The worst thing about working with the person you fucked the night before was randomly meeting him at the coffee machine the next morning. It figured today would be one of the days he was in-office

Liv considered bypassing her normal caffeine intake completely when she saw Owen talking to a woman in the tiny kitchenette, but as soon as she saw Shelley the receptionist flirting with him, all bets were off.

“Hey,” she said as she entered the small space. Shelley was playing with her hair, giggling at something Owen was saying. Was it wrong she wanted to pour the iced coffee that was sitting on the countertop right down Shelley's shirt? Maybe it would cool her off. Not that Liv was jealous.

She liked him. Way, way too much. That was the problem. Last night was perfect, even if they had christened the not quite finished suite in the prestigious Hanover Towers. Her cheeks flamed up as she remembered the second time they made love that evening. The balcony was the perfect place and it had been special. They’d both enjoyed the risk of having sex in the open. Again. It was becoming a habit to push their personal limits.

And now he was here, in front of her, and all she wanted to do was jump his bones again—and scratch out the receptionist’s eyes. What was wrong with her?

Owen immediately turned his attention to her and smiled, lazily. His gaze flicked down her body and she was glad she’d worn a summery dress today which showed off her curves.

Liv immediately looked away, concentrating on pulling out a bottled water from the fridge before grabbing a mug and filling from the coffee pot.

“Liv, how are you?” Shelley asked.

She’d always got on well with Shelley, but now she would have done anything to make her go back to her desk. Still, she smiled at the other woman and tried not to bare her teeth.

“Good thanks. Busy.” She was very aware of Owen sipping his coffee and watching her.

“You look tired. Late night?” It was an innocent question, but immediately Liv felt her stomach clench.

She risked a look at Owen over her cup, and she saw he was trying to stop a grin from spreading. Despite her drink, her mouth went dry and her mind blank.

“You’re right, she does look a little worse for wear, Shelley. Someone keeping you up at all hours?”

Liv shot him a death stare, and his grin overtook his face. “I wish,” she said at last, risking a glance at Shelley. The woman was the biggest gossip in the office, but luckily, she seemed completely oblivious to whatever was happening between Owen and herself. “Work is keeping me busy.”

“You need to relax a little more. Stress ages you.” Owen snorted and both Liv and the blonde receptionist glanced his way. He covered by taking a sip of his coffee then deliberately clearing his throat.

“I’ll make sure to take your advice, love.” She said at last to Shelley. The other woman nodded, smiled, then turned to Owen. She touched her hand to his arm and instant rage had Liv seeing red.

“I’ll talk to you later, Owen.” Shelley smiled in a come-hither way, then turned to Liv and gave her a quick smile and wave before she was gone.

Liv was alone in the small room with Owen and all she could think about was showing Shelley—showing everyone—that Owen wasn’t on the market any longer. She stopped that trail of thinking. They were having sex, that was it. Except it didn’t feel like simply a physical connection. She risked a glance up at him, and saw him closely watching her, amusement evident on his face.

“Fancy another lesson in living a stress-free existence? I know the perfect thing to relax you.” Owen’s voice was low and sexy. He stepped closer, putting his mug down on the counter, and reaching past her to grab an apple from the fruit bowl. His spare hand swept along her hip, lighting her senses on fire, too quickly it was gone again. “A repeat performance would be fun.”

Lust pushed through her body at warp speed and she had to grip her coffee mug to stop from reaching out. “You’re a bad man, do you know that?” Her voice was also low enough not to be overheard by passing colleagues.

“I can be very bad.” Owen stepped away from her, hunger apparent in his eyes. Her pulse quickened and wetness pooled between her legs. “I could follow you up to your office...”

Owen let that thought hang, and it encouraged her mind to envision all sorts of relaxing things that could happen while locked together in a room.

“You’re going to get us both fired,” she said.

“Yeah, but wouldn’t it be worth it? Going out with a bang—”

“I need to go.” She walked to the door, listening to Owen chuckle.

“Don’t forget your water.”

Liv turned, her cheeks flaming as she almost marched back to his side and grabbed the bottle he was holding.

“Am I distracting you, Livvy?” He said low, only for her ears.

“Yes. Now go to work, Mr. Griffin. I’m your boss, and I can punish you.”

“I’m very aware of that fact. And so is my dick.”

Liv couldn’t help herself, her gaze dropped to his jeans. There was a definite bulge.

“I need to go,” she repeated. And this time she didn’t stop until she got to her office.

What was wrong with her? She was completely besotted with the man and there was no way this would end well. That didn’t mean she could stop herself. She was in deep.

* * *

Hours later, when her physical reaction had diminished, guilt reared its ugly head once more. When she was with him, all she could think about was how perfect they were together. When they were apart, she remembered the thousand reasons it wasn’t meant to be. Couldn’t be.

Liv had to face it—she was lying to him—or at the very least, holding back the truth. He would be pissed at her when he found out who she was related to, but part of her still couldn’t believe he didn’t remember her.

Okay, so she had been the epitome of studious, boring, younger sister, hiding behind long blonde bangs and over-sized glasses. But still, her ego had taken a bit of a beating. She’d worked hard to put that image behind her and still be the old ‘Sissy’, too. But she also hadn’t seen him for over six years, since both her brother, Gabe, and Owen had joined the army.

