“Okay…”
“I was thinking if he worked for you, you’d probably be passed out from lack of oxygen. He never stops sneezing.”
I laughed. “Oh my gosh. I’d be passed out, but you must be walking around that office pissed off all the time.”
“I’m thinking of promoting him just so I can move him to a private office on the other side of the building.”
“You would do something like that. What else is new?”
Julian and I talked for a while, mostly about his work stuff. When the conversation came to a natural lull, he cleared his throat.
“I was hoping maybe we could see each other before I left for the conference next week,” he said. “Maybe have dinner Friday night?”
“Yeah, umm…about that…” God, I really hate letting nice people down. “I want to be honest with you… I think we’re better off as friends.”
“Oh…”
“I love our friendship, and you’re one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, but I realized during our date last time that there just isn’t a romantic spark. I really thought there would be. Plus, I’ve met someone.”
“I see…”
“I hope we can still be friends.”
“Sure. Of course.”
Even as we said it, I knew it was unlikely that we’d be the type of friends who spent time together. Our contact would probably be limited to liking each other’s posts on social media once in a while.
During the awkward silence that followed, there was a knock at my office door, and Christian poked his head in. I smiled and waved him inside, then held up a finger and pointed to my cell.
“Alright, well, I know you’re busy,” Julian said. “So I’ll let you go.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll give you a call soon.”
“That sounds good.”
“Bye, Bella.”
“Bye, Julian. Good luck with your presentation at the conference.”
Christian’s face fell as I swiped to end the call and set the phone on my desk.
“Hi.”
“Did I interrupt something?” he asked.
“You did, actually.”
The muscle in Christian’s jaw ticked, but he said nothing.
“Julian had called me twice over the last few weeks, and I hadn’t called him back. So when he called this time, I thought I should answer.”
“Did he ask you out?”
I stood and walked around my desk. “He did. And I said no. I told him I thought we were better off as friends and that I’d met someone.”
Christian’s shoulders relaxed. “Oh yeah? You met someone, huh?”
I grinned. “He’s really cute. I’ll introduce you to him, if you want.”
Christian hooked an arm around my waist and hoisted me against him. “Funny.”
I tapped a finger to his thick chest. “You should’ve seen your face. It looked like you might crack a tooth, your jaw was so rigid.”
One of his hands slid up my back and gripped my neck, not so gently. “I’ll show you rigid.”
I laughed as he kissed me. But somewhere along the line, the playfulness disappeared, and my fists had his shirt bunched into two balls. Christian pulled back, tugging my bottom lip between his teeth as he let go. “Missed you.”
It had been a busy week, and we hadn’t seen each other in four days. “Missed you, too.”
He stroked my cheek tenderly. “How was your day?”
“Oh my God, I almost forgot! Tiffany decided to out us in the middle of the meeting today—with Tom, the GM, all of the coaches, and the entire executive team.”
“What happened?”
I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. But I admitted we were seeing each other, and then when I got Tiffany alone after the meeting, I threatened to kick her ass...”
Christian’s brows jumped. “Really?”
“Yep, and it felt good.”
“Which part? Telling your sister off or admitting we’re together.”
“Both.”
He smiled. “Yeah? So you’re okay with it being public now?”
I nodded. “I actually feel relieved that it’s out in the open.”
Christian pulled my hands from his shirt and brought them to his lips for a kiss. Then turned and abruptly headed for the door to my office.
“Where are you going?”
His answer was the loud clank of the lock on my office door. “Nowhere.” He stalked back with a predatory look in his eyes, lifting me off my feet and depositing me on top of my desk. He pulled the glasses from my face and chucked them over his shoulder.
“What are you doing?” I giggled.
“Celebrating…” He buried his head in my neck. “Do you know how freaking sexy you are when you don’t put up with people’s shit?”
He sucked along my neck until my eyes fell closed and my head lolled back.
“Does that mean you’ll be happy when I don’t put up with your shit?” I asked breathlessly.
“Don’t ever put up with my shit.”
He captured my mouth in a passionate kiss, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. All of the emotions from today fed into our frenzied connection, and my need to touch his bare skin grew desperate. I slipped my hands under his T-shirt and scraped my nails along his warm back. Christian groaned and pushed my blouse up. His thumbs reached into my bra and pushed down the material, freeing my breasts to spill over. Cool air met my already-peaked nipples, and they hardened at Christian’s touch. “I have fantasized about you sitting up on this desk with your legs wide open since the first day we met.”