She exhales, lifting her chin and forcing her gaze to mine. She’s doing that thing where she tries to look like she doesn’t care, but I know her better now. I can see the hurt underneath, and it makes me want to take that hurt away.
To make sure she never feels it again.
Maybe that’s what scares me the most. I can tell myself it’s about partnership at the firm, about protecting her, but I’m a fucking coward.
All I’m really doing is protecting myself.
I think of the way she bared herself to me, the way she came undone at my command. The trust I saw in her eyes that speared me right through the heart. It wasn’t just a hot moment between two people getting off. It was intimate. Sacred, almost.
And it’s too much.
I’ve lived my entire life putting work above all else. It’s all I’ve ever known, all I’ve everseen—from my father, from John. It’s what it takes to succeed in this industry. Anything else only gets in the way.
Loveonly gets in the way.
“It’s okay,” she murmurs, meeting my eyes, steadier now. “You don’t have to explain.” She smooths her clothes, then slips quietly from my office.
I stare after her, telling myself this is the way it has to be. That it’s for the best.
But I’m not sure I believe it.
18
IRIS
It’s a relief when the workday is over. I’m tempted to scurry out without saying a word, but that wouldn’t be professional. Aidan was clear: we need to keep things strictly above board now. And he’s right. As much as it stings.
I gather my things, then poke my head into his office. Aidan glances up from his laptop, softening when he sees me, but I pretend not to notice. Every time he looks at me like that, my heart melts a little more. I hate that it does. It shouldn’t. It can’t.
“I’m, uh, heading out,” I mumble, looking down at my nails. “Do you need anything before I go?”
Aidan sighs. “No.”
I turn to leave, but he calls out to me again, and I pause, turning back.
“Are… are you okay?”
I consider this. I don’t feel very okay, but I also don’t regret the moment we shared in his office this afternoon. Seeing him so raw and undone, the way he lost his careful composure and spoke to me in that dirty voice, the way he got himself off while he watched me…
The way he didn’t yell at me for what I was doing. Didn’t threaten to tell my father. Didn’t make me feel like shit.
Instead, he stood right there, letting me do what I needed. He didn’t just let me, hejoinedme. He took what he needed too. It wasn’t only hot as hell, it was validating. Somehow, in the space of a week, he’s gone from being insufferable Work Aidan to… I don’t know.
Kind Aidan. Sweet Aidan.DaddyAidan.
The only person who’s ever made me feel grounded and safe. Seen and heard.Understood.
And it’ssofucking hard not to want more of it.
“I’m…” I clear the tightness from my throat. “I’ll be okay.”
He runs his gaze across my face for a moment longer, then nods. He looks like he wants to say more, but holds his tongue. “Have a good night,” he murmurs at last, a somber note to his voice I haven’t heard before. Like he’s letting go of something he doesn’t want to.
Me?
I brush the thought off as soon as it appears, pushing my mouth into a smile. I have to work with this man.Forthis man. No point in making things awkward.
“You too,” I say, and head out the door before he can say anything more.
