Chapter 19

The other set of elevator doors beside me were vibrating, and I saw the glowing numbers on the panel. How stupid were these security guards? They were chasing after me via the other elevators. I rolled my eyes and walked down the short, wide corridor, which I remembered. I recognized the door to his office.

When I reached it, I didn’t allow myself to think, I just pushed through them.

“You are very kind, Mr. Johnson. I trust you will find our services…” I caught Casper mid-sentence.

He was sitting on one of his pristine white couches with his hand in the air, speaking to a white-haired man sitting in front of him. The receptionist hadn’t lied; he was in a business meeting.

The trickling sound of the indoor waterfall that fed the koi pond in the corner was the only other sound in the room apart from Casper’s deep, sexy voice. Both the men had turned to look at me when I burst into the room. While the older man looked mildly surprised, Casper’s eyes narrowed. I suddenly feared that I had guessed correctly earlier. He wasn’t happy to see me. I had been banned.

“I’m sorry for interrupting this way,” I mumbled softly, feeling like an idiot.

Casper stood up with a jerk and extended a hand to the older man.

“I apologize, Mr. Johnson. We’ll have to continue our meeting some other time,” he said with that same winning smile. The man stood up and buttoned up his suit jacket before accepting Casper’s hand in a firm shake.

I stood at the door, aware now that my carefully constructed bun was falling apart, and the blue ribbon was slipping down my hair from all the running I had just done.

As the men shook hands, the two security guards burst in through the doors behind me.

“It’s all right, gentlemen. I can handle this,” Casper said to them, smiling again at the older man. He hadn’t looked at me since I burst into the room. I felt nervous and ashamed again, aware that I had interrupted something important and caused a scene. In no way did Casper Argent look happy about my presence. This had all been a bad idea and even more poorly executed.

“I’ll be in touch, Mr. Argent, and best of luck,” Mr. Johnson said, and Casper escorted him to the door. I stepped aside to let the men pass and instinctively hung my head in shame.

When the door closed, Casper slowly turned to me, thrusting both his hands into the pockets of his gray tailored pants.

“What are you doing here, Lily?” he asked, and I finally raised my head to meet his eyes.

His gaze had darkened – a deep, angry blue – and his face looked pinched but still handsome. He wasn’t pleased. I cleared my throat and shook my head, trying to get my curls back into manageable form.

“I wanted to come over here, and thank… and thank you,” I said with a nervous shudder, because Casper had now started walking toward me.

“What made you think that you could just come over here? Wasn’t my security chasing you around the building?” he asked.

I took in a deep breath, and without meeting his eyes again, I nodded. I could feel my cheeks burning up in shame.

Casper lapsed into silence, and I dared to look up at him. I thought I saw a curl of a smile forming on his face. But he didn’t want to acknowledge it.

“What is it, Lily? What did you want to thank me for? I thought we made it very clear earlier that we didn’t want to see each other again,” he said, walking away from me now toward a large oak table positioned against the glass wall.

I remained where I was, still at the door, still hanging my head. I took in a deep breath and decided that I had done nothing wrong. There was no reason for me to feel ashamed. I lifted my head and caught him taking up his position by his desk, leaning against it with his arms crossed.

“I watched your interview. I know that you decided to move the wind farm construction. I wanted to thank you for that,” I said, raising my chin high, trying to look prideful and confident.

Casper’s nostrils flared slightly, but he composed himself again. “There was no need to thank me, Lily. I didn’t do it for you,” he said in a quiet, somber voice, and our eyes met. I knew in that instant that he had done it for me. He had done it because I had convinced him to do it, because he wanted to do something for me as a parting gift.

I only pursed my lips and nodded.

“Either way, I wanted to thank you for doing the right thing,” I said, and he clenched his jaw.

“You make it seem like I was doing the wrong thing before. I only make calculated business decisions, Lily. It has nothing to do with emotions,” he said, and I raised an eyebrow.

All this while, I had been so worried about my emotions for him that I had forgotten to evaluate what his emotions for me were. What he was going through. Now everything he was saying contradicted what his eyes were communicating. This was an emotional decision, not a cold, calculated business one. Whether he admitted it now or not.

“Good for you, Casper,” I said, standing my ground.

My body was already beginning to react to his presence the way it always did. But this time, I had made up my mind to not give in. He was not going to have the better of me.