And her brother would go ape-shit when he found out. If he found out, Liv corrected herself. Sitting inside her office, looking at the computer screen without seeing it, all she could think about was Owen. The way he felt inside her, the way he made her laugh and made her feel beautiful. It was perfect. Except, it was fake. None of it was real, was it? Especially not the way her heart pitter-pattered every time she thought of him. How her body hummed every time she saw him.

When she’d seen Owen’s resume sitting on her desk, days after their encounter, she thought it was kismet. She knew from a brief conversation with Gabe weeks before that Owen was looking for work in her field. Liv had thought very little of it at the time, but then, as she considered how she needed to plug the hole in personnel, she knew he'd be perfect.

Rubbing her eyebrow, she sighed, long and deep. Of course, none of this would have escalated had she declined the wedding invitation. She absolutely should have done so immediately.

But she hated the fact that Daniel was marrying the woman he’d left her for just a year ago. Louisa had been the floozy; the bit on the side. Liv had apparently been the marrying kind, but she’d been dumped, anyway. And now Louisa was a few months pregnant and they were having the white wedding Liv herself had always dreamed of.

It made her want to puke.

So when she’d received the invite, she knew she wanted her presence to be memorable. They all expected her to turn it down so she’d be the poor ex-girlfriend who still wasn’t over the asshole. In her eyes, there was no choice but to go—she simply didn’t know how to do it... until Owen had erupted into her life once more. Her plus-one would rub it back in their faces and get the obvious response.

Liv would look amazing and everyone would be jealous that someone like Owen would be on her arm. The perfect revenge. Was it worth it? She’d broken a promise to her brother not to date his friends and look where it had gotten her with Daniel. And now, she hadn’t been straight with Owen about who she really was. A work colleague of Gabe’s had been bad enough, but his best buddy?

Not good. This could only end in disaster.

A loud beep sounded through her office, startling her out of her miserable thoughts and making her realize she was still at work, and therefore needed to be doing something other than mooning. She picked up a contract she needed to review, but couldn’t focus on the written words. Her telephone intercom buzzed again and she hit the flashing button immediately.

“Yes?”

“I have your brother in reception. Have you time to see him? Can I send him up?”

Dread filled her. He was here? At her place of work? Whatever had happened? Gabe had probably met her at work maybe twice before. And both of those times were for a pre-arranged lunch. What if he’d found out about Owen?

“I’ll meet him down in reception. Thanks, Mary.” Scrambling up off her seat and grabbing her purse, Liv had to stop herself from sprinting down the stairs when the elevator didn’t arrive at her repeated jabbing of the button.

Why did Owen have to be in the office today? Because he works here too, you idiot. Yes, she was an idiot. With a fucking cherry on top.

“Please don’t run into Owen,” She whispered on the way down to the ground floor, almost falling out of the opening elevator doors in her haste to get to her brother before it was too late.

Seeing Gabe standing near the exit and looking out, she darted a quick look around the large reception area and breathed for the first time in what felt like five minutes. Liv smiled to cover her nerves, although she was pretty sure her dry lips were stuck to her even drier teeth. He turned as she approached him and smiled back.

“Hey Sissy, how you doing?” Liv cringed at the childhood nickname her brother still insisted on using.

“Good. Everything okay?” Did she sound overly eager? Liv made an effort to physically relax. And then all she could think about was the conversation earlier when Owen had offered to keep her relaxed. Her skin blushed scarlet.

Shit.

“Sure. I wanted to see my little sister. I was in town this morning on an appointment.” His eyes were sharp and he scanned her face. Deliberately blanking the panic and hoping the excess color wasn’t obvious, she stepped up to him, and gave him a quick reassuring hug, as Owen exited from the elevators. s

Shit, shit, shit.

He was with a group of people and that might give her a chance to escape. Not wasting any time, she pulled Gabe’s baseball cap down covering his blond hair and leaving his face in shadow.

"What's going on?" Gabe asked, frowning. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Everything's good. Your hat was crooked, that's all." Liv wondered whether he would buy the obvious lie. Not telling the truth was becoming a very bad habit of hers.

Liv couldn’t help but glance up at Owen again to see if she’d been had. The other men were obscuring her view a little, but he’d seen her. His eyes felt like lasers and she knew her deception was close to being found out. Surely he couldn’t see who she was with all the way across a dark reception, could he? Her mind scrambled. Looking for something to say.

“Let me buy you a coffee,” she said at last to Gabe.

“Thought you’d never ask,” he said, allowing her to take his arm and, pulling him toward the exit and into the warm summer’s day.

“Apparently there’s a new barista down at Charlie’s that’s amazing. It gets so busy in the mornings. And I need more caffeine today.” Did she ever. They were outside and striding away from the building before she started to relax. She hoped—no, prayed—that Owen hadn’t seen Gabe’s face and he didn’t follow them.

Liv felt like she’d had a last second reprieve from a death sentence. Smiling genuinely, she shifted to tuck her hand into the crook of his arm. Relief had her smiling, widely.

A couple more days and the wedding would be over and she could think about a way to tell Owen her secret without making him hate her. Sadness crept up from an unexpected place, drifting around the vicinity she called her heart. A few more days and there would be no more excuses for her and Owen to stay together, anyway.

Discomfort swept low across her belly, making her feel queasy, and showing her the hole she had dug for herself.