uses you for masturbation inspiration.”
