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She turns and stares at me. “What are you doing here?” she asks, her expression dubious.
“I work here,” I hedge, still feeling like a deer caught in the headlights. “What are you doing?”
“Yoga.” She shrugs. “What does it look like, DW?”
“Right in the middle of the office?” I frown.
“Well, you weren’t here. I put a note on the door and took my lunch break. Am I not allowed to take a lunch break?” She tilts her head as if challenging me to respond.
And I’m responding. Just not verbally. I mentally tell my dick to get in check. “Yeah, you can take breaks.”
I just give her a look, then head over to the coffee maker. But remembering her penchant for pranks, I decide against it and head to my office instead. Theo the traitor stays behind to sniff Pancake and get pets from Paige.
I shut my door and lean up against it, taking a deep breath. It’s amazing to me how someone so annoying can be so damn alluring at the same time. As much as I don’t want to like her, she’s like a magnet that keeps drawing me back in, no matter how much I try to reason that I shouldn’t be attracted to her.
I try to tackle some emails and shake her out of my head, but after reading the same lines over and over, I head out to the reception area. Just as I round the corner, I see her pouring coffee into her mug from a tall thermos that she quickly slides back under her desk.
I try to bite back a grin. The guilty look on her face is priceless. “What’s the matter, Paige? You don’t like the coffee here?” I nod to the coffee bar.
“Um, yeah, no... I was having decaf.” She looks away. “Do you think you’ll ever learn to take a joke?”
“Probably when you learn to make one.” I shrug.
“You’re not funny.” She looks at me disdainfully.
“Never said I was, Sunshine.”
“What are you working on today, DW?”
I stare at her with equal disdain. “What areyouworking on, Paige? That’s the question of the day.” I lean over to see a Kindle under papers on her desk.
“Just passing the time until you have some work for me.”
I try to find my words, but they’re not there. I’m wildly distracted by her. So much that I can barely comprehend what she’s saying. And I hate this.
“Oh, I can find some work for you.” I march back to my office and pick up an armful of law manuals from my shelf, then drop them on her desk. “Here’s some reading you can do. You know, brush up on the law. Since you like to read and all.” I smirk.
She frowns and glares at me. “Why are you like this?”
“Why areyoulike this?” I retort.
“You’re an ugly man. In spirit and in looks.”
“Thanks,” I deadpan. “I was trying to look like your raccoon.”
She sits back and glares. I notice she’s changed into a brightly pattered dress that’s fitted on the top. “What did Pancake ever do to you? Why are you so rude to him?”
Ignoring her, I go on teasing. “There’s nothing useful in romance books anyway,” I say as I sit across from her and nod at her Kindle, which I notice is covered in stickers.
“What do you know about romance, Preston?” she challenges.
“It’s not real,” I tell her. “Why waste time reading books about it?”
She tilts her head at me. “Have you read one?”
“Nope,” I say matter-of-factly with a small smile of defiance.
“Then how do you know?” she asks, leaning forward like she’s going to prove me wrong.
