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“It’s all yours. Consider it a gift for accepting the job after I practically blackmailed you. You’re free to take it home if you please,” he added.
“Good thing you did.” I giggle, running my hands over the smooth back of the laptop. Then I turn to him with a grateful smile. “Something tells me that I might enjoy working for you a little too much.”
Mitch stalks toward me and my heart resumes its earlier aerobics. His eyes have darkened and I can’t, for the life of me, predict what he wants to do. I find myself stepping back the closer he gets until my ass is pressed against the desk, knuckles turning white from gripping it hard.
When we are only a hair’s breadth away, I find myself tilting my head up to look in his eyes, eyes that are now closer to black.
“I will not appreciate inappropriate office conduct.”
I blink when his eyes dip toward my lips and back to my eyes. My lips part as I try to make sense of what he just said. But I, instead, find his gaze returning there.
Oh, God…
“What do you mean?” I manage to say in a whispering tone.
“Playing coy, Bethany?” he croaks in a way that makes the hairs on my skin stand on end. His breath, fanning my face, is minty, and his lips are so delicious looking. I find myself wanting to wrap my hands around his neck and lower those gorgeous lips to mine. The fact that this is happening right in a glassy office where any of the workers could see causes my nipples to tighten in arousal.
God... This is insane.
When I gaze into Mitch’s eyes, I see a desperate hunger in those depths that causes my toes to curl. If this is how I’m feeling from having him this close, will I simply combust when he touches me?
When Mitch begins to lean in, I pant. But before his lips can touch mine, overlapping conversations cause him to take a step back. “There’s a meeting in five minutes. Try not to flirt your pretty ass off with your coworkers.”
With that, he moves out of the office, and I move on wobbly legs behind the desk, settling on the chair and allowing the breath I had not realized I’d been holding to leave in a rush. And as I try to busy myself with work so it doesn’t look like I almost kissed my boss, there are only four words that slam into me.Mitch had been jealous!
* * *
The weekly meetings with Aaron are to discuss how far the All4One creation is coming along. Aaron, who's still on a contract in NY, does backend development for the app, which is pretty cool because he's great at it. Both siblings know that they're working on the same project and do not have a problem with it. We meet up at a quieter bar where we nurse a bottle of beer over quiet conversations.
“All4One has so many prospects,” Aaron observes as he looks through the digital report I hand him.
“We already have a couple of investors lined up.”
“That's great.”
“I know. But I am taking my time,” I tell him. I would hate to make mistakes at this point, knowing that even though I haven't exactly been in communication with my parents, they're keeping tabs on me and will know if my project crashes and burns.
“How are things with Beth?” Aaron asks me.
I stare at him for a moment, afraid there might be something he is getting at. But Aaron's features are relaxed and he looks like a typical brother who's only concerned for his sister. With that, I visibly relax.
“She's doing quite alright. More than alright.” I chuckle, remembering the long hours Beth spends behind the system. Beth, when it comes to crunching numbers and codes is like a dog with a bone. She works harder than most of my staff, and I'd be lying if I said she isn't a real blessing.
“That's always been Beth.” Aaron chuckles, looking proud. “I'm happy you offered her the job,” Aaron says as he takes another swig of beer. “She needed to stop moping about the stupid guy that broke her heart. I always knew he was up to no good.”
I remember the conversation I'd had with Beth in the car and anger pours through me in waves. Even though her ex had pretty much shattered her heart, I can only hope my words of encouragement might cheer her up.
Beautiful Beth, whose understated yet classy clothes that hug those feminine curves distract me to no end. I find myself thinking about her far more than I should be, glaring when Mateo attempts to take her out for an after-work drink. I always breathe out a sigh of relief when she jokingly turns him down. I cannot explain why I'm getting territorial with her or the ugly feelings that course through me when she smiles at my designer.
“I think the stupid prick was cheating on her,” Aaron says, picking at the label on the condensed bottle. She told me about that, but if she didn’t tell her brother, I’m not about to break her trust, so I keep quiet.
Aaron simply shakes his head. “I should have beaten the shit out of him when I had the chance.”
“It's not too late,” I say, a fierce sense of protection enveloping me, but I know it's nothing like what Aaron feels. Though I still feel very protective over Beth, I know my feelings are not the same they were when we were growing up. Not since the first week back in Latimer after I'd caught her lounging in the pool. These days, keeping my hands off of her is a real exercise. There are days I struggle to have a face-to-face conversation with Beth, especially when she has her glasses sitting on that straight nose and her lips looking more kissable than ever.
“Beth is better off without him,” Aaron says.
I nod twice because he's right. Beth is phenomenal and a man who does not know that is a fool.
