I sigh.
“Spit it out, baby,” he says softly enough that no one can hear him.
Still, I jerk my attention toward the door.It’s closed.He obviously shut it when he came in.
“No one can hear you.Josephine has a dental appointment.She left early.Beckett is out of the office.We’re alone.Talk.”
I lean back and meet his gaze.“We can’t keep this up,” I inform him.
“What part?”he asks without flinching.He crosses one ankle over the opposite knee and folds his hands in his lap.Calm, cool, and collected.
Infuriating.
“You don’t take me seriously, Hendrix.”
“I take every inch of you seriously, Kels.If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be asking you what’s bothering you.I wouldn’t have noticed or cared.Idocare, and I’m aware when you’re upset or frustrated.Do you need my palm on your bottom before or after you talk to me?”
I purse my lips and stare at him.He’s right.He’s perceptive.He notices everything.We just don’t see eye-to-eye on a few topics.Why can’t he grasp that it’s going to be detrimental to me and my career for anyone to find out about us?And as the days go by, the chances of us getting caught get higher.
We drive to work in his car together.We leave together.The only reason no one has noticed either yet is because we’re here for long hours, arriving before and leaving after most people.
He sits forward.“I saw how stiff you were when you came downstairs earlier.I suspect that’s what’s bothering you.Let’s go to HR, tell them we’re a couple, give it time to spread, and move on.”
I shake my head.“I think I should find another job.”
His expression pales a bit.“I’d rather you didn’t, Kelsey.I like having you with me, and you’re an amazing assistant.We work well together.I love that we click, and it would be awesome if we could mesh all aspects of our lives for the next thirty years.I feel like I’ve won the fucking lottery.”He stands and rounds the desk.
I stiffen, knowing that as soon as he touches me or even gets closer, I will melt.I always do.
Surprising me, he simply holds out a hand as he approaches, letting me decide whether or not to take it.
I hesitate for a moment before setting my palm in his and rising.
Hendrix leads me through the adjoining door and into his office.He guides me to the floor-to-ceiling windows and stands behind me.His arms come around me, holding me tightly.His chin rests on top of my head.
For a long time, we simply stare out the window.I’m mostly in my head.I assume he is, too.
After a while, he speaks softly.“I’m forty-three years old, Kels.I’ve never been in a long-term relationship.I’ve never felt about anyone the way I feel about you.I wake up every morning with a moment of panic, wondering if it’s true, wondering if you’re real.Then I see you next to me, and my world settles and rights itself.”
“That’s because you keep cuffing me to your bed,” I say snarkily.
He chuckles.“True, but it works.Keeps you where I want you.”He brings his lips to my neck and kisses me.“I love having you come to work with me.I love how smoothly we function together.We’re a well-oiled machine, both at work and at home.My heart swells when we cook together.I had no idea how lonely I was before you came into my life.Now I can’t fathom not having you.”
I tip my head back to look at him.“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m lonely.Not because of anything you’ve done but because I don’t have any friends to talk to or bounce ideas off.”
“Youhavelots of friends, though.I overheard people talking about you downstairs.You developed solid relationships over the summer.If you’d let yourself, you could still hang out with them.”
“I don’t even like to run into any of them because I feel like a giant liar.”
He hugs me closer.“Then tell them, baby.”
I lean my cheek against his bicep.“They’ll hate me,” I whisper.
“But what if they don’t?”
That’s hard for me to grasp.It doesn’t seem like an option.“You said you heard them talking about me.They were probably saying what a bitch I am for thinking I’m too good for them.”
“Kelsey… I didn’t hear anything like that from anyone.Are you embarrassed for people to find out you’re in love with an old guy?”
