He lifted his head. “You must be him.”
“Sure, I can be whoever ‘him’ is, but the woman you’re meeting is inundated with sensitive information. I can’t have just any eyes on the paperwork she’s got sprawled out on her desk right now. I’ll make sure she gets the food, but you’ve got fifteen seconds to get your ass back on that elevator before I call security and have you blacklisted from the building. Understood?”
“Wow,” he said as he took a step back, “you really are a piece of work, just like she said.”
I plastered on another smile. “Nice to know she talks about me. I’ll make sure to give her my regards. Now, get the hell out of my place of work.”
“Michael?” Becca asked behind me.
His eyes peered over my shoulder. “Brought you food. Hope you enjoy it.”
She scurried up to my side. “I’m not sure what he said to you, but you can follow me. My office is just--.”
Michael turned his back and scoffed. “Have fun with whatever you’re doing.”
“Michael!”
I handed her the food. “I’ll eat with you, if you’d like company.”
She glared at me. “Over my dead body. Michael, wait!”
It sickened me, how she dashed after him. I wrinkled my nose and watched as he got into the elevator. She jammed her arm between the doors to get them to stop and I watched as they bickered like some pathetic old married couple. It really was an embarrassing spectacle. I sat the food on top of the secretary’s desk and watched as Michael banished her from the elevator.
And after the doors closed, she turned her anger to me. “Why the fuck would you do that!?”
I shrugged. “You’re working with sensitive documents. Did you really think--.”
She rushed me in the blink of an eye before a resounding crack resonated throughout the corridor. The stinging sensation made my eyes water, but I didn’t give her the satisfaction of her seeing. Instead, I reached for both of her wrists and pinned her to the closest wall before I got in her face.
“You’re lucky we aren’t on the clock,” I said curtly.
She bucked so hard that I lost my balance. I stumbled and she rushed for the food. She snatched it up before barreling toward her office, but I pursued her with the swiftness of a lion.
Because I was hungry for more.
“Come here,” I growled.
“Get off me!” she shrieked.
And the instant I heard the unwelcomed desperation in her voice, I backed off.
Before her wild eyes found mine. “If we’re going to be honest with each other, then let’s just do it. You didn’t do that because of sensitive whatever-the-fuck-you’re-peddling. You did it because you can’t stand to see me with someone who treats me in a way that you’re incapable of.”
Her words cut to my core, but I didn’t let it deter me. “And yet, your nipples are puckered.”
Her arms quickly linked in front of her chest. “Because you scared the hell out of me.”
I took a step toward her. “Your cheeks are also flushed.”
She swallowed hard. “That happens when I run in heels.”
I backed her into a corner before I tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “And your knees are positively quivering.”
She scowled up at me. “I hate you.”
I gripped her chin. “That may be so, but at the end of the day you know that I’m the one you crave. The structure. The overwhelming nature of my presence. You love it more than life itself, and that you can’t deny. Did you really think you’d be capable of being with someone else? Even that big oaf admitted that you talk about me with him. You can’t even date without me infiltrating your mind, and that should tell you something, Rebecca.”
She shoved me away. “What the fuck do you want from me? Why the hell can’t you just let me be happy instead of abusing me the way you wished you could abuse my sister?”
