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“It was one chance encounter, nothing else. Not that it would have led to anything anyway,” she blurted, and her eyes dared him to deny it. She’d always guessed that Adam was out of her league, and now she was sure of it. She hadn’t wanted to fool herself into pretending there was something there, when it was best to simply stay in her lane.
“That wasn’t your decision to make, Ms. Black, whether it would lead to something or not. That would have been up to me, not you.” His voice was low, yet rang deep with gruff authority. Gabrielle wanted to smack his face for his arrogance, yet her knees went weak and her hidden center, moist. She really didn’t want to be turned on at this time, but he was so close, his body brushing against hers.
It triggered something deep within her, reminding her that it was barely a week since their fast and filthy sex in the public men’s room.
The tip of her tongue grazed her bottom lip, and she caught his hooded gaze following the action. Against her stomach, his member hardened in his pants and it made her gasp to feel his desire. But just as his head began to descend to her lips, he unexpectedly pulled away.
Gabrielle watched him take a step back and straighten up, while her chest rose and fell as she tried to calm herself. The heavily charged moment passed, and the detached look on his face made the room suddenly seem arctic. Gabrielle shivered subconsciously.
“None of that matters now,” Adam drawled. “I meant what I said before – we’ll keep this professional. Nothing more and nothing less.” His tone of finality made Gabrielle feel a strange sense of loss. Keeping her expression as neutral as his, she squared her shoulders.
“I really want to start the job on the right footing, so your words come as a relief,” she said, telling herself she really meant it.
“That’s good to know.” He walked to the door and opened it. “Gretchen will start you on the process while I have a word with my HR team.”
Gabrielle stared at him and for one last time, searched his inscrutable face for answers. She still questioned whether she was making a mistake. She had an undeniable attraction for Adam, and she sensed it was mutual but she had to decide to firmly put it all behind her for the good of all concerned. Would she come to wish she’d given them more of a chance?
None of that matters now, he’d said. And she had no choice but to believe him.
So Gabrielle decided to focus on making sure none of this came back to bite her in the ass. Continuously being around him, working for him, was going to be one hell of a task, especially when he made it clear she didn’t even meet the standard. But she’d make this a success and prove to Adam she was up to the challenge – in every way.
*
Adam had been shocked to look up at the closed circuit monitors and see Gabrielle walk into the outer office.
His first thought had been that she’d found out who he was and had come to see him after ignoring his calls and texts.
But then when he realized she was here for the assistant job, his thoughts grew calculative. This woman who’d stayed rooted in his subconscious since that one night had unknowingly walked back into his life. Suddenly he wasn’t sure what to make of this opportunity. It would have been so easy to let her leave after she’d discovered there’d been a mistake with the email.
Somehow though, he was reaching for the phone before he could stop himself, telling Gretchen to let her in to see him.
Adam still questioned his sanity in letting her work for him. When she’d walked in and stood there in her sexy figure-shaping pencil dress, he’d felt himself harden as he sat behind his desk.
He knew from the flash in her eyes that though she’d taken the job, she wasn’t going to let him intimidate her. Well, neither was Adam going to let his guard down. No matter how sexy and tempting she was, he’d keep this professional.
He’d prided himself too long for being in control. But with Gabrielle, nothing seemed so cut and dried. He was used to being the one fending off a woman’s attentions, and her rebuff had irked. Perhaps it was his pride still at work here, and getting her to work for him was his way of exerting his authority.
Not ready to delve too deeply into his motives, Adam instead drew from his hard-won willpower. In the weeks that followed, he planned to keep his word and make sure nothing out of line occurred. He wouldn’t give Gabrielle that satisfaction.
He was ready to play her game and act like that night never happened. But the fact remained that she was still as sexy as the first time they met. He all too easily remembered her sweet, needy taste on his lips as they kissed. How her nipples had felt so juicy between his teeth as he sucked on them. The sultry scent of jasmine on her neck, and how her she sounded when she came for him.