“So, you’re here to just thank me?” he asked, pursing his lips. His face was still darkened; he hadn’t relaxed. I was still afraid that he hated me.

“Yes, just… just because I know you are aware of how happy your decision has made me,” I said. My breath caught in my throat. I could smell him now, and his scent sent shivers down my spine. Casper breathed in deeply, and I noticed the way his shoulders squared. He was all hulking muscle, and I could feel the power of him in the room. I knew I had to stick to my resolve, but I could also feel myself disintegrating at the same time.

“And also, to apologize. I’m also here to apologize,” I forced myself to say.

Casper cocked an eyebrow up, as if to mock me. “You want to apologize to me?” he asked, and I was surprised to see that he had taken a few steps in my direction.

I shifted on my feet. This wasn’t going to be easy. Marla was right, apologizing to someone didn’t exactly come naturally to me.

“Why do you feel the need to apologize to me, Lily?” he asked, and I recognized that tone of laughter in his voice. He was enjoying himself again. Casper was back in his element.

“I wanted to apologize for my behavior. I know that I was too rash and impolite and a horrible guest,” I said, raising my chin up. The only way to battle my way out of this was by keeping my pride.

“A horrible guest?” he asked, raising both his eyebrows in mock-surprise.

“Yes, I was a guest on your plane and at your party, and I shouldn’t have made a scene,” I said, watching him as he came closer to me.

Casper suddenly threw his head back and laughed. My mouth nearly hung open from the insult. How could he laugh? Why did he always laugh at me? My fists clenched and unclenched themselves in fury. I could feel the back of my neck growing red with rage. If he didn’t stop laughing soon, I was going to slap him across his face.

“Lily, don’t ever apologize for standing up for yourself,” he said, his laughter dying suddenly as he looked me straight in the eye.

Wow. He really knew how to knock the breath right out of me.

He could see that I was confused, and he stepped closer to me.

“I have my own set of complications. Everyone does. But you stood up for yourself that day, and you shouldn’t have to apologize to me for it. That isn’t the Lily Fitz I know.”

I heard his words, but I couldn’t actually believe them.

Then he placed his large hands on my shoulders, sending electric shocks down my spine. I had to crane my neck up to look at him. He was towering over me, looking down at me with his warm gray-blue eyes. He had a smile on his face, and this time, something told me that the smile was genuine. He was pleased with me for whatever strange reason that I couldn’t understand.

“So, are you saying that you should be asking me for forgiveness?” I asked him, biting down on my lip.

Casper’s shoulders shook again as he laughed. “How about neither of us apologizes for the things we said?” he said, and I tried to suppress a smile that I knew I wouldn’t be able to hide for very long.

“I’m not apologizing. I’m just admitting that I was jealous. Of Samantha, of all the other women you are potentially sleeping with,” I said, and I cocked my head to one side to look up at him from a better angle.

Casper smirked and then drew in a deep breath. His hands dropped, stroking my arms as he went along, and he did it slowly so that I could feel his touch on every pore of my skin even through the fabric of my blouse.

“And I will admit that I did it for you. It wasn’t a business decision to move the wind farms. I did it because I wanted you to see me in an interview, to come running through the doors and forgive me for how angry I’ve made you,” he said in that smooth, deep voice of his that always made my skin tingle.

“Am I really that predictable?” I said with a laugh.

“Let’s test how well I can actually predict you,” he said, and I rolled my eyes and smiled at him.

“Go ahead,” I said, placing my hands on my hips as a challenge.

“I predict that you’re going to accept my job offer and come work with me so that I can start making more environmentally-conscious business decisions and never make you mad again,” he said.

I could barely hear him from how loud my heart was thumping against my chest.

“Only if you put in a clause that I can still protest your decisions if I don’t like them,” I said, and in a flash, Casper lunged at me. “I only came here to talk to you,” I said, as he drew me into his arms, his hands gripping my hips tightly like he was getting ready to ride a bike. I was only pretending. I wasn’t really trying to fight him off.

“I know. But things change; you get naked, you scream when I make you come. You know, things happen,” he whispered in my ears as he held me in his arms. My body jolted from his touch. He had sent goose bumps all over my flesh. I knew I was melting. I was losing all my resolve. I had just agreed to work with him.