Page 95 of Dangerous Temptation
Any but one.
‘Hi,’ she said softly.
He glanced up from his desk. He was scanning through another economics textbook. ‘Hey.’
That observant grey gaze ran over her, first to check if anything was wrong and then with more leisure.
She held up the flash drive. ‘I need to go to the printer.’
His pen clipped down on the desk, and he straightened. ‘Are you finished?’
‘With the paper.’ She inhaled deeply, but the sense of relief and accomplishment was muted inside her. She couldn’t summon up the excitement that was warranted.
He came around his desk and hugged her. ‘That’s fantastic, baby. I’m so happy for you.’
She was happy, too. It was an accomplishment, but this was just one milestone. She could take a day or two to refresh, but she needed to start preparing her presentation next. A committee of tenured professors was going to pepper her with questions, and she had to be ready to defend her findings.
She turned the flash drive over in her fingers. ‘I need to print out copies and have them bound.’
‘Send it over to Wolfe Pack. They can handle that for you.’
She scowled. Not that she didn’t trust his people, but she was going to do this herself. After all the blood, sweat and tears she’d put into it, she was going to make sure it was done right. There weren’t going to be any missing pages, smudges or crooked printouts.
‘I’d like to get everything over to the committee by the end of the day.’
‘Not a problem.’ He picked up the phone. ‘We’ll get a courier.’
She shook her head and covered the keypad before he could dial. ‘No. Alex, this is something I want to do myself.’
‘I know it’s important to you, baby.’ He rested his hips against the desk. ‘How about this? We’ll have James run them by here so you can check everything before he delivers them. Does that work for you?’
She sent him a sad look. No, it didn’t.
He saw the less than excited expression on her face. Catching her chin, he brushed his thumb along her jawline. ‘Let’s order Grimaldi’s tonight to celebrate.’
Her eyes started to sting, and she clenched the flash drive in her fist. She didn’t feel much like celebrating. ‘I’m not very hungry.’
She was frustrated and discouraged, but determination gelled inside her chest.
She turned and left the room. She grabbed her laptop, then headed past the living room and bar to their bedroom. Carefully, she tucked the computer into its bag. Her hand was shaking as she zipped the flash drive into a pocket of her purse.
Moving almost mechanically, she took the time to change out of her yoga clothes. A pair of jeans and a knit top made her feel more like her old self. Her throat was thick as she tugged on her boots.
She stared at the dresser for ever. The dresser with her drawer … which had become two. When she felt herself wavering, she turned towards the closet instead.
It was time to get to work.
She was halfway through the hangers when Alex poked his head into the bedroom. Elena lifted her chin. She hadn’t tried to be quiet, and the rustling couldn’t be helped.
His gaze immediately latched on to her suitcase. It was open on the bed and full of clothes. His eyes turned flinty, and his lips flattened. ‘What’s this?’
His stoic phase had come and gone long ago. He couldn’t hide his feelings from her any more.
She folded her black suit carefully and tucked it in the bag. ‘I’m going away for a while.’
He was leaning in the doorway, braced against the doorjamb. His posture didn’t change, but everything else about him did. His body stiffened and the air snapped. ‘Why?’
‘Because I can’t breathe here.’
