“Um excuse me, who are you, and what are you doing in here?”
I turned to the rude intruding voice that I found belonged to a striking red head that stood with her hands on her tiny hips and a snigger on her lips. If it wasn’t for her bitchy attitude, I would say she was one of the most stunning women I had ever seen. Her pointed gaze roamed over my body, taking in my skinny jeans, knee high boots, and simple white blouse in clear disgust.
“My name is Eden, and I am waiting for Ky,” I said quickly, hoping that she would turn around and leave.
Her eyes widened and with a couple of steps on her impressive looking heels, she was in the boardroom and closing the door behind her.
“You’re Eden Rivers?” she spat in clear disapproval. “It’s you Ky is rejecting me for?”
Well hello insecurities! I felt myself pull back as I took in the glamour before me. Ky was rejecting her for me? What the fuck? She looked back at me expectantly and continued to judge me with hateful eyes. Where the hell was Ky or Josh? She didn’t speak another word for what seemed like forever, and I had no response.
“I cannot believe that he rejected me yesterday because of you. I’d heard of the infamous Eden Rivers but by what I had heard him say I was expecting someone a bit more polished. Jesus, I am speechless.”
Clearly she wasn’t.
She took a step toward me so she was close enough for her perfume to hit me full force. Her eyes threatened with vindictiveness and a smirk filled her inflated pout. “He doesn’t do relationships; he fucks and runs and I was happy to give him that. I hope you know his expectations and can live up to them.”
“Are you fucking done?”
I jumped at the sound of a very pissed off voice booming from the door. My body swung around to find the intimidating presence of Ky leaning against the doorframe, arms folded across his broad chest and a scowl taking over his face. He was clad head to toe in business attire; he looked nothing like I’d seen him before. My eyes, with a mind of their own, ran the length of his body, taking in the dark charcoal suit, crisp white shirt that was opened at the top with the tie he was wearing loosened around his neck.
“I was just introducing myself to Eden,” the red head stuttered as she urgently tried to back track her words.
“I heard enough to know that wasn’t what you were doing Angela, so fuck off back to your desk. We will discuss this at a later time.” Ky hadn’t looked at me once since he had entered the room; his eyes were glued firmly on the woman I now knew as Angela.
“Are you serious?” Angela questioned, her exasperated tone not missed.
“Do I look like I am joking?”
Finally, Ky looked at me and his eyes softened. I had no clue what was happening. I looked away and dropped my eyes to my laptop bag and fumbled around inside pretending to be looking for something. I heard the mutter of words under breath and then the sound muffled voices.
I didn’t even hear him move through the room, so I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt the soft touch of a hand on the small of my back. When I finally looked up from the floor and turned to face him, Ky looked back at me tensely, his eyes taking in my features as if he was desperately trying to gauge my reaction, to make sure I was okay. I offered the best smile I could.
“Are you okay?” His voice had lost the aggression and was now soft and calming, yet still so deep and enticing.
“Yes,” I responded immediately.
“Fuck Eden, answer me honestly.”
“I am fine,” I spat between clenched teeth all the while glaring at him.
His head flew back, and his eyes locked onto the ceiling. I couldn’t ignore the loud infuriated sigh that escaped his body. “Eden, once again. Are you okay?”
The tension in the room had gone from concern to frustration within a heartbeat. I stayed silent as I tried to decipher my response. Clearly anything I said wouldn’t be what he wanted to hear, and it certainly wouldn’t be anything I wanted to say. He dropped his head from looking at the ceiling and focused squarely on me, waiting expectantly on my response. Everything was lost when he looked at me like that. It was a look that I was becoming very accustomed to. His eyes had lost the ferociousness that they showed moments ago and now they were filled with expectation, protection, and maybe even a little anxiousness. Almost like my response was resting squarely on his shoulders.
“I will be fine,” I admitted in a soft tone. “I just wasn’t expecting to be bombarded by one of your lady friends.”
“Lady friends?” He scoffed and I could tell he was trying to stop himself from laughing.
“I don’t want to stop you from the women you are interested in. It was pretty clear that she has you in her sights and if you want—”
“Just stop before you go any further,” Ky barked, shaking his head in the process. “Do you remember what I said on Saturday?”
My thoughts flew back to Saturday and the conversations we had. I knew exactly what he was referring to. The one conversation that made my heart weep for him. The girl that got away, the one girl he clearly didn’t want to say goodbye to. I nodded in silent response.
“For the last time, I do not have any lady friends, as you call them, and even if I did, it would certainly not be someone like Angela. As I told you, I have no interest in any women at the moment.” His voice dropped dangerously low. “Besides you Miss Rivers.”
My stomach twisted, and my heart rate quickened at his words. I didn’t know whether it was the certainty of his voice, the fact that he was wearing a suit, or the look of confidence spearing from his gaze, but suddenly it made me forget everything and for a brief moment, in the middle of the boardroom, I was just a girl who had the attention of a guy who seemed so out of her league.
I suddenly felt something I hadn’t felt in years.
Alive.
