Now it was Monday morning, and she was late.
Was something wrong?
Logan Edgington approached him, black coffee in hand. “You have a desk.”
He did—way in the back and around the corner where he couldn’t see Tess walk through the front door. Logan knew it. But Zy didn’t dare admit that aloud. EM Security Management had a strict nonfraternization clause. No dating or physical relationships with co-workers. Violating the policy was grounds for job termination. The whole thing would have been funny as fuck since the company was mostly straight-as-an-arrow males…except that it had screwed him from doing more than stare at Tessa and stroking his dick raw to filthy, dirty thoughts of her.
And Logan knew that, too.
“Waiting to say hey to the new guy,” Zy lied.
Logan shot him a dubious stare over the rim of his mug. “Sure, you are. Lucky for you, Kane is already here, finishing up some paperwork with Joaquin. I’ll take you right to him since you’re so eager to shake his hand.”
Bastard. His boss was calling his bluff. “What the fuck do you want?”
“A sit-down. Conference room. Five minutes. Come with less attitude. We’ve got a mission for you.”
He’d just gotten back, goddamn it. Yeah, yeah… This was his life, and he’d signed up for this job. He was often gone for weeks at a time with almost no advance warning. But his gut was twitching about Tess. Before he’d gone, something had upset her. She’d freaked out and clammed up. Stopped talking. Started avoiding him. He wanted answers.
But he’d have to get them later.
Zy didn’t bother to swallow down his sarcasm. “Can’t wait.”
“Don’t worry. You’re going to love this mission,” Logan assured with an evil grin. “Right before you hate it.”
Then the son of a bitch disappeared.
What the fuck did that mean? He didn’t have time to figure it out before the door behind him opened.
Zy turned. And there she was, his gorgeous bundle of blonde, all big green eyes, lush mouth, and tits for days. He’d missed her Southern sass and bless-your-hearts. Jesus, the sight of her after two miserable weeks away had his breath catching and his body pinging.
Yeah, he had it bad for Tess…and every fucking person on this team knew it.
She dumped her keys in her little pink clutch and looked up. She stopped mid-stride when their gazes locked. Her breath caught on a soft gasp. The heavens fucking parted; he felt it.
Why did he have to be fixated on the one woman he couldn’t have?
She sent him a breathless smile. “You’re back!”
Zy wanted to touch her so damn bad—and he didn’t dare. Not only would he get fired but he’d been assured he would never work in this “town” again, as the saying went.
He’d wanted Tess for ten agonizing months. Seeing her almost every day and never having her felt like ten years of torture…and a decade of foreplay.
“Got back last night,” he managed to say past the knot in his throat. “You okay?”
Another smile, this one less genuine. “Fine.”
“Baby okay?”
Adoration softened her eyes. “She’s fine. Walking everywhere now. I can hardly keep up.”
“What about—”
“Let’s go, Garrett,” Hunter Edgington called out as he made his way to the conference room. “Shit’s hitting the fan and time’s wasting.”
Zy gritted his teeth. “Got to go. Lunch later?”
Her smile disappeared. Her gaze fell. “You know we shouldn’t. After what happened last time—”
“Nothing happened.” Absolutely fucking nothing—no matter how badly he’d wished otherwise.
“Okay, almost happened,” she whispered. “You’re splitting hairs.”
“I’m being factual.”
But she was right. He’d been close to saying fuck it all and kissing her senseless until she’d lost her clothes.
Tessa sent him a pleading expression. “This job pays better than everything else. I need it.”
As a single mom with an undependable ex, she probably did. And if he hadn’t burned a million bridges and come here to start over, he might not have needed this job so badly, too.
Fuck.
“I know. I just want to talk to you. I won’t…” Touch you, try to seduce you, tell you all the lascivious ways I’m dying to make you scream. He cleared his throat. “I’ll be a gentleman. Please. I just missed your voice.”
Didn’t he sound pathetic?
She sighed like she couldn’t refuse him. Fuck, he wished that was true.
“A-all right.”
“I’ll come around about noon.”
Tessa smiled at him again, this one so real and pure he wanted to lose himself in it. “Looking forward to it.”
“Now, Garrett,” Joaquin Muñoz growled as he stuck his head around the corner.
“For fuck’s sake…”
“Go,” she encouraged. “Whatever it is seems important.”
It did, and that didn’t bode well for a peaceful Monday.
“If something comes up, I’ll let you know,” Zy promised, then stomped down the hall, hung a left, and barreled into the conference room, trying not to snarl. “I’m here. What’s up?”
None of his bosses spoke. After the rush and hurry, now they were all silent?