Page 35 of Skins Game

Kingston’s breath was harsh in her ear and warm on her neck, and his temple pressed hers. “The HR department is not going to like this.”

A few neurons connected in her head and sparked, but only a few. “Then let’s not tell them.”

He huffed a chuckle. “Those barracudas will find out eventually.”

“Why is that a problem? You’re not my boss. You’re in an entirely different department, so there’s no chain of authority problem. Considering you’re the new sales guy, low man on the org chart, there’s every possibility that they’d consider me to beyourboss.”

“Yeah, sure,” he said, his voice rough.

As he straightened a little, she swung her legs around to sit on the edge of the table. “You worry about HR a lot. Have you had problems with them in the past?”

Was she snogging a notorious company ‘ho? Is that why he’d left his previous job?

Kingston braced his arms on either side of her, leaning over. “Never. I’ve always been carefulnotto have problems with them. It’s like stopping for red lights. It’s a good rule, keeps everybody safe, and prevents getting T-boned.”

Nicole couldn’t help herself. “Heh. You saidboned.”

His chuckle escalated. “Oh, you are dangerous, little miss engineer. I think you won the arm wrestling contest. To the victor goes the Snickers bar.”

He picked it up, peeled the wrapper, and broke off a piece, which he held out for her.

And again, his blue-fire stare above his hand was an offer and a challenge.

She could reach over, pluck it from between his fingers, and toss it in her mouth.

Instead, Nicole leaned forward and took the bite between her teeth from his fingertips, locked in eye contact with him.

The dark circles of his pupils expanded in his blue eyes.

Without changing his intent focus on her or looking at the candy bar, he broke off another bite and held it out.

With that bite, she grazed his thumb with her lower lip.

His gaze bored into hers solid like a fist, and he stepped toward her and held out another piece just below her mouth, a chunk of chocolate and peanuts at the bottom of her peripheral vision.

A tiny part of her brain was an indignant old auntie, standing with her hip out and arms crossed, asking what Nicole was doing by leading this guy on or accelerating the problem because they were trapped in the building together.

But a much larger part of her mind wanted to see what Kingston would do.

She was playing with fire, not to tame it, but to see how much she could burn down.

Thirteen long hours stretched before them until the front doors unlocked.

“Last bite,” he said, holding out a chocolate cube.

Nicole sucked it from his fingers with just a kiss on his thumb, not too slutty, not discouraging in the slightest.

Kingston dropped the wrapper in the trash. “What do you want to eat now?”

Just how much did she want to escalate this?

Thirteen hours was a long time. They literally had all night.

Nicole picked up a bag of sunflower seeds and tore it open.

Kingston backed up a step, a half-grin curving his mouth, and snagged a bag of trail mix. As he ripped it open, he sat in the chair beside her legs and poured some into his mouth.

She grinned back at him and tossed more crumbly seeds into her mouth.