Opening the door and finding Angela laying into Eden had pissed me off. When would this woman realize that I wanted nothing to do with her outside of our professional relationship? It was pretty obvious that I didn’t want anything to do with any woman besides Eden. Yesterday I had come into the office with Josh and for some reason Angela had been there; she had interrupted Josh and me as we were talking about Eden. Well, Josh was trying desperately to get information out of me regarding Eden. I knew by the time I arrived that morning that word would have gotten around the office, but I certainly didn’t expect that the two of us would already be the office gossip.
That also pissed me off.
It was a fan-fucking-tastic start to the week.
“Come with me,” I grated out and headed toward the door. Of course she followed without consideration.
We walked side by side through the open office space, her heels clicking against the polished floor, which caused heads to look up. Angela stood by the desk of the biggest gossip in the office and both of their mouths hung open as Eden and I passed. I shot Angela a glare in silent warning, and she hastily turned away and pretended to be sorting through paperwork.
“Where are we going?” Eden finally spoke.
“My office.” My response was too short. I was taking out my mood on the wrong person, and I regretted it immediately.
She remained silent and once we reached my corner office, I held open my door and she walked through; I closed the door behind us even though I knew that would only fuel the office gossip even more.
“Have a seat,” I requested in a monotone, motioning to the seat opposite my desk.
She quickly fell into the seat, her laptop bag dropping beside her. “I didn’t mean to cause any trouble. I can leave. It would probably be best for me to leave.” She pushed back her seat and went to stand, but she froze when I spoke.
“Did I say I wanted you to leave? Sit down Eden.”
She nodded and pulled the seat back toward the desk. Her eyes glistened as she dropped back down in it. I inhaled sharply and rubbed my fingertips to my temples. This could be the perfect time to tell her that my stupid proposition was a mista
ke and that we could just see each other when required for the job. I could slip back into simply being the guy who signed her paycheck.
This was completely fucking with my mind, and I was a loose cannon at the best of times, but now I was afraid that I would implode or worse yet explode in front of the wrong person.
Once I opened my eyes, I took a moment to bask in her beauty. After our day at the park and then night at the movies I had left her and went back to my apartment and tried to comprehend what had actually happened. I still felt the heat of her hand in mine, the sound of her laughter in my ears, but I also remembered the look that would float over her face at random times during the night. It was almost like the longer she was out, the more uncomfortable she became. I didn’t like to think it, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that she was pretending the whole time.
It killed me not speak with her yesterday, but I knew I had to approach this with kid gloves. I couldn’t scare her off with my intense motives, and I knew the longer I spent with her the more I was losing my battle to restrain myself.
“Look I’m sorry. I’m not pissed off at you, I am pissed off that Angela would say something like that. Whatever we are doing is no one else’s business. Fuck, I don’t even know what we are doing.” I raked my hand through my hair, frustration was a bitch of a thing and it was penetrating to my very core. Eden sat frozen to the spot, looking back at me with wide shocked eyes. I was failing miserably on the whole intense motives factor so I thought why the hell not, let’s just go full balls to the wall and deal with the consequences later. “Did you actually enjoy the other day and night because I did and I may have said that I wouldn’t fuck you, but Jesus, Eden, it would be a lie if I said I didn’t want to kiss those perfect lips again. That’s what I am fighting with at the moment, so no I do not want you to leave. I want you to stick around so you can continue to torment me.”
The intensity in the room went from zero to a billion after my little display. Our eyes connected as I opened my laptop. Eden didn’t look frightened, if anything she looked intrigued, and the sweetest flush graced her cheeks. I had asked Josh to bring her here to discuss work, but now all I had done was bring our personal life into my professional space.
“We need to discuss where you will be working and sort out a schedule. There is space here if you want to work from here or we can look at somewhere else. You have a lot of work in front of you, and I want to be able to give you what you need.”
Fuck me. If that wasn’t a sexual innuendo I didn’t know what was.
Her sharp inhale of breath wasn’t lost on me; it shot straight through my pants and began massaging my cock. Josh’s warnings rang through my ears, and I knew I was treading in dangerous territory. All I had to do was ask one question—make an asshole move then ask her a question she wouldn’t be able to refuse. She couldn’t refuse. While her bright blue depths stared at me, I got lost under her gaze while scenario after scenario flashed before me.
“You confuse me Eden.”
“I don’t know what you mean.” Her gaze didn’t drop, she showed a confidence that I knew was in there but which she had hidden away from the world. Could it be true that slowly she was beginning to find the courage to stand up to me?
“You say yes without considering the consequences, which scares the fuck out of me; you do whatever I ask without question; there are times when I see this sassy confident girl who wants to come to life, but in the next breath she is lost to a girl who is scared at the thought of a guy touching her.”
“I can’t help who I am Ky. It’s just me.”
“Well I have a month Eden, and I am going to find that sassy confident girl and bring her out because she deserves to be seen. I will touch you; that is as guaranteed as the air you breathe.”
“You said you wouldn’t fuck me,” she said, panic roaring within her words as she stood up and gathered her belongings.
“There is a big difference between fucking and touching Eden.”
And then she left.
