Page 23 of Wicked S.O.B.

My breasts receive a longer perusal and subtly altered breathing from him. The uniform is slightly tighter than the one I used to wear, and although it’s not overtly sexual, it clings in certain places like my waist and my rounder hips. Places his eyes seek and blatantly own before moving to other parts of my body. He doesn’t hurry through his perusal. He takes his time. Even my cheap ballerina flats get the full force of Quinn’s stare.

When he’s done, he slowly rises from his desk. He walks toward me, his movement measured and economically elegant. He stops just outside of touching distance, his hands clasped at his back.

“Elly. I presume you’re the reason my calendar is suddenly, miraculously clear for the next two hours?”

My nostrils flutter as I try to inhale and get a hit of his extraordinary scent. “I…no, I didn’t have anything to do with that, Mr. Blackwood.”

“Right. I see. Then someone around here is fucking with me. Do you think someone’sfuckingwith me, Elly?”

The emphasis on the word drives a stake of lust through me. Between his face and body and voice and unblinking acceptance of my presence in his office, I’m already too far gone. My every nerve is jumping at the thrill of what’s happening. Of what’s coming. I want to end this now, fast-forward to the moment I fling myself into his arms. But I hold out a little longer. Play this crazy game I started. If it’s helping his day be even a little bit better, I’m immersing myself in this thing. “I don’t know. I was just told to…umm…bring your lunch.”

“And do you always do as you’re told, Elly?” There’s that little threat of the sinister in his voice. A warning that Quinn Blackwood, happy host of a million demons, still lurks beneath the surface of this eerie, outward calm. That voice reminds me that we’re not out of the woods by a long shot. That there’s a definite threat I can’t afford to ignore against whatever version ofever afterkarma intends for us.

“No. Not always.”

He walks another few steps and begins to circle me. I hear the faint rustle of his clothes as his arms drop to his sides. “Ah, a little rebel,” he leans down to whisper in my ear. “I’m intrigued. So if you didn’t fuck up my calendar, then who did?”

“I don’t know.” The truth. I only asked his EA if he would be in his office during his lunch hour, and put my plans into place at her confirmation. I suspect Sully’s hand in this. I would smile at the thought of a romantic hiding beneath the catering manager’s hard exterior, but I’m busy trying not to spontaneously combust.

“Shall we find out?”

I bite my lip. “Umm, I guess.”

“Ummwon’t work for me.I guesssuggests prevarication. It suggests ambivalence. I don’t like my day interrupted. I like precision. Order. Do you think causing chaos in my workplace is something I should forgive easily, Elly?”

“Maybe not. But it’s worth considering if the intentions behind it were noble.”

“Noble.” The word is breathed on my bare nape, causing a giant shiver to unravel down my body, stinging me into even more vivid life.

“Yes.”

“I don’t know what that looks like. I don’t know what noblefeelslike. Do you, Elly?”

The way he says my name. Like he’s really into it. Like he’s really into what I’m doing. The charged heat in my body intensifies, along with the wide, raging river of love that threatens to break its banks every day for this man.

“I’m probably not the best person to give advice on being noble.”

“And why’s that? Is it because under this frilly white cap that’s hiding your hair from me, and this cheap, useless dress that has no right to touch your body, you’re the filthiest, deadliest temptation?”

I bite my lip to hold back a moan. “Mr. Blackwood, you can’t say that.” My voice is a feeble, useless instrument.

“Do you read the tabloids, Elly?”

I shake my head. “Not if I can help it.”

“Hmm, that’s probably wise. Most of them are a fucking joke. But a few get things right every now and again. And you know what they say about me?”

“No.”

“Well, that’ll probably take too long. But guess what theydon’tsay about me.”

“W-what?”

“That I’mnoble. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. So, faced with that little morsel of truth, what do you think I should do about this situation?”

“I think you should eat your lunch first. Then…”

“Then?”

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