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My belly dips low at her confession, and I cup her chin, skimming my fingers along the smooth skin. “Say that again.”
Her tongue wets her top lip briefly. “I only want you.”
I groan as I take her mouth, needing to taste her, to connect with her for just a moment, glad she’s not offended at my train of thought, that she understands where I’m coming from.
A halting knock has me breaking away, gaze cutting to find Dave in the doorway, fist raised in mid-air. His mouth opens and closes once, then he whips around, disappearing.
“Shit.” I step back, clasping my hands behind my neck, and glance at Emma, her eyes wide.
How could I be so careless? I didn’t even shut the door.
“Do you need to…”
“Yeah.”
I race out of the room, catching him further down the hall, thankful there’s no one else to witness this. “I—”
“I didn’t see anything,” he says, holding his palms out in front of him.
My train of thought splinters, not that I even knew what I was going to say to begin with. A denial? A threat? A plea for silence? “I, uh, thank you.” Still, a weight of guilt settles over my shoulders. I never wanted to be this kind of boss. For my employees to see me this way. Especially someone I respect, like Dave.
He nods. “I worked for your father for a long time. I know how to keep my mouth shut.”
He continues on down the hall, but all I can do is blink as I watch him go. What the hell was that supposed to mean? What was Dad doing that Dave would need to keep secret? I wouldn’t put questionable business practices past him, but what if it was something like he just witnessed? Would Dad have had an affair at work?
And before or after Mom’s death?
No, it probably wasn’t that. Dad didn’t have time for stuff like that. He was all business all the time.
Unlike me.
I head back to the conference room, Emma crossing to meet me, her voice pitched low as she asks, “What happened?”
I shut the door behind me, not wanting to take any chances. “He’ll keep quiet.”
She crosses her arms over her chest, eyes still wide. “I’m sorry—”
“No. It was my fault.” Everything in me wants to reach out and comfort her, but that’s the last thing I should do right now. I need to reinstate boundaries at work. This can’t happen again. “I’m going back upstairs, okay?”
She nods, biting at her bottom lip.
“Everything’s fine,” I assure her. “We just have to be more careful here.”
“Okay.”
I smile at her, hoping it comes across as warm and encouraging, even as dread pools in my stomach. The thing with Dave could have easily turned south. And what if it had been someone else? Someone that wouldn’t keep silent? Or worse, wanted to blackmail me? What if Richard had come in and seen that right after I insisted me and Emma only had a professional relationship?
I leave before she can intuit anything from me, and head toward the elevators, needing to compose myself. Everything will be okay. We’re in the clear.
But I can’t help feeling like we’re on borrowed time, that it’ll only take one minor slip-up for something worse to come about.
The question is, how long will I continue to flirt with fire?
Chapter Twenty-Five
Connor
“Ithought I might find you here.”