Page 59 of Illicit Education
One perfect, dark eyebrow arched. “And how is it that I’ve been speaking to you?”
I laughed. “Seriously?” Shaking my head, I covered my mouth. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh, but come on. Commands. Demands. Overall rudeness with a touch of aloofness.”
His eyes widened. “Aloofness? Hmm.” He licked his lips again and the motion hit me right between my legs. I quickly crossed them, pressing my thighs together.
His focus fell to my legs. He breathed deeply, then lifted his gaze. “We have a problem.”
I swallowed hard. “We do?”
“Yes, Ms. Blake. We do.”
I braced myself. He was probably going to fire me because I saw him at the Rabbit Hole last night and he wanted to keep his private life and his professional life separate–
“I can’t stop thinking about you.”
Eyes wide, I sat frozen in place.
“It’s a distraction I cannot afford, Ms. Blake.”
A million responses whipped through my head, words and sentences flying past on the screen of my mind. Some were nearly as inappropriate as his admission. Others were rebuttals. Amidst them all were little squees of joy because holy shit, I couldn’t stop thinking about him either and now he’d confirmed this attraction was absolutely, one-hundred percent, mutual.
But then I realized what his last statement could mean for me, and my stomach twisted uncomfortably. “Are you going to fire me?”
His head jerked back slightly. “No. What? Of course not.”
I nodded slowly.
“Don’t go quiet on me now, Ms. Blake.”
Did he want me to admit that I felt the same? Admit that my thoughts were consumed by him? That I couldn’t think straight when he was near?
I opened my mouth to say those things, then stopped. What came out of my mouth instead surprised even me. “I believe you have a sexual harassment issue on your hands here, Mr. Reed.”
His eyes widened and he sat back in his chair, watching me for so long that breathing became laborious.
Ah shit. Now I've done it.He’d spoken candidly about the obvious attraction between us, and I’d hit him withsexual harassment.
Nicely done, Ry.
He’d fire me now, for sure.
“Do you feel harassed, Ms. Blake?”
I swallowed hard. Did I?
Shaking my head, I admitted, “No, Mr. Reed. I don’t know why I said that.”
He nodded slowly. “You said that because you don’t mince words, and because you were correct in that assessment. But harassment was certainly not my intention.” He breathed deeply, running his thumb over his bottom lip as he held my gaze.
Desire bloomed deep in my belly. Did he know what that simple gesture did to my insides? He must. I highly doubted anything this man didwasn’tcalculated.
“I apologize if I’ve made you uncomfortable,” he said after a long stretch of silence.
He had made me uncomfortable, but not for the reasons he probably thought. My discomfort came from squeezing my legs together with such force that it would be a miracle if I walked out of here without stumbling.
Reed steepled his fingers again and leaned back in his chair. “Now, tell me about the manuscript.”
The request startled me, such a quick subject change, and my brain took a second to catch up. If my body wasn’t so physically invested in our recent conversation–and his eyes weren’t still so blatantly devouring me–I might have been able to convince myself I’d passed out and dreamt the whole conversation.