The first two days of living with Emily are tougher than I thought they’d be. She sleeps in tight little shorts and tank tops. And she eats breakfast in them, too. She’s avoided me each night, sticking to watching TV in her room. I’m both relieved and saddened by it. And at work, she keeps herself busy. Often too busy to talk to me. I see her less now than I did before we became roommates.

“You still hanging in there?” Dom asks on the other end of the phone.

I peek over the partition between my desk and Emily’s. She’s busy talking to Aria, but I keep my voice low just in case. “Yeah. It’s easy to keep my hands and thoughts to myself when I barely see her.”

“Well, maybe you should stop acting like her chaperone.”

“I’m not—” I catch myself before my voice gets too loud.

“Oh, please. That designated driver excuse was crap, and you know it. And from what you said, you practically chased that other guy away from her at the bar.”

“I didn’t chase James away.” I look around to make sure James isn’t within hearing distance. He’s by the break room, a cup of coffee in hand.

“Listen, you need to either make a move to show her you’re still interested, or get the hell out of her way. The girl deserves to get laid. If not by you, then by someone else.”

“Nice, Dom. I’ve got to go finish these edits before quitting time. Talk to you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, we have that golf tournament, remember?”

I palm my forehead. “I completely forgot. No problem, though. I’ll be there.”

“Good. And bring a check for me. I paid your entry fee.”

“You got it. See you then.” I hang up and open my email to find Alex’s latest story. He covered the fire that occurred downtown this morning. The article is solid. All the facts are there. But it lacks something. “Alex,” I yell, holding my hand up in the air and wagging my fingers in the universal “come here” gesture.

“Uh-oh, you’re in trouble,” Olivia says in a singsong voice.

Alex walks over to my cubicle, placing his hand on the edge. “What can I do for you, boss?”

I finish the final comment in his document and send it back to his email address. “I just sent you your story. I need the rewrite by five.”

“Rewrite?” He stiffens. “What didn’t you like about it?”

I turn my chair to face him. “It’s all there, but your delivery is flat. This was a huge fire. One that threatened a lot of businesses downtown, yet you reported it like it was no more exciting than a broken traffic light.” The last story he covered for me.

“But it’s a news story. I can’t exactly make it exciting by adding my opinions in there.”

“You can add flavor to it without flat-out stating your opinion,” Emily says, leaning over the divider into my cubicle.

“How?” Alex asks. “And please don’t let Mr. Monohan know I asked for help. I don’t want to lose this job.”

Emily waves her hand in the air. “Don’t sweat it.” She jerks her head in my direction. “I had to teach this one, too. Back before For the Record came to be.”

“You did what now?” I ask.

“You know, when Aria had us combine our stories. Mine was incredible and full of zest, and yours was flat and lifeless.” She sticks her bottom lip out at me.

“Oh, you think so, huh?” That wasn’t how I remembered it at all. Though most of what I remember involved Emily’s body pressed against mine as we shared a chair to merge our stories. That and the way her hand kept landing in my lap, which I guessed was intentional. The woman loves to flirt with me. Or she did before a few days ago. The way she’s talking to me now reminds me of the way things used to be.

“I know so. You needed me to make you better. That was the best piece you ever wrote.”

I won’t deny that. “We make a good team. I’ll give you that much.”

“That’s all you’re going to give me? Really?” She steps out of her cubicle and walks around to mine. Extending her hand to Alex, she says, “Come on, Alex. I’m going to help you fix your article. Then we’ll see if David finally gives me the credit I deserve.”

Alex looks at me briefly before taking Emily’s hand. I can tell he doesn’t want to get in the middle of whatever this is between Emily and me, but he also doesn’t want to pass up the opportunity to work with her. Who would?

Emily looks back over her shoulder at me and winks, and I get the feeling she’s going to make this torture for me. I open the next file I have to edit, but my eyes keep going to Emily and Alex in the cubicle next to mine, which is tough to conceal, considering I have to stand up to see them. I pretend my back is bothering me and I need to stretch. Emily keeps catching me and smirking. Then she usually does something seductive, like pressing up against Alex’s arm in the chair they’re sharing. She’s trying to get a reaction out of me, and damn, if it isn’t working.

“She’s brutal,” Nate says, walking over to me with a cup of coffee in his hand. “Why is she working with one of your staff writers, anyway?”

“His story needed work, and she’s trying to prove a point.” I resist the urge to see what she’s up to now. Is her hand in his lap?

“Want me to keep an eye on them for you?” Nate asks, still watching them over my shoulder.

“Emily can do whatever she wants. She’s a free woman.”

“Sure, but with the way you two flirt, we all figure you’ll get back together eventually.”

I was probably the only one in the office who didn’t think that was true. Well, other than Emily. She flirts with everyone in her age range. Nate being the exception only because he’s taken.

“Well, the good news is it’s almost quitting time.” Nate taps his hand on the partition. “You have plans for the weekend?”

“Golf tournament tomorrow. You?” I make a few corrections to the article I’m editing and save it, knowing it will need another read-through when my head is a little clearer. Emily and I didn’t carpool since I had an out-of-office meeting this morning, so I plan to stay late and finish up a few things without everyone else around.

“Aria is spending the day with her sister, so Caleb and I are going fishing.”

“Nice. Hope the fish are biting for you.”

