“If you had told me how this is our showing homes to Clarice Sampaio would go, I wouldn’t have believed you in a million of years,” he said, slicing the silence.
“Me neither. Though I don’t regret anything. Do you?”
“No. I just need you to know that coming back to the office, tonight has to stay behind us,” he said, the stubborn part of him begging him to say those words and act like what they just shared didn’t impact him as much as it had.
“I won’t say a word,” she said.
And she didn’t.
The next morning, Clarice had alleged that she had a doctor’s appointment she forgot, and could not see the home in the daylight. So they drove back in silence, all the time he tried to forget about all the memories darting in his brain.
The feel of her skin.
The way her tongue stroked his.
How delicious her pussy had smelled, and tasted, and how he’d give any amount of money to do it again.
He’d gone to his home to change and get his stuff. When he returned to the office, she was at her desk, on a phone call.
She gave him a neutral smile, the kind she always did, yet something was different.
Maybe not as much from her, but from him.
“The organizer for the venue for the annual party called,” she said, entering his office moments later, when he was chatting with Isaac. “She wants to make sure that we like the layout.”
“I can go check it out,” Isaac offered.
“Are you sure? I was going to,” Manuela said.
“We can go together,” Isaac said.
Irritation welled up inside, and Nate stood. Hating himself for being that man—not fully onboard to come to terms with his feelings for her yet, but unable to let her fully go. There was no way in hell he’d let a sleaze ball like Isaac anywhere near Manuela. “I think you don’t need to go, Isaac. Manuela can take care of it herself.”
Isaac lifted his hands in mock surrender. “I just wanted to help—”
“There’s a new lead for you that you should look into,” he said, lying.
Isaac frowned. “I didn’t see anything in my inbox.”
“I was about to send it,” Nate said, hoping the inconvenient man would get out of his hair. If he needed to forward some real business lead, then so be it. He’d do anything to get Isaac out of his sight.
Manuela glanced at the calendar.
Clarice Sampaio had called, and scheduled to take another look at that same property in the daylight. A small smile curled her lips. Would going there again evoke any memories in him?
For the past two days ever since they’d returned, he’d been distant, and they settled into a work relationship again. She had promised him she wouldn’t say anything, so she had not.
Even if she really wanted to. Really bad.
She chose silent ways to make him remember what they’d shared, wearing clothes that were way bolder than her usual look. While she teetered between professional and risqué, he hadn’t mentioned anything.
It was a power play.
She was sure that if he said anything, he’d feel like he was giving her the upper hand. But she didn’t want to make it easy for him. If he wanted to have her again, he’d have to flat out say it. She wanted, hell, she loved him, but she couldn’t expect less of what she deserved.
This meant having him take down those walls, little by little. Or fast and furious, whatever he managed.
“How is it in daylight?” she asked Clarice, who had been walking around the home in silence for the past twenty minutes. The drive here had been quiet, with Nate only making a few remarks about work stuff.
