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I lean back into my chair. “Fraternizing? Did you really just use that word?”
He shuts his eyes. “You know what I mean. This may be a volunteer position, but the rules are the same.”
“I wasn’tfraternizing.”
“He was sitting on your desk.” Brandon’s nostrils flare. “He’s not an employee. He’s not a member of the church. It’s not appropriate. Your door was wide open. Anyone could have seen you.”
My lips quirk. “Isn’t that how it’s supposed to be? Aren’t the doors always supposed to be open when men and women are together at churches?”
He averts his gaze. “We don’t have gendered rules like that here.”
I scowl. “Then what is this about?”
He leans forward. “I wouldn’t tolerate this among my gym employees either. This has nothing to do with working at a church.”
I lift my chin. “Tolerate what exactly, Brandon?”
Those dark eyes grow wide, and his cheeks flush. His voice drops to a whisper. “I won’t tolerate insubordination, Mariana.”
My breath hitches, and heat rushes between my legs. Oh my God. Is it just my imagination, or does he feel this electricity between us, too?
I lick my lips and lean forward, meeting his gaze with a challenge in my eyes. “Insubordination? I’m not even a real employee.” I can’t help the way my voice drops to a low, sultry tone. “Are you sure this isn’t about something else?”
When his eyes darken, I let my body melt back into the chair and flip a chunk of hair over my shoulder. My God, I can’t believe I’m behaving this way. My taut nerves are making me reckless.
“You won’t tolerate insubordination from me, but I have to let you touch me without complaint. Is that it?”
His eyes grow huge, and a wicked heat sizzles through my veins. “I never…” He grits his teeth. “I never should have done that.”
An itch for rebellion quakes through my whole body. I lean forward, setting my elbows on his desk. “What if I liked it?”
His face grows flushed, and that big chest rises and falls rapidly. “I’m courting your sister.”
I snort. “She and I both know you’re not even into her. You only asked her out to make my dad happy.”
He averts his gaze. “You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do.” I lift my hand and rub my index finger along my bottom lip. Brandon jerks back, looking utterly baffled by my behavior.
I’m a little baffled too. Why am I pushing him so hard when I really don’t want to get fired?
I enjoy being around him every day.
Brandon stands up suddenly, his rolling chair shooting out behind him like a rocket. “I need a moment. We’ll talk at the end of the day.”
A split second later, the door slams, and I sit in silence for several minutes, listening to the pounding rhythm of my racing heart.
Mariana
He didn’t come back.
The sun sets behind the ocean as I drive through the hills of an upscale Santa Barbara neighborhood, my eyes getting bigger with each house I pass. Damn. My dad mentioned that Brandon lives in a nice house, but I never expected this.
No wonder he didn’t come back today. If I lived in this neighborhood, I would never leave.
A small smile tugs at my lips. He’s going to be outraged when he sees me.
He called the office a half hour ago asking for several books from his office shelf. I overheard bits and pieces of Harper’s conversation with him, and as soon as she hung up, I volunteered to drive them to his house, even though he requested her.
