Page 73

I watched this interaction with interest, wondering what was so unsettling about it. Was it because Jacqueline never once showed this kind of warm understanding when I was first hired? Was it that this new hire was now blushing at Jacqueline as he said his goodbyes and left?

“What a sweet kid,” Signe spoke up, digging into her meal. If I had to guess, Zaid cooked her lunch and sent her to work with it.

“Andrew’s beensohelpful,” Jacqueline slumped, “I didn’t realize how nice it would be to delegate some things. I don’t want him to think that I don’t appreciate his help.”

“Maybe you’ll be able to attend a girls’ night now,” Signe replied, around a mouthful of food, “It’s been months since you’ve come.”

Actually, it had been four days since Jacqueline had come, but perhaps Signe and I were thinking about different things.

“Yeah, that’d be nice.” Jacqueline smiled, and that’s when the coffee machine beeped.

“Cheers.” I nodded at the table, adding a splash of a cinnamon oat milk creamer to my mug. As I left the breakroom, I gave Jacqueline some direct eye contact. I turned away just when I thought she would start blushing.

Simply knowing thatIwas the man who did that to her, thatIwas the man whom she fancied, I was more than ready to take on anything the rest of the workday.

* * *

“Mary is onto us,”Jacqueline whispered, clutching my face with both of her cold hands and tugging me down to her lips. She may have initiated the kiss, but I knew how much she loved when I took over. I bent my knees so I could reach my hands below her thighs, hoisting her up and stumbling like a lust-filled fool to her couch.

We broke the kiss with a gasp, before I asked, “What do you mean?”

“She noticed the flirty look you gave me today,” Jacqueline replied, before I set her on the cushions. She made the sweetest little whimper as I gently pushed her onto her back. My hands made their way under her shirt, slowly dragging it up. I was ready to start worshipping her soft, warm body. I started by kissing her navel.

“So?” I asked before swirling my tongue around her belly button. Jacquline gasped, and my cock jumped to attention. Fuck, when was the last time I was this randy for a woman? I had just been with her days ago, and yet it was as if I hadn’t gotten off in years. I sat up just enough to impatiently shrug out of my leather jacket.

“What do you mean,so?” Jacqueline’s voice had a smile in it, and as I let myself glance up to see her hooded expression, I shook my head.

“I mean, so? Isn’t she shagging a coworker of ours?”

“She and Jamie are an item. It’s different.”

I grumbled against her stomach, curling my fingers underneath her leggings and sliding them down, “I’m not worried about Mary.”

“Okay, but I think thatIam.” Jacquline laughed when I roughly yanked on her leggings, a frustrated noise emanating in my chest as I realized how difficult this was. This time, the elastic fabric made it to her knees.

“I prefer your skirts.” My words were quiet, more of a thought to myself, before I paused my endeavor to look Jacqueline in the eye. “If you’re worried about Mary, then I’ll be more mindful not to picture you naked in front of her.”

“Thank y—what?That’swhat your little look was about?” Jacqueline asked with raised eyebrows.

I gave her leggings one final tug, pulling them off of her legs completely, before holding them up victoriously and proclaiming, “Finally!” and tossing them over my shoulder, “Going forward, you should assume that I’m always picturing you naked.”

I let my gaze blatantly roam over her.

She was perfect. One of her cream-colored blouses shoved up near her chest, showing off her stomach. Three buttons were undone, something she had done on her drive home since I knew that she was buttoned up at work that day. She was wearing a purple lace thong, and I dug the heel of my palm into the base of my erection to stifle the sudden wave of arousal I had just looking at her.

“Oh.” Jacqueline blushed, enough for the color to spread to her chest.

“Yeah,oh,” I licked my lips at the sight of her, scraping a hand across my jaw, “Fuck, I don’t know where to start, love.”

“Like, on me?” Jacqueline asked, bending her legs. She was starting to get shy, curling into herself under my perusal.

I wasn’t having that.

I started undoing my jeans while kicking off my shoes and stepping out of them. Then I almost tore my shirt attempting to pull it over my head as fast as possible.

“Oh, you shoulddefinitelyleave the socks on.” Jacqueline wiggled her eyebrows with her suggestion. I paused, about to bend down to remove them, before I took in her expression. I hadn’t seen Jacqueline crack a lot of jokes, if any at all. The last joke she made that caught me off-guard was the airport one during the evening we spent on her desk, and based on how exaggerated her eyebrow wiggle was now, I was confident she was joking again.

But I still wanted to be sure.