Yet, she remained. Always in my thoughts, my gaze lingering on her far too long as she sat at her desk, busy working. I started closing my door more, simply to stop myself from acting like a lovestruck idiot. It had been the one place the desk would fit, but it wasn’t until the first morning that I realized how clear a view I had of her.
She was sitting at her desk, talking to Michael, her focus on him.
Mine was on her.
The overhead light showed glimmers of red in her dark hair. She had her chin propped up in her hand, and she was smiling at something Michael said. She held a pen in one hand, tapping it slowly on her desk. Her long, sexy leg swung in time with the pen. I was captivated by her.
I had been ever since.
And today, I had planned on apologizing to her about kissing her, holding her hand. Explain I had been concerned but shouldn’t have crossed that line. Instead, I tried in the worst way possible to get her to open up about her fear and came across as judgmental and demeaning. I angered her, and instead of an apology, we sniped at each other, Grace refusing to back down in the face of my ire.
She gave as good as she got—if not better.
I scrubbed my face. I hadn’t counted on this attraction. This odd sense of need to look after her. I had dealt with many articling students before, both male and female, with no reaction. Fellow female lawyers who were intelligent and beautiful without batting an eye.
But Grace VanRyan was singularly unique. She captivated me in a sense I hadn’t yet grasped.
And that terrified me more than anything.
Chapter 6
Grace
I barely slept at all. I gave up at five and got up, sitting on the sofa with a cup of coffee in my hand. All I could think about was the fact that I had told off my boss. Twice. Jaxson Richards didn’t strike me as the kind of man that would accept that very well. I had a feeling I would be reassigned to a different lawyer right away. I dropped my head down in defeat. I had wanted to work with him. He was brilliant, even if he was difficult to handle.
Last night, I had walked home, too upset to sit on the bus. In the time I had been working for Jaxson, I had already learned so much. He was amazing to observe. He had a quirk I wasn’t sure most people noticed. His intense gaze took in every detail, and his mind absorbed every minute element. He recalled names, facts, numbers that others could not. He had no need to reference notes, his brain recalling the necessary information easily. Yet he never called attention to that fact, shuffling papers, appearing lost in thought as if mulling over words in his head. I saw it because of how closely I watched him.
He fascinated me. More than I wanted to admit. More than any man had ever captured my attention until now. He was a force unto himself. Terse and sharp with most people in the office, he seemed unapproachable at times. He didn’t suffer fools easily and got impatient fast. Yet, there was still something that drew me to him. I didn’t understand my attraction, except to know it was something I could never act on. I highly doubted I would ever have the chance anyway. Jaxson was older and more experienced than I was. From gossip I had heard, and what I found on the internet, he had a reputation as a monogamous dater—but he never stayed with anyone very long. And he was my boss.
Still, I found myself thinking about him too much. How handsome he was. The sexy divot in his chin I wanted to kiss. The way his chest filled out a suit. How his shoulders looked under the taut material. How he almost kissed me last Friday.
And his hands. I couldn’t believe how sexy I found his hands and arms. I had never noticed details like that on any other man until now. Large, wide palms. Long, thick, yet strangely elegant fingers. He wore a heavy silver watch on his wrist that caught the light. I found his forearms appealing when he would roll up his sleeves, and I could see the muscles bunching and flexing. More than once, I had to look away as I fantasized about those fingers touching me, his muscles working as he stroked my skin, bringing me pleasure.
All thoughts I needed to keep at bay. He was unattainable. And I wasn’t his type.
I looked down at the notepad on the arm of the sofa and smiled as I saw the date I had scribbled down while on the phone the night before. Addi Ridge had called to remind me of a cake tasting I was to attend with her that was coming up soon. She was the daughter of my dad’s friend, Bentley Ridge, and was marrying her best friend, Brayden Riley, right before Christmas. My sister Heather and I were both part of her wedding party. We had all grown up together, and although I was a little older than Addi, we had always been close. Despite the fact that I had lived in BC and she lived here in Toronto, our families were so entwined, I saw her a lot, and we’d spoken and texted every day for as long as I could recall. I spent summer vacations here, most Christmases and other holidays, our families blending and forming our own little world. It wasn’t a surprise when she and Brayden got together, and they had never once faltered in their devotion to each other. It was going to be a magical day, and I was looking forward to being part of it.