Cal picked Lila up and held her there as he asked, “Better?”
She gave him a big, exaggerated nod. “Muchbetter,” she confirmed, and Cal laughed. This time, when he met my gaze, his smile didn’t slip, and I realized I was smiling too.
Feeling unsteady, I excused myself back to my office. I heard the hubbub of his family leaving as I worked, and finally looked up when a shadow darkened my doorway. Cal stood there, looking more at ease than he had before his family’s visit.
He cared deeply about his loved ones. They were his world.
In an instant, my view of him shifted. He wasn’t just a callous businessman who liked things done his way. He wasn’t just overbearing and domineering. He cared. He was capable of love—deep love.
It shouldn’t have changed anything for me, because our situation was still the same. He was dangerous to my independence, and I hated how unsteady he made me feel. But I couldn’t help liking him a little more after what I’d seen today.
What would it feel like to be one of those people he cherished?
“You wanted to see me?” he asked.
“I have a proposal for streamlining client travel bookings for people who aren’t already in your organization,” I said, and cleared my throat. “I’ve used this process in my own business, and it really helps cut down on errors. I could implement it here for you.”
He nodded and dragged a chair around my desk, folding his big body into it as he leaned forward. “Show me.”
I did, then got a warm buzz in the pit of my stomach when Cal leaned back, impressed. “You’ve certainly earned your keep,” he said quietly.
When his eyes flicked over to meet mine, I saw the hidden meaning behind his words.If you want to quit, I won’t be mad.I could walk away with a little over a hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and he’d let me go.
My voice was hoarse when I asked, “Will you keep your niece’s drawing up on the wall?” Hidden meaning:What kind of man are you, really?
His gaze circled my face, eyes crinkling at the corners. Thelion was amused. “You’ll have to come back tomorrow and find out.”
The picture stayedon the wall, and a few more of them appeared around it as the days wore on. The big expensive-looking paintings got moved to the lobby, and his MBA reappeared in its designated space behind his desk the following week in a new frame.
I revamped his company’s entire travel booking process, implementing a lot of the lessons I’d learned while building my own business. I was getting paid a lot of money, but I was giving him my hard-won knowledge. It seemed like a fair trade.
My workload ballooned, and I found myself staying at my desk through lunch most days. I’d work late, catching up on my own clients’ requests after hours. My office was quiet, clean, and had fast internet. It was better than my studio apartment or the cafés where I’d worked before.
I blinked, and a month had gone by. I realized it late one night, when most of the lights outside my office were off, and I was considering the ramifications of drinking coffee at this hour. Then the sound of a door closing made me look up. I’d thought I was alone.
Cal walked out of his office, stopping outside my door. He frowned at me. “You’re still here,” he noted.
Our relationship had been mostly professional in the past month. I still caught myself staring at the way his muscles shifted under his clothes, and when his attention swept over me, it always gave me a shiver. But he was my boss now, and I’d gotten what I wanted. Distance. Security. Thick, stone walls to keep me safe.
Sort of.
“I’m still here,” I confirmed. “Just got a few things to finish up for a client, and then I’ll head home.”
He hummed, checking his watch. He looked up again, and the force of his gaze made me glad I was already sitting. “Don’t stay too late,” he commanded.
“Yes, sir,” I quipped.
Something changed in the air between us when those words left my lips. It only lasted a moment, but it was electric. It was in the way he looked at me, like he was remembering everything we’d done only six—no, seven weeks ago. Or the way he stood, like it was taking everything he had to stop himself from closing the distance between us.
Suddenly, the professional walls I’d tried to erect seemed like they were made of spider’s silk. He could sweep his arm and brush them aside in an instant, and I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.
I wasn’t sure Iwantedto do anything about it. If he walked over, grabbed me, and kissed me, I would open my mouth and welcome it. I’d open my legs and welcome that too.
But the electricity in the air faded, and Cal gave me a short nod. “Goodnight, Deena.”
I held my breath until I heard the elevator doors open, and then I released it in a gust. The words on my laptop screen blurred, and I pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes to try to shake away the effect of his presence.
“Screw it,” I murmured to myself, and crossed the office to hunt for coffee in the kitchen. Within seconds, the pod machine was spluttering hot liquid into a mug, and as soon as the cream and sugar were in, I inhaled the scent like it was my lifeline. I drank it down in three big gulps, then made another to bring back to my desk.
