“If you’re interested in cheering up animals that look down in the dumps, maybe you should come up to the fifty-ninth floor today.”
I smiled, still staring at the camera. “Don’t tempt me, Mr. Langston.”
“Fuck.” He groaned. “Don’t call me that while we’re at the office.”
My pulse picked up. “Where would you like me to call you that?”
“I’m guessing you know the answer.” He paused. “Did you lose something last weekend?”
My brows dipped. “Lose some—oh wait, did you find my anklet?”
“Gold with a star?”
“Yes! I was wondering if I lost it at your place.”
“If you wondered, why didn’t you call and ask?”
I looked up at the security globe again. “If you found it, why didn’t you call and tell me?”
Jagger’s low rumble of a laugh shot through me like a rocket, the vibration doing all sorts of things between my legs.
“Touché,” he said, and I heard the smile in his voice. “The anklet is broken, by the way. I hope it wasn’t importantto you.”
“Not really. It was actually a gift from Brendan, but I liked it. I probably won’t even get it fixed.”
Again, Jagger was quiet a moment. “So what is next weekend?”
I’d gotten lost in our ping-pong match of a conversation, so it took me a few beats to catch back up. “Oh. Jack knows I like snowboarding, so he invited me to an indoor park. Apparently they have one in New Jersey.”
More silence. “And? Are you going?”
I didn’t even have to think about it. I wasn’t going to go, not when it was a date and not with a group of people. But Jagger didn’t need to know that. Turning back to my desk, so he couldn’t see my face, I lied. “I haven’t decided yet.”
This time the phone line went dead quiet for a full thirty seconds. That might not sound like a long time, but on a call, it really is. During the stand-off, I tossed around telling Jagger I might not go if I got a better offer, but again, I thought better of it.
“Why did it take Jack stopping by my desk to get you to want to call me?”
“I’ve wanted to call you since five minutes after you left on Sunday morning. It’s not a matter of want, Sutton.”
“Then what is it a matter of?”
“Self-control. You’re better off with someone who’s capable of giving you what you need. I know that, so I’m doing my best to keep my distance. Yet for some reason that guy just irks me, and I snapped.”
“What is it that you think I need, exactly?”
“A relationship with a nice guy who doesn’t dream about fucking you while holding your throat in his hand so tightly you’ll have to wear a scarf for a week.”
I should’ve been scared, especially with my history, but the visual of him doing that turned me on so much, it made me a little dizzy.
Jagger’s voice was gruff. “I have to go.”
“But—”
“Go home on time tonight, Sutton.”
***
Hours later, I’d just lifted my purse to my shoulder, getting ready to leave, when my desk phone rang again. My heart rate sped up, only to be disappointed when I saw it was the receptionist calling.
