Page 74 of Making It Burn

“That doesn’t count.”His hand came up to loosen my tie slightly.“I want to touch you properly.Kiss you.Make you forget where we are.”

My breath caught.“That’s a terrible idea.”

“The best ones usually are.”He leaned down, his lips brushing mine.“Tell me you don’t want this.”

“I—”

The door burst open, and I jerked back so fast I knocked my coffee mug, sending it crashing to the floor.Coffee splattered across the carpet and up the side of my desk.

Lisa stood in the doorway, her eyes wide.“Oh shit, sorry!I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s fine,” I said quickly, grabbing napkins from my desk drawer.“Just startled me.”

“I can see that.”Lisa looked between me and Beau, who had casually moved to the other side of the desk.“I just wanted to drop off these files Carter asked me to give you.”

“Thanks.You can just leave them there.”

She set the files down slowly, still watching us.“Everything okay in here?”

“Perfect,” Beau said.“Mason was just showing me some documents for the Henderson case.”

“Uh-huh.Documents.”Lisa’s expression was skeptical.“Well, I’ll let you get back to...that.”

She left, and I collapsed back in my chair.“Fuck.”

“It’s fine.”Beau cleared his throat.

“It’s not fine.Did you see the way she looked at us?”

“Mason—” Beau shifted uncomfortably.“Okay, there’s something I should probably tell you.”

My stomach dropped.“What?”

“Lisa...she already knows something happened between us.”

“What do you mean, she knows?”

“Last week, when you and I ran into each other in the hallway and you were being all cold and professional?”Beau grimaced.“She cornered me the second you left.Clever girl figured it out in about ten seconds.”

“Jesus Christ.”I stood up, pacing.“What exactly did you tell her?”

“I didn’t tell her anything!She just—she’s observant, okay?Lisa saw the way we looked at each other and put two and two together.Asked if we kissed.”He held up his hands defensively.“I didn’t confirm or deny anything, but Mason, she’s not stupid.”

“So she’s known this whole time.”My mind was racing.“And now she walks in here and—fuck, this is exactly what I was worried about.”

“Mason.”Beau caught my arm, stopping my pacing.“Breathe.Lisa’s not telling anyone.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Because I know her.She’s discreet.Lisa told me to fix things between us, not to hide them.I doubt she’s said a word to anyone.”

I wanted to believe him.But my heart was still racing, my mind already making a disaster out of every possible outcome.“This is exactly what I was worried about.People figuring it out.And now Lisa walks in here with perfect timing—”

“Bad timing,” Beau corrected.“And she knows to knock now, trust me.She looked mortified.”

“This isn’t funny.”

“I’m not laughing.”Beau’s hands came up to cup my face.“Look at me.Lisa isn’t going to be a problem.She was excited for us last week, before anything even really happened.She won’t run to Carter and Patsy, or gossip around the water cooler.Lisa is probably happy we finally figured our shit out.”