The worried lines around his eyes faded, and a small smile formed on his mouth as if that news pleased him. “When could you start, Lucy?”
He was very casual with me, something I didn’t understand. He confused me. Was he a laid back boss or interested? This kind of place with how well-known it was probably had rules about fraternizing with employees. He had to be laid back. “Could I start Monday? I’m trying to get the apartment put together still.” Today was Tuesday, but I really wanted the rest of the week to get the apartment together.
“Monday sounds perfect. I can show you your office if you like?” He stood, and from where I sat, I had to tilt my head all the way back to look at his face. Wow. Godrick Stoneridge was a tall man. The black suit he wore stretched over his shoulders, a perfectly tailored fit.
“Ah, sure. So wait, I got the job?”
“You had the job when I looked at your resume; I just wanted to meet you first.”
Something in the way he said that made something flutter in my chest, hope maybe, and I didn’t want to feel hope, I didn’t want to feel anything that meant I wanted this man, but I’d have to be dead not to want him. Any woman in their right mind would lay down and spread their legs for him.
The happiness and relief I felt had tears springing to my eyes. “Thank you so much. You won’t be disappointed. Thank you.” I stood and held out my hand to him, trying to be professional.
He bypassed my hand, cupped my jaw, and swiped his thumb across my cheek. It was tender, and the way he looked at me….it seemed like it hurt him to see me cry. “No, no tears. This is a happy occasion.”
“They are happy tears, Mr. Stoneridge.”
“I didn’t know happy tears existed. Tears are tears, pain is pain,” he said it so clinically that it broke my heart. I wanted to comfort him and show him that pain was not pain, and happiness could mean more than a smile.
“That’s really heartbreaking that you believe that, Mr. Stoneridge. I hope one day that happiness brings you tears because it’s the best emotion to feel. It’s success, relief, pride, and love wrapped up in one, and the body can hardly contain it.”
“Is that what you feel right now? Love?”
“I always feel love in some sort of capacity. Love for life, love for food, love for the opportunity to work. Love doesn’t always involve two people.”
He broke eye contact with me and swallowed. What I said triggered a reaction. His hands lingered on my file. “Love never involves two people, Lucy.”
I cocked my head, and in doing so, I leaned into his palm that was still on my cheek. He was so warm, such a contradiction to his eyes that seemed like bottomless pits. I sighed before taking a step back. “It’s heartbreaking that you also believe in that, Godrick.”
The moment I said his name, he snapped his eyes from the desk and glared at me
. His nostrils flared, and the coldness in his eyes were replaced with flames. He was pissed. He specifically asked me not to call him by his first name. I wanted a reaction from him, but why, I didn’t know.
“Do not call me that again, Lucy. Do I make myself clear?”
“Crystal,” I whispered and tried to take another step away from his touch when his hand tightened on my jaw, but it didn’t scare me.
His eyes softened around the edges, and his thumb tugged at my bottom lip. The slight scratch surprised me. He had callouses on his hands. “You confuse me,” Godrick said in a low, deep whisper, staring at my face with a lost expression.
“I’m sorry?” I didn’t think I heard him right. Me confusing a man like him made zero sense.
“Nothing. I’m sorry. I need to cut this short. I’ll see you Monday. Be here at nine in the morning.” He let go of my face so suddenly I fell forward a bit but righted myself before I smacked against the table. I watched him stride out the door, my eyes glued to his ass. I tried to will him to stay because I already missed him. His presence cloaked me in safety, something I hadn’t felt in a year.
No one ever knew, not even Logan, but every day for the last year, I had felt eyes on me, someone watching. It scared me, but with Godrick’s presence in the room, his power was my security, and I already needed that back.
The last year, I had lost count of how many times I have had to call the cops because I thought someone was in the apartment, or I felt watched, or the notes that were left, the flowers, and that was after the restraining order I put on Brian. I only recently felt like my life was my own since we moved her to New York, but change didn’t take away the fear and paranoia. I still acted as if Brian was around every corner. Sometimes, when I woke up from sleep, I saw him standing next to my bed.
He’d never be there, but after the last year, Brian made sure to insert himself in my mind for the rest of my life. The only time I had not thought of him and had felt safe was in this room with Godrick.
And I wanted it back. I never wanted a man to make me feel safe because it was a man that took that safety away. Men are powerful like that, and I wanted to be my own power, my own strength, but fifteen minutes alone with Godrick Stoneridge, his emanating presence stripped me down to bare bones, leaving me vulnerable.
I didn’t want to be vulnerable. It made me want him and hate him at the same time.
My cheek burned in that moment, and I lifted a hand to my face where it still tingled from his touch. He said I confused him, but it was him that was the confusing one.
Chapter Six
Godrick