Illicit

Chapter Ten

Sitting cross-legged on the floor and tucked back into my groove of the massive tree in the center of Reed Tower, it was just after three o’clock when I finished the manuscript Reed gave me this morning.

Now, my heart was on the floor beside a pile of used tissues.

Through blurry eyes, I stared down at the final page and the two worst words in the history of the English language:

The End

Another wave of emotion gripped my heart.

How could it be over?

Eloise mentioned her book hangover from Where the Crawdads Sing, but it had nothing on this ache where my heart used to be. My chest was heavy with loss, yet empty like a crater had replaced my heart.

I swiped the tears from my cheeks. I’d never read something with so much heart, so much angst… and I’d been reading romance as long as I could remember, starting with stealing my mom’s bodice rippers long before I was technically allowed to read about rogue rakes and highland hotties.

And nothing had ever gripped me quite like this.

Wiping beneath my eyes again, I shook my head and returned the manuscript to my bag, pulling it to my chest. I leaned my head back and looked up into the branches of the tree above, sighing as I allowed myself to sit with the feelings. I’d need time to process everything I felt before I could properly execute an opinion on the manuscript as a whole–assuming that’s what my new boss expected of me, vague as he’d been. Luckily, I still had nearly two full hours before the close of business to process my feelings on the romance that had both ripped my heart out and filled it with hope all at once.

I might have a new favorite author. Apologies to Simona Steele.

School had recently let out for the day, so my quiet space was slowly filling with the sounds of excited squeals and laughter as children flocked to the massive play structure within the tree. I smiled up at the canopy of fake leaves–

“Unacceptable! It was due on my desk yesterday morning.”

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. As if he’d been summoned by my thoughts of him, Reed’s voice carried over from the small lobby cafe.

I pressed my back against the trunk of the tree, wishing the play structure would open up and suck me inside. I was tear-streaked and stuffy, and not at all ready to face Cabot Reed.

Closing my eyes as he finished a phone call and ordered his coffee, I prayed he’d hurry back up to his office and miss me entirely.

“Sleeping on the job, Ms. Blake?”

I gasped and opened my eyes, looking up at his imposing figure as he towered over me like the tree stretching up in the lobby above us.

Unwarranted, my brain conjured up an image of him doing to me the things he did to his assistant last night, and warmth spread through my veins like wildfire.

I licked my lips and his gaze fell to my mouth, then his eyes darkened as they locked with mine once more. His lips drew into a tight line and a muscle in his jaw jumped.

He didn’t really think I was down here sleeping, did he?

My pulse sped as I stared up at him. He truly was a beautiful, terrifying man.

If I stared too long, he might burn me like the sun.

I dropped my gaze to his shoes, then breathed deeply to steady myself, but all that deep breathing did was assault me with his scent. Manly and sensual, it clouded my brain and tightened that ball of nerves in my belly to an alarming degree.

No, I wouldn’t make it twelve weeks. Not under these circumstances.

“Be in my office in ten minutes.” He turned and stepped out of my line of sight.

I blew out a breath of air, lifting my gaze to watch him stride to the elevators. The way people moved aside from him…

Some of them didn’t even realize they’d moved out of the way to make room for him. They didn’t look up or even acknowledge his presence, just simply stepped out of the way with perfect timing for Reed to stroll through the crowd, as if some invisible force commanded the people around him. Some subconscious pecking order that alerted others to move or be mowed down.

The man was the epitome of power. From the wide, straight set of his shoulders to his chin raised in superiority, to the bespoke suit that reeked of wealth and fit his body like a glove, Cabot Reed was in a league all his own.

As he stepped into an open elevator and disappeared from view, I shook my head and gathered my things. The man was unbelievable. He hadn’t even asked me to come upstairs, just told me to be there. An itch of annoyance replaced my sense of awe as I stood and strode to the elevator, dodging to avoid slamming into the shoulders and arms of businessmen and women who definitely didn’t step out of my way.

