His Temporary Assistant

I made a show of looking around, although I knew for a fact that my father had left hours ago, and his admin Courtney had followed shortly the

reafter.

Gee, I wondered why.

I wasn’t sure Dex had even come in today, and his assistant had been out sick. Therefore, we were very much alone in the office.

But she didn’t need to know that—unless she already did.

“That is hardly appropriate office conversation. But just so you know, being discreet and discriminating does not indicate lack of skill.” I cleared my throat. “Also? I would never discuss you so crassly with another male.”

She swallowed deeply, looking down at her lap. “You’re right. I’m sorry. And it wasn’t actually a person. Just my best friend. She wanted to see what you looked like after I mentioned you. ”

“Your best friend isn’t human? Figures.”

“I mean, she’s not just anybody. Lu’s a vault when it comes to intel. She would never spread shit.”

“Lu being la-la-Luna from the podcast?”

“Her name is Luna. No la-la.”

“She said it that way, not me.”

“Yeah, well, I say my middle name is Goddess. We do what we want.”

I rocked back on my heels, unwilling to move away from her just yet. We were crouching behind her desk, and I liked being in her space. Even if her witchy night floral scent was making me lightheaded. “Regardless of either of your names, the size of my physical blessings is no one’s business.”

She snorted. “Not even mine, since you put the kibosh on anything right quick.”

“Shut up or I’ll touch your rock again.”

She cocked her head. “It’s rather fascinating how you make that sound like porn.”

“You’d be surprised all the things I can do, Miss Moon.”

With a sigh, she rose from her crouching position and sat on the edge of her chair. Then she picked up a small chunk of pink rock and held it out to me. “Wrap your hands around this.”

I frowned. “What is it?”

“Rose quartz. A kind of crystal,” she said slowly, as if I was new to learning the English language. “Crystals are used for channeling energy and protection and different kinds of spellwork.”

“In your witch practice.”

“Sure.”

“Sure? That sounds like a pat answer meant to shut me up.”

“Shut up and wrap your hands around the ro—I mean, crystal. Crap, you’re annoying.”

I managed to control my smile and did as she asked. In a manner of speaking.

Instead of wrapping my hands around the rock, I wrapped them around hers holding it.

Instant flooding warmth. The heat rapidly rose as we stared at each other. We were caught in a vortex that felt so much bigger than we were, yet somehow was more about us than anything I’d ever experienced. The pink stone seemed to subtly glow, pulsing with faint energy as I tightened my hold on Ryan. It was as if she was being pulled from me, and only by sheer will could I hold on.

I dropped my hands away. The stone was merely a faceted pink rock once again. Not glowing or pulsing or anything else.

“Wow,” she murmured.