I hesitate.
And what?
And he makes my heart beat fast for all the wrong reasons?
Standing too close to him feels like a mistake I haven’t made yet, but desperately want to?
That somehow I’m already very aware of him in ways I definitelyshouldn’t be?
“He’s…a lot,” I settle on.
“Yup,” she laughs. “That’s him. Just don’t let him bulldoze you.”
“I won’t.”
I mean it.
Chapter Seven
Luke
After our first week together,having Lilly around is almost normal.
Almost.
I’ve grown used to the cute way she hums when she works, and she thinks I can’t hear her. I’m even starting to like the way she moves around my office as if it’s hers, and it might as well be, since she’s behind my desk hours before I am every morning, and would probably be there late into the night, too, if I didn’t insist she go to bed.
She’s trying to prove herself to me in this so-called trial period. Either that or she really is every bit as competent as my daughter says she is.
Probably both.
In just a few days, my office has never looked cleaner, and for the first time since I started this business, everything runs the way it should. Files are where they belong. My schedule actually makes sense. Client meetings feel controlled instead of reactive, thanks to the notes she prepares and leaves clipped neatly to each folder before I even sit down. And the notes she leaves are full of good tips and insights.
The woman knows her stuff.
Beyond knowing she’s a recent graduate, I haven’t directly asked her about her background in finance yet, but I’m starting to see the way she works. She has a natural skill in anticipating problems before they happen. And the instinct she has for numbers and investments is something that can’t be taught.
I can see it.
She’s good.
Too good.
And that’s a problem.
Or, it’s going to be. Because the more useful she proves herself, the harder it’s going to be to justify letting her go at the end of the month.
And Ihaveto let her go.
The longer she stays here, and we workclosely together, the more aware I am of her and everything about her that has absolutely nothing to do with work.
She steps up beside me now, leaning over my shoulder as she sets a file down on my desk. Her silky blouse brushes my bare arm, sending fire through my veins, but it’s the way her dark hair falls over her shoulder that has my breath catching in my throat.
It’s the softest touch, it shouldn’t register at all, but my body isn’t getting the message as a slow, unwelcome awareness slides down my spine, right to my dick.
I don’t move. Instead, I keep my focus locked on the screen in front of me, even as my body registers exactly how close she is. How sweet she smells. The scent of something clean and light, with the slightest trace of sugar, consumes me.
“Here,” she says quietly, completely unaware of the effect she’s having on me. “I ran a few projections on the numbers based on your last call. I think you might find them helpful before your meeting Monday.”
