“Am I speaking with Eden or Kellie?” I asked and stepped toward her.
My blood boiled with lust. Her aggression and the look of complete frustration she thrust toward me shot my body to life. The air in my office was thick, it swirled with an uncontrollable need that only she could bring on. I was losing all sense of reality because she was wearing a tight skirt, heels, and an attitude.
The sound of Josh’s soft laughter grabbed my attention. Reluctantly I pulled my eyes from Eden and shot daggers at him. I was fumbling and losing my shit because of this woman, and Josh loved it.
“I might leave you to it.” Josh walked through my office and stood before Eden. He drunk her in and it pissed me off to no end. “It was great seeing you again Eden. You have my number if you ever need me. Call me day or night.”
He leaned in and kissed her cheek. Cocky bastard.
Josh walked out chuckling as he shut the door behind him. I was alone in my office with Eden. I took a minute to stare at her. She stood by the floor to ceiling window looking out over the city, her shoulders slightly slumped, and the sounds of her deep sighs penetrating the air. I took a moment to get my thoughts into check. My professionalism had flown out the window, and I needed to get a strong hold on it.
Eden turned slowly and faced me. She looked petrified but with the signs that she was trying desperately to look confident. Just cut to the chase Ky. I took a seat at my desk and motioned to the vacant chair opposite. Without saying a word to me, Eden moved gracefully through my office and sat quietly in the chair I’d offered.
“Why didn’t you tell me your name?” she questioned.
“You didn’t ask Eden. Although, I specifically asked what your name was and yet you still blatantly lied to my face.”
“I’m sorry. It was a shitty thing to do but for one night I just wanted to be someone else.”
“I only want to talk to Eden,” I stated harshly. Her eyes widened, and I immediately regretted my tone. “All I want is Eden Rivers.” Fuck! “All we want is Eden Rivers,” I corrected myself quickly.
“Why? I don’t understand. You don’t even know me yet you are offering the world.”
“I’m definitely not offering you the world.”
She stood from her chair and walked back toward the window. Her hand pressed so delicately against the glass, and I watched as her shoulders rose as she took a deep breath. I took three steps and stood directly behind her. My senses were overcome by her sweet scent. I was standing too close but I couldn’t move away.
“If you are willing to still work with us then I’d be very happy to have you on board. What do you say Miss Rivers?”
“Yes,” she whispered without hesitating, her words coming out in a husky breath. She turned slowly and there was barely a few inches between us. My gaze grew deep as I stared at this woman standing before me. There was no consideration in her answer, no breath taken, no deliberation flashing within her blue eyes. Tori’s words instantly came back to me. She couldn’t say no. “I should go. I have to get back to the island.” She spoke more confidently, taking a step away from me. An action I didn’t miss.
“I will take you,” I blurted out, now I was the one spewing out things without consideration. “I’m about to leave for the day.”
I stalked toward my desk without awaiting her answer, packing up my laptop and pulling my keys from the desk drawer while she waited in silence. I knew her eyes were on me. What the hell was I doing? It was four thirty on a Thursday afternoon. I should be staying at work for at least another eight hours. I didn’t give her a chance to answer, I pulled my jacket off the back of my chair and pulled my arms in, finally looking at her. She stared at me wide eyed and in confusion.
“Ready?” I stood before her. “We should get to know each other considering we will be working together.”
I walked out of my office without another word. My breath held until she fell in step beside me. I didn’t think she would follow me. I was expecting her to laugh in my face, tell me to fuck off, and pull out of our show completely. She shocked me yet confirmed my worst fears. Yes. In silence we walked toward the elevator and made our way to the ground floor. It wasn’t unusual to find Josh blatantly flirting with the new receptionist, to be honest I was shocked that he hadn’t already got to her. The look of shock on his face was almost too much to take in. Seeing me packed up for the day so early was confusing for anyone.
“You’re leaving?” he gasped, his eyes wide.
I coughed to hide the laugh that filtered out. “Yep, I’m going home.”
“Are you sick?” His voice rose high in question.
“No Josh, I am just leaving for the day.”
“But you— Okay, I’ll stop by later.”
My eyes were determined to lock onto the man sitting beside me. He had been a complete gentleman by opening the passenger door for me and making sure I buckled myself in before he walked around the front of the car with confidence exuding from each step. His body folded so perfectly against the leather of the seats, his hands gripped tightly to the steering wheel, and his strong jaw was locked tight. My eyes roamed vicariously over him, and I had no control to stop it. Seeing him dressed in tailored dress pants and a crisp white shirt was causing my heart to race frantically.
“Where to?” he questioned, as he pulled out of the underground park and into the steady stream of traffic.
“I am staying at Hotel De Luca.”
“You are staying at a hotel? I thought your family lived on the island?”
I shot him a curious look. How in the hell did he know about my family? I knew for a fact that I didn’t divulge that kind of information the other night. The faintest of smirks graced his lips as he took in my reaction, reading me like an open book.
“Facebook Eden. You can find out everything on Facebook.”
“Well it seems that I need to change my privacy settings.” I chuckled and folded my arms over my chest. He made me chuckle… What the hell was that about?
“But if you did that, how could I possibly have found out that you live in San Fran, you and Tori have a tendency to take a hell of a lot of selfies in the bathroom, and you eat a shitload of pizza.”
My mouth dropped open. He had definitely done his research. “Well aren’t you just a modern day Sherlock Holmes.”
His deep laughter shot through me, relaxing every inch of my rigid body. I hadn’t realized how tense I was. I unclasped my arms from my chest and let my hands fall to my lap as I tried to calm down. Being in a car with a man should have sent me into a wild panic, I should have been overcome with fear, but I wasn’t. Nerves swept through me. It was as confusing as fuck.
He shot me a quick look; the conversation was over and the hustle and bustle of New York City traffic was soon behind us. I gripped hold of the door handle and let my head fall against the window as I took in the fading sun. The city was so beautiful this time of year. The colors, the change in scenery, the falling light so early in the afternoon made it look like true perfection, and it was one of the only things I missed about living in this city.
“Just to let you know I am only here until January fifth and then I’ll be flying back to sunny California to continue taking selfies with Tori and eating at Sammy’s Pizzeria.”
“So that means you’ll be my December.” He whispered so delicately that it hit me with full force.
We stopped at a red light, and I shifted in my seat to look at him. What did he mean by that? Be my December? His eyes glistened with purpose and his face remained completely unreadable. The dimple in his right cheek came to life as the slightest of smile took over his lips. I opened my mouth to question what he meant, but the shrill ringing of a cell phone seeped through the speakers and after a couple of clicks the sound of Josh’s deep voice filled the space of the car, instantly taking me away from Ky’s absurd statement. Ky shot me a look as Josh started rambling about a problem back at the office. The vibrations of the car hitting the road below swept calm to fleet through my tense body. My eyes fluttered closed under the rumblings, and I felt my body fall into comfortably bliss.