Gracie watched her sister as she walked out of the room, leaving her alone with Nate. He shut the door, presumably to give them some privacy.
The guy’s face was a sea of emotions. As she looked up at him, she recognized anger, concern, and…fear?
“Are you okay?” Her question came out much softer than she’d meant for it to.
Nate gave her a humorless smirk as he shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”
“I’m better.”
And she was. The pounding in her head had quieted to a dull ache, and the intense trembling had subsided.
When he continued to stare without saying another word, Gracie realized he was probably waiting for an apology. One that was well-deserved.
Standing, she laid the ice pack down onto the cushioned seat and began to say what needed to be said.
“I’m really sorry, Nate. We never should have left the building without one of you. Or, at the very least, we should’ve checked with you beforehand.”
She waited, but he remained silent.Okay.Apparently, more groveling was going to be required.
Stepping toward him, Gracie continued nervously. “I-I know it wasn’t very smart of us, and you and Kole have every right to be upset. It’s just that, I was exhausted from going over everything with Jake and the others and then doing the sketch with Zade. Sarah mentioned coffee and I…”
She let her voice trail off, hoping he’d saysomething. Instead, he began walking slowly toward her, the muscles in his strong, sexy jaw bulging as he moved.
Stopping mere inches from where Gracie stood, Nate stared into her eyes, but remained silent. The look he was giving her was so intense, she half-expected steam to start shooting out of his ears.
“Okay, look,” she said defensively. “I get that you’re upset, but we just wanted to go grab a quick coffee. That was all. I mean, you saw us, right? We were coming straight back. Yes, it was probably stupid, but you can’t seriously stay mad about this forev—”
The rest of the word was cut off when Nate grabbed the back of her neck and slammed his mouth down onto hers.
A tiny squeak escaped the back of her throat just before he used his tongue to pry her lips apart. Assuming she was forgiven, Gracie opened her mouth and let him in.
Standing in the middle of their boss’s office, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tightly as Nate began to devour her. He took, and she gave.
It was the most sensual, raw-emotions moment of her entire life.
When he was done feasting, Nate pulled away slowly and rested his forehead against hers. They remained locked in each other’s arms, their chests heaving in sync as they attempted to catch their breath.
Regaining some control, Nate lifted his head. His eyes locked onto hers when he said, “I thought I’d lost you.”
He sounded different. His voice was low, and there was this darkness to it she’d never heard before.
“Nate?”
“You scared the shit out of me, baby.” He swallowed hard and shook his head back and forth slowly. “Don’t ever do that, again.”
Baby?Completely thrown by his behavior, Gracie was still trying to figure out what the hell was going on when there was a knock at the door
They both turned, and when Kole walked in, she expected Nate to pull away from her touch. Her insides did a little cheer when he didn’t.
Gracie knew they should be focused on what had just happened outside, rather than making out in Jake’s office like a couple of teenagers. But, hey. Life was short, right?
Her scattered thoughts took her back to before. Instead of Nate’s hands on her back, it was that man’s, and he was trying to take her away from everyone and everything she cared about.
Her breathing picked up, and her body shivered from the terrifying memory. Of course, Nate noticed.
Misunderstanding, he dropped his arms and took a step back. Gracie wanted to explain, but not with Kole there.
She could tell her sister’s fiancé was surprised at the intimate embrace she and Nate had been sharing, but rather than comment on that, he said, “Uh, sorry to interrupt. West needs Gracie’s statement. When she’s done with that, Jake wants us all to meet back in the conference room.” His eyes slid to Gracie’s. “You, included, honey.”
