Page 9 of The Trolley Kiss
“I prefer the dark. It’s easier on my eyes.”
He shakes his head. “I’m not going to be able to work in this.”
I cock an eyebrow. “Then why didn’t you turn on the light yourself?”
His mouth twitches into a small smile. “I’m not going to mess with your workspace again. We all know how that turned out last time.”
He turns to walk away, but I stop him. “Wait!”
He eyes me curiously, so I fold my hands in front of me to ease my nerves. “Look, about yesterday…” I trail off, trying to find the right words.
His smile grows while he waits for me to continue, but it’s not friendly. His amusement of this whole situation drives me mad. “Yesterday?” he repeats like he doesn’t even know what I’m referring to.
He’s baiting me. I know he is. If I’m uncomfortable, then he holds all the power. I’m not falling for it. I clear my throat before continuing. “I would appreciate it if we could move forward in a professional manner. Whether or not it was you on the trolley is irrelevant now.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?” I ask, not buying that he’s going to give in so easily.
“That’s what I said.”
I squeeze my mouth into a thin line. “Okay. Good. Then we can just forget everything that happened.”
He exhales a laugh, but nothing is funny. Not the tone of his laugh. Not the sinister look on his face. Not the way the goosebumps run up my arms like I know the next words out of his mouth are going to affect me.
He steps forward, lowering his voice even though we’re the only ones here. “Oh no, princess. I’m never forgetting what happened yesterday. I plan to use that memory over and over again.”
My mouth goes dry as I try to swallow. My heartbeat pounds all the way into my throat. “You can’t say that,” I whisper so softly that I barely hear my own voice, holding eye contact with him the best I can.
He leans down, inhaling lightly like he’s breathing me in. “I’ve already done it,” he whispers against my ear.
“Done what?” I breathe out, already knowing the answer.
“Used the memory.”
The office abruptly fills with light, causing me to squint my eyes and look at the ground. I step away from Declan, creating a more appropriate distance between us. I glance to the office entrance and see a couple people walking in.
Nicole walks to her desk next to mine. “Morning.” She smiles at Declan, extending her hand to shake his. “Hi, I’m Nicole. We didn’t officially meet yesterday.”
“Declan,” he says as he shakes her hand all casually like he didn’t cross professional lines with me a moment ago. I suppose I did technically start this mess, but that’s beside the point now. He’s the one who took it too far.
“Are you going to be working with us today?” she asks.
“I’m meeting with Jim this morning to go over fixed assets and your basic accounting practices to see where our starting point is. I’m sure I’ll be popping in and out all throughout the week though.”
Great. Just what I need. Another man popping in and out of my life.
He smiles one more time at her before nodding at me. “Addison.”
I watch his back as he walks away toward Jim’s office in those stupid dress pants that cling so nicely to his ass. Jim is our senior accountant. He’s been with the company for the last fifteen years, so I’m hoping Declan will go directly to him for questions instead of me since I only assist with payables and receivables.
Nicole grins at me knowingly. “Remind me to put on lipstick tomorrow,” she teases.
I roll my eyes, laughing as I plop down in my chair and lean back. “Nicole, that man is half your age.”
“Exactly! That’s why I need the lipstick!” she jokes.
“You really want a husband number three?”.