Watching her whisper and bounce around could’ve kept me entertained for a long while, but I had a chance to play hero, and I was going to damn well take it. I reached up for her and flashed her a charming smile. “Come here, Win. You’re going to break your neck if you don’t get down. I’ll carry you over to the elevator and then find the spider for you.”
She looked at my arms and shoulders, like she was sizing up my strength. Judging by the pout on her face, she’d decided that I wasn’t strong enough. “I’ll hurt you.”
I growled and wrapped my arm around her hips, lifting her from the desktop. She launched forward, shoving her breasts into my face, and wrapped her arms around my head. With a face full of breast, I walked her away from the desk and contemplated standing there for a while, just enjoying the situation, but Winnie started wiggling to get down.
I let her slide down my body and kept my arm around her to hold her close when her feet touched the ground. “Want to do it again? I can show you how much you’renotgoing to hurt me, and you can smother me in those apples a few more times.”
Cheeks glowing red, Winnie lightly slapped my arm. “Sorry.”
I frowned at the higher neckline of her dress. “I would gladly go out being smothered that way, Win. Why is this so high?”
She tipped her chin down and tried to watch as I fingered the top of her dress. “It just is?”
“I know how to sew. I could cut it a little lower and hem it for you. It’ll be like it never happened.” I grinned at the way she smiled and looked away, as innocent as ever. “Can’t blame a man for trying. Point me in the direction of this man-eating spider.”
She gestured at the desk and pressed a little closer to me. “It just dropped onto my hand and I about threw my arm away in fear. I don’t know where it went. How did a spider even get in here? This is the city. In a high rise. What’s a spider doing in a building like this? The city should be safe. If you can’t have the pretty country views, you should at least get to avoid spiders.”
I forced my body away from hers and looked around the desk. “How long have you been silently screaming on top of your desk?”
“A little while.”
“I really thought Beck would be running a better operation here.” I winked at Winnie to let her know I was joking and bent over to see that the man-eating spider that had traumatized Winnie was the size of a pencil eraser—and already dead. It was so small, it must’ve died when she flung it into the side of her desk. I bit back a laugh and used a sheet of paper to scoop up the little guy. “He’s dead, Win. You’re safe.”
She covered her mouth with her hand and stared at me with wide eyes. “Did I kill him?”
The pure horror in her voice shocked me even as it warmed something in my chest. I was raising nine-year-old twin boys who would’ve tried to eat the spider before feeling bad about its death. Seeing a grown woman clearly feel guilty over accidentally killing the creature that had petrified her moments before made my interest in Winnie grow. Her heart was big and full of warmth. It was refreshing.
“No, I don’t think so. It looks like he died of old age. Trust me, I’m a doctor.”
A giggle escaped her lips. “I shouldn’t laugh. I feel bad. I didn’t want him to die. I just didn’t want him near me.”
I dropped the paper and the spider into the trash and nodded for her to come closer to me. When she circled the desk and moved right into my arms, I pressed a smile into her hair and inhaled her sweet scent. “You okay now?”
“Yes. Thank you.” Her arms came up around my waist and she hugged me tightly for a moment. Then she pulled away, brushing the hair out of her face and clearing her throat. “Did you come to see Beck?”
I shook my head and decided that honesty was the best bet with Winnie. “Nope. I came to see you. I have the afternoon off, and I’ve been thinking about you, so I just decided to show up. That was as far as my plan went.”
She sank her teeth into her bottom lip, but it didn’t hide the smile that turned the corners of her mouth up. She was opening her mouth to speak when Beck’s private door opened behind me. Her back straightened, and a friendly smile took the place of the shy one she’d been giving me as Beck led a few well-dressed men out.
Beck’s eyes narrowed just slightly when he saw me behind Winnie’s desk, but it would’ve taken someone knowing the man for over a decade to see it. He wasn’t easy to read, but I knew him well enough to know he was trying to stake some claim over the woman next to me. I raised an eyebrow at him to let him know he could fuck off. Winnie was no one’s to claim, but if anyone was going to do it, it would be me.
24
Winnie
Becklookedmeoverand smiled as he led his important clients to the elevator. While he spoke a few last words to them, I looked back at Sawyer and tried to regain any semblance of balance I might’ve had. With the man staring down at me with heated eyes and a smile like he knew something no one else did, it was impossible.
“Do you visit Beck here often?”
Sawyer rested his hand on my hip and shook his head. “Nope.”
Beck’s deep voice sounded irritated as he spoke from next to us. “Sawyer.”
“Beck.”
Beck shook his head, but I could see he was fighting an amused smile. “My office, you asshole. Winnie, you come too. I need fresh eyes on something.”
I hadn’t been back in Beck’s office since we’d had sex on his desk. I met his gaze and knew he was thinking the same thing by the heat burning there. Unsure of what I was getting myself into, I nodded and followed him through his private door and down to his office. Sawyer was behind me, his presence looming just as large as Beck’s. I could feel his eyes moving over my body, and I didn’t feel ashamed of what he was seeing for the first time, possibly ever. I was too busy feeling every inch of my body and how it swayed as I walked. I was feeling how much it seemed like he wanted what he saw.