Page 16 of Sacred

“Ah.” I feel like an idiot standing there, still shaking his hand, but I’m grasping for any excuse to maintain the contact.

Hell, I don’t even know if he’s gay or not.

But he’s not making any move to pull his hand away, either. And he’s looking me right in the eyes.

Meaning I feel I should say…something. “Maybe I should come around more on Saturday afternoons.” Yeah, that’s got to be one of the lamest lines ever uttered. You’d never think I’m pulling down five mil a year if you heard what an incompetent jackass I sound like right now.

“Maybe you should.”

I suck in a sharp breath, my cock stirring for the first time in…well, months, I’m sad to admit. “How old are you?” Because if he is some eighteen-year-old college intern, he’s going to be a hands-off sitch, totally.

He snorts. “Twenty-four. Need to see my ID?” I love how feisty he is.

“I don’t suppose you’re free tonight, are you?” I risk.

“Depends.”

“On what?”

“Are you asking me out on a date?”

“What if I am?” Hell, I don’t work with him. This isn’t workplace harassment.

He smiles and squeezes my hand. “Then make sure you stop by my desk on your way out. I know a new sushi place that just opened and I’ve been wanting to try them.”

Fuuuuuck me.

He waits for me to release his hand first and damned if I don’t want to keep holding it. “Where’s your desk?”

“Downstairs in the back hallway, last office on the left. My door will be open.” He drops me a wink and I finally force myself to release his hand when Marlowe appears in his office doorway.

“Liam, there you are. Come on in.”

“Thanks.” I glance back before crossing the threshold to find Daniel smirking at me over his shoulder as he heads for the stairs. Once we’re seated, I barge ahead. “Who was he? I haven’t seen him around here.”

“Who?” Marlowe asks as he settles in his desk chair.

“Daniel Walker.”

“Bright guy. Camden’s talking about maybe hiring him full-time for in-house polling. He’s a brilliant statistics analyst. Currently working for a brokerage house. We can’t match his current salary, I’m sure, but we’ll see if he wants to come aboard with the potential to move up in the political world.”

“Interesting.”

Marlowe’s sneaky smile burns right through me. “Interested, are we?”

“We are.” I pluck at the crease in my slacks. “Might take him out to dinner tonight.”

“Heh. I was beginning to think you’re one of those…what do they call it? Asexuals? Never seen you interested in anyone before.”

I mentally wince at his casually unintended conversational blunder. “Might want to watch how you say that, and no, that’s not what I am. I’m a driven workaholic.”

Close enough to the truth. I’m not under oath right now.

He doesn’t need to know my darker secrets.

Three hours later, I’m making my way down the stairs to find Daniel and hoping he’s still in the office. It’s almost dark and I’m hungry for more than sushi.

My heart sinks when I locate the back hallway and see the darkened office doorways on either side, but I walk down to the end anyway.