“Why not? You almost fucked her already.”
I take a step toward him. “How the hell do you…” I hold up my hands when I once again remember who he is. Though it’s incredibly irritating how smug and nonchalant he looks about it.
“Stop being a bitch and bring her. Nobody’s gonna give a fuck. Decker might say something snarky but look around. He’s not exactly living the non-hypocritical lifestyle.” Dominic starts for the door.
“I’m coming alone.”
“You’re bringing her. I’ll let Mary know.”
“Asshole, I said—”
He breaks out his best Nick Nolte, Mandalorian impersonation as he walks out. “I have spoken.”
And then, he’s around the corner and gone.
Fuck my ass. I regret ever bonding with him over that show.
Here’s the worst part about all this. I want to ask Karli to go with me. It’s maybe the most pussy thought I’ve ever had, but it’s not even to sleep with her. Every time I see her smile from across the room. The thought of getting dressed up, seeing her in a formal dress. Picking her up and escorting her down the aisle in front of everyone, drinking champagne, dancing… It just feels—right, normal. This strange sensation I’ve never experienced before, almost like a weightlessness, cascades through my body like it’s running through my veins. At the same time my stomach tenses in this odd, satisfying way.
It can’t happen. I doubt I’d get fired for it, but I don’t give a shit what Dominic says, Decker would judge me, at the least. And it’s not like dating another employee who’s on an equal level. She’s an intern, regardless if she’s almost out of law school.
I can’t do this.
You have to. Dominic is telling Mary.
The more I think about it, the more I think Dominic probably told Mary about Karli and me, and she’s the one who made him do that. And how the hell does he even know? Did he follow me? Why?
Stop trying to understand Dominic Romano. You know better.
In the end, I can debate it all I want in my mind. I already know what I’m going to do and that’s what gives me the most apprehension. In every other area of my life I can control myself.
When it comes to Karli, I don’t think I can.
I tell myself it’s so I don’t piss Mary off, but it’s not true. I know exactly what I’m doing.
It’s just after six and it’s already dark outside. It’s also the first time in my life I’ve ever felt like a stalker, but I don’t give a shit. I’ll probably have to sit here for an hour waiting for her to leave, but that’s the price I have to pay. I can’t afford to miss her.
She’ll do what she does every day; work until they make her leave, then head out through the parking garage and go down the sidewalk to catch the train. Not that I’ve already been stalking her and know everything about her, I just happened to notice while going about my days.
Yeah, right. Name any other new intern’s routine.
I glance around the garage, hoping none of my peers see me. This woman drives me mad. I can’t think of any other scenario in my life where I’d hide out in a dark corner, surveying the scene in front of me, waiting for someone.
To my surprise, after only about fifteen minutes, Karli pushes through the door and starts toward the street. Fuck, she’s got a coat on now, but I still got a flash of her tits in that tight red blouse. My dick starts to get hard, just from a split-second glimpse. It immediately sends back the memory of her pressed up against me, of us about to go into her apartment and fuck like rabbits.
I remember how pissed off I was, being pulled away by that phone call and going into the office because Decker is an anal, paranoid nutjob and wanted to touch base when nobody else was around. Wasted an hour of my life going over shit I already know, because he’s the ultimate micromanager.
Fucking go, idiot!
I glance up, and Karli is already almost out of sight. I forget how fast she can walk. I take off running after her, trying to look as inconspicuous as I can in the process. I shoulder my way through the downtown Chicago foot traffic, trying to make my way to the train. I’ve completely lost her in all the people. I’m such a damn idiot.
What the hell is she doing to me?
Part of me is glad, because the chase takes my mind off what I have to do when I get to her. I can’t be a pussy and chicken out, and if I allow myself to think any more, that’s exactly what I might do.
Right when it seems like she’s gone, I catch a glimpse of the top of her head almost to the entrance. Just as she’s about to walk through, I grip her by the elbow and pull her out of the way.
“What the—” Her head whips around, then her eyes get wide when she sees me, and it cuts off her sentence. “Will you stop doing that?”
“Nice to see you too.” I smirk.
“Did you follow me here?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
Her mouth opens a little, like she wasn’t expecting me to be so honest.
She takes a second or two to think, then says, “Okay, well I’m going to go now.”
“No, you’re not.”
There’s something so satisfying about pushing her buttons. Really, all I want to do is hold her to me and kiss her again, but she’s at her best when she’s on the ropes. It just does something for me, and as much as she’d deny it, it does something for her too.
“What exactly are you going to do?” She cocks a hip out to the side as she says it.
My blood comes alive at how defiant she is. How can one woman be so damn sexy?
I lean down close to her ear, so close I know she can feel my breath on her neck as I speak. “Whatever the hell I want. And you hate the fact it turns you on.”
Her eyes flutter closed for a brief second and she mumbles, “Shit.”
“Why have you been avoiding me?” The question does exactly what it’s intended to do.
It snaps her right back into defiant mode. Her eyes go wild like she remembers she hates me and not that she wants to fuck me. “I’ve been working and studying. I have finals this week.”
I shrug all nonchalant. “You could still say hi.”
She shakes her head, like she knows this little game that’s going on, but she has no choice but to play it, because she likes it. “I’m sorry if I offended your ego or hurt your widdle feelings.”
“Much better.” I smile.
“God, you just have to lean into everything, don’t you?”
I can’t help myself, and I reach down and grip both of her hips. “I like leaning into you.”
Eyelashes.
Fluttering again.
She inhales a deep breath, then exhales a long sigh. “What do you want, Matthew? I really do need to get going.”
“Saturday, clear your schedule.”
Her eyes get large again, but this time, there’s some excitement in them too. “Clear it for what?”
“I’m taking you somewhere.”
“Where?”
I barely let her finish the question before my mouth is on hers again, the same way it was the other night, not giving a shit who sees us or who doesn’t. Her body tenses, her lips forming an initial barrier, but it evaporates just as quickly as it formed, and she practically melts into me.