“Anything else?”he asks.
I grit my teeth together and swallow before other ridiculous demands sneak past my defenses.I don’t need him to take off his shirt and let me cuddle against the hard planes of his chest.I shouldn’t want to crawl into his lap and demand he wrap me in his arms.I can’t ask him to comfort me until I forget the feel of Edgar’s hard hands on me, and it’s not right for me to crave him when he abandoned me to his abusive father.
It’s been less than seven hours since I swore to see him as only my boss, and already I’ve given him my first kiss, hugged him in front of the entire office, and imagined crawling into his lap.
A broken half laugh, half sob wrenches from my throat.I bring my knees up to my chest and press the heels of my palms against my eyes.
Warmth replaces the cold floor and wall as Brennan lifts me onto his lap and surrounds me with his body.
By sheer force of will, I swallow my tears and elbow my way out of his arms.
“No, don’t touch me.I just need a few minutes alone,” I say as I use the sink to rise on unsteady legs.
Brennan towers behind me in the mirror.Even without his suit, terror roars through me and sweat drips down my temple.
He ducks out of the bathroom but stops with one hand on the doorframe and the other on the doorknob.
“Five minutes, Audrey.Do not lock this door.Understand?”
I nod.He tilts his head and lifts a demanding brow.
“Fine.I understand,” I snap.
A smile ghosts over his lips as he shuts the door, and I realize he goaded me into anger instead of despair.
I turn on the sink faucet, brace my palms on the counter, and hang my head.
Time blurs.The rushing water buffers me from the nightmares echoing in my mind.
My pinkie brushes against the soft silk of Brennan’s discarded tie.In a fit of madness, I lift it to my face and enjoy the smooth glide over my flesh and his scent wafting from the fabric.
The band around my chest relaxes.Warmth pools low in my belly.
I slam the tie back onto the pile of clothes, splash water onto my face, and dry myself using a paper towel before shutting off the water and grabbing the doorknob.
Today needs to be over.I can’t handle any more upheavals.In fact, dropping to the bathroom floor and passing out sounds preferable to walking through the gauntlet of trials awaiting me on the other side of the door—I still have office gossip to manage and a police report to file—but life hasn’t killed me yet, so I twist the knob and wobble into the office.
Brennan presses an opened orange juice and a blue folder into my hands.
“We’re not leaving until you drink the entire bottle,” he says.
I drain it in one go and pass him the empty container before opening the folder.I slap it closed again when I realize it’s the papers from the printer.
“Ms.Baker said you left those in the copier room,” Brennan says.
“Oh.Did she say anything else?”I ask.
He quirks a brow.Part of me wants to ask if he looked at the papers, but most of me hopes he hasn’t.I scramble for an excuse so he doesn’t get suspicious.
“I mean, did anything else print after they cleared the jam?”
“She said the queue was clear when she put them in the folder.”
I nod and tighten my fist, fighting the urge to check if all the pages printed.
The last thing I want is to flash a practice GED test at my boss after he punched the daylights out of his predecessor for me.If I can’t keep this job, all my bravado will swirl down the drain like shit.His heroics—and our pact—will be pointless.
My mom will suffer most.
