The moment is gone, though. Even my head clears a little and it’s like walking right back to reality. Like I’ve been in some foggy, dream world the last few hours. I glance around and realize Matthew, my now almost-boss, is standing right outside my apartment door, and I was about to take him inside and let him do whatever he wanted to me.
Fuck.
“I’m really sorry, but I need to return this call. And I know I’m going to have to go into the office immediately.” He says it like he just tried to think of a million loopholes around this and came up empty.
“It’s okay. I understand.”
I don’t know how to put this any other way, but he looks pained. Like it’s breaking his heart to leave me alone in my building. To be quite honest, it’s like it’s more than sex. Like what we were going to do doesn’t even matter to him, just the fact he’s going to be away from me.
This is absurd. It’s what I want to be the case. Cognitive dissonance and all that stuff.
I expect him to just walk away, but instead, a hand comes up and cups my cheek. Then, before I know it, his lips press up against mine again. No tongue, nothing sexual. Just a really nice, soft kiss.
When he leans back, he says, “I had a great time. I mean that. It was fun.”
Shit. Shit. Say something.
“Y-y-yeah. See you at work.”
His shoulders bounce again, and he laughs. “Okay.” Before I can respond, he says, “See you tomorrow, Karli.”
And with that, he turns and walks down the hall. I watch him the entire time, until he disappears around the corner.
Once inside my apartment, I can’t even make it two steps. My back lands against the door with a loud thud, and I slide all the way down to my ass until I’m clutching my knees to my chest.
I’m still in some kind of haze from both kisses.
What the ever-loving fuck am I doing?
And how the hell am I going to look him in the eye every day for the next few months?
4
Matthew
It’s been exactly four days since I kissed her.
Probably a mistake, but I don’t regret it one bit. Fuck, it was phenomenal. She’s been giving me the cold shoulder ever since. I can’t really blame her. I expected it. I glance over at the calendar and realize she has finals coming up soon too, so maybe that’s what’s distracting her—causing this.
It’s convenient, but I don’t think that’s it. She’s had time to think about everything without me there with her. It’s a horrible idea for me too; fucking an intern. What’s even worse is that I like her. I like her a lot.
I stand in front of the window in my office, watching as she walks into the building. It makes it even worse that Decker reassigned her to Blake fucking Thompson. I know he’ll try to fuck her. I shudder a little just thinking about it as he walks over to greet her.
My hands ball into fists at my side and I can’t concentrate for shit. Which sucks because I need my wits about me. The entire reason she was reassigned is so I can focus on a new client. Brian Hedgeman is a nine-figure businessman and cultural icon. He owns a hedge fund, and Dexter managed to bring him over from Cooper and Associates in Manhattan. Honestly, it was probably Wells Covington who did the ultimate convincing, but those meetings are above even my pay grade.
Fucking hell, Karli is wearing a form-fitting, black midi-skirt and red blouse. It makes her tits look fantastic. I want to rip it off her with my teeth, then scold her for wearing provocative shit like that to the office.
You’re being ridiculous. Focus on your work.
She laughs at something Blake says and I want to punch the fucking glass.
“Bad time for an update?”
I jolt, completely surprised, and whip my head around. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see who it is. Dominic Romano, the firm’s PI and the best PI in the world, according to most people who matter.
My eyes widen. “Would you stop doing that shit? Scared the fuck out of me. And how the hell did you…” I glance over at the door to my office. It’s closed.
He waves me away with a flippant hand and walks up. His eyes are always roaming everything, like he’s a walking computer, deciphering information. He grins. “Thinking about your little kiss last week?”
Now, my eyes widen even farther. I didn’t know that was possible. “Fucker, how the hell do you do that?”
“Doesn’t matter. I finished up that deep dive you wanted on the new client.” He gestures back to my desk. “Anything you could use for background info will be in there.”
For the first time in a week, Karli disappears from my brain for a brief second, and I walk over and start thumbing through the files. “Thanks. This is incredible.”
“Sure. Sure.” Dominic is still staring out the window. “There’s an encrypted file on the server too for backup and easier searchability. Hidden and password-protected for anonymity.” The tone in his voice is almost robotic, like he’s just conveying information, but there’s more on his mind.
“Just trying to get every detail I can about these financial deals, ties, all that shit. So I don’t get hit with any surprises. This is the biggest client I’ve ever handled.”
Dominic turns around, walking toward me. “Yeah, I don’t care.” He laughs. “So… You and…”
My eyes roam back up to him and they harden. “Just stop. You’re overstepping.” I still don’t know how the fuck he could know about that. But then again, he always knows everything. I stopped questioning it a long time ago, and he’s never given me a reason not to trust him. That’s the general consensus with everyone around the office, regarding Dominic, it seems. You just accept you’ll never know how the hell he operates.
“Yeah, usually I wouldn’t give a fuck.” He sighs, almost like he’s annoyed.
“So why do you?”
“Well, see Mary’s giving me shit.”
I don’t understand. “About me? Mary loves me.”
He nods. “Yeah, I know. She’s trying to plan the wedding…” He stops, like he’s allowing me to finish the thought and come to the conclusion on my own.
“Fuck, I forgot to RSVP.”
He smacks me on the shoulder and grins. “You said it, not me. Glad you figured this out all on your own.”
“I’ll get it taken care of, for Mary. Not your dirty old ass.”
That gets a laugh out of him, then his eyes dart back out. “You can give me a verbal confirmation and I’ll take care of it. I’d like to get this resolved as soon as possible so I can go back to being a happily engaged God-fearing man.”
I shake my head. It’s hilarious how powerful many of the men in this office are, and how many of them just fall apart when it comes to their partners. “Of course I’ll be there. For Mary. Not for you. You can kiss my ass.”
Dominic gestures out to the bullpen this time, where Karli happens to be working. “Plus one?”
My head whips back up from the stack of documents. “Are you fucking insane?”
His shoulders bounce like he’s holding back a laugh. “Not at all.”
“I’m not bringing her to your wedding.”