He was angry. Very angry.
“A little early to be flirting, isn’t it? Get going, Delilah, we have a meeting this morning, remember?” He called as I watched him walk into the parking lot, his eyes still locked on us.
“I was just leaving, thank you for the reminder, Nathan,” I replied.
He got into his car a few spots down and pulled out, gunning it out of the parking lot.
Andrew spoke up, startling me. “I don’t like him.”
I turned back to him, noticing my hand was still resting on his chest, and that I was leaning into him.
Shit. I was in deep trouble. I had just inadvertently set Nathan off, and I would be punished all day long by the anger that was rolling off him. He didn’t like Andrew, and standing like that with him, laughing? What the hell was I thinking?
“Why don’t you like him?” I was getting tired of their pissing contest. Though it did make me feel good knowing that two good looking men were on the verge of fighting over me. “You don’t even know him.”
“Do you?”
“A little,” I lied. “We’ve worked together for a few months now.”
“He has a reputation with women, and I don’t want that to include you.”
I quirked my eyebrow at him. “Is that really it? Because I can assure you he doesn’t see me that way.”
No, I’m different from them.
Andrew sighed and looked down at me. “I’ve also heard some things about him. He has anger management issues. He was thrown out of the courtroom more than once for his outbursts. That’s why he isn’t in the courtroom anymore.”
I sighed in relief. Andrew only seemed to know water-cooler talk, nothing more. I wasn’t sure if I was happy about that or sad. I wanted to know more about Nathan, but I wanted it to come from Nathan.
“Well, it’s getting late, we need to head in,” I said, dropping the Nathan subject.
“Sounds good. I’ll see you in the office.” He leaned down and hugged me. He placed a kiss on my forehead then walked to his car.
I opened the door to my own car and slid inside. We weren’t really running late, I was always early, but I didn’t want to argue with Andrew because I knew it would end with me giving myself away. I knew about Nathan’s anger, I bore witness to it almost daily, but I had never felt threatened by it. It was all self-destructive in nature.
I looked down at my watch: quarter after seven. My hand turned the key, starting the car and heading to meet my fate; my angry war god of sex and whatever punishment he decided to deliver upon me. My body was already heating up at the thought. It was going to be a very long, very frustrating day and I had Andrew to both blame and thank for it.
I knew I was in deep trouble as soon as I pulled into the parking lot at work. Nathan was standing there, leaning against his car.
Waiting.
How odd they were, the feelings I held. They were so different from what I had known. His anger didn’t scare me, it electrified me. It stemmed from his desire for me, and I was vibrating in anticipation.
When he punished me, I could feel my whole being open up to him. He filled me with an emotion I couldn’t describe, but I knew I wanted more of it. I craved it.
The car slid into the parking spot next to his, and he started walking toward the building. I grabbed my purse and bag and headed in after him.
It wasn’t quite seven thirty; most of our coworkers didn’t start until eight or nine, so the building wasn’t that busy with people yet. There was a sprinkling of people in the lobby; many of them were headed to the coffee shop before heading up to their respective floors.
He was standing at the elevator bay when I caught up. Alone.
As I approached I could feel the mounting tension rolling off him.
“Thorne.” I stepped up to wait beside him, facing front.
“Palmer.” His voice was even, covering what was just below the surface.
In my peripheral, I could see him looking at me. His expression was impassive, but his body said something completely different.