I don’t know why, but admitting that as the truth made me embarrassed. I looked down. “I guess.”
Chase leaned in. Touching my chin, he gently lifted. “Give it a chance. I might be the one who doesn’t disappoint you.”
Chapter 23
Reese
Predatory. That was the only way to describe how Chase looked at me when I walked into his office. We’d been back at work for a week, and he’d been good about keeping his distance, keeping things professional during the day like I’d asked. But the butterflies in my stomach as I watched his heated eyes follow me told me that was all about to go to shit. Evidently five days was his limit.
Thank God there were other people in the room. Josh was talking as he flipped through blown-up glossies from last week’s photo shoot. The woman in the shots wore sexy, white, lacy lingerie with garters and stockings, yet Chase wasn’t paying one bit of attention. Lindsey, who sat to the left of Josh, pointed to one photo and compared it to another while Chase tracked my every move. I set a binder his secretary had handed me down on the glass table at the other side of the room and put some distance between us by sitting on the adjoining couch.
Chase’s eyes were mischievous when he casually got up from his desk, walked to the little refrigerator built into the credenza, and pulled out a few water bottles. He placed one each in front of Josh and Lindsey as they continued to speak, and then walked over to hand one to me. His eyes blazed as our fingers brushed. He leaned in, clearly not caring if anyone was paying attention.
“Saw this in the hallway outside of your office. Figured you dropped it.” He handed me a Chapstick.
The glimmer in his eye told me to take a closer look, so I did. He’d handed me a Dr. Pepper-flavored Chapstick, and his eyes dipped to my mouth. I smiled like a schoolgirl at how sweet he was—finding a workaround for his not liking my lip addiction.
My answer was to wait until he sat back down behind his desk and then open the tube and slowly line my mouth. Very slowly. When I licked my lips with as much obscenity as I could possibly ooze, Chase looked like he was a few breaths away from clearing the room.
His stare turned feral. I’d just prodded a bull, and I happened to be wearing a red dress. I squirmed in my seat and attempted to avoid his ferocious gaze. But it was impossible. He was just too irresistible, and when he had that dominating glimmer in his eye, he ambushed all of my senses. That was most likely why when no one else was looking and he mouthed Go into my bathroom and take off your panties, I was even considering it.
But these were my rules—if anyone had to abide by them, it should be me. I sat farther back on the couch and continued to listen from a distance, rather than pull a chair up to his desk and join the three of them. Last night Chase had a business dinner, the night before that I’d had dinner with my mother, and earlier in the week one or the other of us had needed to work late each night to catch up from being gone. Because of our schedules, we hadn’t been together since our trip—hadn’t even so much as touched—and I was feeling as needy as Chase looked.
After a while, Chase glanced at the clock and asked if we’d like to order in lunch with him.
“Can’t. Meeting Bridezilla for lunch so she can show me swatches of something I don’t care about,” Josh said.
Lindsey declined, too. “I brought lunch.”
Chase looked to me. “Hungry? How about I order us the same thing we had in Kansas for lunch both days?”
Josh and Lindsey turned in my direction. I smiled at Chase and willed my blush to stay at bay as I remembered what he’d eaten for lunch. Me.
“Sure, that sounds good.” I offered the first explanation that came to mind. “I have a thing for Kentucky Fried Chicken.”
As Josh and Chase finished talking about mocking up some photo ads, Chase walked to his wall of glass and pressed the button for the blinds, concealing his office from the outside hallway.
Even though no one asked, when they were fully closed, Chase said, “Sam would chew my ear off if she walked by and we were holding up glossies of a half-naked model.” He paused and looked at me. “Plus, I like to eat without being watched.”
A few minutes later, we broke for lunch. Chase shut the door behind Josh and Lindsey. When he stared at me and locked the door, I felt the sound of the audible clank between my legs. This is not going to be easy.