With my bag over one shoulder and my arms crossed over my chest, I boarded the elevator and tapped the toe of my right foot against the floor as the elevator took its sweet time reaching the seventy-fifth floor.

The nerve of this man. The longer I thought about it, the more pissed off I became. First he spied on me, then he demanded that I be in his office in ten minutes. No please, no pleasantries, just a gruff command.

Well, internship of my dreams or not, I had a damn backbone. And I wasn’t about to let this man railroad me or get into the habit of treating me this way. People treat you how you teach them to treat you.

And I was about to give Cabot Reed a lesson in how to treat Rylan Blake.

When the doors finally opened to seventy-five, I stormed out, eyes straight ahead as I cleared reception and headed toward Reed’s office.

“Excuse me,” Stella snapped. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Mr. Reed’s office,” I called over my shoulder, not stopping for Stella. As far as I was concerned, Stella could–

“Oh, no you’re not.” The clickety-clack of too-high heels echoed through the space as Stella hurried after me. “He’s not expecting you.”

“Oh, I assure you, he is?” I stopped, spinning around so abruptly Stella nearly stumbled in her haste to avoid running into me. “He just told me to meet him up here. Maybe he didn’t get the chance to update you yet.”

Stella’s mouth puckered, but then she reached for my forearm. “He’s not even here, hon.”

I deflated. “Oh.” I pulled free of Stella’s grip and straightened my shoulders. “Well, I’ll wait for him in his office.”

Stella snorted. “No, you’ll wait for him at reception, where people wait for Mr. Reed. Come along.” She stepped aside and motioned for me to go ahead of her, back to the small lobby area I’d just stormed through.

Fine. I’d wait for him. To be fair, it hadn’t been ten minutes yet.

Ignoring her smug expression, I walked past Stella. She’d clearly been working for Reed too long; she had that pretentious pout down perfectly.

As soon as my cheeks hit the seat, the elevator dinged and Reed strolled through the open doors. “Stella, cancel my four o’clock.”

“Yes, sir.”

Reed strode past the lobby, not even acknowledging my presence–

“This would be your cue, Ms. Blake.”

My mouth dropped open. He couldn’t be serious. This man just kept getting worse.

“Go,” Stella mouthed, shooing me away with a limp-wristed waggle of her hands.

Running my lips over my teeth, I stood, then walked as slowly as I could manage without remaining at a complete standstill. He’d been nothing but rude to me so far; why should I scurry along behind him like a desperate little dog?

Ignoring a few awkward looks from the various higher-ups as I passed the open doors to their offices, I finally made it to the CEO of Reed Publishing’s office and stepped inside, quite pleased with how long I’d managed to drag out that short walk.

Serves him right.

“Did you get lost?” he asked without looking up from his computer screen.

You know, I’d barely even made it through two days of this internship and I was about to hand him my resignation.

Right after I gave Reed a piece of my mind.

I swallowed hard, squared my shoulders, and took a deep breath. “Sir, with all due respect–”

“Cabot.” He lifted his eyes and locked me in that dark gaze, then rested his elbows on the arms of his chair, steepling his fingertips at his chin. ”Call me Cabot.”

I cleared my throat. That look in his eyes threatened to destroy my gumption, but I held onto my anger and ignored my lust. “With all due respect, Cabot–”

He cocked his head to the side. “No, scratch that. I definitely prefer sir.”

“Oh my God,” I murmured under my breath. Blood boiling and hands clenched into fists, I breathed deeply through my nose, but the man’s entire office smelled like him and all breathing deeply did was make me want to fuck him, not fight him.

“You were saying.”

“Sir,” I emphasized with as much sarcasm as I could inject into the single syllable, “you have the absolute worst bedside manner I’ve ever had the displeasure of witnessing.”

His lips pulled slowly into a too-sexy-for-his-own-good smirk and he pressed them against his pointer fingers for a beat, like he was trying to refrain from laughing.

The nerve of this man.