Page 4 of If I See You Again

David

“ Y ou know, I’ve never had someone run away from me when giving a presentation before.”

Malcolm pulled his hand from mine, shoving it into his pocket. He refused to look at me, gaze pinging around the office as if looking for an escape.

“Yes, well, it’s not every day—”

“The person you walked out on this morning shows up?”

Finally. Finally , those emerald-green eyes landed on me, and a blush raced across his cheeks. Malcolm was so damn adorable. He’d been downright gorgeous as he’d writhed beneath me last night, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on that.

He cleared his throat again. “You have to understand, had I known… I wouldn’t have…” He sighed, running a hand through his hair and pulling on the brown strands. He exuded nervous energy. It rolled off him in waves. “That was entirely unprofessional of me. Please excuse me—”

I held up my hand to cut him off. “Malcolm. Stop. There was no way you could have known who I was. I didn’t even know this meeting was happening today. I got a call at the last moment begging me to come in. If you remember, I was giving up on this trip.”

He nodded, a faint smile finally gracing his lips. “So what made you give us a chance?”

How did I explain that one? When Adam Thomas called this morning, I had every intention of turning him down.

There were only so many bad presentations I could sit through.

I understood that my idea was unconventional, but everyone deserved access.

I didn’t need another person to tell me I was making it too easy for people to take advantage of those who were disabled.

The right person would be able to help me out.

Call it a hunch. Something told me to come in and give Thomas and Braxton a shot.

Go figure the reason was so that I could run into Malcolm again.

“Fate?”

Malcolm’s laugh was musical. A light tittering. Maybe it was nerves.

“Fate? Come on. That can’t be your real answer.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know what else to call it. My mind was made up, and I was ready to leave. And yet, here I am.”

“Here you are…” Malcolm trailed off, and we stared at each other for a few moments. A knock on the door made us both jump, and my heart hammered in my chest.

“Is everything all right in here?” Mr. Thomas asked as he leaned against the door frame.

I grinned, looking between the two men. Malcolm seemed nervous still, shifting from side to side with his hands stuffed into his pockets. “More than fine. I’ll go ahead and go with Mr. Fisher’s presentation. Congrats. You’ve got the job.”

Malcolm spluttered as I held out my hand for him to shake. “You haven’t even seen the presentation yet,” he whispered.

I shrugged and then gave him a wink. “So I guess you better not let me down.”

“That’s marvelous news,” Mr. Thomas announced from the doorway, not catching any of our side of the conversation.

Was it stupid to hire the man simply because I’d slept with him and wanted to see more of him? Maybe. Probably. But I’d gotten a taste of Malcolm Fisher, and I wanted more. If this was how I got it, then I better hope he had a surefire plan for my company.

Malcolm shifted uncomfortably across from me and Mr. Thomas. He gnawed at that plump lower lip that I’d sucked on the night before, and I wanted so badly to get his boss out of the room to see if I could tempt him into a repeat.

“If you gentlemen will excuse me, I’m just going to go get the contracts together.”

The moment Mr. Thomas stepped out of the room and the door clicked closed behind him, I had Malcolm pinned to his desk.

“This is a really bad idea.” His brows furrowed as he spoke, hands pressing to my chest, but not quite pushing me away.

“What do you mean? It didn’t seem like a bad idea last night.”

The hands against my chest shoved a little more. “Yes, and that was before I knew we’d be working together. David, don’t you see how fucked up this is?”

My eyebrows rose as I stared at him, wanting nothing more than to lean in and kiss him. “I think we’re both consenting adults here.”

Malcolm slipped out of my grasp, and I heaved a sigh. Watching him slink across the office was the last thing I wanted to do.

“Consenting is one thing. What about ethics? Come on, David. If I’m running your advertising campaign, is that a good idea?”

My fingers ran through my hair as I watched Malcolm begin to pace around the room. “It’s not like you’re responsible for my pay. Raises. Evaluations…”

“No!” Malcolm threw his hands in the air. “But I am responsible for making sure you get the best possible outcome. I can’t do that if I’m worried about hurting your feelings. That any suggestion I make would impact our time together. Please tell me you understand.”

Irritation grew and churned in my gut. I understood where he was coming from, but it wasn’t like we were in any type of supervisor-and-employee situation.

While it was true that he preferred one client over another, it could cause a conflict of interest. However, if we kept things quiet, no one needed to know anything.

I’d only gotten a small taste of the man the night before, and I wanted so much more.

“Listen,” he said. My shoulders drooped, knowing I wasn’t going to like what he had to say. “I’ll take the job, but I need things to stay professional between us from here on out. Can you agree to that?”

So much determination and defiance flickered behind his eyes that I nodded.

It sucked that I wouldn’t get to experience more of the sexy man I’d been with last night, but I had to respect him as well.

Maybe that would win him over in the long run.

Because from what I’d gathered about Malcolm Fisher, it was that he was the long game.

He wasn’t the person who you just hit and quit.

He was the person you made an effort for.

With slow, measured steps, I approached Malcolm as if he were a terrified rabbit, ready to take off if I came at him too quickly.

My hand extended to him, while he stared at it like it was a snake ready to bite.

I had no intention of tricking him. When he stared at my outstretched palm, I took a deep breath.

“You’re right. Let’s call this a truce. From here on out, I’ll be nothing but professional. ”

Skepticism laced his features as he finally took my hand and shook it. “Is there a catch?”

“No catch.”

His hand tightened around mine, and my heart rate spiked. His eyes narrowed as he scanned my face, as if watching for any sign that I was lying to him. “I swear—”

“And I promise.” He didn’t need to know that my fingers were crossed behind my back. This was not the last Malcolm Fisher would hear from David Garrison.