And his fingers slipped a little farther down as he pushed me gently forward. Just an inch or so.
He didn’t touch my rear end or anything, but… it was headed in that direction before his hand stopped and his fingertips pressed a little harder.
My knees got a little weak.
“Okay,” I agreed feebly, and we walked over to the elevators.
He withdrew his hand as we moved, and as soon as I felt his fingers move away, I thought about stopping just so he would touch me again to usher me forward.
I didn’t do it, though.
The elevator door opened as soon as Connor pressed the UP button, and we stepped inside.
“What floor?” he asked.
“23rd.”
As the doors closed, the last glimpse I had was the marble foyer and Stanley’s stunned face behind the reception desk.
I realized that might possibly be the spot I was standing when my boss decided to fire me.
As the elevator began its quick ascent to the upper floors, the anger rose inside me again.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” I blurted out.
Connor looked over in surprise. “What?”
“I said, who the hell do you think you are?”
He broke into a heart-stopping grin. “Did I tell you before how adorable you are when – ”
“ – I’m angry, yeah, yeah,” I snapped, not about to be put off. “Do you realize you might have just lost me my job back there?”
He looked at me, studying my eyes, peering deep into them. “Tell me something, Lily.”
“What?” I asked, exasperated.
“Do you like Klaus as a boss?”
He was entirely sincere. No snarkiness or anything.
I pulled back a little, surprised at the question. “What?”
“I said, do you like Klaus as a boss?”
I paused.
Something in his gaze was asking for an honest answer.
Against my better judgment, I gave it.
“Not really. Actually, no. Not at all.”
He nodded, satisfied. “Good.”
“Why ‘good’?”
“Because – ”
The elevator slowed down rapidly. I wasn’t sure if the butterflies in my stomach were because of the abrupt deceleration, or because of what he said next.
“ – you seem way too smart, talented, and interesting to be working for a jackass like that.”
Just then the elevator doors dinged open. He broke our gaze and walked out onto the 23rd floor, leaving me stunned in his wake.
11
But I recovered quickly.
I followed him out into the main lobby, past the receptionist’s desk which was adorned with flower arrangements that would be thrown out by the cleaning staff at night. The receptionist was gone for the weekend, so I buzzed us through the main door using the badge in my purse.
Actually, everybody had left for the night. The entire floor of cubicles was quiet and half-dimmed.
“You sure do have it in for Klaus,” I said, picking the conversation back up.
He grinned. “And you don’t?”
“I have to work with him every day. What did he ever do to you?”
“I had to suffer through a couple of conference calls with him.” Connor shook his head in exaggerated regret. “Forty-five minutes of my life I’ll never get back.”
“Forty-five minutes?! Try six months,” I retorted.
“Which you’ll never get back. You really shouldn’t be wasting your time as his punching bag, Lily.”
“That’s all very nice, but a girl’s got to eat.”
“That she does. But never take bread scraps when you could – and should – be dining out on lobster.”
“I don’t know what world you live in, Mr. Brooks – ”
He looked over at me like You did NOT just call me that.
“It’s Connor. My friends call me Connor. Klaus calls me Mr. Brooks.”
I couldn’t suppress my smile.
“Ah, I knew I could make you laugh.”
“That was a smile, not a laugh,” I said, intent upon not giving in that easily. He was charming, but he was kind of infuriating, too.
“I’ll get there,” he said confidently, and grinned.
“Yeah, well, I don’t know what world you live in, Connor, but in mine, bread scraps are sometimes all you get.”
“We either make our own realities, Lily, or we accept the realities others impose upon us. You’ve got way too much going for you to accept a reality that includes Klaus as a part of it.”
Ooooh, Mr. Philosophy, I thought, annoyed. Mr. Mommy and Daddy Paid For My Education at Harvard and Gave Me My Million-Dollar Business Contacts.
As though he could read my thoughts, he stopped on a dime, caught my arm, spun me gently to face him, and stared into my eyes.