Page 45

At the beginning of this kiss, I was meeting him halfway. I was matching his energy, and I wanted to be an equal participant. Now, trapped between his body and his car, I surrendered to him.

I slid one of my hands out of his hair and snuck it underneath the collar of his t-shirt, feeling the hard warm skin of his shoulders.

Leo kissed me leisurely, and I simply held on so he could take his time. What was a frenzy seconds ago was now savored. It was as if he and I had nowhere else to be. Time didn’t exist here, our lips reuniting after too long.

I felt a buzz against my hip, and I tried to clench my thighs together to shield myself from it.

We broke the kiss, and it was obscene. The feel of both of our wet tongues sliding back where they belonged, the extra kiss Leo gave my top lip with his damp ones, and the glazed look in his eyes as he pulled away enough to reach one of his hands into his pocket.

He frowned at his phone screen before saying, “It’s Zaid.”

For some reason, that made me flinch. His words made all the blood rushing in my veins suddenly halt. My heart jumped, and I released my hold on him to cover my mouth with both hands in shock.

Leo immediately noticed my reaction, leaning back and standing taller, as he pocketed his cell, “Jacqueline?”

“I’m sorry,” I shook my head once, and I saw something flicker over Leo’s face as I spoke behind my hands, “I shouldn’t have—we shouldn’t—” his stare pinned me, his mouth snapped shut and a muscle popped in his cheek.

“It’s all right,” Leo backed away a step, no longer caging me in against his car, “It’s okay.”

“No,” I shook my head, stepping to the side and sitting in the passenger seat, my feet still on the asphalt as I rubbed at my temples, “No, no I shouldn’t have—oh my god—the reports I need to fill—”

“Jacquline,” Leo crouched down, “You’re okay. We didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I—that was so inappropriate of me.”

“I didn’t exactly push you away,” Leo murmured.

“I shouldn’t have initiated. This can’t happen. We can’t—” I stopped myself and shook my head, and silence filled the space between us. I couldn’t look him in the eye, my tongue was just in his mouth. He was just lazily sucking on it. I lifted a hand to trace my lips, but dropped it back in my lap, hiding my lips from him again between my teeth.

Leo stayed crouched in front of me, letting me stare at his black boots before he hummed in agreement and finally stood.

“You’re right,” he didn’t sound positive about it, “We shouldn’t have crossed that line.”

“I’m so sorry—”

“Don’t fucking apologize,” Leo pinched the bridge of his nose as he squeezed his eyes closed and faced the ground, “Just, don’t.”

I snapped my mouth shut, sitting up straighter in my seat and nodding my head even when he wasn’t looking at me.

Leo shook his head once, before sighing and walking around to the driver’s side door of the car. I took the moment to wipe my lips with the back of my hand before folding my legs into the car and shutting myself in. In silence, Leo sat at the wheel and started the car.

We didn’t speak a word the entire ride back to the office.

It was tense, so tense I could feel my hands shaking a bit. At one moment, I snuck a glance over at the brooding Leo, only to find that his gaze was studying my trembling fingers. I immediately folded them under my thighs, desperate to calm my nerves.

Running into Vincent, and then making out with Leo in the parking lot, was not on my to-do list for the day. My nervous system was shot.

Leo parked his car silently, not even waiting for me to unbuckle my own seat belt before throwing his door open and stepping out. We walked together into the building but didn’t say anything at all. Everyone knew we went to lunch; it wasn’t a big deal. Nobody reacted to the two of us entering the office together, silent.

Employees did notice Leo, though.

Because Leo was scowling.

I probably looked upset too, but I knew my resting bitch face was a thing already. Our coworkers were used to me looking upset, even when I wasn’t.

A scowling Leo was rare, though. And various employees steered clear of him until he shut himself in his office. I didn’t hesitate to follow suit and locked myself in mine.

I felt my heart racing still.