Page 54 of Naughty Heart

I did, Malcolm following closely behind me.

Then the two of us walked in silence down the hall toward our offices. Once there, I moved toward mine, and Malcolm called, “Evelyn?”

I turned back to look at him, cheeks heated and belly swooping. “Yeah?”

He hesitated a beat. “Thank you for joining me for lunch today. I’m glad we could clear the air.”

I licked my lips, belatedly noticing his eyes dropping to them. “Yeah, me too. Thank you for inviting me.”

Malcolm gave me a nod, but didn’t tear his attention away from me.

I couldn’t handle the pressure, so I buckled first. After giving him one final glance, I turned and stepped inside my office.

It took every ounce of self-preservation I had left not to look across the hall the rest of the afternoon. If I did, I wasn’t convinced I would have been able to hold myself back.

Because after what nearly happened in the elevator, I understood what Malcolm meant when he said he’d felt longing.

And if I was completely honest, I was in the same boat as him.

Malcolm was on my mind for the rest of the afternoon and all weekend long.

14

MALCOLM

The excitementand anticipation were steadily building as I sat at my desk early this morning.

It was Monday, and I was looking forward to the week ahead.

Right now, I was waiting for the rhythmic pace of her footsteps.

Evelyn’s footsteps.

Until last week, I hadn’t realized just how much I looked forward to that sound. I realized it was likely the threat of losing it that had made me notice it to begin with.

Evelyn wasn’t late today, but with how long I’d been here, it certainly felt like she was running behind.

I’d arrived this morning before anyone else, and I’d spent my morning doing what I had to do to fulfill the promise I made to her last week. With a lot of persistence and perhaps a bit of luck, I was hoping to get her to see that I was serious about her.

Just when I thought I might lose my mind if I had to wait another minute to see her, I heard it—the click of her heels along the corridor as she made her way down to her office.

Afraid she might catch on if she happened to look over at me, I did my best to position myself in my chair in a way that wouldn’t make me look so eager. I wanted Evelyn to see me as relaxed and confident, even if I felt the opposite on the inside.

My eyes caught sight of her legs first, but I quickly moved them up to her face. She glanced over at me as she came to a stop outside her office, sent a friendly smile my way, and said, “Good morning, Malcolm.”

My name coming past her lips first thing in the morning. That was something I could see myself getting used to. But I couldn’t get ahead of myself. This was going to be a slow process. I was merely grateful to have that back—the civility between us. I wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of making sure things stayed that way between us.

Well, other than that near misstep on the elevator on Friday.

Truth be told, I wouldn’t have considered it to be a mistake if I’d been fortunate enough to have the privilege of kissing Evelyn. God, I’d been that close. And if I believed I thought about Evelyn a lot before, it didn’t compare to the way I thought about her after nearly kissing her.

Never did I think I’d ever get to a place when I’d spend the weekend thinking about one woman and the way she made me feel, the way she made me want more. More of everything—not just at work, but in my personal life, too.

So, as disappointed as I was that I hadn’t managed to kiss her before those elevator doors opened, there was a small part of me that was relieved it hadn’t happened. That had been far too impulsive, and if I stood a chance at getting what I wanted with Evelyn for the long term, I needed to do this the right way.

I returned the smile. “Good morning, Evelyn.”

She turned back toward her office and took barely two steps inside when she came to an abrupt halt. Evelyn noticed what I’d done, and her reaction to it was so strong, I could see her features soften from across the hall.