Page 57 of Connor

We watch him and Victoria walk out, going who knows where.

When they’re out of sight, she turns and looks at me. “You need to stop that,” she says, trying to act in control, when I know she’s barely hanging on herself.

“Stop what?” I ask, playing dumb, walking over to her on the other side of the table.

She rolls her eyes. “Looking at me like that.”

“Like what?” I ask with a taunting smirk as I stand tall and look down at her. There’s pure lust in my gaze as she looks back at me, and I watch her swallow, clearly affected.

“Connor,” she warns, her tone serious, yet I’m sure I could have her moaning in mere seconds.

“Daisy…” I say back to her, my hand reaching around her waist.

A sigh of exasperation leaves her lips, but she doesn’t push me away. “We can’t be like this at work. We need to be professional. What will people say?”

“I don’t care what people say. In fact, I want to take you out tonight,” I tell her, just thinking about it now.

“Out?” she asks, head tilting.

“Yeah, to the bar. We have a live band playing, so maybe I can get you to try my whiskey?” I tease, my thoughts already filthy all over again.

“If I say yes, will you stop looking at me like you’ve seen me naked?” she sasses, and I raise my eyebrows.

“Mmmmm, no. That’s a visual I’m referring to every damn minute of every day, baby girl,” I tell her, and she groans. Even though her lips curl just a tiny bit.

“Okay, I’m out of here; otherwise, I won’t be able to concentrate.”

“Before you go… here,” I say, passing her the small parcel that I’ve had on my desk.

“What is it?” She looks it over before opening the wrapping paper.

“I bought you some inflatable armbands,” I tell her quickly. My anxiety about her being at the springs today without me is already building. “I’ve only just met you. I don’t want you drowning already.”

“Water wings?” she asks, a small smile on her face, her eyes wide as she opens the parcel. “I promise you, Connor, I won’t drown.” Her tone is adamant, even as she waves one of the inflatable armbands around.

“Well, at least now I know you’ll float,” I tell her, and she rolls her eyes before grinning and walking out the door.

My eyes trail her until she’s out of sight.

* * *

I walk outof my office on my way to the spa. My meetings have finished, and I’ve been on edge all day, wondering if Daisy made it to the springs and back in one piece. I know she did. I saw them all leave, Victoria with them, so I relaxed a little, knowing that she had a lot of people with her. Plus, she had her new armbands, which I hope she wore. But I still didn’t like it.

“Oh, Connor,” our young receptionist, Stephanie, says, and I pause mid-stride as I walk past her desk. “The man was back,” she says, and I frown, trying to remember what she’s talking about. But I have so many meetings and calls that it really could be anyone.

“Man?” I question, wondering if she’s purposefully being elusive or if she’s not handling her job very well. One of the key parts of being a receptionist is taking the calls and messages, and if she can’t do that, then we may have an issue.

“The man looking for Daisy. The one who was here the other day,” she explains, and I feel my body stiffen.

“Someone was looking for me?” Daisy breezes in from the side door, smiling, clearly having a good day, while my jaw is clenched tight. She looks at me, then to Stephanie, and back again, sensing something is off.

“The man who was here the other day looking for you. He came back today.”

Daisy blinks a few times before realization comes to her face. “Oh,” is all she says, but I need more.

“What did he want?” I ask, now very invested in what she has to say.

“He wanted a treatment. He saw the social media call-out and just turned up. I explained that he needed to make an appointment,” Stephanie says, and I don’t like it.

---