Sophie gave a rueful smile. “And here I’ve gone disturbing your peace. As usual.”
“As usual,” he agreed.
Sophie couldn’t help the wince. At what point would his rejection stop stinging?
She turned to go, leaving him to his dark solitude, but he grabbed her hand. “Don’t.”
He stared down at their joined hands for several moments before very slowly lacing his fingers with hers. It was one of the sweeter and strangely most erotic sensations of her life. Holding hands wasn’t supposed to be sexy.
But holding hands with Gray was.
She didn’t know how long they stood there, two mismatched souls holding hands in the moonlight, but she didn’t want it to end.
“Gray,” she whispered, still not looking at him. “I—”
“Don’t, Sophie,” he said, giving her fingers a squeeze.
It was hardly the first time that Gray had silenced her, but she was getting damn tired of it. For once she hadn’t been about to pry or pester or annoy him. She’d just wanted to talk. Hear his voice. And he denied her even that.
She peeled her fingers away from his and walked out of the conference room, back to her desk. Her eyes were watering as she picked up her purse and began stuffing her belongings into it.
So the man wanted quiet? She’d give him that. He wanted solitude? He could have that too.
In fact, he could pretty much have those things the rest of his life, because no woman in her right mind would—
A firm hand jerked her around so roughly that her purse fell to the ground. Sophie’s eyes went wide as she stared up into his angry face. This was a Gray she hadn’t seen before. There was none of the earlier gentleness, and the soft look in his eyes had been replaced by something hot and fierce.
His mouth was on hers before she could move.
She stiffened for the briefest of seconds before relaxing into him. Sophie heard herself gasp at the unexpected rightness of it. She’d thought about this moment. Dreamt about it. She’d expected it to feel wrong.
But there was nothing wrong about the mouth moving slowly over hers, his lips taking hers in quiet demand. She tentatively kissed him back, and when his hands slid up her arms to cup her face, she slid hers around his waist, pulling him even closer. Their bodies fit together like the last pieces of an impossible puzzle.
Gray groaned, using his lips to coax open her mouth and slide his tongue against hers in silky rhythm. There was nothing slow and gentle about the kiss now, and she clawed at his back and kissed him like he was the last man alive.
Her hands moved to the buttons of her shirt, but she only had half of them undone before she realized that he was one step ahead of her. Her blouse was fully unbuttoned, and he was roughly tugging it down her shoulder. His mouth moved to the crook of her neck as his hand found her breast over her lace bra and they both moaned.
“God, Sophie,” he said against her neck. She wanted to tease him that there was supposed to be no talking, but she didn’t feel like teasing. At least not that kind.
Her uncoordinated hands had finally undone the last of his shirt buttons when they heard the unmistakable sound of keys jingling in the hallway.
Please keep going, she silently begged the owner of the keys.
But the jangling stopped right outside the office doors.
“The janitor,” Gray whispered, pulling back abruptly. Sophie was unprepared at the sudden loss of his support, and stumbled off-balance, catching herself on the side of her desk.
Her desk. Horrible reality flooded over her. She had nearly just had sex with her boss in the office.
Who does that? she screamed at herself.
She heard a key turn in the lock, and she’d barely pushed her arms through the shirt Gray tossed at her when the door opened.
The fluorescent light spilled in from the hallway, and Sophie squinted against its harshness.
A very startled-looking janitor blinked at them as Sophie held her purse in front of her half-buttoned shirt and tried to look natural.
“Mr. Wyatt?” he said, clearly confused.