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She groaned. “Oh, Eli, about that. Your taste in women is awful.”
I searched her face, settling my gaze on her eyes, filled with compassion and a hint of gentle teasing. I shook my head. “Not anymore.”
Her cheeks slowly turned pink, but she didn’t look away. I still held tightly to her hand, and I tugged her closer. She tipped her chin toward me and blinked slowly as my focus turned to her lips.
Footsteps coming up the path made her turn, and she pulled away. “Looks like breakfast is here.”
The driver handed over a big bag of food and hurried away under my death glare. I waved her away from the bag and unpacked everything, handing her a foil covered plate and her coffee, then putting the container of strawberries and melon in between us.
“See, I can do things for myself,” I said.
“I know you can,” she said, taking a big mouthful of buttered bagel. I was mesmerized by her mouth for a moment. She noticed me looking at her. “What?”
“I like watching you enjoy that.”
She blushed again. “Are you starting something?” she asked.
“I might be trying to start something.”
Her mouth dropped open and I popped a strawberry in, our eyes locked as she chewed. A bit of the juice clung to her lower lip and without any thought at all, I leaned down and kissed it away. Before I could move back, her hands went around my neck, pulling me close to deepen the kiss.
Chapter 18 - Violet
Before I knew what was happening we were making out in the park. His brokenhearted admission of how his life was underneath his grumpy exterior made me forgive a lot of his behavior, or at least understand him more. I couldn’t imagine losing my dad and my sister, and I wasn’t even that close with her the way Eli seemed to have been with Callie. I liked serious Eli, especially when his eyes bore into mine with such intensity I felt like I was being physically pulled toward him.
I could taste the strawberry on his lips and when his hands lowered to my waist, I felt a thrill as strong as when we were all alone in his office. His touch made the whole world disappear. His fingers roamed up and down my back and soon he made a frustrated sound against my mouth.
“These clothes,” he muttered.
My turtleneck was firmly tucked into my pleated skirt and he was having trouble finding skin. As much as I wanted to feel his hands on my skin, that made me remember we were in the middle of a park. To prove it, a couple of joggers ran past us on the trail a few yards away. Of course they didn’t glance over, this was New York, but I still felt mortified.
I gave him one last, lingering nibble on his lip and pulled away, keeping my eyes lowered. If I saw his face and it had the least bit of disappointment, I’d be on him like the butter on my bagel.
Holy crap, I liked him way too much. It almost seemed like I might…
No. I didn’t love Eli. He was my boss. We were way too different.
I finally mustered the nerve to look up at him. He looked pretty pleased with himself, and I shook my head. He innocently took a bite of scrambled eggs and pretended we were capable of keeping our hands off each other. My competitive nature kicked in, wanting to prove him wrong, but thankfully my senses overruled moving closer to him and licking the crumb off his lower lip.
“It’s not a good idea to keep doing this,” I said.
“Breakfast in the park?” he asked, still feigning innocence. He needed to stop being adorable, damn it.
“Making out in the park.”
He bit back a grin. “We can save that for my office, yes, that’s smart.”
I sighed loud enough to scare a hopeful pigeon away. “You know we can’t do that,” I said. He frowned, but slowly nodded, even though he didn’t look convinced. “I really like working for Crenshaw Publishing. I loveNew York Style and Lifeand want to eventually advance in this field, but not this way.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and held firm in my decision. It would hurt, but no more physical contact between us, no more lingering glances, no more teasing games.
His frown grew into a full scowl. He looked downright offended. “I would never advance you because of what we did. Or do.”
Did he still think he could get me to change my mind on this? And did he outright admit what I thought he just did? “So, you’re saying you’re going to actively hold me back, like some kind of corporate sex hostage?”
I started to stand to stalk away, but he grabbed my wrist and yanked me back down.
“Stop,” he said firmly, dropping my wrist. He patted my hand and went back to his food. “That’s not what I said. You’ll get promotions if and when you qualify for them, same as everyone else.”
