“Sounds intense.”
You have no idea.
I reflexively glanced back at Ambrose as I hit send. But this time, it was not me he was staring at. It was Alex.
Don’t worry so much about me. I’ll be there.
Maybe intense was the perfect word to describe Ambrose. He was intense ineverythinghe did. In how he commanded attention. How his words made me desperate to listen to him. How his touch made me feel like I was the only one to know that side of him.
Before I had time to register the steps approaching from behind, the color drained from Alex’s face as thatintensevoice called out from behind me.
“I must confess, Alex,” Ambrose’s voice came out low and smooth from just behind me, as silk wrapped in amusement. He stepped up beside me, one hand casually gripping the back of my chair. “I’m flattered by your belief in our company’s stability. You must think there’snothingleft to do if you’re so eager to distract my only assistant.”
Alex shot upright, stammering apologies. “N-no, sir—Amber—Ambrose—I was just pitching an ad idea. That’s all.”
And there it was—faint, but it was unmistakable.
Ambrose’s pheromones danced around me as if he were showering my own scent with his. Rather than feeling that samedesperation as last time, it was calming. Like he was claiming me.
Were his pheromones so out of control that he didn’t realize he was releasing them?
“Mmm,” Ambrose hummed, the sound like silk cut with steel. “I’msureyou were.”
His hand stayed on the back of my chair—casual, intentional. My pulse didn’t get the memo. It skittered like it was trying to break out of my skin.
Alex practically bolted out of the room, muttering something about a meeting he just remembered.
And Ambrose?
He didn’t move. Didn’t say anything else.
He just stood there, letting the silence stretch long enough to make my knees weak.
When he finally spoke again, it was for me.
“I will be taking an early leave. Suddenly, I do not feel well.”
My eyes trailed up his tight suit, past his broad shoulders to where sweat beaded his throat. And when my eyes met his, a whole new meaning of intensity was introduced to me. He looked at me as though I was his, as if he was warning me.
Like he knew what we did the other night.
“Yes, sir.”
Harper
There was something deeply unfair about how much time I’d spent picking out an outfit for a man who technically, anddefinitely,shouldn’t know who I was. He wouldn’t even see me, and yet, here I was fussing about what to wear.
I stared down at the fourth dress I had tried on—black, simple, fitted in a way that made my waist look like something sculpted with intent instead of being an accidental part of my body that was just… there. It was cute. Confident. Safe.
But it was not what I was going for.
So instead of settling on the dress, I riffled through my open suitcase and pulled out the dark green slip dress—the one I swore I’d never wear unless I felt like ruining someone.
Apparently, tonight, I did.
The fabric was cool against my skin as I pulled it on. Thin straps, and a hem that brushed my ass if I shifted wrong. Or right.
My phone buzzed on the couch. I glanced at the screen and immediately bit back a smile.
