“Yes, that’s exactly what we’re going to do. I promise you, on my life, that anyone who wants to hurt you will have to go through me,” he said quietly. His voice shook with conviction.
“Shouldn’t I be saying that to you? You’re the boss, after all,” I joked lamely.
“Never offer to put yourself in the line of fire for someone else, Eden. Never,” Khan commanded.
“But isn’t that what you’re doing?”
“It’s different,” he said dismissively.
“Because I’m a woman?” I wondered. Khan huffed out a long sigh.
“Are you seriously picking an argument with me right now?” he wondered. I shook my head.
“No. It’s just habit, that’s all,” I muttered. He was quiet a long moment.
“It’s not just because you’re a woman, though, I would offer my body as protection for any woman, or employee I was with, because this is work for you and you’re my responsibility,” he murmured.
“Why is it then?” I pressed. I wished madly that I could see him right now, but it was too dark in the room. His hand was still on my face, and it didn’t feel weird at all. I didn’t know why it shouldn’t feel weird. My boss was touching my face like it was something precious to him, but that skin to skin contact was keeping me grounded.
“Come on, let’s get comfortable, away from the door,” he said after a long moment, and tugged me through the darkness. I stumbled after him, my heels hardly suited for scrapping about in dark storerooms. When he stopped, I walked right into his back, and his hands steadied me. “Here, sit down,” he said, after a moment. I sat gingerly, feeling something under my hands.
“Am I sitting on your jacket? That thing’s worth more than my first car,” I muttered.
“It’s a jacket. Relax,” Khan said, sitting beside me, close enough that his hot, powerful body scraped down my side. I tried hard not to lean into that muscled bulk. Ok, I didn’t try that hard. It was nice. “You’re more important.”
“If you’re trying to make sure I don’t sue you for work related endangerment, or something, think again. I’m going to ride this gravy train until the end,” I teased. Khan was quiet. “I’m only joking. Humor is my go-to when I’m scared.”
“You’re scared?” he asked immediately. I could tell by how his voice sounded that his face was turned toward me. I thought about my answer for a moment.
“Actually, weirdly, I’m not. I feel a bit anxious, and this is all strange as hell, but I’m not scared. I don’t know why.” That was a lie. I knew exactly why. Because Khan Aslan was here beside me, and if he told me nothing bad was going to happen, then I believed him. “Anyway, you told me you were a secret street fighter, right? So I guess I’m safe with you.”
“Secret street fighter? I don’t know if that’s exactly what I said, but I certainly didn’t grow up in the same city I live in now. Speaking of which, when is your lease up?”
“Why?”
“Since we’re discussing personal safety, let’s discuss your apartment. You can’t stay there. The thought of it is keeping me up at night,” he said, in that gravelly voice that turned my knees to jelly.
“Why would it keep you up at night? I’m sure you can find another assistant who can keep your coffee molten hot and inbox pruned.” I brushed his comment off, but secretly, I was pleased. It felt good to be the woman who kept this man up at night, even if it wasn’t in the way I wanted.
“You clearly don’t know how many assistants I went through before you, if you say that,” Khan said. I felt him shift, his shoulder pressing against mine, reminding me of how close we were. There was something intimate about sitting pressed side by side in the dark. Like the last kids left awake at camp, I felt like I could tell him anything.
“If I’m such an excellent assistant, why don’t you hire me for real?”
“Impossible,” Khan said flatly. I wrinkled my nose and then stuck out my tongue at him. “I can feel you making a face at me.”
“So that’s bullshit about me being a wonderful assistant. You really are just trying to soothe your hysterical employee’s nerves in this horrifying situation.”
I jumped as I felt Khan shift, and the sudden warmth of his face turned toward mine. I could feel his breath on my skin, and then a calloused palm cradled my cheek. How he knew where my face was in the dark, I didn’t know. He had to be a lot closer than I’d thought. The image of his face only inches from mine that my mind conjured up made me shiver.
“I don’t bullshit. I can’t afford to keep you on as my assistant, because I don’t want you working for me. I don’t want to be your employer–because I don’t get involved with employees. I don’t muddy the water at work. It’s never been a problem for me until you. I’m glad you’re a temp. I’m glad your contract is up in a few days. I’m fucking counting down the minutes until it’s done, and I can tell you what I really think of you,” Khan said, blowing my mind to pieces. “Understand?” he prompted, when words failed me.
“Didn’t you just tell me right now?”
“That was just me getting started.”
“I don’t think I can survive much more than that.”
“You’ll manage just fine,” he said, with perfect confidence. His hand was still warm on my cheek, and my heart felt like it had jumped into my mouth. I felt dizzy.
“Are you sure?” I asked lamely, and he laughed. The sexy, mind-blowing bastard billionaire laughed.
“I’m sure. I believe in you.” His gruff voice was warm.
“You didn’t happen to receive a blow to the head while you were outside, did you?” I asked, making him only laugh more.
Before he could answer, a commotion in the hall outside made me jump. There was the sound of pounding footfalls and a scream rushing right past the room we were in.
“Oh my god, what was that? Someone’s going to get hurt,” I said, wrapping my arms around my waist and holding on tight. Khan was quiet a moment, and then dropped his hand from my face, and pulled back.
“I have to go and see. I’ll come back-,”
“No! You can’t go out there… you could get hurt,” I said immediately.
“Buttercup, someone is getting hurt right now. I can’t stand back and let it happen,” he said. Buttercup? The unexpected endearment pulled my attention away from my panic. “I’ll come back for you. Stay here, hide and wait for me,” he was saying, already moving toward the door.
“Wait! Khan….” I called miserably, already knowing he was going to leave, and I couldn’t stop him. He paused. I could just make out the shadow of his legs against the light from the bottom of the door. “What if you don’t come back?” Worry pushed me to my feet, and I followed him into the centre of the room.
“You wait for the police, and ignore everything you hear. But, Eden, I will come back. No man in this building has the power to stop me or keep me from you. I promise,” he said, and then he was opening the door and slipping out. Panic and worry and fear like nothing I’d ever felt before filled me, and I wrapped my arms tightly around me, and walked backwards until I felt the wall behind me. I sank down, laughing bitterly for a moment, as the thought of my pale dress drifted into my mind. Who cared about a dress? My worries of only moments earlier seemed so trivial now. I hugged my knees, my eyes trained on the door, and tried not to let my morbid imagination run away with me. Khan Aslan wasn’t some pure-bred, wealthy, soft boy. He had told me as much only an hour before. He was tough, street smart, and hard as nails. He’d be back. I knew he’d come back.