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Stella’s and Margot’s attention has jumped behind my desk. Reluctantly, my head turns in that direction too.
Sadie is smiling at Kit as he escorts her out of his office.
Kit’s eyes are on me, casually posed with my hip propped against the side of my desk. I straighten, my grip tightening on the folded cardigan.
It’s just Kit, I tell myself for what feels like the hundredth time today.
Years of disregard have suddenly snuck up on me, coalescing into this blistering awareness.
“See you later,” Sadie trills, wiggling a few manicured fingers before she saunters down the hallway.
Stella and Margot exchange a look. I grab a few papers off my desk and shuffle them, trying to appear busy until Kit disappears again.
“I need to talk to you in my office for a minute, Collins,” Kit says, then heads inside. He leaves the door open, that crisp, commanding sentence lingering in the cold air.
I still, papers clutched in my hands.
Why does he sound so curt? He wouldn’tfireme for letting Sadie in, right?
I asked him first.
He could have said no. Iwantedhim to say no.
“We’ll swing by and grab you at lunch,” Stella whispers before she and Margot scurry down the hallway.
Neither of them struck me as shy, but both seem intimidated by Kit. Honestly, I’m a little intimidated too.
I start toward the door, then pivot back to my desk to deposit the papers. I also pull on the cardigan from Margot and suck in a deep breath before stepping inside Kit’s office for the second time.
It looks the same as it did earlier, but I make a show of looking around rather than immediately focusing on him.
When my eyes do land behind his desk, he’s reclined in his chair. I should feel powerful, standing while he’s sitting, but I don’t. I remember how eagerly he got on his knees and pulled me to the edge of that bed, and it makes mine weak.
“Close the door,” he instructs.
I swallow as I comply, then turn to face him again.
“Unless it’s my father, uncle, or they have an appointment, say I’m unavailable,” Kit states.
“Understood.”
“And I need you to reschedule my afternoon.” He nods toward papers spread on his desk. “I have to review these by three, then attend a presentation, so everything else has to wait. Make sure the Viridian Ventures meeting that was at two p.m. takes place by Wednesday morning. Everything else, by the end of the week.”
I nod, rapidly repeatingViridian Venturesin my head to ensure I don’t forget to prioritize it. “Got it.”
“Laura showed you how to use the calendar system?”
I nod again. “Yes.”
Kit leans forward, resting his elbows on his desk. His suit jacket is off, slung over the back of his chair, which makes it too easy to notice the definition of his shoulders and biceps under the stiff cotton of his button-down. “You could have askedmeabout a job, you know.”
I tense, although I was already braced for this moment. It was one thing in front of Laura. But I wasn’t expecting Kit to keep up the farce of us being total strangers when we’re alone.
“When?”
I watch that word land. I know it does because Kit doesn’t even blink. He doesn’t tease or joke or feign confusion. He was anticipating this moment, same as I was. He was waiting to see how we’d move past that night, same as I am.
“You want to pretend it never happened?”