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With that final petty but very satisfying snip, she walked out and gently closed the door behind her.
CHAPTER NINE
NOMATTERHOWhard Damon focused on his computer screen, no matter how many times he reread the words, none of it stuck. His eyes kept darting to the clock, watching it tick closer and closer to eight.
What the hell had he been thinking last night? How could he have let himself lose control like that?
Too long without a loverhad been one reason he’d conjured up at one in the morning when he’d lain awake staring at the ceiling. That damned song he’d encouraged her to play that had sounded like sex incarnate, another reason he’d grasped on to at four as he’d wandered into his kitchen and punched the power button on his coffee machine.
Or perhaps it was just that he couldn’t get her out of his mind, which was what he’d finally settled on when he’d forced himself under an icy shower at five that morning. An experience that had been completely not worth the pain when he’d walked into his office and gotten hard just looking at his desk where Evolet had lain, golden hair spread across the surface, her body flushed a shade of pink that had looked all the more alluring against the contrast of her wine-colored dress yanked down to her waist.
When he’d pulled her dress down and uncovered her bare breasts, he’d nearly lost it then and there. The occasional shyness that cropped up, her embarrassment at appearing coquettish, had only added to her allure. The few times she let him see her—really see her—the contrasts of her personality intoxicated him. She could be calm and professional, analytical and perceptive. Their conversations last night—before he’d lost his mind—had stimulated him in a way no date had in a very long time. If ever.
But then she could be feisty, fire tempered by a compassionate nature he’d heard about from his employees and witnessed firsthand when she’d bought him dinner with her own money.
It shouldn’t have mattered. But it did.
His computer dinged, and a notification signaled a new email. He clicked on it, his pulse ticking up. A calendar request for a meeting at eight o’clock from Evolet Grey.
She was probably going to quit. That or tell him she had filed charges against him for harassment. Nothing less than he deserved. Even if the emotional nuances of his attraction to Evolet weren’t troubling enough, he had crossed a line.
The next nine minutes dragged on. Finally, the clock turned eight. His door opened not a second later, and Evolet walked in.
His chest tightened. Today she wore a black–and-white striped collared shirt and a pale yellow skirt with a black belt snug around her waist. Her hair was once more back in the severe bun. The memory of it spilling like silk over his wrists, caressing his skin as he’d kissed her, made his temper flare.
“Good morning, Evolet.”
“Good morning. Is now a good time?”
With the resignation of a man heading to the gallows, he nodded. She crossed to the chair she’d occupied just hours before, curled up barefoot eating macaroni and cheese, and sat with the aplomb of a queen.
“I have two things to discuss with you—the first of which is the updated bid.”
Business. He could handle business talk. He gestured for her to continue, and for eleven blissful minutes they reviewed the changes they’d made last night, discussed what work still needed to be done.
“Can we get the bid submitted before the thirteenth?” he asked.
“Yes. I would say at least a day before.”
“Good.”
Evolet cleared her throat. “Which brings me to the second matter I wanted to discuss with you.”
Tension knotted his neck. “Yes?”
“Yes?”
Some of her bravado slipped. She breathed in deeply, her hands settling on her lap as she laced her fingers together. “I have a proposal for you.”
“Interesting. Normally it’s the man who does the proposing.”
A blush stole over her cheeks. The sight of her skin turning pink tugged memories of the previous night to the forefront.
“Spit it out, Evolet,” he growled.
“All right.”
She looked him dead in the eye, and he suddenly had the feeling that the world was about to drop out from under him.
