Except I hated it.
I wanted to know what she was thinking, feeling, wondering. What drove her to want this dead-end job when she could be doing something far more suited to her talents. She’d be an excellent PA for some bigwig executive or run an entire office with ease, instead of being here.
But selfishly, I kept my mouth shut.
Because I wanted her here.
I sat behind my desk in my hidden office, going over the intel on a new assignment. I picked the team that would suit the operation the best and planned on meeting with them later today in another location. I never brought them here together.
Movement caught my eye on the monitor beside me, and I looked up, startled to see the light on in my office. I frowned as I watched Taliyah enter, pausing in the doorway, looking around in curiosity. My hand tightened on the pen I was gripping.
Why was she in my office? She had never entered it while I was out before now. She knew my feelings on it.
I relaxed when I saw the package tucked under her arm and some envelopes in her hand. She was just putting the mail on my desk.
Except, after she set it down, she paused, and I watched as she sat down in my chair, her gaze focused on the left-hand side of my desk. I zoomed in to the stack of files and papers sitting there. There were contracts, notes, files for Elite Security—nothing of great interest.
What had caught her attention?
She nibbled on her bottom lip. Tugged on her ear. Smoothed back her hair.
My suspicion grew. She was nervous. She knew she shouldn’t be in my office.
What was she after? Was she more than I thought? A plant? Did someone suspect something? Anger churned in my stomach. Had I been so blind to her beauty, I had missed all the signs?
She stood, bending over my desk, and her hands began to move quickly. Her hair fell forward, obscuring her actions. I couldn’t get the camera angle positioned correctly to see exactly what she was doing. She stayed busy for about five minutes then stood back, nodded, and tapped her chin. She pushed my chair back in place, reached over and fiddled with something else, then hurried out of my office. At her desk, she grabbed her purse and left, hanging the unneeded little sign Joyce always used when she left for lunch stating the office was closed. I followed her flight out of the building right to the café.
I stood and slipped into my other office through the hidden panel behind my desk. Damien and I had installed it, and it was a useful feature at times such as this. I stared at the surface of my desk, finally comprehending what she had done. She hadn’t touched a drawer or searched for anything. But she had been busy.
The haphazard pile of files was straight and uniform. Color coded, even, from lightest to darkest. The papers were tucked into the correct files. My pens were in the holder, all nib side down. My stapler and Post-it notes were lined up with precision. My lamp at a precise forty-five-degree angle.
A smile tugged on my lips. Taliyah was a neat freak. She liked things in their place. I had noticed her way of straightening out the coffee cup handles so they aligned. The perfectly legible and precise new labels on the files. The new file folders themselves. It explained the rearranging of the office. The pictures.
And now my desk. She couldn’t help herself.
Relief tore through me when I realized how crazy my impulse had been that she was after something. My gut told me she wasn’t anything other than what she seemed.
An efficient, beautiful distraction.
Just for fun, I decided to play a trick on her.
I wanted to see her reaction.
I was hoping to be rewarded with a smile.
Later that afternoon, I strolled by her desk, trying not to smirk. “Any coffee?”
“Of course.”
“Great.”
In my office, I sat down, pushing the file folders askew, then I picked up a pen and opened one of the files. She entered and set down the steaming cup. I indicated the chair, watching her as she sat and crossed her legs. Today’s dress had a slit in the front that offered me a great view of those sexy calves. I watched her reaction as she looked over my desk, her teeth instantly finding her bottom lip.
“Something wrong?” I asked.
“No.”
I nodded slowly. “Everything going well? You settled in and finding everything you need?” I closed the file, leaving a paper on the top, and tossed it carelessly to the side. Her eyes tracked my movement. She smoothed her hair back.
I tried not to laugh.
“Yes,” she replied.
I tapped the pen on my chin, then pitched it into the holder, nib side up. I picked up a Post-it note and grabbed another pen, unscrewing the cap and jotting down a number. I frowned, crumpled it, and threw it heedlessly, taking another one and knocking over the pile. I rewrote the number, dropped the pen to the desk and ignored the cap, handing her the Post-it.