I FELT NERVOUS GOING into work on Tuesday morning. I just didn’t know what to expect from Daniel. And what’s more, I couldn’t seem to stop thinking about that kiss from Monday morning. The kiss I had initiated. Because the more I thought about it, the more sure I was that the whole thing was my fault. He might have brushed his fingers along my skin, but I had been the one to cross the office. I had been the one staring at his lips, wanting that kiss with every fiber of my being.
Could I keep my hands off him today? I was embarrassed that that was even a question.
I was never the kind of girl to chase guys like that. I had never been as interested in those stupid tabloid articles as Leanne and some of the other women I knew were. But now, I had to wonder: Was it truly that I had never been interested, or was it more that I never thought that someone like Daniel McGregor could possibly be interested in me?
I still didn’t even know if he was interested in me. I definitely didn’t think he was interested in me as anything more than a quick and easy romp in his office. I certainly wasn’t the kind of eye candy he usually had on his arm at club openings or anything else.
I hadn’t talked to Leanne about any of this. By the time I had gotten to her place the previous day, I had already told myself all the things that she would say to me. She had warned me about my new boss once. I didn’t need to hear the same warnings all over again. Nor did I want to fight with her about the fact that she was the one who’d wanted me to apply for this job in the first place. Nor did I want to listen to her try to tell me that of course Daniel McGregor would be interested in me. She would only say it because she was my best friend. But I knew that I just wasn’t his type.
It didn’t matter. He was my boss. Things between us needed to remain strictly professional.
I was reminded even more of that when I arrived at work that morning. I had spent so much time dithering about what to wear (and trying to tell myself that it didn’t matter) that I had ended up taking a cab rather than rely on public transportation like I normally did. It seemed like every outfit I put on that morning came across as too sexy or too frumpy or too...something. And as I got out of the car and the flashbulbs started going off, I was uncertain about my outfit again.
How the fuck did they all know about the kiss?
But that wasn’t what they were asking me about, I realized. “Are you Daniel McGregor’s new advisor?” one of the women asked, shoving a microphone in my face.
“Can you tell us anything about working alongside the man?” another reporter asked.
“Any good gossip from inside the building?”
“We haven’t seen him around town much lately. Any chance you know who’s keeping him busy?”
I stared around at the group of them. The mob of them, really. There must be a dozen of them, maybe more, between me and the entrance. Nothing I had ever done, and nothing that Daniel or Erin had told me, could have prepared me for this.
There was no way I was getting through without answering at least some of their questions, I realized with a sinking heart. I just hoped I wouldn’t say something I regretted. Something that they could twist into something else.
Something that totally gave me away.
“Yes, I’m his new advisor,” I told them. “But as for gossip, no comment. Now, please, I’m going to be late!”
But my words only seemed to stir them into even more of a frenzy. They pressed toward me, until I had no choice but to take another couple of steps back away from the building. I reached for my phone, intending to call Daniel and figure out just what I was supposed to do.
Before I could even get my phone out of my pocket, though, there he was! He pushed easily through the paparazzi, and once they realized who it was, they all gave him a little more space. He carefully kept his face averted from the cameras even as he grabbed my hand and dragged me toward the building. He didn’t stop until he had pushed me into the elevator in front of him, following me in and jabbing the button for McGregor Enterprises’ offices.
He was scowling, and I felt terrible, realizing that I must have handled things all wrong. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I never should have talked to them. I didn’t tell them anything, though. About yesterday or...anything else.”
Daniel looked over at me in surprise. His expression softened. “I trust you,” he said simply. “I’m sorry you had to deal with that first thing in the morning. The press likes to hang around the building and try to corner my staff to get information about me for their articles and gossip columns.” He paused and ran a hand through his hair, looking guilty. “I should have warned you.”
I frowned, not upset that he hadn’t warned me but more just confused. “I haven’t had a problem with them before,” I said slowly.
“They’re not there every day,” Daniel said. “And the building security clears them out of here usually. But they’re apparently short-staffed today.” His tone let me know exactly what he thought about that.
I reached out toward him and then froze, realizing it was the same gesture he had made the previous day, the same one that had made the sexual tension between us spike so high that we had ended up kissing right there in his office.
I took a hasty step away and then laughed breathlessly, remembering that that was just what he had done. But he didn’t step closer to me, and he didn’t initiate another kiss. I was almost disappointed. I pushed that feeling away and tried to remember what we had been talking about.
“I guess paparazzi are just the price that you pay for success, huh?” I asked him.
“Guess so.” Daniel sighed, but I barely heard him.
I had been carefully avoiding thinking about that kiss, but it seemed like I couldn’t stop thinking about it, no matter how hard I tried. I could even still feel a tingle on my lips if I thought too hard about it. And I
realized right then and there that no matter what else it might bring about, I wanted to do it again.
The trouble was wondering just what else it might bring about. Would the paparazzi find out about it? Anyone could have easily walked into Daniel’s office the previous day while we were locking lips, and if the paparazzi frequently waited outside the building to find out the gossip from Daniel’s employees, who knew who might see something and tell the media.
Could I trust the rest of the office’s employees? I didn’t even know half of them, and those I did, I didn’t know well enough to know whether or not I should trust them.