Raine (Gods of the Fifth Floor #2) - M.V. Ellis Page 0,28
Again, I had nothing concrete to go on, but some of the things that had been said, and some of the things that had gone unsaid, did seem to lead that way.
Besides, it was some ungodly hour of the night, and the man pretty much had me trapped in the building talking shop as though it was the middle of the afternoon, or the normal working day.
“Can I think about it? Like overnight? It’s late, and I know you wanted me to stay while you’re here, but I was wondering if you would mind if I left now? I’m kind of tired. It’s been a long day and everything.”
He looked at me through heavily lidded bright-blue eyes, his head tilted back a little. For some reason, my gaze was drawn to the bob of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed a few times. Damn. Why was that sexy? Something so small and insignificant, yet it was like a bell rang in me somewhere.
Time stood still, and I tried, and failed, to read which way his thoughts were going. Was he about to fire me because I’d respectfully asked to be able to get some sleep? I couldn’t tell, but if he was, I’d honestly be kind of relieved. The situation I’d found myself in was beyond insane, and way more than I’d bargained for in the first job I’d had in longer than I cared to think about.
There’d been a reason I’d chosen to temp in the first instance, instead of putting myself up for design agency roles. I’d been trying to avoid this kind of pressure and commitment. I’d wanted to ease myself back into the whole working thing. To slip in and out of my place of work pretty much unnoticed. No ties. No responsibilities. No worries.
Instead of all that, there I was, in the middle of the fucking night, staring down the barrel of exactly the opposite. This brilliant, intense, if somewhat-unhinged, man wanted me to work with him on a high-pressure campaign, apropos of nothing more than a few doodles I’d jotted down in order to keep from falling asleep while I waited for him to do his thing.
He rubbed at the back of his neck and cricked it from side to side a few times, before staring down at the floor. The moments ticked by, and I was dimly aware that I was barely breathing. Finally, he looked up again, staring me down with a lock of his thick wavy blond hair flopped over one eye. Damn. He was going to lose his shit, I could tell. I braced myself, knowing it was going to be ugly.
“Okay.” He spoke uncharacteristically quietly.
“Okay?”
“Yeah. Go home. Come back fresh tomorrow, ready to work your ass off. We’re going to be great together” Wait. What? I hadn’t agreed to anything. Or at least I hadn’t thought I had. I said I would think about it. Why did I get the impression that all Raine had heard was yes?
“Noa, is that you?”
“Yeah, sorry, did I wake you?” I felt awful. Not only had I had to cancel my dinner plans with Michelle—my roommate and one of my closest friends on the planet—but we’d arranged to catch up to talk about my first day of temping, and I’d had to cancel after the day totally spun out of control. And now I was waking her up.
“Not really. I was watching Netflix in bed, and must have dozed off. I wasn’t out for too long though, I was bingeing that new series I told you about, and by the look of things, I haven’t missed that much. Wait. Lemme come and talk to you out there, I know it’s late, but I need to hear all about the crazy-ass day you had."
“There’s nothing to tell really. Don’t let me disturb your night. Watch your show, or sleep, or whatever, I’ll catch you in the morning.”
“Shut up, I’m coming.”
Her bedroom door flew open just as I stepped into the kitchen at the end of our long hall. “Okay. I mean who am I kidding? I need to talk to someone about it. I know I’m not getting much sleep tonight, anyway. I have way too much shit swirling around in my mind to relax.”
“Oh, sounds juicy. Tell all. I’ll make us some chai.” Michelle made the best chai on the planet.
“Yass! Sounds like just what I need. After I have a glass of wine.”