Page 78 of Not Safe For Work

Olivia Diamond:

Not avoiding you. I’m just not going to make a big deal out of it. I know it was casual and just a one-time vacation thing and I didn’t want to give you the impression otherwise

I’m pretty sure I hear him grunt under his breath.

He stands up but doesn’t say anything, just marches toward the exit. I chase after him until we’re both standing in the elevator bank.

“Where are you going?” I ask.

“Taking a walk.” His jaw works, anger coating his features.

“Scottie, I?—”

“You didn’t need to follow me. I’m just going to get some air.”

“But we were talking,” I say. “We were kind of in the middle of a conversation?”

His eyes narrow on me and he folds his arms over his chest. He shakes his head a few times like he’s battling his own thoughts. I know the feeling all too well. But I’d give anything for a peek inside his head right now.

“It wasn’t casual for me. And it definitely wasn’t a one-time thing.” His words come out raspy, like they had a treacherous journey up his throat. “Is that what it was to you?”

“No,” I murmur. It’s so quiet I’m not sure if he hears me.

When the doors open, he breezes into the elevator. I run in right before it closes.

“No,” I say louder this time.

“Then, what was it?” he asks through a deep whisper. He stalks toward me, inching closer and closer until I’m backed up against the wall, until his lips are so close to mine, I can almost taste him.

“It was…” I take a deep breath because I don’t know what to say. I’m still confused about his demeanor since we got home, but I can’t keep up with my cool girl façade when he looks at me this way. “It was…it didn’t feel casual to me. But since we got back, I felt like it might have meant more to me than to you.”

He blinks, his pupils dilating. He parts his lips and I’m desperate to know if it’s for more words or to kiss me. But the doors open before I can find out.

Gavin turns to the bank, where three people on the fifth floor are waiting to join us.

“Take the next one.” He presses the close door button and once we’re sealed back in the metal box, he slams the emergency stop.

He is impossibly close now, his forehead pressing against my own. He tugs on a loose piece of hair and tucks it behind my ear.

“I’m sorry I’ve been…preoccupied this week. I shouldn’t have left the way I did when we got back from Mexico.” He pauses and kisses my nose. “Please don’t think for a second that it means last weekend wasn’t monumental for me. Okay?”

“Ok—"

The word is stolen from my lips when his mouth crashes into mine. The kiss is intense, but sweet, his lips unbearably soft against me. His hands come up to cradle my jaw, squeezing gently around my neck. He tilts my head back and sucks on my bottom lip, biting softly before releasing it.

“I’ve wanted to do this all day,” he rasps, moving from my lips down to my throat. “And you wouldn’t even talk to me.”

He kisses me again, this time parting my lips with his tongue until we’re completely tangled up in each other.

“Scottie,” I say, swallowing hard. “We can’t do this here. Someone will come.”

“This building has twelve elevators. We’re fine.” He sucks on the spot right beneath my ear and I care a little less about getting caught. “I need you,” he breathes. And I feel the same way.

His head dips to kiss my collarbone and he slides off my blazer, letting it pool on the floor. Then he starts to unbutton my shirt.

“Scottie—”

“Just two, okay? No, three. Maybe four.” I assume he’s referring to the number of buttons because he stops as soon as he can spread the shirt enough to reveal my bra. My lilac bra studded with lots of tiny black bows that I wore for a self-esteem boost.

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