Page 13 of To the Chase

I wasn’t going to let a little bit of weirdness stand in the way of my job, though. When Paul had asked for a weekly catering appointment, I’d jumped at the opportunity, refusing to feel awkward about running into Tore Gallo.

Not even when he walked into the empty conference room, took a seat at the table, and opened his laptop like he was planning on working.

“Good morning.” I was impressed at how professional I sounded, given how dry my throat had gone the moment I’d turned around to face him. Every drop of saliva had evaporated from my body.

He wasn’t wearing a tie today, and the top two buttons of his shirt were undone, revealing bare, smooth skin. Just a sliver, but enough to see the indentation at the base of his throat and the beginning of the line dividing his pecs.

Utterly obscene. Who’d let him out in public like that?

“Good morning.” He rubbed the cleft in his chin, his heavy-lidded gaze sliding over me. “I hope you don’t mind me being in here early.”

My husk of a tongue shot out to lick my dry lips, just enough for me to be able to speak like a semi-normal human being.

“It’s not a problem.” I cast him a closed-lip smile. “I won’t be much longer.”

“There’s no rush.”

I checked the time on my phone. “You’re right. My next job canceled, so I have a bit more time today.”

“Does that happen often?”

“What?”

He lowered his chin, pinning me with an intense, probing stare. “Cancellations. Do they happen often?”

“No, thankfully.” I crinkled my nose. “Most people prefer not to lose their deposit.”

“Smart to take a deposit,” he murmured.

I tapped my temple. “That’s me, super genius. Almost as impressive as protecting all the computers of the government.”

It took a beat for my joke to hit him, then he shot me a deadly smirk. “Notallthe government. Only a specific sector.”

I laughed, and it came out far raspier than intended. “Of course. Silly me for getting that wrong.” When he didn’t say anything else, I gestured toward my setup. “I should finish this.”

He nodded. “I won’t get in your way.”

No, he wouldn’t. But I felt his eyes on me the entire time. Every once in a while, there was the click of his mouse, but that was probably to keep the screen awake. Not a chance he was actually doing anything when my spine tingled from his unbroken attention.

Annoying.

I didn’t know what his game was— playing like we were strangers. And I wasn’t particularly interested in finding out. I wished he would pull the same disappearing act he had before, so I could get on without interruption.

No such luck.

Paul strode in minutes later, doing a double take when he spotted Tore at the conference table.

“Tore, I, uh”—he studied his watch—“did the time for the meeting change? I would have contacted the caterer if I’d known.”

Tore raised a hand. “Nothing’s changed.”

He offered no other explanation, leaving Paul gawping.

Join the club, buddy.

“Was there something you needed?” I asked, ever the professional.

Paul managed to get control of his jaw and gather himself. “No. Actually, I came to ask you that. And”—he shuffled closer, peering at my goodies—“I was going to ask if you had any of those cranberry-and-white-chocolate muffins.”