Page 42 of Just a Little Tempted

Raina’s hands stilled in the soapy water. She glanced at me, surprise flickering across her features, then something else—a decision being made.

She turned off the faucet and dried her hands on a towel, then moved to lean against the counter across from me. The distance felt intentional, like she needed the space to share this.

I didn’t push. Didn’t move closer. Just waited.

“When I was hired at the advertising firm, I started at the bottom,” she began, her voice soft but steady. “But I worked my way up to executive assistant over time. I was so proud of that, you know, considering I didn’t have a degree. The first person I worked for in that position was great. She was hard-working and smart, the kind of woman I wanted to emulate.”

A faint smile touched her lips, self-deprecating and sad. I felt something tighten in my chest—the urge to protect her from whatever was coming next because I knew it couldn’t be good.

“But then she got a new job, and I was transferred to Mr. Hull.” The smile vanished completely. “He was… different.”

She paused, taking a deep breath. Her fingers twisted in the dish towel.

“Actually, he was ruthless. It wasn’t just about putting the job first or being ambitious. He was self-centered in a way that made him willing to cross any line to get ahead. Taking credit for other people’s work. Harassing or blackmailing anyone he considered a threat. Manipulating every situation to make himself look like the hero.” Her jaw tightened. “As his assistant, I was expected to not just look the other way while he did these things, but tohelphim.”

“But you wouldn’t.”

I didn’t phrase it as a question. I knew Raina, knew her integrity and her stubborn moral compass. She would never compromise herself that way.

“No,” she confirmed, meeting my eyes. “I wouldn’t.”

“And he fired you for it.”

“Eventually.” She laughed, but there was no humor in it. “He told me I was weak. That I wasn’t suited for the business world if I wasn’t willing to do whatever it took to get ahead.”

My jaw clenched. A spark of anger ignited in my chest, hot and protective and fierce. “He actually said that to you?”

She nodded. “He also tried to prove it. After I was fired, he made sure I couldn’t find another job. For six months—the entire time leading up to working for you—I was doomed before I even walked into an interview, after the company verified my employment, alerting Hull that I had a potential job. So he’d call ahead of the interview and told them lies about what a terrible worker I was. Blackballed me from the entire industry.”

My hands curled into fists at my sides and a muscle jumped in my jaw. “That fuckingprick.”

“Yeah.” She exhaled heavily. “He really was.”

I pushed off the counter and crossed the kitchen toward her. She watched me approach, her expression guarded but not closed off. I stopped in front of her, close but not crowding her.

“I know you’re nothing like him,” she said quietly, before I could speak. “Iknowthat, Simon. But that situation… it makes me wary. Even with you. Even though I want whatever is happening between us.”

I understood. I really did. She’d been burned badly, and the parallels were impossible to ignore—another boss, another complicated relationship, another opportunity for everything to go wrong.

But I wasn’t Hull. And I needed her to believe that.

“I want to see where this goes, Raina,” I said, my voice low but earnest. “This isn’t a one-and-done for me. I want…more.”

The word felt inadequate, but it was the best I had.

“We can take it one day at a time,” I continued. “Figure it out as we go. But now that we’ve crossed this line…” I shook my head slowly. “I can’t go back. I don’twantto go back.”

I held her gaze, watching the emotions flicker across her face—hope and fear and want all tangled together.

“Can you?” I asked. “Go back to the way things were?”

A long moment passed. Then, quietly, she replied. “No. I can’t. And I don’t want to, either.”

Relief surged through me. “Then we move forward. Together. And I promise you—” I stepped closer, eliminating the last of the distance between us. “—your job is safe. No matter what happens between us, I willneveruse my position against you. You have my word.”

She searched my face, looking for… something. Whatever she found must have satisfied her, because some of the tension finally drained from her shoulders.

“Okay,” she whispered. “One day at a time.”