The inside of the building is all glass and marble, furnished with modern designs. People are milling about in expensive business attire, and I feel totally out of place. I’m coming to regret my decision to feel uninhibited in my clothing choices this morning, especially now that I have to face Gabriel. He’s probably going to think I dressed like this to lure him in. The thought never even occurred to me before, but now it’s consuming me.
Maybe it’s the fact I have no idea what his reasons for doing this are. There is no way he could be interested in me. And how the hell did he know where I worked? That’s a little freaky. But it’s too late to turn back now, so with a deep breath I make my way to the front desk to check in. The woman sitting behind it is dressed to perfection with a flawless black skirt suit and not a hair out of place in her tidy bun. I roll my eyes as I walk away from the desk with my visitor’s pass in hand, making my way to the elevators.
After a long two minute wait, I crowd into one of the lifts with eight others. It looks like I’m going to be late after all. After stopping at several floors, and more people coming and going, I finally make it to the top of the building. I am precisely five minutes late when I step out the doors and am confronted by one Gabriel Maddox with a scowl on his face.
“You’re late,” he growls, crossing his arms across his broad chest. When I look up into his eyes it’s as if I’m staring into a stormy ocean of blue. I wasn’t able to discern their exact coloring the other day, but today they are unmistakable. He definitely has that angry tough guy thing going for him.
“Oops, sorry,” I smirk unapologetically. This man is way too easy to rile up, and if anyone should be pissy here, it should definitely be me.
Gabriel grabs my arm and leads me past his secretary, who makes sure to give my clothing ensemble a disapproving glance. He stomps down a short hallway and flings open the door to his office. I yank my arm free of him as he motions for me to sit down in the chair opposite his desk. I do as I’m asked, because quite frankly the look on his face tells me he is not to be trifled with right now. I try to look unimpressed at the sight of the massive office around me and the view of the city beneath, but I’m not sure if I’m succeeding. Because it is impressive.
I expect him to walk around the desk and sit in his office chair, but he surprises me by positioning himself in front of me and sitting on the edge of the desk. He leans forward until his face is a mere few inches from mine. His jaw is clenched tight and I can’t help but stare at the light stubble along the edges, wondering if it’s as soft as it looks.
“I don’t like being made to wait,” he snaps, his minty breath skating over my skin.
“That’s funny,” I retort. “Because I don’t like being woken up at 6:30 am to do your personal bidding.”
At this point, I’m too fired up to care about my damn job. I refuse to bend on this just to please this man. His ego is infuriating. I don’t care how hot he is, I’m not taking this bullshit from anyone. Once again, he appears to be stunned into silence by my response. And I’m certain by the look on his face that it’s something he’s not accustomed to.
His eyes travel the length of my body, a feral gleam taking over them. And that’s when I realize he is blatantly checking me out. I feel the muscles deep within my belly clenching at the thought. This glorious, angry man in front of me actually wants me. He looks animalistic, wild with desire. I briefly entertain the thought of what he would be like in bed. I imagine he’d like the rough angry kind of sex since I can’t see him being the sensitive type.
Arrogant or not, the man is too fucking beautiful for words. His dark brown hair is clean cut and perfectly styled to make his features stand out. Like his eyes. The ones that swing from gray to blue in an instant. Today, and at this moment, they are crystal blue. He’s wearing black suit pants, a black vest, and a crisp white shirt underneath. His sleeves are rolled up and as he leans in closer, I can see the muscles flexing across his arms. Yeah, he definitely works out.
I know I should pull back, but I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of backing down. The sexual tension between us is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before, and I’m not sure why. This is so not my type of guy. Angry, stomping around all the time, arrogant… okay, maybe he is sort of my type I guess. I mean my track record with men isn’t the best.
His face relaxes as he leans closer, hovering an inch from my lips. I freeze and inhale slow, shallow breaths as I try to get a grip. A small part of me is begging for him to kiss me. I don’t know why since not even a moment ago I was so angry with him and wanted nothing more than to leave. He closes his eyes and draws in a long breath.
“God you smell amazing,” he murmurs, grabbing my hand and bringing it to his lips as he kisses it. My pulse goes frantic at the slight touch. Oh, he’s good alright. I have to give him that. I’m sure he’s probably done this a thousand times. “What perfume is that?”
“Um,” I squeak. “It’s actually sunscreen. Coconut.”
“Sunscreen?” he asks incredulously.
“Yeah, you know… gotta’ protect the skin and all that jazz.” God, what am I even talking about?