He grinned at me and I felt a tug of attraction in my belly. Well, it was more like my hormones performed a barrel roll and were in danger of crashing and burning.
I nearly opened my mouth to say it was a bad idea, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. The sex had been awesome, but he seemed togetme. He thought my jokes were funny and he never got intimidated when I started talking about something he didn't understand. He asked questions and actually listened to my answers.
I could be his friend. It would be easy to be his friend.
It was keeping my hands to myself that I was worried about.
I bit back a snicker as I watched him clean up his desk. He may have said that it wasn't messy because he was rarely in there, but he was careful to get every single crumb on his desk with a damp napkin.
He had just left the room to toss the paper plates and napkins when my cell rang. I glanced at the screen and sighed. It was my boss.
I was tempted to decline the call, but I was brand new in my position and I didn't want to start out by leaving him in the lurch.
"Hel—"
"Watkins, I have another project that needs your input."
"Okay, if you'll shoot me an email, I'll—"
"I already sent you an email."
I suppressed a growl. Once I was certain I wasn't going to snarl at him, I cleared my throat. "Great. I'll take a look at it first thing in the morning and get back to you then."
"I need it now."
I glanced at my watch. It was six-thirty p.m. on a Wednesday night. Even though I was on vacation, my assistant was keeping me abreast of any possible hot projects that would need my immediate attention and she hadn't messaged me.
"I'm afraid I have an engagement tonight and I won't be able to look at my email until the morning."
"Look, Watkins, I realize you're new at your job, but part of that is doing what needs to be done even if it's after business hours."
"Normally, I would agree with you, but I am on vacation and my availability is more limited than it would be during a typical work week."
Oh, he didn't like that. I could practically hear him grinding his teeth but since this was his second call to me while I was technically off work, I felt the need to set firm boundaries.
"Fine. I'll expect a response before noon tomorrow," he finally said.
"No problem. I'll do my best to have it to you before then."
Once again, without a good-bye, he disconnected the call.
I hit the red button on my screen and made sure the call was most definitely disconnected. Once I was sure, I stomped my foot and spewed every cuss word I knew between clenched teeth.
"Motherfucking, cocksucking sonuvabitch! Goddammit! Fuck! Shit! Company policy says that I get four weeks of fucking vacation a year, which I haven't used any of in two goddamn years, which means I have eight weeks saved up! What the fuck would you do if I was in a cabin in the woods with no cell reception or Wi-Fi? Huh? You wouldn't be bothering me, that's for damn sure."
"Um, should I come back later or call an ambulance now so it'll be here when your aneurysm explodes?" Ben asked.
I whirled around and glared at him, my hands clenched into fists at my sides.
He lifted both hands. "Whoa, put the evil eye away."
I inhaled deeply and blew it out, trying to calm my heart rate. My cheeks burned, not from embarrassment but from fury.
"What happened in the two minutes I was gone?" he asked.
"My boss called," I answered, my voice low and rough.
"And that leads to whatever I just walked in on?"
