“After dinner.You need to let me explain.”
Oh no she didn’t.She was a bright girl.She got it.
She tugged at her hand.“I don’t want to go anywhere with you.”
“Just a bite.We’ll—”
“I don’t trust you,” she said, hating it when her voice shook.
He went silent, and the tension in the room shifted once again.He glanced away, and that muscle in his jaw clenched.This time, it didn’t let loose.“Fine, but I’m walking you to your car.”
“I can get there.”
He turned a look on her that burned her right down to her toes that were squished back into her uncomfortable shoes.“I’m walking you to your car.”
There was no arguing with him.She didn’t dare.
He took her silence as acceptance but still didn’t look happy.He never looked happy.She knew why now.
The bastard had a bitch of a job.
She tried to tug her hand free, but he wouldn’t let her.Holding firm, he started towards the hallway.He grabbed his jacket off the chair, and she glanced over her shoulder, feeling helpless as her proposal got farther and farther from view.Her eyes stung as he inexorably led her out of her own office.Was this a preview of what was to come?He hit the overhead lights as they passed out the door.
It was only then that she realized how truly dark it was outside.Dark and still.All the other offices on the floor stood silent as they made their way down the muted hallway.In an effort to save money, all office lighting was automatically turned off each night and had to be operated manually.Workers powered down their computers and printers every day when they left, and it made the building eerily quiet.
Eerie and foreboding.Like a ghost town.
Immune to it all, Cam led her through the bleakness, his palm sealed against hers.With each rippling step, she felt his strength and the indecipherable power he held inside.For a coldhearted bastard, his touch was much too warm.Much too personal.
They finally made it to the elevator bay, and he jabbed the down button.They stood waiting, staring everywhere but at each other.Unfortunately, the stainless-steel doors acted like mirrors.Every direction Lexie looked, she saw the reflection of them together—and it was striking.Her mouth went dry.They were both dark and lean, young and sexual.With their hands laced and their bodies close, the mirror took them as a couple.It was an impossible picture, an insane combination.The hatchet man with a willing sacrifice.
But she wasn’t willing.Not even to save her family’s company.Why did she have to be the offering?What had she done wrong?
She tried deep breaths to calm herself, but they didn’t work.He seemed overwhelming this close up.Strong, enigmatic and ominous.One more time, she tried to retrieve her hand.One more time, he only squeezed tighter.
“I’m sorry I upset you,” he said.“I didn’t mean to.”
She stared straight ahead, begging for the elevator to arrive.
“I never meant you were different because you’re adopted.You’re different because you’re… Well, you’re you.”
She adjusted her purse on her shoulder.The strap of her shoe was twisted, and the hole in her chest felt like it was gaping.She’d overreacted, she knew.She was a grown woman, but it was still a sore subject for her.She usually hid it better.It was embarrassing that he knew how she felt, but he’d just come at her so strong, surprising her with his plans.
“They don’t let you forget, do they?”he said.
Her throat tightened.
“Has it always been this way?”
Looking away, she nodded.
Mercifully, the bell dinged and the doors parted.If she’d thought that was better, though, she was mistaken.Inside the elevator, the space was even smaller.And he became even quieter.
“At least think about it.New opportunities.Fresh challenges.All the obstacles you constantly come up against would be moved out of the way.”
And replaced with new ones.There were always obstacles.They’d been put in front of her her entire life.She took a deep, unsteady breath.She was committed to Underhill Associates.There was no way she could quit.She had to stay and fight, work even harder.It was what she did.“Can you hold off on anything until I present tomorrow?Please?”
She looked at him then and, for the first time, noticed the lines of stress around his eyes.The set of his jaw was stubborn—or was it resigned?Either way, he appeared as tired as she felt.From the inside out.
