Page 6 of Love Notes & Lifelines
A soft gasp has me clenching my jaw before I turn away from Elijah’s desk. Directly across from my assistant stands the woman I’ve actively avoided, only to have her commandeer my mind every goddamn night.
This has been going on for months! And my balls are blue to prove it.
I don’t even know why I go to such lengths to avoid her other than she makes me feel things. Damn it. She’s weaseled her way into the fringe of trust simply by doing…things.
Things like refilling my chocolates, my coffee, stapling my end-of-day reports vertically instead of at an angle. I’ve never even once told anyone that was my preference. When does she even have time to do this shit? It’s not her job, but if I can’t catch her beinghelpful, how can I tell her to stop it?
Elijah snorts behind me, but I can’t drag my scowl away from the woman with wide eyes and mouth agape.
A mouth I never got to sink my cock into.
Jesus, Beck. Get your head out of the gutter.
But I understand Stella’s reaction. Hearing that someone has disowned their family is probably shocking, but she doesn’tknow my history, so she doesn’t need to be so dramatic about it. The sad expression on her face holds my attention though.
Her fingers twitch against her thighs, and butterflies flutter in my chest. Why do her actions still cause such a clusterfuck of reactions within me? What it is about this woman? I’m drawn to her even more now, almost a year after our shared kiss at my company party Elijah made me host, and the unrelenting attraction is exactly why I rarely make eye contact. I also actively avoid conversing with her because when I do, I morph into a leering pervert who stares at her lips. But I watch, and I learn.
Okay, fine. And sometimes I stand behind my door when I hear her laughing with my assistant. Fucking Elijah. He gets to stare at her all day long.
Shaking my head, I turn back to the man who is now wearing an annoying smirk. He thinks he knows what’s going on in my head, but he has no idea the mess swirling around up here.
When I turn my glower his way, he has the grace to check himself. “It’s not your sister this time, Beck. It’s her attorney.”
What the hell? I haven’t spoken to my sister in seven years—not since my mother’s funeral. What could she possibly be suing me for? I bet it’s not even her—it’s probably her jackalope husband, Davis.
“What does he want?”
“He said he needs to see you immediately. And if you’re not in his downtown branch within an hour, he’ll have the police escort you there.”
“Caleb,” I shout.
Stella drops the stapler with a clatter. Why is she so jumpy around me? Obviously, if I haven’t fired her yet, I’m not going to. She gets along so well with Elijah, but with me, she’s a hot mess of accidents waiting to happen.
So what if she very obviously prefers my married assistant over me? Why do I even care? I don’t need her attention. In fact, that’s the very last thing Ineed.
Elijah winks, and I can’t control the rumble in my chest.
Fine, yes, I’m a jealous asshole. But he doesn’t know how her nipples pebble when she’s turned on—I do.
Caleb slinks out of his office like a black cat. He’s dressed head to toe in the color—he always is. He says it’s the New Yorker in him, but all it conjures for me are funerals and black-tie events, and I actively avoid both of those things.
“You bellowed.” He curls his lips into a sneer, and his tone is condescending as hell, but he’s head counsel for a reason. He cuts Stella down with a glacial glare that has my fists curling and my left brow twitching. It isn’t Stella’s fault that I’m on a razor’s edge.
The pulse in my throat throbs.
Poor Stella. What drives her to put up with Caleb’s shit? Whatever it is must be important because she’s lasted longer than Caleb’s last four assistants combined. She has grit, I’ll give her that.
Even my thoughts carry a thread of fondness for this woman. It’s fucking insanity.
Caleb clears his throat and I finally tear my gaze away from Stella. I might need to switch offices if I don’t figure out how to get her out of my head.
“My sister’s attorney is demanding a visit to his office. Now,” I explain, “or he’ll arrange a police escort for me.”
Caleb’s eyes glow like a wolf. When he goes into attack mode, they’re downright terrifying. “If he believes that’s a viable threat, it’s something more than a missed signature. Give me a minute. I’ll grab my jacket and tablet. If you have any idea what this is in reference to, now would be the time to tell me.”
I’ve been wracking my brain for the last three minutes, but I truly don’t. I gave anything and everything left to us by our father to my sister before I left Sailport Bay seven years ago. The way everyone in my life there betrayed me was branded in my mind. The last thing I wanted—or needed—was a physical reminder of that.
I scrape a hand over my face. “I have no idea.”
