I didn’t even feel the difference as I jumped straight off the treadmill and followed her in. I was definitely not in the mood for playing around anymore.
Closing the door, we were alone in the tiny space, my size filling it to the brim. Her back was to me, but she knew I was standing behind her because her shoulders tensed.
My breathing was shallow from my run, and I could feel a bead of sweat trickling down my spine, dampening the AUFC tank I was wearing. The air was a little tense for my liking, but all I could feel in the room was her and how my presence had altered her stature. I couldn’t even see the view of the ocean and the brewing storm clouds behind her in the floor-to-ceiling glass windows. The otherworldly hue of the thunderstorm haloed her, making her blonde hair shine like gold.
I understood it now. Why she took that chance the other day.
“I’ve been trying to call you,” I said, watching her movements.
She shrugged, making a show of sliding off her jacket and laying it across the back of her chair.
“Josie.”
She sighed, staring at the floor for a long moment before she turned and glanced up. Her blue eyes met mine, and I wasn’t sure what I saw in them, but I knew I didn’t like it.
“Why did you go?” I asked.
“I needed to get away,” she replied, edging around the desk, so it was between us. A shield.
“You didn’t need to run, Jo,” I murmured.
“Who said I was running?” she snapped, beginning to fire up exactly like the Josie I knew. “I needed a break. It was long overdue.”
“You left without telling anyone,” I argued. “Right after…”
Her eyes narrowed in warning, but I didn’t care. I knew her well enough to know she’d never talk to me about it unless I forced it out of her. I didn’t know whose stubborn pride was worse. Hers or mine.
“Right after you tried to kiss me,” I declared, stepping closer.
“So?” she asked. “You made yourself perfectly clear. I got over it.”
I snorted. “You got over it? In three days?” The fire in her eyes told a different story.
“It was probably for the best,” she said awkwardly, smoothing her palms over her hips. She was straightening her top, but the movement looked fascinatingly sexual to me. Her gaze met mine again. “Conflict of interest.”
Was it a conflict of interest that I’d done nothing but worry about her for the last three days? Was it a conflict of interest that I’d kicked myself time and time again for not kissing her when I had the chance? Was it a conflict of interest that I’d jerked off thinking about her? Fuck the line of professionalism. She’d opened my eyes, and I’d stuffed up already.
“Jo,” I murmured, closing the distance between us. “I’m sorry. I didn’t handle it well. You said it yourself. I’m fucking stupid. I don’t know how to do this shit.”
“You don’t need to apologize,” she said stiffly. “I took a risk, and it didn’t pay off. That’s life. It happens all the time.”
I raised my hand to touch her, to pull her back from whatever conclusion she’d jumped to, but she took a step back. Then I took a step forward, my gaze flickering to her mouth. My dick began to thicken as her tongue darted out and ran along her bottom lip, the motion punctuated by her teeth dragging against her damp skin.
“Jo…”
She shook her head, her eyes pleading. Did she want me to take her because I would…right against the window, or did she want me to stop?
“Tell me what you want,” I murmured.
“I…”
I was a hair’s breadth from finishing what she’d started the other morning when her mobile phone started to ring shrilly in the silence.
Josie snapped to attention, and I moved away, whatever was about to happen dissipating as the storm broke over the beach below. Rain pounded over the sand in waves until it doused the city around us, thumping against the glass.
“This can’t…” she began, picking up her phone and checking the screen.
I scowled, fisting my hand through my rumpled hair. “If you say so.”
“Dean…” The phone stopped ringing, and she sighed, sliding it back onto the desk.
“You’re telling me you didn’t feel that?” I asked, jabbing a finger in the air between us.
“It’s probably for the best,” she said. “What happened the other morning was a lapse in judgment.”
“Which I seem to have all the time, apparently.”
“It’s for