Anna

“More coffee?”

Rick was standing before me with a steaming hot mug of liquid fuel. “Yes. Thank God.” I grabbed the mug from him, my eyes drawn to the capital blue letters scrolled across its face. “McGregor,” it read.

“How’d you get on?” Rick settled in next to me at the conference table.

I had learned by now that this was lingo for: “What’s the news?”

I set the mug down and stared at the table in front of us, which was covered in mock-ups of the ads we had created. “John said he’d stop by after lunch.” Since we had nailed our marketing pitch on Friday, we now needed to smooth out the details. We’d be presenting to upper management next. Fortunately, I had learned that upper management was not Adam. No, there were many more layers between Adam and me, which was probably a good thing.

I wondered where Adam was—I hadn’t seen his Porsche or bike in the parking lot.

My fingertips brushed over my lips at the memory of his kiss. How had I let that happen?

I wished I had never panicked and called him. Once I had calmed down that night, I realized he would have probably swooped me out of the hotel and put me somewhere else, or even send me back home if he thought I was still in danger. It was most likely a coincidence that the guy from the apartment had been at the bar.

Although I couldn’t regret that Adam had shown up at my hotel door. That kiss . . .

“You okay, love?” Rick’s hand was on my forearm, and I stared down at it.

“I—” My words remained stuck in my throat when I glanced up and spotted Adam. He was walking by the conference room, sunglasses perched on his nose like a rock star. Why was he wearing sunglasses inside? Was this another Irish thing?

He looked over his shoulder, right at me, as he walked past. No wave. No nod. Nothing.

Then he was gone.

Seeing Adam rankled my nerves. I retracted my arm from Rick’s touch and pushed back in my chair. “Rick?”

“Yeah?”

“I need to go do something. I just need five minutes.”

“Sure.” He pulled the laptop closer to him and began checking his email.

Rick and I didn’t normally work on the top floor, which was the same floor as Adam’s office, but all the other conference rooms had been booked, and we had needed a large space to spread out our layout boards, photos, and index cards. Our cubicles were like Japanese micro hotels—only large enough to accommodate a computer desk and a chair.

I left the conference room and walked down the hall, making a beeline straight for Adam’s office. I needed to hurry before I lost my nerve.

In the doorway, I paused. Adam’s back was to me, but his head was bowed and angled toward the woman who stood before him, speaking in a low voice. I couldn’t help but notice her hand was on his arm, wrapped over the fabric of his crisp white dress shirt.

She was gorgeous: tall and slender with long, dark hair. She stopped speaking when her light green eyes met mine.

I stepped back as a rush of heat gathered in my cheeks. I started to turn, but the woman waved her hand my direction. “Can we help you?”

I lowered my gaze to the floor. My desire to see Adam was completely quelled.

“Anna?” Adam approached me. His shades were clasped in his hand and a dark band of bluish purple spread beneath the eye that had a cut above it. “Anna, this is my sister, Holly.”

Sister? Sister!

“Oh, wow. How nice to meet you.”

“Holly was just leaving.” His eyes pinned to his sister.

Her lips were in a tight, straight line. She released a deep breath, her eyes meeting mine. “Hello, Anna.” She tipped her head at me and walked past without another word.

Adam moved to the couch in his office and sat down. “You mind closing the door?”

“Oh. Um—with or without me inside?” I asked softly.

This produced a soft chuckle from him. “You can stay.”

I kind of hated the glass walls right now. I didn’t want anyone seeing me inside his office. Why did I come here again? With the door now shut, I crossed the span of the room and stood before him.

He propped an expensive black shoe up on the coffee table in front of him and leaned back on the couch as if all was casual. Sure. He tossed his black glasses next to him as his blue eyes, seeming darker than usual because of his navy blue tie, roped me in. “What can I do for you, Anna?”

I wasn’t sure which Adam was sitting in front of me right now: the boss, Leslie’s friend, or the guy who had kissed me. Why did everything have to be so complicated?

“I’m dropping off the permission slips for the kids tonight. Are you still planning to come?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?” His hand went to his tie, and he fidgeted with the knot. Then his fingers went to the stubble on his chin, and he left them there as if in thought, studying me.

“Well, given what happened this weekend—”

“The kiss?” he interrupted, and his hand slipped to his lap, joining the other.

“No.” Maybe . . . “I was talking about your incident with the door at the gym.”

A smirk captured his mouth, and he straightened as his foot dropped from the table and to the ground. “Aye.”

