Page 64 of The Grand Duel
Fuck.
“You’d recognise me by smell?” she asks my back. She follows me into my office. The dogs too.
“Why are you still here?” I say, clipped, as I take my seat.
She flops down onto my sofa, the dogs both leaping up and clambering on her the second she lands.
“I was finishing up in the dogs’ room and needed to take the paper out to the recycling bins. I’ve sorted all the files today.”
“All of them?” I frown. There are at least thirty boxes stashed away in the cupboards. Edna’s office is immaculate too.
“Nope, some were sealed—confidential, and I was unsure if you’d want me sorting those. I can work on them tomorrow.”
“No, no, that’s fine. Great.” I scratch at my brow. “You head home now.”
I carry on at my computer, hoping she’ll forget about what she just saw me do and head out.
“Are you not leaving?”
I force my eyes to stay on my screen. “I have work to do.”
“You’ve been here all day. Did you even eat?”
I ate.I just waited for you to finish your lunch and avoided you at all costs. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Miss Elton.”
I see her stiffen out of the corner of my eye, and it’s enough to drag my gaze to where she stands. “Lissie, sorry.”
“It’s fine,” she says, flashing me a fake smile.
It’s not fine, and as my eyes roam over her face, I wonder just how not fine it is after the things she implied at the ice cream shop.
Why does she hate her last name so much?
“Edna warned me you’re a workaholic. My job is to make your life easier, so I’m telling you, as your assistant, I think you should call it a day.”
“Will you be calling it a day?” I ask without thinking.
She frowns. “Yes.”
“You don’t have a shift tonight?”
She watches me, as if wondering whether I know about the men’s hands she allows to touch her. The amount of them who probably spent the rest of their working weeks transfixed by the memory of her.
Because I can’t be the only one.
I mean, she’s fucking beautiful.
Her voice is weaker when she asks, “Edna told you I work an evening job?”
I feel my cock twitch in my slacks and readjust in my chair. “She did.”
“Oh.” I see her cheeks flame from across the room, and she lowers her eyes.
I shouldn’t like the sight of her blush, but I do. It takes me right back to that night.
“I…um…”
My stomach knots at her discomfort. Her obvious embarrassment. “I’m well aware that you work at The Nightingale, Lissie, and I’m well aware of what that entails. It’s not something that you need to hide from me. You have nothing to worry about.”