Chapter Six
NOLA
My legs feellike jelly as I close the door to Caleb’s office behind me. The hallway stretches before me, too bright, too long, my body floating somewhere between pleasure and shock.
Three steps down the corridor and my knees still wobble. I smooth my dress for the tenth time, certain anyone who looks at me will know exactly what happened in that office. That Caleb Asher’s fingers were inside me minutes ago while I tried to maintain professional composure. That I failed spectacularly.
The compound feels different now. Less intimidating fortress, more intimate minefield. Every corner might become the next place he decides to touch me. Every surface a potential spot where he could bend me over and?—
I bite my lip hard enough to hurt. Nope. Not going there. I need to collect myself. Need to remember why I’m here, what my job actually is. Something about schedules and emails and not getting fired for having an orgasm at my desk.
The marble floor is cool beneath my bare feet as I walk. Two days ago I was interviewing for this position, terrified and desperate. Now I’m padding through hallways like I own them, and I can still taste strawberries and his mouth on my tongue.
I round the corner toward the main living area, intending to grab coffee before returning to work, when I nearly walk face-first into Franklin’s chest. His usually impassive face is different today. Tight around the eyes, jaw clenched. On anyone else it would barely register, but on Franklin, it’s basically a five-alarm fire.
“Ms. Vance,” he says, his voice strained despite its formal tone. “Forgive me. I didn’t see you there.”
His attention is somewhere else entirely, gaze darting toward the front entrance, then back to me.
“Is everything alright?” I ask, momentarily forgetting the state of me in the face of his obvious distress.
“A slight... complication.” His hands, usually perfectly still at his sides, twist together briefly before he forces them back to attention. “A time-sensitive package was delivered to the Cooper Hills pickup point. It requires signature within the hour.”
“Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”
Franklin’s eyes darken.
“It’s specialized equipment for Mr. Asher’s security system upgrade. The courier won’t hold it beyond noon, and Mr. Asher was quite clear about its importance.”
“So you’re heading into town to get it?”
“That’s the difficulty.” Something like genuine regret crosses his features. “The butcher is delivering the specialty meat Mr. Asher requested for tonight, and someone must be here to receive it in the next twenty minutes. There’s no one else available, and Mr. Asher is still on his call with Mr. Davis regarding the security breach.”
The security breach. The reason Caleb switched so abruptly from lover to CEO, leaving me trembling in his office like a guitar string someone plucked and walked away from.
“I could go,” I offer before I can think better of it. “To Cooper Hills. For the package.”
Franklin’s eyebrows lift a fraction of an inch. On him, that’s basically a gasp.
“You’re willing to drive into town?”
“Of course.” I shrug, as if it’s nothing. As if the thought of leaving the compound without Caleb’s knowledge doesn’t send a thrill of both excitement and fear through me. “If you tell me exactly where to go, I can be back before Caleb... Mr. Asher... even notices I’m gone.”
Franklin hesitates, his gaze sliding toward Caleb’s office door at the far end of the corridor. Finally, he reaches into his pocket and extracts a set of keys.
“The black SUV in bay three,” he says, his voice dropping slightly. “The package is at the Cooper Hills Mail Center on Main Street.”
I take the keys, cool metal against my still-warm palm.
“Should I tell Mr. Asher I’m going?”
Franklin’s gaze flickers again toward the closed office door.
“Perhaps better not to disturb him during the crisis. I’ll inform him if necessary.”
Which means he won’t. I know Franklin well enough by now to read between the lines of his silences.
“I’ll be quick,” I promise, already turning toward the garage entrance.
