Catastrophe Queen

“And the car?”

“I got nothing, Mallory. Most sane people don’t walk out in front of cars.”

“But would it have stopped you hiring me?”

He paused. “It would have made me hesitate. For what it’s worth, I’m glad I didn’t know any of that. I like working with you.”

I smiled and pushed some hair behind my ear.

“When you’re not spilling coffee all over my desk.”

I dropped the smile.

He stared at me for a minute before bursting into laughter. I wanted to stay mad, but his laugh was so infectious, that all it took was one small nudge from him and I was laughing along with him.

The ride to my house didn’t take long, and we took the rest of it in silence. It was a comfortable one, and through it, my mind started to wander.

Not far. Just to what he looked like under that white shirt, but never mind.

The car pulled up outside my house. The porch light clicked on, illuminating my mom’s flowerbeds, and I swear I saw a curtain twitch.

It wasn’t that late, but Dad had mentioned taking Mom out for drinks, so I assumed they were out doing whatever it was fifty-something-year-old people did in bars.

I wouldn’t know. I didn’t hang out with my parents in bars.

That left Great Aunt Grace and Grandpa. Grandpa would have already put his ornery ass in bed, but I had no doubt that Aunt Grace was up waiting for me to come home so she could snoop.

Cameron opened my car door for me and offered his hand. I took it, stepping out, with my clutch held tight to my stomach. The wind had picked up while we’d been at his parents’. My stomach fluttered as our eyes briefly met, and I ducked my head to get rid of the feeling.

Boss, Mallory. He’s your damn boss.

My hormones needed to settle their tea kettle.

Cameron shut the door behind me and walked me to the front door. The curtains definitely twitched, and if he saw it, he was smart enough not to mention it.

We stopped on the doorstep and turned to each other. It felt like the ending to a date in a flirty movie—you know, the guy walks the girl to the door, they thank each other for the night, then he leans in, kisses her slowly, hand in her hair…

I swallowed and took a step back from Cameron. “Thank you for bringing me home.”

He smiled. “My pleasure. Thank you for coming tonight, even though you really didn’t want to.”

“Well, I didn’t have much of a choice.”

“I know. But still.”

I looked up at him as a gust of wind circled us, taking my hair with it. I made a squeaking noise as my hair whipped around my face, blowing into my mouth and over my eyes.

Cameron laughed, and the next thing I knew, he was standing right in front of me, and his fingers were on my skin.

His fingertips brushed across my forehead and down my cheek, brushing the hair away from my eyes. It was a feather-light touch, yet it burned me. I was hyperaware of him, of every curve and line of his face, of how the pad of his finger was dangerously soft as it glided to tuck my hair behind my ear.

With a dry mouth, I forced myself to swallow the best I could.

His eyes were bright and wide, but there was a slight shadow in them, like he was holding something back.

I was holding something back.

My lips.

I wanted to kiss his goddamn face off.

But I didn’t.

Not even when he dropped his gaze to my lips for a fleeting second. In fact, the look was so short I may have even imagined it.

Until he did it again.

I definitely didn’t imagine it.

My boss was looking at my lips like he wanted to kiss them.

Abort. Mission.

I cleared my throat and stepped back, slicing through the tension. He did the exact same thing, except he went down the step onto the path. We stared awkwardly at each other for a moment.

Cameron coughed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll see you Monday morning?”

“Afternoon,” I corrected him. “You have viewings all morning.”

“Crap.”

“I’ll check the diary and email them to you tomorrow.”

He grinned. “Thanks. You’re the best.”

“Yeah, well, I won’t put salt in your coffee just yet.” I smiled, gripping hold of the door handle. “See you Monday.”

He winked and turned back to the car, leaving me to push open the front door and, blissfully, enter a silence house.

Thank God for that.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN – MALLORY

My phone was ringing incessantly.

I gripped the towel around my body tightly and ran across the house, trying to stop my towel turban from falling in the process of making it to my room. The ringing stopped, only to immediately start up again.

“Goddamn it, who’s calling me at this stupid hour?”

It was seven-thirty in the morning. The only phone call I wanted at seven-thirty was Cameron telling me I could have a day off.