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I stand as still as I can, barely breathing as I try not to touch him, but as the car pauses once more two floors up to let on another two people, I have no choice but to squeeze against him, his body hard underneath that tailored suit, breath gently stirring the nape of my neck.
Wait. This is the perfect opportunity to go further than I normally could. I shift my weight, pressing back, the slight noise he makes sending a shiver through me. I glance over my shoulder, but he looks straight ahead, his jaw clenched, body rigid. Am I seriously that repulsive to him?
I lean away and let out a deep sigh. He doesn’t have a problem talking to me. He encourages conversation, in fact. So why is it that as soon as I come in contact with him, he tenses up like he can’t wait for it to be over?
Some seductress I am.
Chapter Eight
Connor
The top of Emma’s head just reaches my nose, all those riotous curls right in front of me, and I take shallow breaths, resisting the urge to lean in the tiniest bit and breathe in her delicious scent. It had taken everything not to reach out and steady her as she bumped into me, to not react as her weight had briefly shifted against me.
I can’t fault her today. There are too many damn people in this elevator.
Thankfully, it empties of everyone by the fifty-sixth floor, and we ride up the remaining four flights with plenty of space between us. Not that I miss the feel of her lithe body against mine. Obviously.
We step off on our floor, and she sets the tote bag she’s carrying beside her desk before following me into my office. “Did you want me to take notes during your meeting with Angelina?”
“Yes.” I sigh, dropping into my chair heavily. “Can I look at what you took down for the chiefs meeting?”
She hands me her notebook, and I skim the page, looking for something that Dave said about some kind of algorithm our principal holding, ThousandWords, uses. Oh, good. She caught it.
“You know, I declined an assistant in my previous role. Now I’m wondering what the hell I ever did that for.”
“I’m glad you did.” She smiles as I glance over at her. “Then you would have brought them here with you. And I wouldn’t have a job.”
I flip through to the next page, only half paying attention to her notes, wanting to hear more of her voice. “Do you like working here?”
“I actually… love it.”
“Why?” The question slips out unbidden, but she doesn’t seem to take offense, that soft smile still on her face.
“I’ve never done anything that challenged me so much. Putting your schedule together can be kind of like… a puzzle, I guess. Making sure no meetings conflict with each other, that there’s time for everything you need to do. Knowing what’s important and what’s not.” She shrugs, biting her lip as she looks down. “It’s stupid, I know. I’m just an assistant.”
“No, it’s not. That’s one thing I liked about my old job, actually.”
She takes a seat, resting her elbows on the edge of my desk. “You were working on international projects?”
“Yeah, and like you said, it was essentially a big puzzle. You figured out how all the pieces best fit and worked together to complete it. And when you’re done, you move on to the next project. But this…” I gesture around me. “It’s the same day in and out. I don’t even leave this building.”
“So what do you want to do?”
I frown, not sure what she’s asking.
“Like, if you could have any job,” she clarifies. “It doesn’t have to be related to Bishop Industries. What would you do?”
“I… I don’t know. It’s never been an option.”
“Didn’t you ever dream of doing something else?”
I nearly snort. “Dad had his plans for us. Archer liked numbers, so he worked his way up to CFO. But he was always supposed to take over for Dad one day. I didn’t want to be stuck behind a desk so I got to do international work, with the idea that it would prepare me for becoming the Chief of Operations eventually. Dad always had beef with Gabriel, so he didn’t get to work for the company, but handled our promotional events. That was just the way it was.”
“But you can rewrite the script now if you want. You can do anything. You’re the boss.”
Theoretically, I understand that. But things can’t be as easily changed as she makes it seem. I’m still beholden to the company. The shareholders. The public. She’d said something yesterday about noping out of here and leaving the responsibility to someone else, but doing that seems too much like the easy way out. Besides, people here are counting on me. Have expectations of me.
And I’ve never been afraid of hard work.