“You can’t stay in here all day. Come on. I think you should go out there and at least see what he has to say. Why are you giving up so easily? I thought you wanted this job.”
I did want it, but not the way it really was. I didn’t want to be known as the one who slept her way up to the top. “Just tell him that I’m not here.”
“Your car is out front and I told him you were here.”
I glared at Fran and I knew that she wasn’t going to let me languish. I hadn’t even been home fifteen minutes. I thought I deserved a little more time than that.
“Get up or I’m going to let him in and take him here.”
I looked around the room and then at my reflection in the mirror of the vanity. “You wouldn’t.”
She shrugged. “You should know better than that.”
Getting up, I watched her shut the door and knew that I didn’t have a choice. I could hear her opening the front door and I quickly cleaned the smeared mascara under my eyes. I didn’t want to see him, but I especially didn’t want him to see me like this. My eyes were a little puffy, and again I wished that my complexion would hide my feelings a bit more.
Going out to the living room where he was waiting, I steeled myself for him. Greg’s green eyes met mine and I knew that he knew instantly that I was upset. He rushed to me and I paused before letting my hands go into his. “I’m sorry for what happened earlier, Desiree.”
I pulled my hands from his as I felt the familiar shock from the touch. I didn’t want him touching me because then I wouldn’t be able to think. Fran was in the kitchen and I knew she was trying to eavesdrop. I gave her a look, and after a bit of silent negotiation, she finally left us alone and went to the back of the house.
“Is that your sister?”
I looked back at Fran’s retreating form. She looked nothing like me.
“No, she’s my roommate. Why do you ask?”
He chuckled. “Because I think she was ready to clock me when I came to the door. She thought I was Don.”
I smiled for a moment. It sounded like something Fran would do. I knew that she was protective of me, and she was already railing against Don about the incident. “Sorry about that. Fran can be a little intense sometimes, but her heart is in the right place.”
“No trouble. I think it’s sweet that she cares about you like that.”
I went to the kitchen and poured a glass of wine. I almost didn’t ask him if he wanted any, but my southern hospitality won out. “Did you want a drink?”
He seemed relieved and nodded his head quickly. “Yes I do. It’s been one of those days.”
I couldn’t have agreed more and topped off my own before corking the bottle. “So what can I do for you, sir?”
“I want you to come back.”
There was no way that it was going to happen. I was not about to deal with those girls and men like Don anymore. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to be there. Maybe I was supposed to be back with my own kind of people. At least them I understood.
“No, thank you.”
He frowned at me and I tried not to smile in response. I really liked the way he looked at me then. I felt like I should give more of an explanation, but I didn’t want to.
“You have the job. Not the internship, but as the newest junior member of the accounting team. I wanted to come over here and tell you in person.”
“The six weeks isn’t even up yet.”
“I don’t care. The rest will be told the program is over for the year and they are no longer needed. I meant it when I said that you would be valuable to the company. I don’t want to lose you.”
I paused with his choice of words. I knew it was going to be hard to deny him, but it was harder than I could have ever imagined.
“It would just be too weird. Besides, I don’t want to work for a man like Donald.”
“Donald is not going to be with the company much longer. You will work for me.”
I bit my bottom lip. I knew I was doing it, but the urge was just too strong to stop it. Had he really gotten rid of the other partner? Was he going to do it because of me? I needed the job and I wanted it, but could I really come back from all of that? Could I really work at a place where everyone thought I was a slut? I didn’t really think that I could.
“I can’t, sir. I just can’t. You don’t know what people are saying about me. About us.”
I leaned in to tell him so that it wasn’t broadcast out loud, not considering what it meant to be so close to him. I was on my third glass of wine already, and I don’t know why I didn’t move back when I was finished talking. I just stood there looking up into his emerald eyes, unable to move. I wanted him to kiss me so badly. I thought he was going to, and I readied myself for the touch, but it never came.
By the time I realized it wouldn’t, he was standing farther away from me. I looked away. I felt like such an idiot. Why did I always feel this way around him? He made me feel so crazy.
Taking another drink, I willed my hands to stop trembling. I finally just put the empty glass down on the table and tried to get myself together. I forgot what we’d been talking about and when I looked over, I swore that the shade of his eyes was darker than before.
“What do I have to do to get you to stay, Desiree?”
I put my hand on the table to steady myself a little and tried my best to get a grip. I wasn’t drunk, but the feelings were similar as he devoured me with his eyes. The look bothered me in several ways, one of them being that he seemed to want me so badly but wasn’t making a move. It was frustrating, and after the day I’d had, I just wanted a kiss. In another way I felt like if I was going to get blamed for it, I might as well do it.
“I just don’t think it will work, Greg. Thank you for the opportunity and everything, but I think it’s better for me to find something else.”
He shook his head like he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “I need you, Desiree.”
I heard the words and thought I had heard wrong, but he was coming towards me and I knew I had heard him right. His eyes lingered on my lips before going to my eyes, and I felt the same spark that I had from across the room. He was blinding to me in a way, and when he finally grabbed me and pulled me to him, I was able to feel everything that he had to offer.
Greg’s lips were soft but insistent, and his grip was so tight I couldn’t have moved away if I had wanted to. I heard a low moan and wasn’t sure if it came from me or him. I didn’t care as his tongue flicked in my mouth. Another sound was added to the air and I wrapped my arms around his neck as he deepened the kiss. My mind had shut down long before, and I wasn’t even thinking about what I was actually doing. I knew that I should stop, but I just didn’t want to.
Only when I felt his hands moving lower, cupping my ass, did I push away from his chest. I wasn’t ready for that kind of encounter, even though I wanted him badly. He growled at me and pulled away, his arms still on my shoulders as I tried to disentangle myself from his neck. My body was humming and it was hard to even look at him or talk. I wanted him too badly.
“You have to come back, Desiree.”
I knew that if I went back, everything that had been said about me would become true. I wasn’t going to be able to keep him at bay for long, and I honestly didn’t want to. The more I looked at him staring at me in such a way, the more I wanted to tell him to never stop. It was not something I was proud of, the need that I felt, but it was unstoppable.
“I just don’t know, Greg. I don’t think we should work together.” Not the way he had just kissed me. Maybe it was better if he was not my boss.
“I’m not leaving here until you tell me that you are going to come back. I have seen your work the last couple of weeks, and I know that I’m making the right decision. I know that you are supposed to be here with me.”
I wasn’t sure what he was really asking for, but it was not hard to see that he was sure that he wasn’t going to leave. The man was used to getting his way, and I wanted the job. I wanted him. Why didn’t he just take me?
Finally I nodded in agreement. We both knew that he was going to win anyways.