Page 29 of Just a Little Tempted

I’d kissed women before—countless times. It had always been a means to an end, the expected prelude to something more. I’d never given much thought to kissing itself. It was just… a step. A formality on the way to the main event.

But kissing Raina had been different.

The softness of her lips. The small gasp she’d made when our mouths first met. The way she’d melted into me, her fingers pressing against my chest like she wanted to pull me closer. That kiss had stirred something in me I hadn’t felt in years. Maybe ever.

And now I was supposed to fake a relationship with her while maintaining professionalism?

The contradiction was almost laughable. An oxymoron of the highest order. How was I supposed to hold her hand and gaze at her adoringly in public, then return to the office and pretend she was just my assistant? How was I supposed to keep my hands to myself when every instinct I had was screaming at me to touch her again?

I rubbed my tired eyes, turning from my computer as the elevator dinged at the end of the hall.

My already racing pulse skipped a beat.

I listened to her soft footsteps approaching, a familiar rhythm I’d come to recognize over the past few weeks. She paused at her desk as usual, doing something on her computer, and I found myself resenting the layout of the office and the way my position made it impossible to see her from where I sat.

It took her longer than normal to come to my door. Maybe I wouldn’t have noticed before, but today I was already on edge, every nerve ending attuned to her presence. The anticipation was unfamiliar, both electric and unsettling. I wasn’t used to waiting for anyone like this, wasn’t accustomed to the way my chest tightened with each passing second.

When she finally appeared in my doorway, I immediately knew something was wrong. At first glance, she looked the same as always. A red silk blouse tucked into high-waisted grey trousers, her blonde hair falling in soft waves over her shoulders. No baked goods in her hands this Monday morning, but that wasn’t what caught my attention.

It was her expression. She smiled, but it wasn’t the same smile I’d grown accustomed to—the one that lit up her entire face and made the very air in the room feel lighter. This smile was polite. Professional. Her lips curved, but there was no spark in her blue eyes.

“Good morning,” she said, stopping about halfway across the room instead of approaching my desk the way she usually did.

Her voice was wrong too. Warm and courteous, exactly what I would have expected from an assistant I didn’t know. But Ididknow Raina. She was bright and cheerful, even first thing in the morning, and she’d never bothered to hide it. In the beginning, her sunshine personality had grated on me. I wasn’t a morning person, and her relentless cheerfulness had felt like an assault.

Today, her subdued greeting made my chest feel tight.

It waswrong, and I hated it.

“Good morning, Raina.”

She blinked, surprise flickering across her features. It occurred to me that I rarely returned her morning greeting. I wasn’t trying to be an asshole. It was just the way I’d always been.

I couldn’t explain why I was acting differently now.

“I received an email from Mr. Cole’s assistant this morning,” Raina said, her tone carefully neutral. “He’s unavailable for your phone conference today. He’d like to reschedule for next week.”

I scowled, and she probably assumed it was because of the cancelled meeting. Normally, that kind of thing would set me off. Instead, I was irritated by the change inher. Maybe that wasn’tfair, considering I was grumpy as hell most of the time, but I couldn’t bury the feeling.

I rose from my desk and came around to her side. As I approached, Raina held her ground, her chin lifting slightly as she met my gaze. I wondered what she saw in my eyes. Could she tell how badly I wanted to repeat the kiss from Saturday night? Could she sense the conflict raging inside me, the war between desire and professionalism that had plagued me since the night of the gala?

“Sit down,” I said, pulling the chair in front of my desk closer to her.

She tilted her head, hesitating. “I was going to make coffee…”

I shook my head. “I’ve already had too much caffeine this morning.” I gestured toward the chair.

Raina let out a small huff as she sat, folding her arms over her chest and looking up at me like I was wasting her time. Insolent. Defiant.

Infuriatingly tempting.

She was truly the only woman who had ever dared to push back against me. Everyone else—employees, business associates, the women I’d dated casually over the years—they all deferred. Agreed. Accommodated. Raina challenged me, and God help me, it made me want her even more.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, impatience threading through her voice.

I exhaled slowly. “That’s what I want to know. You seem unhappy this morning.”

Raina let out a scoff. “That’s rich, coming fromyou.”