Claimed (For Her 3)

Maybe that’s why I kept messing everything up with Jordan. I worry too much, like I do with everything, but I can’t turn it off. Except when he’s kissing me. I can’t work through a single thought when his lips are on mine.

Before I let my mind wander down that daydream path, I click on my keyboard, deciding to email Jordan. I texted him last night, but he didn’t respond, which wasn’t like him. That was when all my worrying about our date started.

From:

Subject: Cooking

Sorry, but I have to cancel tonight. I forgot I told Skyler I’d go out for a drink with her and some people from work when we get off.

Hope you have a pleasant day.

Jay

Blah. God, that sounds terrible. I hit Send and wish I could snatch the email back. Hope you have a pleasant day. What is wrong with me? I shake my head at myself. I stare at my computer for minutes, but no response comes. I don’t know how long I’ve sat there when the door to Miles’s office opens and Mallory comes out.

“Small plates are on.” She winks at me as she walks by, her hair a little ruffled.

I shake my head and smile.

Grabbing my notepad, I give a knock before entering Miles’s office and get back to work. We go over what needs to be done today and other projects in the works. I’ve been noticing our workload is getting less and less with him handing off more projects to different department heads. It gives me more free time, but I’m not sure how I feel about that. I like staying busy.

Everyone he entrusts seems competent, and I haven’t had to chase them down. Except one. I roll my eyes thinking about what Jordan had to do to get that file—the file that still isn’t adding up.

I go back to my desk and get to work on the items Miles has flagged as urgent. Setting up some meetings and drafting some emails, I keep busy with what I know. I can do this all day every day, and it keeps my mind from drifting places I don’t want it to go.

When I look at the clock and see the time, I call in lunch for Miles, Mallory, and Skyler, and then order something for myself, too. I don’t want to run into Jordan in the cafeteria. I can’t even bring myself to check to see if he’s emailed me back. It’s easier to get lost in my work than to have to deal with the embarrassment I’m still feeling.

When the food comes, I take Miles’s and Mallory’s into Miles’s office and drop Skyler’s off, too. She normally eats at her desk while she works. If she doesn’t eat at her desk, it means she’s using her lunchtime to shop.

I set mine on my desk next to me, but I don’t really feel hungry. I head to the small break room to grab a drink from the fridge but stop still when I turn around and see Jordan standing in the doorway. The room isn’t big as we don’t need a giant room with so few of us on this floor.

He walks toward me without uttering a word. He takes the drink from my hand and places it on the counter. He looks just as handsome today as he does every day. But today there’s an edge to him. Or maybe he’s on the edge. Something about it—him—makes my breathing heavier, and not because I’m scared. It’s because I’m instantly turned on by the look he’s giving me. Like he’s a predator and I’m his prey.

I take a step away, and he follows until my back hits the wall. Everything we did in the park on our picnic comes flooding back, the wonderful things he made me feel, how he got me to lose control and not care about anything but the two of us.

“You’ve been ignoring me, little bird,” he says. His voice sounds deeper than normal. I tilt my head back so I can look him in the eyes.

“I have not. I texted you three times last night and you didn’t respond. Then I sent you an email. In fact, I think I might even be pestering you.” I try to say the words in a stern voice, like the one I use at the office when I have to scold people.

“Hmm,” he says, leaning down, his nose coming to my neck and traveling up. Then I feel his lips on me as he places small kisses up and down my neck. My eyes fall closed, and I turn my head to the side, giving him more of me.

“That tone won’t work on me, babe,” he informs me as he presses into me, and I feel his hard erection between my legs. His mouth moves to my ear.