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Anna was right. She didn’t. And maybe she should be more concerned. If the two of them were struggling to function, how on earth was the business supposed to?
‘I’ll speak to him when he gets in.’ She glanced at her watch. It was late for him, and the worry Anna had triggered started to spread.
‘Speak of the devil,’ her PA said, looking to the outer office beyond the glass and the man now striding through it.
No fucking way.
‘It should be forbidden for any man to come in looking like that.’
Jennifer barely registered her PA’s words, her mouth parting, the hand holding her coffee lowering as her eyes followed him across the office. He’d been for a run—likely a long and punishing one, judging by his slick body, his clothing clinging to every honed muscle, making her fingers tingle with their first-hand knowledge of it.
She swallowed and moved to tear her eyes away before he could catch her gawping—but too late. His energised gaze swept to hers, his smile not quite reaching his eyes as he acknowledged her.
She tried for a smile too. Hell, hers was probably just as off.
‘Well, there’s no time like the present,’ Anna said, seemingly oblivious as she made for the door. ‘I’ll tell him you need a word, shall I?’
‘No.’
Anna looked back at her, eyes narrowed, and, taking a breath, she expanded with reasoned logic. ‘I mean, yes, but I’m sure he’d like a shower first.’
‘I guess,’ said Anna, glancing back at him wistfully. ‘Still, I’ll just let him know you’ll be needing him when he’s ready.’
And with that she was gone, returning not a minute later, face aglow. ‘He says to call by in ten.’
‘Okay.’
Did he say he’d be appropriately attired by then? she wanted to ask, but didn’t dare. It wouldn’t do to give Anna the impression she was overly bothered.
But it was bad enough that she already knew first-hand the consequences of catching him post-workout—or mid-workout, or whatever he’d been that day in his apartment. She didn’t need a repeat.
Ten minutes—she’d give him fifteen, just to be sure.
* * *
He checked his watch. She should be here by now. He glanced to the doorway, across the quiet office through the glass. No sign. Should he just go to her?
But maybe she’d got caught up in something. He didn’t want to appear eager. Hell, his biggest challenge in the role to date had been to strike the right balance in his dealings with her, to dampen his relentless need to see her. Hunting her down didn’t fit with that.
But she’d asked to see him—she’d given him a reason...
Christ, stop overthinking everything!
> His run to work that morning had been about trying to clear his mind, to get himself focused, back to how he’d been before she’d come into his life. What it had really proved was that it couldn’t be done. Not easily. The only way he could foresee being able to think straight by day was having her in his bed by night. And surely that was madness.
But, madness or not, he was fast running out of options.
Maybe she was too. Maybe that was why she wanted to see him. Hell, he could hope.
Grabbing his mobile, he made for the door just as the device started ringing in his palm. He checked the screen and halted in his tracks—Gran.
He cut the call instinctively. He’d text her back...tell her he was busy and that he’d—
It started to ring again and he thrust his fingers through his hair. The early hour, the repeated ringing—it had to be urgent. In spite of his recent run, ice ran through his veins and he glanced up, spying movement across the office. Jennifer was approaching and still his phone rang.
He looked from it, to her, and back again, knowing what he had to do and fearing it all the same.
Just tell her you’ll call her back.
