Sera reached around her structure to the stack of papers he had set down, flipping through them. “Why? What does he want?” These were plans to replace the iron in the city parks with fae-refined steel. Seth was always griping about the iron in the city, how it gave him the worst headaches.Which was so… what kind of… shoot.
Pursing her lips, even she had to accede it was a noble initiative. She couldn’t find fault except maybe the fact he would benefit too, but that was a stretch and she knew it. Damn it. She only neededonesingleclue to prove that he wasn’t the perfect, ideal, man of her dreams and make him just a fraction less appealing.
“He secured a meeting with Mr. Harrow,” Kieran said, his voice pulling her back to the moment after she’d been side-tracked trying to find a reason to hate him.
“That was fast,” she said.
“Well, time is of the essence.” His tone sounded less certain than a second ago, almost hesitant rather than apathetic. “The sooner this ends the better.”
Her breath steamed from her nose. “Yes, the sooner the better.” The words were forced, even to her ears. She spared a glance up, catching his gaze lingering on her. The awkwardness that descended felt very juvenile. He opened his mouth, like he was about to continue their conversation, and her heart flipped, hopeful that the icy wall that had formed in that bedroom had melted a bit.
But he sealed his lips closed without a word. When he turned away and shut the door behind him, a heavy, unwelcome disappointment filled her chest. Sera leaned into her chair, her head falling back at a sharp angle. How was she supposed to follow common sense when her heart kept betraying her?
Kieran stared at his hand, fingers stretched out on the wood of his office door having just clicked it into place. For the first time in his life, Kieran feared his control was precariously close to slipping. Regaining his emotions, tempering reactions, all that had become second nature was now a conscious challenge requiring all his concentration. The world, the problems that faced the city, his own responsibilities were nothing compared to the singular devastation of Seraphina Blair.
The sooner the better.
He had not spoken those words lightly. It was in her own best interest that they neutralize Cole’s threat immediately. Sexual desire alone, he could handle, but it was becoming clear that pure desire was not the sole source of his attraction to her. There was a real danger of his interest in her blooming into the disastrous territory of fondness or admiration. Affection, caring.
All of these threats hung very real over his association with her. No one had ever come close to drawing even a fraction of emotion from him in all the years since those last terrible hours that claimed half his family.
His assignations in college had all been fleeting, superficial, and nowhere near as potent as the desire Sera inspired. Willa had tried, when she was first elected, possibly as a conquest or even for the challenge, but Kieran hadn’t been tempted by her bold flirtations and resisting her had been comically easy. He would never associate with a co-worker, though that was only a small part of his reasons for rejection. That had been…
Ten years ago.
He stared at his traitorous hand, where he could still summon the sensation of Sera’s skin. His mind drifted to those memoriesunbidden if he didn’t purposefully focus his thoughts elsewhere. The simplest solution was to give in, to allow her flirtation to succeed.
Simple, and yet, impossible.
His own fear of growing too fond of her aside, he refused to use her for selfish gains. The guilt from the stolen kiss still simmered in his chest. A helpful reminder, that, unfortunately, grew less persuasive with each passing day.
However difficult, he had to resist her. No more games, no more indulging her whims, no more personal exchanges. Not even ten minutes ago he had sat at his desk, attempting to lose himself in his work, when he distantly wished for the distraction of Sera’s Game. Of course, unacceptable.
His workday ended with very little to show for it aside from a few perfunctory signatures. Now the meeting with Captain Blair loomed before him and the carriage ride, on top of however many hours it took to achieve their goal with Harrow awaited.
It was futile to predict potential challenges Sera might throw at him. Her behavior and the resulting fallout was almost mystical in nature.
He rose from his desk and steeled his thoughts. As he stepped from his office, Sera jumped from her chair. Their eyes locked.
“Oh!” She then scrambled to gather a mess of papers sprawled across the desk and stuff them into a drawer.
“What are those?” He asked, not because he was curious about her or how she spent her day, but because it appeared work related.
“Nothing. Just stupid doodles.” She snatched up the last of the pages.
He had detected streams of numbers and equations. He couldn’t decipher their meaning when both upside-down and quickly rushed from view, but nothing, he guessed, that would be considered stupid. He swallowed down the wordsthat crawled up his throat. Ground his teeth down to keep sentimentality from spilling.
“There. All clean. See, now my desk looks as spotless as yours.” She stood with her hands on her hips while he noted the scattered pencil shavings, the disassembled parts of her structure—which had been rather impressive, though he had kept any acknowledgment to himself—scattered not from a fall, but disordered placement, and a small tray full of crumpled up notes. He spied no similarities between her version of ‘spotless’ and his. Though he made no comment. A dig at her expense would only lead to a potentially heated exchange and he was already in danger of labeling her declaration ‘charming.’
Distance was required to preserve her safety. He glanced over her shoulder. The shadow hovered like an omen. Still distant and vague, yet, maybe it was a trick of the light, but it was more solid than before. Cole solidifying plans? At least the visual eased his conscience. He had not compromised his Sense, not yet.
Sera shuffled around the desk and then attempted to pass him, which he dodged—though not in time to avoid the shock of her perfume.
“Ready?” She was breathless and he sensed that she was embarrassed about her work. Still, he would not press if she did not wish to share.
His eyes followed Sera to the stairs before slipping back to the desk.
An awkward silent ride awaited. Every second in her company tested him and he feared he would eventually fail. It was for her sake, more than anything, that he keep his distance. While reflecting on the stolen kiss conjured shame and regret, he found he could not avoid it for long. Inevitably, he’d recall the pressure of her lips, her taste, relive the cascade of pleasure even as his stomach soured at the thought. That stolen kiss had revealedhow easily he could lose himself, forget his obligations and concerns, forget, even, Sera’s very safety.
