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“No, it’s—”
“—but I won’t.”
“Oh.” She looked across the console at him, and had to fight answering his smile with one of her own. “Okay.”
“The thing is, I like you—and I’m not just saying that to get you to talk about Jack. Frankly, I’m sick of the sonofabitch, so we could never talk about him again and I’d be fine with that.”
“Me, too.”
“Good. So, just so you know, the dare stands, should you decide to accept it.”
Containing her grin took everything she had as she opened her door and got out of his SUV. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“I’m counting on it.”
His low voice stirred butterflies in her stomach and had her reconsidering right then. She could just lean in, reach across the seat, grab a fistful of his jacket and—
No.
“Don’t forget your dessert,” he reminded as she swung the door shut.
She grabbed her leftovers, and the Tiramisu from the back seat, and after a quick, “Goodnight,” transferred to her own car. Only after she was buckled in and had the engine started did Dean begin to drive toward the exit. He was probably going back home to work on his program for a few more hours.
The thought reminded her of his comment that there was a lot at stake, for him and his employees, and she realized he’d completely deflected her question about whether or not his company was in trouble.
She knew what that was like even though she didn’t have anyone depending on her. In fact, there were a few things she could get done at home tonight as well. Dessert and a cup of coffee would get her through an hour or two.
Except, she remembered she’d left her laptop sitting on her desk. In fact, she’d been in such a rush to get Dean out, she realized she hadn’t even logged out. After a moment of debate, she shut off her car, locked it, and headed into the building.
The entrance and hallways were well lit, but the larger businesses that made up the main floor only had a few low-watt security lights on. She hurried over and hit the call button on the wall, because without Dean’s overwhelming presence, at this time of night, she preferred the elevator.
On the fourth floor, the ding of the arriving elevator car gave a final echo in the silent hall as she stepped out to glance in each direction. This level was mostly small business owners, and all of them had gone home for the night. Not a single light on. Her pulse skipped a beat, and she reminded herself she was only going to be here long enough to grab her laptop.
In the middle of pulling her keys from her pocket, she noticed broken glass glittering on the steel-gray carpeting in front of her door. Her fingers curled around the metal until the sharp teeth of the individual keys bit into her skin. A rush of fear-fueled adrenaline lodged her heart at the back of her throat and backed her up against the opposite wall.
With her free hand, she fumbled for her phone in her purse. Darting her gaze back and forth along the hall, she verified she was still alone. Right now, the fact seemed a double-edged sword. She keyed in 9-1-1 while gingerly easing along the wall until she could see into her office.
Her thumb hovered above the send button on her phone as she scanned for any moving shadows. The light from the hallway illuminated enough inside to confirm the room was empty. Everything was still. Her gaze landed on her laptop, still open upon the desk. She blew out a soft breath of relief, and felt a bit of the tension leave her shoulders.
She pocketed her phone and moved forward to push open the office door. The bottom scraped across even more fragments of glass on the inside. Shards crunched with a muted sound between her shoes and the carpet as she reached to flip on the light.
Hand still on the door handle, she froze as it registered that all her neatly packed boxes had been overturned and scattered across the floor. Papers and design samples covered every available surface: the carpeting, her desk, her small design table, Grace’s old desk.
Shock gave way to anger.
The loud ding of the elevator made her jump and electrified her pulse.
Oh God, they’re coming back!
She whirled around to search for an escape route as a second surge of adrenaline coursed through her body. Other than the elevator, the only way out was the stairs, and she’d have to run past the arriving car to reach them.
A quick reach flicked the lights off again, and s
he let the door go to dash behind her desk. An open drawer connected with her shin. She sucked in a gasp and blinked away instant tears as she dropped to her knees in the space where her chair belonged. Pain throbbed in her leg with each frantic thump of her heart.
Seconds ticked by so slow each one felt like a minute. Icy fingers of fear clawed up her spine, raising the hair on the back of her neck as her lungs compressed in her chest until she could barely gulp in enough oxygen. Paper crinkled beneath her trembling limbs, ten times louder in the terrifying silence.
What could she do? She had no means of protection, no weapon. Her gaze hopelessly scanned the floor in the dark as she wondered if she could risk reaching into her top drawer for her letter opener.