“Yes. Your eye,” I teased.

“Well,” he said, coming to his feet, “you should see the door.” He closed the short gap between us with one long stride that made my breath hitch in my throat. “Not so lucky.”

“You still sticking with that story?” I wanted to ask him if someone had attacked him. Had it been one of the guys who’d followed me to Leslie’s apartment? I was still curious what exactly that was about.

But I didn’t say anything.

My hands tightened at my sides. He was inches from me. And he was staring right at my lips. “Are you still sticking with your story?” His gaze flickered back up to mine, and I realized something had changed. There was a hint of darkness—or maybe it was hunger—gleaming in the depths of his blue eyes. His mouth was tight. His strong chin and jaw were strained, the muscles clenched as if he was holding himself back.

I’d seen that look before. Most women know that look, when a guy wants you. I got it even when I didn’t want to see it—from a professor, or a coworker. In line at the grocery store. It could happen anywhere, anytime. And, usually, I hated the look. Actually, I always hated it. But on Adam . . . well, it was different. It felt different.

And not just because of his sex appeal. Sure, the man had the kind of delicious looks that should be reserved for a sexy hunk calendar for lonely hearts . . . but no, there was something more to it, something that felt more raw, more carnal than the slimy looks I got in bars. It was like he could see right into my soul, like he needed something more from me.

I was probably crazy to think this. Maybe he was just some rich guy who was into fast cars and had dozens of women waiting to be called for a good time. Maybe I was misreading everything.

Maybe.

But maybe not.

“You want to talk to me?” The rough sound of his voice pulled my attention out of my head.

“Are you in trouble?” There—I’d said it.

The “look” disappeared. He tilted his head back, staring up at the ceiling as if he might find answers there in the fluorescent lights above. “I’m right as rain.”

“What does that even mean?” I shook my head and spun around, but his hand captured my wrist, and he pulled me back to him.

I watched as he swallowed whatever emotions were chewing at him, then pulled my wrist free from his grip.

His eyes were glued to my hand as it fell heavy at my side. “Sorry, I just—”

“It’s okay.”

“We’re at work. I didn’t mean to touch you.”

“And if we weren’t at work?” My body tensed a little, surprised by how unusual I’d been around Adam. I was usually the one to run and hide, to cower in a corner if things got tough with a guy. I was never flirty, funny, or brave. I was much more comfortable with horses than with people. I truly couldn’t figure out where this “me” was coming from.

“I’m trying really damn hard to be sorry about the kiss,” he said in a low voice. “I feel like I should apologize again for stepping out of line Saturday.”

“But?”

“But my apology would be shit since I don’t mean it.” He blew out a breath and walked past me. He braced both hands on his metal desk and hung his head.

I wasn’t sure what to say. The clouds in the sky were starting to part, pushing away the dullness of the day, and a spark of light flashed through the window behind his desk. “Adam.”

The knock at the door had him jerking his head up. I stumbled away from him, worried what others would think about me being in his office.

“Come in,” Adam called, his spine straightening as his hands folded across his chest. He was a man who looked powerful. Successful. In charge.

The door opened, and my heart leaped into my throat. It was John. My boss.

“Anna?” John’s eyes were on me as he walked into the room, a file in his hand.

“I just called Anna here to congratulate her on winning last week’s do-or-die pitch presentation. You know, the one you always scare the interns with.” Adam smiled at me before looking back at John. “Don’t let this guy scare you,” he added, “he’s really a softy at heart.”

John smirked as he tossed the file on Adam’s desk.

“Will that be all, sir?” I tipped my head toward Adam, my hands trembling a little.

His eyes narrowed on me the second the word ‘sir’ slipped from my lips. A mischievous smile met his eyes. Oh. Did he find it amusing that I’d called him that? Or did he feel old?

“That’ll be all, Anna. Good luck at the presentation on Wednesday.” Adam nodded at me, and I walked past him, a rush of heat rising through my body. Apparently, Adam had been keeping tabs on us interns, even though he’d promised he didn’t have anything to do with whether we were hired.

“See you around one,” John said as I neared the door.

“Rick and I’ll be ready,” I said before leaving.

I wasn’t sure what I would tell Rick when I got back to the conference room. He was a great guy, and I really enjoyed working with him, but I also didn’t want him getting dragged through the mud with me. Because if I went down for associating with Adam outside of work, there was no reason Rick should go down with me.