I melt.
Literally melt.
I’m pretty sure every bone in my body just gave out from those three little words.
For a minute, I just sit in my chair, full rag doll—arms limp, brain off in the fucking clouds—as he takes complete power over me, even when he’s not physically here.
Cool.
Love that for me.
Knocking on my door pulls me out of my Phoenix haze, and Betty opens it, letting James in. His eyes don’t lie, and the way they drag over me, with that stupid fucking grin plastered on his face, makes Phoenix’s warnings feel even more justified. Which is a little annoying because I hate it when he’s right.
“Good afternoon, Ms. Mitchell.” Betty closes the door behind him, and I gesture toward the chair opposite my desk.
“How are you, James?”
“Ready to get this going.” He sits, adjusting his cuff links. “I felt terrible after our video call.”
“Why?”
“Because I sounded like an ass. The board is just set in its ways, and I don’t think they were ready for such a drastic change.”
“I understand people don’t always like change, but it’s your company. Don’t you have the final say?”
“We’ll see, won’t we, when I go back to them with revisions.” He laughs, but honestly, I don’t have the patience for corporate bullshit and endless rounds of revisions just because his board can’t make a decision.
“I’ll be honest with you, James. I’d love to have my name and brand associated with your hotels, but I’m not here to waste time. I have other clients waiting, so if this becomes a pattern of back-and-forth, I’ll pass the project on, and you can find someone with more availability.”
I expect a reaction—maybe offense, irritation, or, at the very least, surprise. Instead, there’s a glint in his eyes that suggests he’s been waiting for me to push back.
“Yeah, you’re exactly what I need.”
“Excuse me?”
“Your lack of desperation is rare, and it’s attractive.” He tilts his head, as if trying to gauge my reaction, which is currently to reach across this desk and twist his balls off. “Professionally speaking, of course.”
Phoenix’s voice echoes in my mind.
Be careful, baby. He likes strong women. He likes to weaken them.
“I don’t need this job, James. That’s what I’m saying. I want it… I really do. But I also have my limits.”
He raises his hands in surrender, sitting back and resting an ankle on his knee. “Fair enough.”
The sun is starting to set, and James is still here. His jacket’s been abandoned on the back of the chair for hours, and we’ve been buried in color palettes, font pairings, and layout tweaks that all started blurring together sometime around my third eye twitch.
I haven’t heard from Phoenix, but I’d bet my fucking soul he hasn’t taken his eyes off us, which is probably the only thing keeping him from walking through that door and making James disappear.
It’s unhinged as fuck.
It’s obsessive and possessive.
But if I’m going to love Phoenix, it has to be for exactly who he is. I’ll never pick and choose which parts of him I accept.
The light and the dark.
The gentle and the violent.
