“Callie.” Jamie clears his throat. I am so freaking busted. My cheeks flush, but my gaze still lingers on his body, and I find myself falling for my once asshole boss. What the hell is wrong with me?
“Yes, Jamie?” My voice comes out as a whimper as I finally meet his eyes.
“As much as I love that look on your face, and I do want to explore every possibility of making you moan out my name, I’ll be damned if we do that in my office for the first time.”
“What? No, Jamie, we can’t. I work for you. We barely know each other,” I question.
“Mi Sol, it’s going to happen. I’m just waiting for you to catch up, and believe me, I’m a patient man,” Jamie states. His words cause me to do a full-body shiver.
“Okay, what do we have for today?” I try to change the subject. Jamie isn’t allowing it, though. He squats in front of me so we’re eye to eye, and his dark eyes are smoldering with desire. My own body becomes needy and wanting. Images run wild in my head, my body ready and willing for his. I can see my body slammed up against the wall as he takes me hot and fast in this very office.
Jamie’s hand goes to my neck, his thumb gliding over my pulse once again, and I swear every time he does that, it ramps up my desire for him. “We’ll take this as slow as you want. I was an asshole. I can admit when I’m wrong, and Callie, I was so fucking wrong. But I’ll fight for you until the very end, you and your daughter,” he states.
“Please don’t get my hopes up, I’m begging you. I saw the look in Claira’s eyes after just a few minutes of being in your presence. It would be one thing to hurt me, but to hurt Claira, that blow would be fatal,” I breathe out.
“I’m not going to hurt you, not ever again. I hate like hell to change subjects, but we do have a few meetings today, and then you have a little girl to pick up.” Jamie stands and goes back to his seat behind his desk. I calm my beating heart, grab the notebook he has on his desk, find a pen, and we get busy with what will be happening with our meetings. I get it all written down and stand to leave, but Jamie stops me.
“Come here, please,” he asks gently. My legs carry me around his desk, and he stands. In my heels, we’re still not eye to eye, but that doesn’t matter. Jamie moves his head to the side and kisses me softly on the lips. My body instinctively moves in closer to his, and Jamie’s arm wraps around my waist as he brings me closer to his body.
“Jamie.” I sigh, and he takes that moment to deepen the kiss. His hand on my hip tightens, his other goes up to my neck, and I sink into his warmth as his tongue glides against mine. He pulls back after a few moments, our kiss ending sooner than I wanted.
“That look on your face, the one you have right now, I want it there every single time you’re in my arms.”
“I need to take this slow with you. Can you do that for me?” I plead.
“Anything you need, I’ll do for you.” He squeezes my hip, and we part ways—me to my desk and him to his own. We have a full day with two new clients, and with the new schedule he adapted, I have a feeling we’ll both be eating lunch at our desks today.
The day flies by. Jamie secures two new clients, and I order lunch for us. Just like I expected, we eat at our desk; only we’re both at his desk with the door closed.
We talk about his upbringing, how his Mom was a single parent and did it all on her own without the help of anyone else, making him respect her even more. I tell him about how my parents are my pillar of strength and how Presley and Lyla always held me up when life was beating me down.
Jamie never interrupts; he listens thoughtfully and thoroughly, letting me get everything out and off my chest. It’s something I had no idea I needed to do.
Our lunch and talk are over quickly, and we both got back to work. I get lost in incoming emails until Jamie steps out of his office, his suit jacket on, keys in his hands, and says, “It’s time to go. I’ll walk you to your car.”
“Wow, our day really flew by. Let me close down, and we can blow this popsicle stand.” It doesn’t take long until I’m walking side by side to the parking garage with Jamie. What really shocks me is the kiss he leaves me with. It’s as if he’s laid his claim to me and doesn’t care who sees it. The kicker is, I love that he has no qualms about who sees us together, but if this is his way of going slow, well, I think he’s got it backward.