Derek grabbed the satchel, a plush leather one that had probably cost my rent twice over, and tucked it under his arm. He strode toward my desk as he grabbed the coffee cup from the carton tray on mine. When he’d taken a sip, there was a warning tone to his voice as he demanded, “Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?”
Max’s grin was blinding. Beatific like a toddler’s. Like he could hear the warning but was happy to ignore it. “I’m sure.”
Derek heaved a sigh that was anything but respectful. To me, he murmured, “Just carry on acquainting yourself with the files, Ms. Barr.”
I nodded, quite at ease with the command. I’d been given a few contracts to proofread—my degree in contract law had never come in handy as a temp before, but there was a first time for anything, and Derek, having seen the qualification, had had gleaming eyes upon learning of my background.
I expected to be proofing a shit ton of contracts these next eight months.
While it wasn’t exactly enthralling, nothing about my life was.
That was how I liked it. That was how I coped.
“You had a flashback.”
The voice was bland, but it was firm. And it was resolute. Like Max Greene was trying to be gentle but he was also trying to make sure that I couldn’t fob him off.
I took another sip of coffee. “I don’t think—”
“I do think. I’ve seen them before.” He grunted. “I mean, I’ve seen someone go through one before. Of course, everyone reacts differently, but you’re almost textbook.” His tone was musing.
“What do you mean?” I hated that my voice was a squeak.
“I mean that you were breathing like you were running even though you weren’t moving an inch. I mean that you were sweating like you actually were in a marathon. I mean that your eyes were flickering and… Need I go on?”
His sardonic tone had me flushing. “No.”
My whisper had his face softening, th
e hard lines of his handsome features growing tender as he looked at me.
That wasn’t something I was used to seeing. It stunned me.
Made it a little harder to breathe.
“What happened to you?” he asked quietly.
“N-Nothing.”
To add insult to injury, I’d been gagged from even talking about what had happened to me.
Whoever said money didn’t talk had never been raped, then blamed for it, and then had to pay court expenses to her assailant as an ‘apology’.
I almost choked on my latte. Would I ever get over that one night?
How could it have ruined my life? An act that had taken less than two minutes yet had the aftershocks still reverberating through me two years later.
A hand landed on my shoulder. Though I jolted, when I saw it was Max, I relaxed.
Something about him made me feel safe, and I knew that was stupid.
I wasn’t safe.
I’d never be safe again.
But the feeling he engendered in me? I’d never felt the like before and it cocooned me in a way I didn’t understand.
I didn’t know this man. He didn’t know me. He was my superior, and he was big. So big. Scarily big. What on earth about him made me feel safe? If anything, I should be running the other way, not wishing I had the right to clamber onto his lap and have him embrace me in a hug.