Page 24 of Falling for Raine

7

GRAHAM

Bloody hell.

Bloody fucking hell.

This was a first. I could honestly report that I’d never had a lover turn up on my payroll out of the blue. Shock rendered me witless and speechless.

It was him. The last time I’d seen Raine had been in a dim Vegas hotel room. His hair had been tousled, his skin flushed, and his lips swollen. He’d been beautiful—the way impossible creatures were.

He looked different now, but that might have been the light. I stared at him, shamelessly cataloguing this new version of him in rumpled khakis and an ill-fitted sport coat that sagged at the shoulders. And was there something on his shirt? A stain of some sort? His hair was longer now too. It curled at his ears and God, I wanted to brush a lock of it from his eyes.

He had the air of someone playing dress-up. That hadn’t been the case in Vegas. I could still recall those tight jeans and that snug shirt and my fingers in his hole and my cock in his?—

“I didn’t realize you two had met,” Julia chimed in, pulling me firmly into the present.

I shook Raine’s hand and somehow managed not to jolt as a zing of awareness zipped through my veins.

“Vegas,” he muttered through a longer than necessary handshake. “I didn’t know…”

Julia cast a panicky glance between us. “You met in Las Vegas?”

“Quite by accident,” I replied, clearing my throat before continuing in a detached tone. “You’re Julia’s new assistant.”

“Y-yes,” he squeaked.

“He’s been training with Darwin while we’ve been away,” Julia piped up. “I wanted to get him up to speed, which shouldn’t take long at all. He’s new to London, but Raine has loads of experience and was well-regarded by his former colleagues. We’re fortunate to have him with us.”

My lips quirked at one corner as I lifted a brow. “I’m sure we are.”

She tapped her watch and marched toward the door. “We have that meeting with Mr. Blower in ten minutes, sir. Victoria sent word that he’s heading for the Bridge Conference Room. Shall we?”

“Please go ahead. I’ll be along shortly.”

Julia opened her mouth as if to argue, but nodded instead. “Of course. Darwin is expecting you, Raine.”

I kept my gaze fixed on Raine, but didn’t speak until the clip of Julia’s heels faded. “Is it really you?”

He gave a sheepish half laugh. “Yeah, um…what are the chances?”

“Slim to none,” I huffed automatically. “And this was the job you were talking about?”

“Yeah.”

“The one you said you were in over your head and possibly unqualified for?”

“Yeah, that’s the one.” He had the grace to wince as he scratched his nape. The gesture hiked his jacket open, revealing a large dark smudge under the breast pocket of his otherwise white shirt.

I squinted. “You have something on your shirt.”

“Ha. Do I?” Raine widened his eyes and dropped his arm. “Uh, so…this is unexpected and probably looks pretty bad from where you’re sitting.”

“I’m standing,” I deadpanned.

“Uh-huh. Right.” He sighed heavily. “I wish I had an explanation, but I didn’t know this was your company when we met. And since I got here, I’ve been treading water, trying to figure out how to use public transportation and work a freaking iron. So if you’re thinking I tried to seduce you or something like that, don’t. I’m not that clever, and my sexy game goes sideways under pressure. I would never have gotten in your car or…done the things we did—if I’d known.”

I inclined my chin. “I believe you.”