The rapid-fire questioning wasn’t doing anything to ease my nerves, nor was the heated look in his eyes when they finally came back up to meet mine.
“I visited the city a few times as a kid and loved it. I figured I’d give living here a shot.”
“Still, it’s a pretty far distance. You didn’t have any other reason?”
He was fishing for something, I was sure of that. I just wasn’t sure if there was something specific he wanted to know, or if he merely wanted the truth. Considering that was all I could really give him, I opted to come clean.
“I wanted a fresh start.”
He nodded, seemingly pleased with my answer. I had no idea why until he said, “A fresh start would be pretty difficult to have while working with an ex.”
It was like my heart stopped beating. My brain summoned up images of Jeremy lying to my new boss about our history. Or even worse—telling the truth.
After a rough swallow, I steeled myself and tried to put on my most professional voice as I said, “I don’t know what Jeremy told you, but in my experience, two people have to actually date before they can break up and call each other an ex.”
He let out a burst of surprised laughter and shook his head, leaning forward again to rest his forearms on the desk. I idly wondered what his arms looked like under his suit jacket.
“You weren’t together?”
“No.”
“Jeremy claims he took you on four dates.”
“I don’t know about you, but I don’t consider being asked to watch a guy play football or being dragged along to a keg party a date,” I said dryly.
He laughed and I tried not to let it show, but that kind of specific information reinforced my theory that Jeremy blabbed about my reputation to Mr. Wolfe. I was mortified by the thought that this gorgeous man knew I was a virgin.
“So, there won’t be any problems between you two?” he asked after he got his laughter under control.
“Not from my end, no.”
“Good to hear.”
Mr. Wolfe was grinning at me like the cat who caught the canary and I wondered what exactly I said had made him so pleased. The grin was infectious though and I soon felt myself smiling right along with him. We stayed that way for a long moment before his slowly melted away.
“I’d like to apologize one more time for keeping you so late. I don’t know if Janice told you, but I’ll be paying you overtime for staying.”
“Oh. Thank you,” I replied, tickled at the thought. Hello, cab money.
“You’re very welcome. Did you have any questions you’d like to ask? Since we’re here.”
“Nothing comes to mind,” I said slowly as I studied him.
If I didn’t know better, I would have said he looked… disappointed. It almost seemed like he wanted me to have questions for him. Like he wanted a reason for us to stay longer.
“I do have one question, actually. But I don’t know if it’s appropriate to ask.”
His eyes widened and I swore the irises got darker as he slowly stated, “You can ask me anything.”
That was definitely not my imagination. The words had clearly been spoken and loaded with so much innuendo that even I could pick up on it. The intensity of his gaze combined with the words completely threw me off, my question forgotten.
“Mallory?”
“Yes?” I responded in a daze, fascinated by the way his lips moved when they formed my name.
“Your inappropriate question?”
“I had a...” I trailed off as it came back to me, but I could already feel my cheeks burning with an embarrassed blush. Mr. Wolfe was grinning at me again and I knew he could tell I had been staring at his lips. “I just was thinking that you don’t look old enough to have a nephew Jeremy’s age.”
His eyebrows raised. “That isn’t a question, Miss Jones.”
The truth was, I was too embarrassed to voice the question after being caught blatantly staring at his lips. It wasn’t until I heard his soft laugh that I looked up and saw his expression.
“You’re teasing me.”
“I am,” Mr. Wolfe confirmed. “Jeremy’s mother is my older sister. I’m thirty-nine.”
I was doing the math in my head immediately. Seventeen years between us. Maybe sixteen depending on the exact date since my twenty-third birthday was just around the corner.
His throat abruptly cleared and I realized he was waiting for a response.
“I’m sorry, I spaced out. It’s shock. I would never have guessed it from looking at you.”
“No? What would you have guessed?”
He leaned back against his chair, his hands folded behind his head. I couldn’t help but watch his biceps bulge from the movement and soon my eyes were drawn to where his suit coat opened wider to reveal his dress shirt.