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I let my eyes shift away and let my body melt into him.
My tongue fed him lies, but my body gave him the truth.
Chapter 16
Stepan
"Hanna."
One look was all I needed now for her to know.
"I took a few bites already." She argued back with a pout, hugging her coffee cup to her chest.
"Am I going to have to start holding your caffeine hostage like Nikolai does to Angel?" It seems like the two friends shared some of the same bad habits, fueling themselves with caffeine and no food in the morning being one of them.
Defeated, Hanna glared at me softly while letting out a huff, setting her coffee down and begrudgingly picking up the croissant I had gotten her moments ago.
Leaning against the edge of her desk with my arms crossed, I watched her like a hawk until she finished the food item slowly with a less-than-satisfied expression. Well, I guess I'd axe that option from the growing list.
"You don't have to hound me like a child," Hanna complained in a small voice as she gingerly cradled her coffee cup in her hands again.
"Start taking better care of yourself on a consistent and daily basis and maybe I'll consider stopping." I'd never stop if I were frank, but she didn't need to know that.
Hanna didn't need to know many things, at least for now. It'd taken a few days for her to return to baseline around me after that one afternoon, and I didn't want to scare her off again. So, I had to take it slow with her.
She may have denied me with her words that day, but her body told me all I needed to know.
It had been about two weeks since Hanna was officially hired, and it's been a week and a half since Hanna and I mainly returned to normal after she placed her line in the sand.
There's been a small distance between us, courtesy of Hanna wanting to keep this relationship professional. Out of respect for her, I've given her control and kept the distance she's placed. I'd work with what she was willing to give me.
She can deny it all she wants, but I knew the truth.
I would play things her way for now, slowly work my way into her until it'd be too late for her to pull back when she realizes what I've planned and done.
I'd already worked us into a small morning routine with her bad caffeine habit. For the past week, I've been getting her a small breakfast and making her eat it before she could have her coffee or energy drink. Something I've discovered about Hanna from her little slip-up was how she rarely ate anything for breakfast, only ever having coffee or energy drinks.
Hanna wasn't too happy with it the first few mornings, but she's come to accept it and not fight it by now.
"I'm going to be out of the office for most of the day today, so behave with Lev." Hanna's also gotten much more comfortable around us, particularly Lev—something I wasn't too happy about.
Lev knew to keep his distance from Hanna at this point, and I knew he'd never make any move on her after knowing I'd got my mark on her. The two got along too swimmingly for my liking and I was jealous because I wished Hanna would be as free around me as she was around Lev.
"Oh please, I feel like the babysitter between the two of us." Hanna chortled with a smug smirk thrown at Lev, who was situated across from her—their desks were connected.
"Oh fuck you." Lev snapped back with a playful scowl.
"Name the time and place." Hanna quipped back smugly, making Lev chuckle and flip her off.
"Alright you two, get back to work." I chuckled softly while pushing off the desk.
Before fully disappearing into my office, I turned my head to look at Hanna again. "Don't take off after work today, I have something for you."
The news brightened Hanna's face with a cute little smile as she wiggled in her seat while her sparkling, excited, and grateful eyes locked with mine. "What is it?" Though contained well, her excitement was still palpable and adorable to see.
Smirking mysteriously, I shrugged my shoulders softly. "You'll just have to be patient and see little tigress."
I never got the opportunity to give her the little apology present the other day after our little moment because she avoided me like the plague afterward for days. I'd planned on taking her out on a small lunch date before taking her to our weapons guy to have her fit for what I had in mind, but I got enough of a good feel of her hands to give my guy the correct measurements.
