Page 44 of Stolen Kisses

Over the years, I'd played the bad cop in these kinds of situations. Whenever we needed to end a partnership, I was the one who announced it. I never had a problem cutting ties.

So why couldn't I do the same with Hannah?

Chapter Eleven

Hannah

On Monday, I felt like dancing my way through the front door of the building. For someone who swore to herself that she didn't want to go back to a corporate job, I was quite surprisingly looking forward to it. I wasn't sure if it was because of the job itself or because I might get a chance to get a peek at Chase, but potatoes, po-tah-toes. Who cared? Point was, I was here, I was in a great mood, and I was going to rock this job.

When I stepped inside, the lobby was full. I hurried to the receptionist, the same woman from my interview day.

“Good morning. Is something wrong with the elevators?” I asked.

She smiled. "Oh no, it's just a morning rush."

"This happens every morning? Eight thirty is the rush hour?”

“Yeah. There's a huge gaming company from floors four to ten, and they all come at the same time.” She straightened up, looking behind me.

"Good morning, Mr. Sterling." She gave whoever was behind me a dreamy smile. If I was honest, it could've been any of the Sterling brothers.

I turned around and mentally grinned. Of course it was mine.

Not yours, Hannah. Crap, he's not yours. He won't be yours, okay? One kiss was all you got.

"Good morning," I said, sounding completely neutral. I pointed at the line. "Seems like we've got to wait. Rush hour. I didn't know that was a thing in an office building."

"I know a shortcut," he said.

"We're climbing all those flights of stairs?" I asked, because I couldn't imagine what else he had in mind.

"No, not that.” He glanced at the receptionist. “Ms. Levine is coming with me today.”

“Certainly.”

He turned to me again, focusing those gorgeous green eyes on my face. “Come on. Let's go to the left."

"All right." I followed him, happy to be away from the crowd. By the looks of it, I’d be here about thirty minutes if I waited.

"I don't know why they all insist on coming in at the same time," he commented. "They could tell their employees to come in batches. It's driving everyone mad, this bottleneck at the elevators every morning." He led me through a narrow corridor. It was dimly lit, but I could still admire his perfect ass with every step.

Wow, what a great way to start my job. Instead of analyzing reports, I'm analyzing the CEO's perfect round ass. Way to go, Hannah.

He stopped in front of a small elevator and pushed a key into the place where there was usually a button.

My eyes widened. "Wait, you've got your own elevator?"

"Top management has access to it."

"You literally have your own elevator," I said in awe. “That’s a great perk.”

Turning to me, he gave me a half smile. For a brief second, I forgot what I was talking about. Oh yeah, I was teasing him about an elevator.

God, I couldn't tease my boss. What was wrong with me? I'd given him so much shit about not being able to keep his promise, so what was I doing?

"It sometimes takes a while for it to arrive because management of every company shares it. But it won't take as much time as the line out there would," he explained.

We fell into an awkward silence. The sound of our breaths echoed around the corridor.

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