“Oh,” is all I can manage, remembering that I had a few crackers with my salad at lunch.
His fingers don’t move and I swear his face just came closer to mine. “Do you know what else is driving me crazy, Alyse?”
I swallow hard and shake my head. My brain has clearly not caught up to what’s going on here or otherwise he would have a fist in his face by now.
His eyes have darkened, now flitting back and forth to my mouth. “Your perfume. Jesus, you smell good.”
I start to pull my head out of his grip and open my mouth to tell him how highly inappropriate this is when I hear a throat clear. A deep, male one that does not belong to Aaron.
Oh. Shit.
I can tell by the look in Aaron’s eyes as they leave me and look toward my door that he’s thinking the same exact thing. He drops his hand from my face so fast, it’s like my body is now a conductor for ten thousand volts of electricity.
“Uh, Mr. Colloway, hi,” he bumbles. Pushing his chair back quickly, he stands and starts to walk around my desk. I’m still looking the other way. Knowing exactly how Asher will react to what he thinks he just saw, I bend my head and close my eyes, taking a deep breath to steel myself for when I turn around to see the blazing fury in his.
When I do finally look at Asher, I stifle a sigh. I’ve never seen a man look like he literally wants to commit murder before, but there’s no mistaking he wants to do just that. I’m surprised that his eyes aren’t flashing red and he’s not wielding a bloody scythe with Aaron’s head already rolling out my office door.
“It’s time for you to go,” he grits, punctuating each word slowly. Even through Asher’s tailored suit, I notice his muscles are rippling. He’s fighting to physically restrain himself from hurting Aaron.
This time I don’t even hide the shake of my head at his ridiculous reaction. I have to bite my tongue not to chew his ass up one side and down the other. Mind you, I’ll do that, just not in front of Aaron.
Asher’s one of the most possessive men I have ever known, and while that should be a total turnoff for me, it’s not. Most of the time I find it exhilarating. Today it’s just irritating. And embarrassing.
“I was just showing Alyse some things in the accounting system she needs for the audit.” Aaron’s brows are drawn together in confusion, probably wondering what kind of crazy his CEO just turned into. Asher’s practically morphing into a wild, frothing animal right before our eyes. Aaron apparently has no self-preservation skills or he would have been out of here the second he looked up and saw Asher ready to rip out his jugular.
I rise and make my way around the desk, standing between them. I’m not sure if I’m protecting Aaron or saving Asher from himself. Probably both. “Aaron, thanks for your help. I appreciate it. I’ll call you if I need anything else.”
“The hell you will,” I hear Asher reply under his breath.
Jesus, I hope Aaron didn’t hear that. I do sigh now. Rather loudly. I want to glare at Asher, but I don’t dare look at him or I’ll either kick him square in the little boys or burst out laughing at his utter absurdity.
“Yeah, sure. Glad I could help.” His puzzled eyes dart back and forth between Asher and me. I can tell he’s trying to quickly piece this jagged brainteaser together. He makes his way toward the door, but Asher is still blocking it, not looking like he’s going to move.
Grabbing Asher by the elbow, I gently nudge him into the room and out of Aaron’s way. “Mr. Colloway, please come in and have a seat. I’ll be right with you.” Asher silently walks forward, but I can actually feel his body shaking with rage.
I smile, hoping to hell it looks relaxed and professional, not like I’m about to have Asher’s balls twisted firmly in my palms in about five seconds.
“Thanks again, Aaron.” I quickly usher him out and shut the door. “What the fuck was that?” I hiss, spinning around to face my utterly ridiculous…lover? Boyfriend? Whateverheis?
“You’re kidding me, right? That’s my line, sweetheart. The guy practically had his tongue down your throat and you were just sitting there letting him do it!”
Taking a deep breath, I lean against the door and cross my arms. It’s obvious that one of us needs to remain calm. It’s also obvious it’s not going to be him. I lower my voice, trying to gain control of a situation that’s close to exploding into a hurtful verbal war any second.
“Asher, it wasn’t what it looked like.”
“Really?” he sneers, leaning against the front of my desk, mirroring my stance. “Because what I saw was his hand touching your skin. What I saw was his face about two inches from yours. What I saw was a man who was looking at my woman like he wanted to throw her down on her desk and fuck her into tomorrow. And what I heard was him tell you how fucking good you smell. So, please…explain to me what I misconstrued.”