Dirty Little Secret(19)

“Not ours,” Alex countered before Sara Beth could respond. “Just his. Obviously.” When was it ever anything else?

Ian shrugged. “Educated guess. You both look like you haven’t slept in a week.” He tipped his head to one side. “Make that two.” A nod indicated the phone on the table between them. “Still pushing the baby-factory line?”

“God, yes.” Sara Beth sighed. “Excuse me a moment, won’t you?” She stood, her posture at once weary, and crossed to close herself in the private bathroom off Alex’s office.

Alex watched her, worry surfacing. Her fatigue was obvious, but he had a feeling it wasn’t physical. Dropping to a quieter tone, he told Ian, “I thought moving here would help, but…”

“Nope,” Ian teased, trying to ease the strain in his own way, Alex knew. “Guess you better get busy then, man.” He gathered his papers in a haphazard pile on top of his computer. “I’m just thankful you’re not still available. Leaves the field open for the rest of us.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.” His gaze strayed to the office door, and he licked his lips. “So what’s the deal with your new secretary?”

“Executive assistant,” Alex corrected absently, not liking the look on the other man’s face. “Why?”

“Why? ’Cause she’s seriously hot, in case you hadn’t noticed, Mr. Happily Married.”

Alex could have been dead and still noticed, but he didn’t tell his friend that. The growl that threatened to erupt at Ian’s expression was harder to hold back. He rubbed a hand down his face. He seriously had to get his shit together.

He hadn’t lied to Sara Beth the other night; he would never regret marrying her. It was keeping their secret that created this vampiric drain on him. That, and not handling things better than he was. He was supposed to be the strong one, the protector. He’d never appreciated how relaxing it was to just be himself until that was no longer an option. Sara Beth had been forced to pretend her whole life, and though he couldn’t stop that—yet—he wanted her life to be as carefree as he could make it until their farce could come to an end. Instead he was obsessed with a certain sweet blonde and doing a shitty job at protecting anyone, especially his wife.

Ignoring Ian’s comment, he turned toward the door. Intent on staying as far from this conversation as possible, he didn’t hear Cailin on the other side until they collided as he rounded the opening.

“Whoa!” Cailin brought her hands up automatically, and the feel of them slapping onto his chest brought instantaneous pleasure that stole his breath, along with every thought in his head. A nearly silent groan escaped, and he knew she heard him, because her eyelids lowered to half-mast and her heavy inhale rang in his ears.

Of course, it could have been the impact, but the way her body melted into him seemed more like instinct.

His instinct had kicked in as well at the feel of her hips in his hands. He pulled her closer, aligning their bodies so her soft mound met the hardened shaft making its insistent presence known. They fit perfectly, more perfectly than any woman he’d ever held against him except Sara Beth, and she’d never drawn a sexual response from him. It was as if his body had known from the beginning that she was destined for someone else and hadn’t wanted to tangle him up in a hopeless situation.

So what are you thinking now, dickhead?

“Alex,” she whispered, her voice a tantalizing elixir that drew his attention to her mouth. White, even teeth bit down on her plump lower lip, and as if in a dream, he leaned down and nuzzled her lip away before licking the abused flesh tenderly.

Pressure against his heart snapped him out of his daze. “Don’t,” she whispered, taking a step back.

His grip tightened instinctively before he released her. He stood for a moment, his gaze transfixed on her mouth. When he raised his eyes, the sight of tears glistening in hers was like a mule kick to the gut. Shitty job, indeed. He cleared his throat and shook his head, struggling to clear it as well. “Um, lunch.”

Cailin clasped her hands in front of her stomach. Was his warmth still there? Did she want to hold on to it as long as she could, the way he did?

“I was just coming to tell you it should be here in about five minutes,” she told him.

A sharp jerk of his head acknowledged her words, and she turned hastily away. Alex stared after her longer than he should, then returned to his office door, but couldn’t resist a last look back at her retreating figure. When he finally entered his office, Sara Beth was there, amusement lighting her eyes.