You tainted the office.
You installed Desire as a permanent software update.
Ruby:
I’m muting this chat.
Trey:
She’s not muting it.
Ruby:
I’m muting it.
Sienna:
For how long?
Three minutes?
Ruby:
Three minutes is a lot when your friends are psychotic.
Ava:
We love you too.
Now go hydrate your throat, you know, for speaking.
Definitely speaking.
No other reason.
Ruby:
BYE.
CHAPTER 6
Jaxon
I’ve made a lot of decisions in my life. Good ones. Strategic ones. Cold, calculated ones.
This is the first time a decision feels like instinct, like gravity, like something bigger than logic dragging me exactly where I want to go.
Ruby Quinn is in my building. Ruby Quinn works for my company, and Ruby Quinn is doing everything in her power to stay as far away from me as possible.
It would be adorable if it weren’t driving me insane.
I watch her walk out of my office with her cheeks flushed, her breathing unsteady, and her hands gripping that notepad like it’s the only thing keeping her from falling apart.
She doesn’t look back. She doesn’t have to.
I can feel her. The awareness. The pull. The same thing that’s been under my skin since last night, and I’m done pretending I can ignore it.
I button my shirt slowly, watching her disappear around the corner, then look out across the office floor. People are pretending not to stare. They’re whispering. They saw the interview, and they saw her walk in and walk out as if she’d been to war.
