I fall forward. I’m going to crash into the desk; the corner is going to hurt my eye. I get a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach…but I don’t fall.
He’s caught me. He has me in his muscular arms. Somehow, in a split-second, he has managed to wind his arms around me, around my waist and torso so that I’m pressed into him now.
We are so close. Closer than I ever thought we would be. I can feel the hardness of his muscles. His face hovers over mine as we stay frozen in that moment, in that position. Our breaths mingle. His is hot as it falls on my face. I am surrounded by the magical masculinity of his cologne. I can feel myself going hot. My body relaxes as I melt in his arms. We are close enough for a kiss, and I realize that my lips part.
Kirk’s eyes roam over me like he’s studying me. His gaze travels from my face down to my breasts and then back up to my face again. What is he assessing me for? If I’m good enough for him?
There’s a part of me that wants to beg him to take me.
But instead, he releases his grip on me. I’m slammed back down to earth and I straighten up in a hurry.
“I’m so sorry…” I mumble, falling down to my knees so I can collect and arrange all the papers back into the file.
He is standing over me, and I can feel his eyes on me again. I don’t think I can look at him right now. Not after the level of heat that existed between us just moments ago.
He has to have felt it too! Or was it just me?
I stand up again, holding the file out towards him. He takes it from me and sits back down in his chair.
“That will be all, Miss Waters; you can go home now,” he says. His voice is curt and dismissive. I feel my heart sink. So, that’s it? That is all he has to say to me?
I say nothing more but rush out of his office. This time, I don’t feel his eyes on me as I pack up at my desk. In fact, when I look over, I see that he’s turned on the automatic blinds in his glass office, so I can’t even see him anymore.
My throat feels dry. My stomach is in knots. I gather my things and rush to the elevator. I press the button too many times. I just need some fresh air, I am telling myself. Once I get some fresh air, I’ll be thinking straight again.
That was nothing. I tripped, he caught me…saved me from injury, and then told me to go home.
But it feels like so much more.
I physically experienced the chemical reaction between our bodies. There was no denying it. Is that the effect he has on all women? Maybe he’s so accustomed to it by now, he barely even notices it.
What about me? Am I to be doomed to work for a man I can’t get out of my thoughts? This is starting to feel like more than a harmless crush on my boss. It feels like maybe it could be the ruin of me.
8
Kirk
I wait until I’ve heard the ping of the elevator doors and I know she’s left. Only then can I look up, but there is nothing to see. Kim is gone, and I’m not sure if she will be back again. If she should be back here again.
I thought I was going to be able to control my urges; keep my desire for her under check. I didn’t expect to crack so easily. One slip in the wrong direction and she was in my arms. I was so close to kissing her.
But what was I supposed to do? Just let her fall? She could have seriously hurt herself on the corner of my desk. I did what I did because I didn’t want her to get hurt.
Although, I definitely didn’t need to hold on to her for that long. I should have released her the moment our bodies collided. Instead, we stayed stuck to each other, our faces hovering close together. One more moment and I would have kissed her. I am sure of it.
I feel like I need a cold shower.
I grab my jacket, my phone, and leave the office. Kim is thankfully nowhere in sight when I take the elevator down to the lobby. I