Page 45 of Taken By My Grumpy Pakhan

I was a sucker for how a good workout pumped the muscles and a warm bath loosened them for the day ahead. I found myself dressing in silence to keep from waking the woman in my bed, and when I was ready, I still couldn’t bring myself to wake her.

Against my better judgment, I left instructions for my chef and driver and made my way to the office.

Nikolai was waiting in my office when I arrived. “Your PA is late.”

“Good morning, Nikolai.” I dumped my bag on my table and headed for the liquor cabinet.

“Isn’t it a bit too early for liquor?”

I pulled out the first drink my hand landed on. “Really? What time does the stomach open for alcohol?”

He didn't answer.

“So where’s your PA?”

Memories of them laughing and whispering last night resurfaced with a bitter burn. “Thought you had all the information you needed from the employee file?”

“Why would I go that far?”

I threw back a quarter glass of whisky. “You tell me. You seemed really cozy last night.”

He walked up to the bar, pulling out a glass for himself. “So you were watching?”

I held back the urge to punch him. I didn’t sleep in the guest room with the most painful boner, work out for two hours and leave my house in a haste to be confronted by conversations about the same woman responsible for all of it.

“We have a no-fraternization rule.”

He cocked a brow. “Really? Does that apply to you too?”

Caroline’s entrance saved his face from getting impaled on the table.

“We’re ready for the presentation, Sir.”

“I requested a couple of files from Genevieve, but it seems she had a busy night.” Nikolai glanced at me. “Could you retrieve those before the meeting?”

“Sure. You’ll have it before the meeting starts.”

“Thank you, Caroline.”

The door had barely shut when I turned to him. “You do know you can get your own PA?”

He got off the chair, stretching like a wild cat. “Yes, but I like yours.” He sauntered off. “See you at the meeting.”

I bore holes through his retreating back. The idiot was baiting me, it was what he did best, yet I was letting myself get caught like a stupid fish.

I helped myself to another glass before heading to the general conference room.

We were about thirty minutes in when Genevieve slipped in, taking care to not disrupt the room as she made for the chair closest to the door.

I could’ve easily let her go, but the twitch in Nikolai’s lips and the way everyone held their breath told me my leniency would not go unnoticed.

“I’m glad you finally found the meeting worthy of your presence, Miss Sinclair.”

She froze, her face immediately turning bright red. “I’m sorry, sir, I had uh… a thing.”

I relaxed into my chair, enjoying the way her blush climbed to the tips of her ears. “A thing?”

“I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”