“I’ll get to it,” she said in an annoyed huff and a roll of her eyes.
“Well, I’d say if you have time to sit in here and talk, you have time to make the call you should have made three hours ago.” My teeth were clenched at that point, my voice climbing an octave as I restrained myself from yelling at her. Nathan was still staring at me, but not in amusement; he almost seemed annoyed.
“Fine, I’ll go do it now.” With a huff, she told him she’d be back before bouncing out the door.
“Better not be,” I grumbled under my breath. He was still staring, so I turned to meet his gaze. “What? It’s your damn fault they’re in here all of the time. You could at least discourage their advances.”
“How is it my fault?”
“Your damn pheromones are drawing in the bees and they’re pissing me off. You’re the best looking man in this office, and they all want you.”
“And you don’t?”
My face heated when he hinted for the first time at what we’d done. In a fit of embarrassment and nervousness, I chucked my stapler in his direction. Childish, but I didn’t know the right social cue for the situation, and I was afraid he would notice my deficiency. The stapler tumbled on the floor, missing him, and breaking apart.
“Back to work,” I mumbled.
“Yes, throw shit, Palmer, that’s mature,” he snapped, his brow furrowed with anger.
“Do you really want me to go there, Thorne? Tell me, do you plan to screw one of them?”
His voice was low and steady as he said, “No.”
“Then why do you flirt with them?”
“Because I’ve found that being friendly makes people more apt to do what you ask without delay or complaint. You catch more bees with honey, Palmer.”
“Oh, that’s right, I forgot you’re the friendliest person in the world.” My voice was dripping with sarcasm. “Oh, wait, no…” I leaned forward and whispered so that no one except him could hear me, “You’re damaged and hiding behind a fucking mask.”
He snarled, leaning in closer. “You have no idea what the hell you’re talking about.”
He sat back, jaw tight as he focused back on the screen, his demeanor ending all conversation.
CHAPTER 6
He was in a foul mood the rest of the afternoon, but once in a while I found him looking at me again. Though I would almost call it a glare at that point. Kelly never made it back to continue her flirting, but she did stop by to tell me when my meeting was scheduled.
It was almost six when I finished up the contract I was working on, and it seemed Nathan was almost done as well. It wasn’t worth getting started on another one, so I decided to call it a night, packing up and heading to the elevator. I left him working, without saying goodbye or waiting.
It was just my luck, though, that when I was getting out of my car, his own pulled in three spots down from mine. I refused to acknowledge him as we entered the lobby. My eyes avoided Thorne as I greeted Mike, the night guard, and I stayed as far away as possible as I pushed the button to call for the elevator. The air around us was charged as we waited, making me anxious. The ping alerted us to the arriving elevator and we stepped on together, each hitting the button for our respective floors.
As the doors slid closed, I kept my eyes trained to the front, but in the smooth metal, I saw him lean down toward me. I held my breath.
His mouth stopped an inch from my ear, his voice low and mocking. “Were you jealous?”