••••
It had been two days since my immature outburst with Eden. Two days of working obsessively, two days without sleep, two days of annihilating myself at the gym until I fell into a pit of pure exhaustion.
I had finally been convinced to leave the office and I was sitting in the diner with Ashlyn and Josh.
“You look like shit,” my ever so honest brother decided to announce.
“You do realize you are an asshole right?” I shot a laugh and rolled my eyes.
Aunt Carole headed toward us with concern flashing over her face, and she directed it squarely on me. Unease confronted me and I narrowed my eyes awaiting her words.
“Eden is outside getting harassed by Chris.”
My body flew out of the booth, and I felt like my feet didn’t even touch the ground. When the fuck would he get the point? I didn’t want to discern why he was hanging around. I hit the sidewalk and standing near the entrance was a fearful looking Eden being spoken to by Chris fucking Edwards. I rushed at neck breaking speed with one thing in mind—Eden’s safety.
I gripped hold of the back of his shirt, pulling him away from a trembling Eden and slammed him against the brick wall.
“Eden, step away,” I roared. Her eyes shot wide, and she didn’t hesitate. When she was out of sight, I turned back to a smirking Chris and pushed my forearm against his throat.
“How many fucking times do I have to tell you? Stay away from her.” I felt the vein in my neck pulsating under my anger and the thought of my fist connecting with his smug face almost overcame me.
“Always so protective Ky but what happens when you aren’t around?” He shrugged out of my hold and took a step forward, getting right in my face. “I hear her pussy is pretty fucking sweet.”
“Shut the fuck up,” I hissed. “You go anywhere near her and I swear to God I will bring you down motherfucker. Stay the fuck away from her.”
I turned away from him with anger pulsating through my body, desperate to escape, and that was when he spoke again.
“Secrets always come out Crawford, and I’ll be right in the wings ready to swoop.”
I didn’t bother sticking around to hear any more of the fucked-up words he would taunt me with. I needed to find Eden. My head flung back and forth as I tried to find any sign of her. I finally locked onto her retreating figure as she crossed the road. I started jogging and weaved my way through the traffic with Eden clear in sight.
“Eden, stop!” I pleaded when I got within reach.
She froze on the spot and spun toward me, her face completely unreadable. increased my pace until I stopped just before her. I could see the panic falling around her, and it was obvious that her walls were rising at an alarming rate.
My hands cupped her face, encouraging her to look at me. Even when she looked petrified, she was still the most beautiful girl. “Did he hurt you?”
Her bottom lip trembled and she shook her head slightly before speaking. “I’m okay, I just want to get out of here.”
“Hey, come here.” I whispered and wrapped my arms tightly around her bringing her firmly against my chest. Her arms circled my waist and she pulled me closer to her body. I held her as close as I could until she stopped shaking. “Are you okay?”
She lifted her head from my chest and looked at me through glistening eyes. “I don’t know. He scares me.”
“What can I do?” I asked, desperately wanting to stop the fear taking over her. “Will you come and have dinner with Josh, Ashlyn, and me?”
Her eyes swam with indecisiveness before me. She tugged her lip between her teeth before she simply nodded. My irritation grew every time I witnessed this, but I refused to let it boil over again. What if I was someone who wasn’t just going to take her for dinner? What if it was someone who saw how beautiful she was and…I couldn’t even think about it. It made me more determined to get her to say no to something or at least say yes for the right reasons. It ignited a need within me, a need that
I shouldn’t crave.
“Come on, let’s go.”
She uncurled herself from my body and I linked my fingers with her and we walked silently back to the diner. My eyes bounced around feverishly searching for any signs of Chris but like a dirty rat he had disappeared into the crevices of the city.
The moment we walked through the door and the warmth of the diner circulated around us, my aunt Carole was in our space and fussing over Eden.
“Sweetie, are you okay? I am so sorry I didn’t notice sooner. You come in here any time okay. You are safe in here.”
My heart warmed at my aunt’s worry. She was like a second mom to me and Josh and knowing her motherly ways, I knew that Eden would get the full Aunt Carole treatment. The sweetness of Eden’s smile was comforting to the brutal thoughts I was having in regards to Chris.
“Take her to the booth Ky, I’ll bring over some drinks and take your order.” She turned to Eden and placed an open palm on her cheek. “This one will take care of you sweetie. He is a good boy.”
When we got to the booth, both Ashlyn and Josh rose from their seats and hugged Eden tightly as I stood back protectively. I directed her to slide in and sit against the window so I could protect her from the world around us. It was my caveman tendencies resurfacing; if anyone wanted to get to her, they had to come through me. Her body shook beside me and she was studying the table top as she clawed her way back into the shell she protected herself with. I grabbed her hand under the table and entwined my fingers with hers, desperate to provide her with solace. Her grip tightened, and she shifted ever so slightly until her body was flush against mine. My thumb rubbed over her soft skin, and I placed our conjoined hands in my lap where they would remain.
“I won’t let anything happen to you.” I dropped my voice so only she heard and my words were complete and utter truth. I would stop at nothing to ensure her safety.