With the next round of coffee, I couldn’t help a little saunter in my step. Keeping the smile away was even harder. I put the white cup on the corner, lining up the base with the little ring it had left behind. I was anal like that.
The tick tick of typing stopping. He swiveled in his chair. I risked a glance from under my eyelashes as I finished settling the cup. He was staring at me with his hands clasped in his lap. His expression was blank. He was trying to figure me out.
“Get me some water,” he said.
“Please,” I finished for him.
I walked from the room without telling him that I would. I was going to, of course. Saying no would be reserved for personal matters. He wouldn’t fire me, but I didn’t want to cause problems.
Brenda looked up as I passed by my desk toward the kitchen. “Did you spill, or did I screw up the coffee?”
“He wants water. He’s trying to figure me out.”
“Oh, Lord help him.”
After getting the water and passing by again, Brenda said, “Be easy on him, Olivia. Men can’t handle our insanity. They’re too dumb.”
I laughed as I entered the office. The tick tick stopped immediately. Hunter looked up, watching my progress. As I handed him the water, he didn’t ask what my problem was, or if something was the matter, he just watched.
“You’re welcome,” I said, as though he’d said thank you.
He put the water on the desk. “I want to make love to you, Olivia.”
I felt an almost physical tug to step closer to him. I swallowed down my immediate urge to say, “Yes, please!”
Instead, I took a deep breath, raised my chin again, and said, “Fantastic insight. But…no.”
He clasped his hands in his lap again. The slow burn in his eyes turned to liquid fire. His shoulders shifted just a tiny bit, hardly noticeable, but suddenly I got the impression of power and command in his bearing. His ability to control a room was magical. And so damn hot.
This day of no might be harder on me than it was him.
He didn’t say a word as I walked from the room. I could feel him watching, though. The silence pressed down on me in expectation. He was planning, working out my motives and figuring out how to get around them. He wouldn’t force my acceptance; he’d coerce it. I’d just plopped an emotional chessboard onto his lap, and he was going to play it for all it was worth.
It was scary how well I had come to know the man in such a short time.
“This is kind of thrilling,” I said in a breathy voice as I sat in my chair. My hands were shaking and my sexy systems were all revved up.
“What’s his situation?” Brenda stopped what she was doing, turned to me, and took another sip of her coffee.
“He’s intrigued, I think.” I giggled. “It’s weird, though, because if the roles were reversed, I’d be a mess of ‘What has gone wrong? Is he going to dump me?’ He’s just trying to figure out how to get what he wants, though.”
Brenda snorted. “Men and their egos. So he’s not pissed, huh? I should’ve figured.”
“No, not mad.” I clicked into the report I should’ve finished by now.
“What are you trying to get?”
I shrugged, leaning closer to my monitor. “Don’t know. Just…saying no.”
Brenda barked out a laugh and turned back to her computer. “The two of you are made for each other.”
“You should talk,” I mumbled. “Before me, you matched his grumpiness exactly.”
The next coffee delivery was uneventful. Hunter didn’t look up from his computer. He didn’t give me a command or ask anything of me. I could tell he noticed my presence, though. His eyeballs stopped moving. He had a page of words in front of him, and he was staring, but probably unfocused.
Tee hee!
Once again, I stopped myself from smiling. I turned and made my way from the room. As I walked out of the door, I turned my head just enough to see his desk in my peripheral vision. His body was pointed toward me.
“He must think I’m nuts,” I mumbled as I sat at my desk.
Brenda didn’t even look over. “You’re not boring, that’s for sure.”
In the middle of the day I got a ping.
Hunter Carlisle: Come in here.
Olivia Jonston: You forgot the please. Is this work related?
Hunter Carlisle: Yes. Per our verbal agreement, I need to fuck you.
Olivia Jonston: No.
A few minutes later, he responded.
Hunter Carlisle: Are you staying in the office for lunch?
Olivia Jonston: Yup. Want me to order something for you?
Radio silence.
I stared at the conversation. Nothing happened.
I tapped my fingers on my desk, wondering what his game was. It wasn’t like him to give up this easily. I also kind of wanted another reason to say no. It was making me excited and eager for when he finally worked around me and got his way.