“Same.” I forced my lips into the widest smile I could muster. “No need to explain.” I dropped a hand on Caterina’s arm. “I have lots of paperwork to go through this morning. Come find me after your meeting.”
I stalked back to my office and shut the door. Running my hands through my hair, I dropped my head and groaned into the wood of my desk. Finding Dominic talking to another woman shouldn’t have triggered any kind of jealousy. There was no need for the surge of anger when she dropped her head onto his shoulder, laughing carefree with him like I was just a couple of nights ago.
I was reacting and behaving like a child. And I was disgusted, not only by my petty behavior just now, but also not having the guts to acknowledge what had happened between Dominic and me, or what had beenhappeningbetween us. My sanity was hanging on by a fraying thread and was just about to snap.
I was finally able to lose myself in budgets when a knock at my door made me jump.
“Come in!” I replied without looking up.
“Is something wrong?”
I stilled, clenching my eyes shut before I lifted my head to Dominic’s voice.
“Nothing,” I clipped. “I’m busy, so is there something you need?”
Dominic chuckled to himself and shut the door behind him.
“You weren’t jealous or anything, were you?” I wanted to slap the snide grin right off of his face. “Jill is just a friend of ours.”
“No. Why would I care? I told you there was no need to explain,” I rambled, trying to appear occupied with whatever I could grab from my desk.
The smirk faded from his face. “I would have called you yesterday, and I should have.” He fell into the seat in front of my desk. “I let you have some space because you seemed a little freaked out.”
“I’m not freaked out,” I denied, my voice squeaking and not convincing to even my own ears.
“Not even a little?” He squinted at me.
“No, not even a little.” I tried to relax my tight chest with a deep breath. “It’s not a big deal—”
“Really?” His brow crinkled before he crossed his legs and leaned back. “Well, it was a pretty big deal tome.” His eyes raked down my body. “You’re gorgeous when you’re flustered.” His voice had dropped to a husky rasp, and it ran right through me, stopping at the ache between my legs.
“I’m not flustered,” I denied, pretending to look at the spreadsheet on my screen but not really seeing any of the numbers.
“You are.” His lips curled into a wicked grin in my periphery. “Your cheeks get all flushed and you bite your bottom lip so hard, I’m surprised you don’t draw blood.”
He stood and cupped my chin, pressing his thumb down until my mouth opened, my teeth releasing my raw bottom lip.
“Dominic,” I whispered. “We can’t. Not here.”
“Nothere?” He lifted a brow as he leaned closer.
I blinked away the image of Dominic spreading me on top of my desk to finish what we started. He needed to go.Now.
“Not here. Not anywhere. Not again.” I crossed my arms and fell back in my chair. “I’m…I’m not ready for this. I can’t do anything other than casual right now.”
I grabbed a random folder on the desk and sifted through it, trying to escape Dominic’s dark eyes full of lust.
Casual? Where the hell did that come from?
“All right.” He shifted to leave, and I let out a breath of relief until he came back around my desk. “And listen,” he whispered before his hand cupped the back of my neck, “I don’t want to tell you how to do your job or anything, but you may be able to read the numbers better if it’s right side up.” He nodded his chin toward the upside-down folder in my hands.
I dropped the folder on the desk, narrowing my eyes at his chuckle before he stepped out the door.
After finally regaining enough focus to work, my phone buzzed across my desk.
Dominic:Just so you know, I can do casual if that’s what you want.
Thea:Right.
