There was something desperate in the way he looked at me. Yet everything about him was refined. Polished. He smelled crisp, like fresh linen and ice.
“Emily,” he began softly, my name sounding so seductive as it crossed his lips, “if you’d like me to keep my hands to myself, and just want to be my intern, please tell me now. I swear it’s absolutely your choice.”
I shook my head, making it spin even more. Was this actually happening?
“The feelings I have for you are…uncomfortable,” he said slowly. “Unfamiliar. More intense than I would have expected.”
“You’re not making that sound like a good thing.”
His hands squeezed mine. “I think it’s going to be very good,” he said, searching my eyes. “I just need to know if this is what you want.”
“What is…this?” I asked.
Mason was still for a moment, then exhaled sharply. “I want you to be my girl, Emily. I want to take you to dinner, dates, anything you like. I want to get to know you completely.”
“I’d like to get to know you too,” I said. The slash of coppery gold was even more stunning, now that I wasn’t nervous to look into his eyes for more than a few seconds. Hearing him actually say that he wanted me was such a huge feeling that I couldn’t comprehend it all at once.
He lifted my hand, kissing the back of it gently. It felt like a test, as if he was observing my reaction. I needed his lips on me everywhere, but maybe not here in his office.
Taking his left hand, I held it up, examining his pinky finger. “How did this happen?”
A deep rumbling chuckle shook the shoulders of his expensive black suit. “A slight accident.”
“Tell me.”
“Three years ago at the holiday party, an employee’s ex-boyfriend showed up, trying to take her home with him. I intervened while he was trying to shove her into his car. My finger was caught in the door, but he was caught by the police, so everything turned out fine.”
“You had him arrested?”
For the first time, I saw his eyes turn icy cold. “Not only was he driving drunk, and trying to embarrass her at a corporate function, he was spewing some nonsense about her belonging to him because of some far-fetched destiny crap. My lawyers had him charged with impaired driving, assault, attempt to kidnap, causing a disturbance, and parking in a handicapped spot.”
I couldn’t help laughing. “They threw the book at him.”
“Absolutely.” Lifting my hand, he kissed the tip of each finger gently, sending ripples of warmth through my entire body. “Thank goodness they had that terrible karaoke booth at the party, which was why I’d gone for a stroll outside.”
“You don’t sing karaoke?”
Mason chuckled again. “Absolutely not.”
“Well, according to all of this research I’ve just compiled, if you had gone up and sung, even just backup for someone else, even absolutely terribly, you would have totally won over your coworkers.”
“My employees,” he corrected me automatically.
“See, that’s another thing,” I said excitedly, “You need to be one of the team. Of course you’re the head of the team – everyone knows that. But it can’t be a King and his subjects. They have to know that you’re all in the trenches together. Do you know what I mean?”
His eyes blazed. “Not really. Tell me more.”
6
_____
Mason
I’d never felt happiness that was so prickly. The intensity of the joy was almost uncomfortable inside my body.
As Emily led me through her findings, perfectly condensed into a concise list of easily applicable tips, she grew even more beautiful in my eyes.
Even after stating that I wanted her to be my girl, she worked hard anyway. I had come across so many people who were always looking for the easy way out, and I was relieved that she wasn’t one of them.