her or how wise it was to be in a secluded room together like this, but I didn’t care.
“I woke up,” she said, softly smiling at me. “Couldn’t go back to sleep.”
Rose was wearing black leggings and a light grey t-shirt that did nothing to hide her yellow lace bra underneath it. I had lost my tie somewhere when I’d walked into a quiet apartment, but I was still wearing the white button-up and black slacks I had put on that morning. She looked beautiful even disheveled, whereas I must have looked like a mess.
“What are you doing?” she asked when I didn’t say anything.
“Something came up that I had to deal with.”
She pushed herself off the door, slowly approaching with her hand behind her back. “You still have work to do?”
I gave a sharp nod.
“I didn’t see you today.”
Had she been hoping to see me? I didn’t think so. “I was at the office. There was a crisis with a client, but I dealt with it.”
“I thought you didn’t work every weekend.” She was a few steps closer, and I was aware of each and every one of those steps. Her gaze slowly took in everything in the room but me.
Rising from my seat, I rounded my desk and sat on the edge of it. I had to shove my hands into my pockets so I wouldn’t grab her, but I needed to be closer. I sat still on my perch and watched her slow movements as she walked up to the bookshelves and strolled the length of them, pausing once or twice to check a title, her fingertips softly grazing each spine.
“No, not every weekend. Did you need something?”
She stopped perusing the books and focused on me. “If I’m bothering you…”
“You are not bothering me, Rose. Did you want to talk about something?”
She lifted one shoulder in a shrug and kept her eyes on the books. “Nothing in particular. Like I said, I couldn’t sleep.”
“Okay.”
She turned to me, keeping her back against the bookcase. “Will you go to bed?”
“At some point, yes.”
“Good. That’s good. Sleep is good.”
With even slower steps, she drew closer to me, her eyes moving around the room.
“You have a beautiful apartment,” she murmured, and I frowned at her.
“Rose? Are you okay?”
She hated when I asked her that question. I knew that, but I loved her reactions too much to quit asking.
She sighed. “Yeah, sure. Why?”
“You’re acting weird.”
She waved a hand in front of her, dismissing my words. Then, standing next to me, she put her hand on my desk. “This is a beautiful desk,” she said.
Something was definitely wrong with her.
“It’s a desk,” I agreed in a flat tone.
Her lips twitched, and my gaze focused on that tiny movement. I was losing my mind. Being so close yet so far away from her was wreaking havoc on my self-control.
She released a deep breath and finally met my eyes, no trace of the smile I had become so enamored with. “So…at the event…we…did a good job, right?”
“A good job? Of what?”
“Of being husband and wife. I need to try something, so can you just stay still?”
My eyebrows rose in confusion, but I simply gave her a sharp nod, not having any idea where she was going with this.
She licked her lips and puffed up her cheeks before letting out a long breath. Then she took two more steps forward until her chest was only an inch or two away from my shoulder.
I stiffened, my hands twitching in my pockets. Not sure what she was about to do, I had to take my right hand out and grip the edge of my desk. Her focus was on my lips, and I watched her bite down on her bottom lip then lean in close.
Her eyes flitted between my eyes and my lips.
“It’s just…I’ll…”
Then she leaned forward, and I covered the remaining space between us until her lips finally touched mine, pressing a soft kiss on the edge of my mouth. Her eyes still closed, she pulled back and made a noncommittal sound.
“Huh.”
To say I was surprised would be an understatement, but I didn’t dare move, scared I would break the spell of whatever was going on. I just kept my eyes on her beautiful face and tried to read what she was thinking. Then she took another step forward, and I swear to God I felt her nipples press into my chest.