Office Grump: An Enemies to Lovers Romance

“Let’s stop back at the hotel and change. I’m not wearing a tie into the desert.” I pull out of the rental place’s parking lot. “It’s nothing like the summer here, but a hike in the evening sun can still get warm. Just curious, why didn’t you make our reservations at the resort? I would’ve paid any upcharge for the convenience.”

“They were booked,” she says. “Sorry. I made the reservations the day you asked me to. Reading your mind isn’t on my list of powers yet.”

Yet?

I snort, nodding. “It’s fine. I didn’t decide if this was the conference I’d bring the entire team to until I saw the attendee list.”

“Always so tactical.” She grins.

“Always.” I pull into the hotel and leave the car with the valet to watch for the next ten minutes. “You’ll want jeans and sneakers.”

Sabrina’s eyes roll up like she’s thinking as we head for the elevator.

“Thanks, Dad. I can dress myself.”

I smile. “What, do you not have those things?”

“Won’t yoga pants and flip-flops do the trick?”

I chuckle. “I’ll loan you a pair of shoes.”

She glances down at my feet. “Yeah, I’m not sure that’s going to work. We’d also better get going while there’s still plenty of light.”

“Fine. Do flip-flops and we’ll stay on the kiddie trails. I guess I’ll carry you if we meet a scorpion.”

“Probably for the best.” She laughs, but I can’t help but notice the rosy glow on her cheeks. “Minus the you carrying me part.”

Oh, really?

I keep my quips to myself for once as we split apart for our rooms.* * *After swapping my suit for jeans and a button-down shirt, I head for the lobby, making a quick stop at the front desk to pick up the basket I ordered.

“Are you ready?” a familiar voice behind me asks.

I turn to find a very different Sabrina Bristol than any I’ve encountered. My breath catches for a hot second.

She’s wearing pink pants that accent every curve and a tie-dyed tank top underneath a silky white cardigan.

As usual, she’s gorgeous, but the dramatic tie-dye is probably the most outlandish thing I’ve ever seen her in. “You’re into tie-dye? Do you also have a crystal healing habit I didn’t know about?”

She grins and her face goes rosy again. There goes my dick, jerking in my trousers like a badly behaved pet.

“The tank top’s technically part of my pajamas. When we come to these things, we never get much time to explore. I kinda figured I’d be in meetings the whole time we were here. So I didn’t pack for an outing at the park.”

“You aren’t going to want to wear those clothes to bed after being out in the sand.” I instantly regret my words.

What will she wear to bed, then?

I already know she’s adorable when she sleeps, I see it every time on our jet rides, and tonight she’ll probably have to sleep nude.

Fuck, what does she look like when—

“Are you okay?” Her eyes soften, and she bites her bottom lip with a smile.

Dammit, I’m flustered, and I’m sure she knows it.

“Never better. Let’s go. I know a few good places we can go. It’s not quite Sedona with its fabulous rocks and greenery, but Saguaros and sunsets are a godsend.”

Her gaze falls to the basket hanging in my hand.

“What’s that?”

I shrug. “Snacks. Just a few light things I had packed. Come on.”

I walk toward the door, forcing an end to this conversation.

Sabrina tags along, but being locked inside a vrooming sports car with her does nothing to calm my—nerves?

Sure, that’s what we’ll call it.

Any other description would be far less appropriate when it involves the hard-on from hell that just won’t die.

“Where are we going?” she asks, turning to bat her happy mocha-colored eyes at me.

“McDowell Mountain Park. It’s a big place, tons of trails, mountains, and wildlife. If we’re lucky, we’ll see a tortoise.”

“Oh, yay. I love those guys.” She claps her hands together softly.

God. I wish a certain part of my anatomy came with a shell to hide. It’d make this insane venture of mine a lot less awkward.

Out of the corner of my eye, I catch her widening grin, hoping she hasn’t noticed my bulge.

I don’t say anything but glance from the road to her.

“You want to hear something funny? It’s slightly pathetic, maybe, but I think you’ll laugh.”

“Sure,” I tell her.

“This is probably the craziest place I’ve ever been, away from Illinois. The scenery, the air, the sun...it’s all so different here. I mean, before working for you and traveling to hotel rooms all over the country but never actually leaving the hotels, at least, I’d never been anywhere more exotic than Wisconsin.”

Wow. What has her life been like? I’m not blind to my own privilege and luxuries, but she seems sheltered even compared to my other hires.

“Do you like expanding your world?”