Page 9 of Boss's Baby Surprise
She didn't exactly flinch. Her blush grew stronger, and her eyes grew bigger. I could see her shiver like a cornered rabbit. The thought of making her that nervous, instead of deterring me and making me back off, had me wanting her even more.
She stared at me for a long moment before licking her lips. “Dinner could be dangerous.”
I smiled, exposing all of my teeth. Skirting the edge of this flirtation was getting me hard. If I was going to be uncomfortable and inappropriate, I didn’t want it to be here.
“It’s time to take this conversation elsewhere,” I announced as I pushed to my feet and stepped around from behind my desk.
Clarissa got to her feet, and I indicated that she should lead the way out. I paused as we passed Alayna’s desk. She and Steve were setting up a system organizing the rolls of drawings.
“Looks like you two will be at this for a while,” I said.
Alayna gave me a weary sigh. “Yep.”
“Make sure you order dinner in,” I said. “Feed Steve and charge it back to the client.”
“Where are we going?” Clarissa asked nervously.
“Have you ever taken a walking tour of the architecture in Chicago?”
She laughed. It was a genuine laugh. I didn’t hear a hint of a nervous giggle. It was a good sign that she had started to relax.
“Of course I have. I’ve been on many. You can’t study architecture in this city and not. Between class field trips and assignments, I could probably give those tours.”
“Good. That’s what you’re going to do. Take me on a walking tour of your favorite architectural details.”
She stopped and stared at me. “Are you serious? Right now?” She glanced down at her feet. I followed her gaze.
She had sturdy boots on. She didn’t tend toward spindly high heels in her fashion choices. “You can walk in those boots, right?”
She nodded. “To quote Nancy Sinatra, ‘These boots are made for walking.’ I just can’t think of any places to show you.”
I lifted my brows. “I thought you said you could give a tour?”
She resumed walking. “I can, but you said of my favorite places. That’s different.”
“How? Why?”
“Because I have to weigh and judge and think about why I would consider that detail, or that building, one of my favorites. Also, I’m showing you my favorites. Now I have to second guess what your motivation is. Are you judging me based on my choices? What if you absolutely hate my favorites?”
I put my hand on her shoulder to stop her.
She stopped walking and faced me. My hand slid down her arm and rested just above her elbow.
“You’re overthinking this. How about showing me five things you might include on a walking tour if you were organizing one?Don’t worry about whether or not it’s your favorite or if it has historical significance.”
“But…”
“You’ll explain why you’re showing it to me as you’re giving your tour. Is that easier?”
She nodded. “Okay, let me get my stuff.”
I followed Clarissa to the conference room that had been set up as office space for the interns. She began putting items into an oversized tote bag, including the sketchbook that she took her notes in and an oversized water bottle.
“Do you bring all of that just for work every day?” I asked.
“Gotta stay hydrated,” she said, shaking the water bottle at me.
“You could leave your work stuff here, at work,” I pointed out. “It’s why we gave you an office of sorts.”