Nate scoffs. “Do me a favor and figure out whatever is going on with you and Emily. You’re no fun like this.” He turns around and goes back to work.

I drown out the sounds of Emily and Alex working on the story. Alex is entirely too happy to have Emily’s help, and Emily is clearly trying to get to me by flirting with him. I manage to get through several more edits and send them to Aria for final approval. Friday evenings are always hectic, and I’m looking forward to going home and relaxing on the couch with a cold beer.

My phone dings with a text from Emily, indicating I should check my email. I don’t give her the satisfaction of acknowledging the text in any way. Instead, I keep working on my to-do list for Monday. Finally, she taps her nails against my cubicle.

“Some of us would like to get out of here at a reasonable hour, so check your email, David.”

“In a sec.” I wave a hand in the air, which I’m sure annoys the hell out of her.

She walks into my cubicle, pushes my chair aside, and opens my email. “There. Attachment downloaded. Now read it.”

“I may have to report you to human resources for going through my personal email messages, Ms. Richards,” I say, knowing she hates when people call her that. She once told me she never liked her last name because it sounds like a man’s name.

“Then I may need to report you for not doing your job, Mr. Burke,” she counters, swatting at my leg to get me to move over so she can sit beside me.

“I’ll just hang out over here until you two are finished with whatever this is,” Alex says, but neither Emily nor I look at him.

Her hand is resting on my thigh, and her lavender shampoo is tickling my senses, driving me wild. I pull our chair closer to my desk and start reading the article. From the very first line, I can see a noticeable difference. The enormity of the fire and what the damage means for several businesses downtown jumps right off the page. I make a few corrections and shoot it off to Aria, knowing she’s waiting for it.

“So?” Emily says. “You obviously approve or you wouldn’t have sent it for production.”

I meet her gaze, our faces so close my pulse quickens. I don’t allow myself to look at her lips. It would be too tempting. Instead, I stand up, taking her with me since she was practically sitting on my lap. “You did well. Keep it up and I may lose Alex to the opinions section.”

“No way,” Alex says. “Emily is great and I loved her suggestions for my story, but please don’t ask me to work with her again.”

Emily turns to look at him, a hurt expression on her face. “Why not?”

Alex motions to her from head to toe. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to concentrate with you sitting that close? You’re gorgeous, Emily. Clearly, you know that. And while you might have been flirting with me to get David’s attention, it still got to me. So, since we’re finished here, I’m going home to take a cold shower.” He gives us a small wave and walks away.

“Nice. You ruined the poor guy,” I say, standing up and gathering my things. “Why were you trying to make me jealous anyway?”

“Were you jealous?” she asks, playing coy. “Didn’t notice.” She turns and walks back to her cubicle. “See you at home, roomie,” she adds as I head for the elevator.

I stop for a six-pack on the way back to the apartment. My guess is Emily will have a date since it’s Friday night. I’ll need a few in me to watch her get dressed up for an evening with some other guy. About halfway home, I contemplate if the six-pack is going to be enough, but I can’t let myself turn into an alcoholic just because my roommate is sexy as hell. As long as she doesn’t go out with Alex or James or anyone else we work with, I should be able to get through this. I should really hole up in my room and wait until she leaves.

My phone rings as I park. “What’s up, Dom?”

“Hey, bad news, man. The golf tournament is off tomorrow.”

“What happened?” I hurry to catch the elevator before the family of three inside closes the door. I reach over and press four for my floor.

“I forgot I promised Will the last spot. I figured you’re not much of a golfer anyway, so you wouldn’t mind.”

“That’s fine.” It’s not like I paid yet anyway. I like golf, but I’m not that good and the other guys usually wind up having to pick up the slack for me.

“You should use the time to get to know Emily better. If you catch my drift.” He laughs, but he’s completely serious. He could never have a female roommate. He’d sleep with her, dump her, and be searching for a replacement within a week. I’m not making that mistake.

“The elevator just reached my floor. I’ve got to go,” I say, stepping out and starting down the hall. “Good luck in the tournament tomorrow.”

“Thanks, man.”

I hang up and pocket my phone so I can grab my keys. I switch the beer to my left hand since I’m not good at doing much lefty and open the door. I toss my keys onto the table and put the beer in the fridge. Then I strip out of my work clothes.

“Oh, shit!” Emily’s voice makes me jump, and I stupidly turn around, facing her in all my naked glory.

“Sorry!” I say, using the shirt clutched in my fist to cover my penis. “I’m so used to doing that I didn’t even think.”

She doesn’t attempt to cover her eyes or anything. Instead, she closes the door and studies me appreciatively. “You’ve been working out.” She nods and places her purse on the table.

I’m not sure what to do at this point. Do I back out of the room so she doesn’t have to watch my naked ass walk away? Do I ask her to close her eyes until I leave the room? Or do I drop the shirt and rush over to claim her lips with mine? My cock stands at attention at the mere thought. Damn it!

Emily laughs. “As funny as this is, I’m going to let you go put some clothes on.” She walks by me to her room, but she turns back and catches a glimpse of my bare ass. “Nice,” she says before disappearing inside her room.

I curse myself as I walk to my room in search of comfy clothes. That couldn’t have gone worse. The last thing any man wants a woman to do when he strips in front of her is laugh. But maybe this is a good thing. Maybe it’s what I need to get me to stop thinking about Emily this way.