And with Skye Manning, I have to go slowly.
No scenes at the club, at least not yet.
My workdays are always jam-packed, but by mid-afternoon, I can’t wait any longer. I have to see Skye.
Even if it means running into Addison Ames.
I text Christopher, and a half hour later, I arrive at the Ames Hotel. I walk through the marble lobby past the elevators to the offices on the first floor. The door to Addie’s office is open. I stand in the doorway.
Skye covers her computer monitor and steps out from behind her desk. “I’m free as a bird!” she says, smiling.
“Good to know,” I say.
She jerks her gaze upward, her eyes wide. “How did you get in here?”
“Same way I get anywhere. I walked through the door.”
“Sorry. Addie’s already gone for the day.”
Damned good news, as far as I’m concerned. “Why would you think I came to see Addie? You witnessed our last encounter.”
She opens her mouth, but nothing emerges. She shuts it quickly.
“I came to see you, Skye.”
She crosses her arms. “You could have called.”
“Why? And miss that look of adorable perplexity on your pretty face? Besides, you never gave me your cell phone number.”
“You know where I work.”
“Maybe I didn’t want to put you in the awkward position of taking a phone call at work.”
“So you showed up at my work instead?”
“I figured it’s nearly quitting time.”
“What if Addie had been here?”
“Then Addie would have been here.”
“But you… She…”
I take a step toward her. “Do you really think I give a damn if Addison Ames crosses my path? She doesn’t scare me, Skye. In fact, she’s probably first on the list of everything that doesn’t scare me.”
God, that’s the harsh truth. Addie would like to think she scares me, but she doesn’t.
“Oh?” Skye says. “What does scare you, Braden?”
I regard her, my body already tensing, aching, wanting. I meet her brown-eyed gaze and pierce her with my own, trying to singe her with my eyes.
One word.
One word will answer her question, and it’s the unadulterated truth.
“Nothing.”
She gapes at me, her lips parted in that enticing way. I want more than anything to touch her. Cup her soft cheek. Rub my thumb over her full lower lip. Pull the band out of her hair and let the waves fall over her shoulders.