Page 41 of The Fire We Make

She floated through her morning ritual like a zombie, steeling herself for her day and renewing her vow to regain control.

The morning crowd of New Yorkers moved around her in a blur during her commute and it wasn’t until she was beneath the looming shadow of the King, Kincaid, and Associates building did she begin snapping out of it. She slipped her mask back into place, softening her eyes, loosing her fists, and flipping her scowl into a smile.

Joy stood in the office kitchen gathering the items she needed to fix her coffee to her liking. She was there earlier than usual. The nightmare and subsequent breakdown she’d had that morning left her with a new motivation to see her plan through but too drained for her morning workout. Byron would have chastised her for operating from her feelings rather than discipline— but Byron wasn’t there.

At 7am, most people hadn’t arrived yet, leaving Joy to relish in the silence and having the kitchen to herself. Or so she thought.

“Good morning,” a deep voice spoke behind her.

She gasped and whirled around, swiping up the butterknife she’d just used to cut her muffin in half—starting her morning with a simple carb was yet another thing Byron would’ve chided her for. She held it up ready to use it on whatever threat she encountered but when she looked up, what she saw made her heart beat faster than the threat of danger.

Ace stood there with a grin on his face and his hands up in mock surrender. “My bad. Didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, his eyes flicking to the knife in her hand with amusement that made Joy want to stab him with it just to prove she could.

Normal girls don’t stab their bosses with cutlery, she reminded herself.

“You didn’t scare me, you surprised me,” she snapped.

Ace didn’t flinch or retreat at her attitude. When his eyes flicked to the knife still in her hand, she lowered it. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “You too damn big to move that quiet.”

Joy guessed he was at least 6’5”. His frame was solid with large muscles bulging from his arms and legs, stretching the fabric of his suit jacket and slacks. Joy had to focus intently to keep her eyes off of the muscles in his thighs, put on display as he walked towards her.

Ace chuckled. “My grandfather says if you startle easy you ain’t living right,” he said, his breath brushing her neck as he reached around her to grab a disposable cup, lingering a second too long.

He crowded her space and some reckless part of her didn’t mind it. His presence was commanding, sucking up all the air, and she let him. Her body had never responded to a man this way, not even her fiancé.

The heat radiating from his body and the intoxicating scent of his cologne distracted her enough that she missed the slick comment, focusing on evening her breaths instead.

He peered down at her, one hand resting on the counter behind her and the other at his side. She could easily extract herself from his body caging her against the counter but she didn’t want to.

“You know I’d almost convinced myself I made you up the way you ran off on me,” he said. “Thought a motherfucka slipped something in my drink and had me hallucinating.”

Joy chuckled nervously. “Yeah I heard your friend say something about there being bodies and kinda freaked out and dipped,” she explained. Not a lie. In fact, it was about as close to the truth as she could get. Ace tipped his head to the side with a grin.

“I see. That's a shame, I was just starting to enjoy myself.”

Joy just shrugged. She’d stab herself in the eye with the knife laying beside her before she admitted the same.

“I’m sure there were plenty of women more than willing to fill the gap.”

“Maybe, but they weren't you,” he licked his full lips.

Joy chose to ignore the way his choice of words settled low in her stomach.

She sighed. “Listen. We had a good time but I think we should keep things professional. This is inappropriate. You’re my boss, I’m not interested in running it back.”

The smirk on his face didn’t fall.

“You’re a good actress. That shit was almost believable.”

“Excuse me?”

“I think you’re trying to convince yourself more than you're trying to convince me.”

“I think you shouldn’t flatter yourself.”

He chuckled, the sound deep and the rumble vibrating in Joy’s chest.

He stared at her a moment then retreated a few paces over to the coffee machine “We’ll keep things professional then.”