“I’m serious,” I manage, even though my legs are still trying to remember which way is forward. “You can’t just—” I gesture uselessly at the scene of the crime, then at his very obvious situation. “—and then expect me to walk out while you… deal.”
His eyes flare so dark I forget how sentences work. “Bea,” he says softer. “I don’t want anything from you you’re not ready to give. And I’m not blowing up our plan because I can’t keep it together for twenty minutes.”
“Fifteen,” I say weakly, just to be contrary.
“I’ll make it twenty next time,” he says, and the corner of his mouth lifts up with a pained half smile.
Something loosens in my chest. It’s ridiculous, how tender I feel about him refusing me the pleasure of kneeling in reciprocation. The man just dropped on the floor of his fancy office and ruined me for anything that isn’t him, and now he’s drawing a boundary on my behalf.
“Okay,” I whisper. “Then, thank you?” The inward cringe at my own words is monumental.
He tips his head, accepting my gratitude. His hands hover at my waist again, careful, as if I’m made of glass he wants to keep on a shelf like a prized possession. “Do you need water? A minute? We can call this meeting extended, and I can?—”
The rattle of the door makes us both freeze, followed by a sharp rap.
“Noah?” Ezra’s voice, muffled but unmistakable. “Got a second? Why is the door locked?”
Oh god. I feel my soul vacate my body to crawl into his bottom drawer to die beside the paper clips.
Noah, on the other hand, doesn’t look panicked. He looks focused.
“One sec,” he calls back at the door, completely steady. Then he steps back, offers his hand to me, and I slide off the desk, refusing to let go of his hand. He steadies me with the lightest touch at my elbow and then he’s already moving. Unfortunately, away from me.
“Don’t forget your phone,” I whisper, pointing at the device I threw somewhere between the papers on his table. I don’t knowif he’s heard me because he’s already unlocking the door while flipping the blinds open in one smooth move, and then he heads back to his desk by the time Ezra pushes in.
The eldest King pauses on the threshold while his eyes do a quick sweep of the room. Noah keeps his face infuriatingly calm while I put all my might into breathing like a person who was definitely not just?—
“Am I interrupting?” Ezra asks, flicking his gaze from me to Noah and back again.
“Always,” Noah says mildly and gestures to the visitor chair. “Get your ass over here, it’d better be something important.”
As Noah draws the guns at himself, I quickly smooth my hair just in case and ask, “Can I get you coffee, Ezra?”
“Thanks, Bea,” Ezra replies, glancing at me with a curious tilt of his head. “Black.”
“I’ll be right back.” I scoop up my folder, posing as a picture of competence, and get three steps before Noah’s voice catches me.
“Get your own coffee,” Noah barks, making me pause halfway to the door.
“What?” I turn around.
“I was talking to my brother.” Noah gestures toward Ezra. “He can get his own damn coffee and not use my assistant.”
“But I offered.”
Ezra looks at Noah funny before turning to me. “Actually, I should probably slow down on caffeine for today. Thanks, Bea.”
I nod and run away from the scene of the crime.
41
Bea
I haven’t beenable to focus since what happened in Noah’s office this morning. Every time I think about it, my skin starts buzzing, recalling his touch. When he passed my desk with Ezra earlier, their footsteps perfectly in sync, he caught my eye and winked.
I’m hurrying past the copy room when the desk phone lights up with an unknown number. I should probably ignore it and let them leave a message since my brain is still mush from our “meeting,” but some instinct makes me pause to answer.
“Hello?”
