Lunch with Mel. She’d probably talk about her kids, her latest PTA meeting, soccer practice, or something else … normal. Kalina warmed a bit but she wasn’t sure if it was from the tea or the prospect. “Sure. Lunch sounds fine.”
“Meet you at the elevator at one. I like to go later—makes the afternoon pass quicker.”
Kalina nodded. “Me, too.”
“Be good till then,” Mel said, tossing her a smile and walking away.
Be good, Kalina thought, taking a seat. How could spying on a man and using the nicest woman she’d ever met be good?
The next afternoon, Rome felt like a stalker. Sort of, but not really. He was on his own property, doing something that wasn’t totally out of the ordinary for an employer. There was no law stating he couldn’t walk around his office, take a tour of what he’d created.
If he stopped in the accounting department, just a couple of feet away from the cubicle occupied by his firm’s newest and sexiest employee, well, that was just coincidence.
He heard her voice just seconds after he picked up her scent. A scent he figured he might just be a little addicted to, even though he hadn’t smelled it personally for a couple of years. He still remembered, as if it were yesterday, the first time she’d been close to him, close enough for him to feel a part of her reaching out to him.
“You could back up off me just a little, you know,” she was saying, and Rome’s protective instincts quickly kicked in. Surely no one in his employ was giving her a hard time. If so, he’d definitely deal with them. Despite their little encounter in his office the other night, or possibly because of it, he wanted to make sure he kept her in close proximity this time.
He took a step closer to the cubicle, ready to intervene and reprimand if necessary. But she continued.
“I’d be a lot better off if you’d stop calling every five minutes and let me do my job.”
So she was on the phone, he surmised since the conversation seemed one-sided. He moved closer, the ammonia-like scent of hostility permeating his senses. Whoever she was talking to, she didn’t much care for.
“Fine! Just don’t call me back again.”
Her words were terse, and she really meant them. As he turned the corner of the cubicle they were face-to-face and she wasn’t happy to see him.
“Boyfriend problems?” he said without hesitation.
She didn’t seem startled, only more agitated. “Creeping around the office after hours doesn’t seem like your style,” she quipped.
“No. That would be more your arena, right?” was his reply and her brow furrowed. He’d made her angrier, which really wasn’t his intention. Hell, Rome had no idea what his intentions were where this woman was concerned. What he knew for certain was that he didn’t want another confrontation. It was obvious they were attracted to each other, and from experience it was a lot easier to act on an attraction when you weren’t biting each other’s heads off every time you were together.
So he inhaled slowly, thought about the situation another second, then said, “Is everything okay?” He eyed the cell phone she was slipping in her purse as she stood.
“Fine,” she said through clenched teeth. “Just dandy.”
Lie. But he smiled anyway.
“Want to get a drink and talk about it?”
“No, thanks. I already have plans for tonight.”
She made sure her computer was shut down then moved to pass him. Rome had plans as well, but didn’t mind being a little late as long as it meant he could spend more time with her.
“Then at least let me walk you out,” he continued, falling in step beside her.
She was tall for a woman—not as tall as him, but she could almost look him eye-to-eye. She walked with self-assuredness and purpose, her heeled shoes eating up the carpet as she moved. There was no problem keeping up with her as they rounded the corner to where the elevators were.
“You parked in the garage?”
“Yes,” she said. Rome hit the DOWN button on the marbled panel.
“If there’s a problem you’re having, I can help,” he said when she’d folded her arms over her chest. Today she wore slacks that covered her long legs the way he wished he could. Her blouse was a snug white material with just enough softness to have the insides of his palms tingling to touch. Her hair was slicked on the sides, spiked at the top, giving her eyes an exotic slant he wasn’t sure he noticed the other day in his office.
Rome’s body radiated heat, his dick so hard he bet he could push her against this wall and fuck her right here in the hallway. But that would be classless, something Rome was not. He didn’t take his women in public places, not if he could help it. With Kalina Harper, he wasn’t sure restraint was going to be his friend.
“I don’t need a hero,” she said as the elevator arrived and she stepped inside. Moving all the way to the back, she leaned against the wall and sighed. “Look, I’m sorry if I seem rude.”
He let that comment linger a moment because she was straddling that fence to rude, but he sensed it was more of a defense mechanism than a purposeful snub.
“Guess I’m just having a rough day.”
Rome nodded, pressed the GARAGE button, and stood beside her while the elevator began its smooth descent. “It’s Friday, they’re usually rough.” She didn’t respond. “But you said you have plans for this evening. So maybe your weekend will pick up.”
She looked at him then; Rome knew because he couldn’t keep his eyes off her. Again, he felt almost like a stalker staring at her every chance he could, even standing a little closer to her than was probably polite. But the way she was looking at him said she was more than a little intrigued herself.
“I hope so.” Her tone was markedly lighter this time, the corners of her lips even going so far as to tilt upward in a slight smile.
As the elevator doors opened, Rome put his arm up to keep the doors ajar and nodded for her to walk out first. “Which way is your car?”
“I’m on this level at the end. But it’s fine, I can manage alone.”
Rome shook his head. “My mother would not be happy if I let a woman walk to her car alone in a deserted parking garage. Come on,” he told her.
She walked beside him, stealing a glance at him every now and then, which only made his erection grow harder.
When they stopped in front of a dark blue Honda, he waited while she found her keys.
“Thanks,” she said with that timid smile again. “For this, I mean, and for the other night.”
He hadn’t thought she’d mention it but was glad she had. Their little tryst on his desk had been one of the foremost thoughts in his mind today. “No problem. I should be thanking you actually.”
“Me? For what?”
She’d found her key and moved in to slip it into the driver’s-side lock. When she moved so did Rome, coming to stand directly behind her, so close that he could smell whatever products she’d used in her hair that morning. “For awakening something in me I thought was long buried.” The words were more truthful than he’d intended, but she wouldn’t know the real meaning behind them. Hopefully, he thought with only the slightest regret.
She didn’t move, not even a flinch. But her body temperature spiked, mingling with his own. “That wasn’t my intention,” she said.
“Maybe not,” he said, finally touching a hand to her arm. “But there it is.” He leaned forward, kissed the nape of her neck. “And here we are.”
They were in a very public place. Even though the garage was empty, there were cameras everywhere per his own security specifications. Not to mention the fact that his guards were always close by. Even though he didn’t see the two shifters assigned to his personal detail, they were around, no doubt about it.
But try as he might, Rome couldn’t stay away from her. It both baffled and aroused him.