The morning passed quickly and without incident. Around noon she suddenly realized that she was so hungry it felt like her stomach was beginning to turn on itself. She dug through her desk, hoping that she had a granola bar or a bag of trail mix, but having no luck. Knowing that she couldn’t hide forever, she took her wallet and headed down to the employee dining room. She would just grab a sandwich and bring it back up. She had plenty of bottled water in the office.
Feeling like a criminal, she checked the hallway before stepping out. No Branden, no Mike Gaunt, and no Deena. So far so good. She pressed the down button on the elevator. When it slid open, she was face to face with Greg.
He smiled broadly and said, “Hey there,” in a sickeningly familiar tone.
“Hi,” she answered grudgingly.
He held the door open but didn’t step off.
Cara cleared her throat. “Aren’t you getting off here?” she asked before she stepped on.
“No, I just remembered that I forgot something downstairs. Which floor do you need?” he asked her.
“Ground,” she said.
What is he up to?
He smiled again, and this time it almost seemed menacing.
“I’m glad I ran into you, actually. You know, Cara,” he said after the elevator once again jerked to life, “I felt bad about how I treated you at the party.”
“You mean when you wouldn’t take no for an answer? Is this an apology?”
“I guess it’s an apology if that’s what you want to call it,” he said.
“I don’t want to call it anything,” she said, in no mood for silly word games. “I just wasn’t sure if you ‘feeling bad’ amounted to an apology.”
“Does is matter? Judging from the pic in Deets, you were doing okay. Better than okay apparently, getting to know the new boss.”
Cara felt her stomach drop just as the elevator lurched to a stop and the doors slid open. Greg put his hand out to hold the doors open after he stepped off and grinned at her shocked face like they’d been having a pleasant conversation. Then he said, “Have a great day. I’m sure you’ll have a great night. I know I will. I’ve got a hot video to watch.”
He let the doors go and she stood there, mouth probably hanging open for too long, even after the doors closed in her face. It took her another several seconds of standing there looking at the closed doors to remember that she needed to push something to make it open again or go.
Twenty minutes later, Cara told Branden about her conversation with Greg. When she finished, he sat for a moment, his jaw flicking with tension. Then, without a word, he stood and headed toward the office door.
“Where are you going?” she asked, nerves sending her voice trembling.
“I’m going to talk to Greg,” he said. “If nothing else, I’ll tell him to keep his nasty insinuations to himself.”
Cara immediately stepped between him and the door. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”
The closeness of their bodies registered and goose bumps prickled down Cara’s arms and spine. She forced down the urge to go up on her toes and once again feel the softness and power of his sexy lips on hers.
He looked down at her with those smoldering dark eyes. “Why not?”
“If he wanted attention, you’d be giving him exactly that. If he’s not the one who posted the picture and video and he just came across them the way we did, then bringing them up gives credence and unnecessary influence.”
His jaw clenched as he considered what she said. “You were right about the Deets picture. I should have been more concerned about it. I’m sorry I didn’t—” He shut his eyes, dragging his hand through his hair, then cursed loudly enough that she jumped. “Damn it, I should have protected you from this!”
Her eyes widened and she automatically shook her head. “You didn’t do this, Branden. And you couldn’t have known. I’m just your employee.”
His eyes flew open and he pinned her with a glare. “You’re not just my employee, Cara. You’re someone I’ve already grown to care about. And as I told you yesterday, I want to be more to you than your boss.”
Her mouth had gone completely dry and she felt like she needed to swallow but couldn’t. His eyes were shifting back and forth between her eyes and her lips.