Chapter 14

She growled, which might've been more effective if she hadn't paled right afterward. "Off-the-clock babysitting isn't job-related. You can't pull the boss card."

"I can and just did." Twice in a week, in fact. Exactly as many times as he'd used it over her two-year employment.

"Why is it necessary to"

"Because you scared me to death!" Hell. He closed his eyes and drew a much-needed lungful of air.

An email threatening to kill her.

Stapler. Thrown. At. Her. Head.

Blood.

"The incident happened in my building, doled out by one of my staff." He shook his head and looked at her. He'd obviously dropped another bomb by yelling at her because her pretty red mouth hung agape and those gorgeous blue eyes were huge. "I hired her. I hired you. This is my fault. I should've seen the signs and protected you better." He scrubbed a hand down his face. "I think you know you're more to me than just an employee, Peyton. You and Joseph"

Unable to continue, he dropped his arms in defeat. "I was scared for you."

A shaky exhale passed her lips as she lowered the tissues. "I'm okay," she whispered.

Perhaps, but it would take him longer to get to the same state. He strode over and cupped her shoulders. "Can I look at the cut? See if it needs stitches?"

"Sure," she breathed. Trembling, she blinked up at him. "You've never shouted at me before."

"That was uncalled for. My apologies." He inspected her temple. There was a good size egg and bruise forming. She also had a jagged gash that was about a half inch long, but didn't appear deep. It had stopped bleeding. "No stitches."

Gently, he brushed a loose strand from the area and let his touch linger. He had the strangest urge to press a kiss to her hairline as if that would offer her any comfort. Her scent swirled around him and warmth from her body seeped into his.

"You're more to me than just my boss, too." She peeked at him from over the rim of her glasses and bit her lip. "I don't know, X. I can't define us. Friends?" Her gaze roamed his face and settled on his mouth. The tiniest of wrinkles formed between her brows.

Damn, but there she went again with the vibes. Except this time, she was sober. Andhis mouth detached from his brain. "Peyton, honey, we're whatever you say we are."

She hummed, part surprise, part moan. "You did it again. You called me honey."

Yeah, well, thought tended to obliterate when she was this close and Wait. "Again? I thought you didn't remember."

Her nose scrunched. "I lied. I was out of line on Friday and it obviously disrupted The Force. You were nice enough to help me and I thanked you with unwanted advances."

He didn't know what was hotter, her Star Wars reference or the breathiness with which she spoke it. "Not unwanted." At her confused expression, he said to hell with it. "The advance wasn't unwanted."

"But"

His brain wailed to abort, demanded common sense, but his body shredded the memo. He lowered his head and kissed her.

She panted against his lips as if she couldn't catch her breath, which only stole his. Cupping her neck, he offered more pressure and dipped into the wet cavern of her mouth to taste her. Just once. It was imperative he do so.

Except the instant her tongue stroked his and she moaned, the algorithms in his hard drive scrambled and his coding short-circuited. Like she'd downloaded a virus right into his system, he got feverishly hot. And hard. Made worse when she pressed against him and gripped the lapels of his suit, aligning their bodies as if they were designed to be merged.

He wrapped an arm around her back and hauled her halfway up his body until she was on tiptoe, and it wasn't close enough. She tasted like the sweet tea she was so fond of drinking. Her hands wove into his hair, teased his nape, and she swayed. Or he did. Honestly, he couldn't even tell if they were still upright.

The first time they'd nearly crossed the line, she'd been drunk. The second was on the backstroke of a head injury. What a stellar gentleman he turned out to be. Damn it.

He pulled away and stared at her, breaths soughing. Shit. "That just happened."

"Yes." Her eyes opened and cerulean irises were all but swallowed by her pupils. She blinked her heavy lids like she was trying to focus, and those long lashes created to drive him to the brink fluttered. "I'd say do it again, but I'm dizzy."