Page 44 of Following His Orders

“Mildly,” he reminds me.

I pull out of Nathan’s arms. “And you two idiots knew this?” I turn my glare on Xavier and Alistair.

They share a glance before returning their eyes to me. “Yep,” they say at the same time.

“I can’t believe you! You’re meant to be his friends, and you’d risk his life by giving me a basket of bananas. Then sending me in here after you knew I ate one?”

“Okay… One, it’s mild. He’s not dying. And two, how was I meant to know you’d come in here and swap saliva?” Xavier counters.

“Allergies get worse with exposure. Did you know that? One day, thatmild…” I add air quotes to the last word. “…allergy could turn anaphylactic.”

“Bentley, it’s fine. I’m okay.” Nathan steps in front of me.

“Are you seriously defending them right now? They could have killed you,” I hiss in reply.

“Look at me. The tingling has already stopped. I’m fine,” he says again.

I glance back at him and pause.Huh, his lips aren’t as big as they were.But they still look swollen. Okay, so maybe I overreacted. Did I just imagine they were as big as his face before?

“You should go to a doctor,” I tell him. “What if it gets worse again, or your throat closes up?”

“Bentley, I’m fine,” he repeats. “Actually, Ishouldsee a doctor. Come on, you can drive.” He walks around me to grab his phone and keys from his desk. “You two idiots can hold down the fort,” he tells Xavier and Alistair as he clasps my hand in his.

“You’ve never gone to a doctor before when you’ve had a reaction,” Xavier comments.

“First time for everything,” Nathan says, walking past them and tugging me along behind him. “Tracey, cancel my meetings for the next two hours, please.”

“Okay,” she responds without glancing up from her computer.

Then it occurs to me that Nathan and I are walking through the office holding hands. I take a peek behind me, expecting everyone to be watching, to be gawking and whispering. No one is. Everyone is just milling around and going about their day.

TWENTY

Ihold the passenger side door of my car open for Bentley. “I thought you wanted me to drive?” she asks.

“I love you, Bentley, but you’re not driving my car. Get in,” I tell her, nodding my head in the direction of the open door.

“Are you sure you’re okay to drive?”

“Perfectly capable.”

She looks at me, inspecting my face. I can already feel that the swelling on my lips has gone down, significantly. They don’t even swell that much, just enough to be noticeable.

Fucking Alistair and Xavier… I can’t believe they sent Bentley bananas.The assholes.Then again, if the shoe were on the other foot, I’d more than likely do the same thing to them. My allergy is nowhere near as bad as how Bentley perceived it. Yes, my lips swell a little, and sometimes I’ll get hives all over me, but my throat doesn’t close up. I’m not at risk of anaphylaxis.

Driving out of the garage, I point the car in the direction of my apartment. I have no intention of going to see a doctor. I do, however, have every intention of going home and fucking my girlfriend into a coma. I figure if she’s out cold, she can’t quit the firm. I won’t have to worry about her taking Xavier up on that offer he threw out to go work at Christianson Corp. Which, don’t get me wrong, if you’re going to be an in-house attorney for the private sector, Xavier’s family business would be the place to do that. I’m not just being selfish in wanting Bentley to stay on at the firm. A huge part of my reason for wanting her to stay is for her own career development. I know I can teach her things others can’t.

I’m not being farcical. I’m just being a realist.

There is a reason I’ve managed to get to where I am in my career. Why I’ve made such a name for myself in this city. Fuck, in thiscountry. I have clients fly in from all over the world to work with me. Though, I admit, the other part of me that wants her to stay—yeah, that’s all completely fucking selfish. I’ve become accustomed to our lunch meetings, to the daily dessert that she offers me.

“Hold up… You said you were going to the doctor. Why are we pulling into your apartment building?” Bentley asks.

“I’d be pulling intoourapartment building if you agreed to move in with me,” I tell her.

“Funny. Don’t change the subject. Why are we here?” she questions in a moredon’t fuck with metone.

“We’re here because I’m going to take you upstairs and fuck your brains out.” I look over at her and shut off the ignition.

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