Are you afraid?

RHYS

The following day, I threw myself into my work, using the massive mess of Columbia Lab’s records to distract myself from last night's haunting fantasies. I spent hours gathering the financial information needed to organize their accounts. Despite my fierce resolution to remain strictly professional, a dark part of my psyche secretly hoped there would be critical missing data from the research department. I desperately wanted a legitimate excuse to see her face again. That humiliating realization pissed me off, challenging my already frayed self-control.

My wish was granted. I compiled the missing data sheets before lunch and scheduled a late-afternoon meeting with Mrs. Gallagher at the lab. After spending forty grueling minutes in Diane's office meticulously going over the ledgers I needed, we reached the future investment costs dedicated solely to the research department.

I didn’t hesitate.

"I hope Miss Vance can assist me with these final items, as they fall strictly under her purview," I requested smoothly, keeping my tone neutral.

"Oh, yes," Diane agreed, glancing at her watch. "Though I'm not sure if Tessa is available in her office right now."

"I see. Maybe I could just talk to her and ask her to send me an email later?" I offered.

Diane instructed her assistant to walk me down the long corridors to Tessa's wing. Hearing her name spoken aloud was enough to make my pulse kick up. An unfamiliar anxiety settled heavy in my chest.

When we arrived at her closed door, the assistant smiled and left me alone. I knocked firmly on the heavy wood. I waited, the silence stretching on. Just as I was about to turn away, I heard the sharp clicking of high heels echoing loudly on the tile in the hallway behind me.

"Can I help you with something?" Tessa asked. Her voice was defensive, her jaw clenched tight. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a messy bun, a few loose strands framing her face.

I turned. She was wearing a pristine white lab coat over her clothes. Her arms were crossed over her chest, the posture pressing her breasts tightly together and drawing my immediate, hungry gaze.

"I was looking for you," I managed to say, forcing my eyes up to her face. "I was just in a meeting with Mrs. Gallagher. She explicitly said I should come to you, that you could help me locate some financial projections missing from your department's records."

Tessa let out a heavy, irritated sigh. "Right," she said, relaxing her tense shoulders slightly as she realized I had a legitimate business reason to be there. "I was literally on my way out for the day, but I guess I can help you find them since you’re still standing here."

I gestured toward her closed office door. "Can we go inside?" I asked, my voice dropping to a murmur.

"No!" she refused instantly, panic flashing in her dark eyes. She stammered, trying to cover her intense reaction. "I mean... It shouldn’t take that long to find, right? Just show me the list here."

It was glaringly obvious she was trying to get rid of me and avoid being enclosed in a room with me. The realization that she was genuinely rattled by my proximity ignited a dark thrill in my chest.

"Are you afraid?" I asked, my voice a low rumble. I deliberately took a step closer, narrowing the physical distance between us in the empty hallway. "Are you afraid of being alone with me in your office?"

"Why the hell would I feel that way?" she snapped back, lifting her chin defiantly to meet my stare.

"You tell me," I murmured. I took a few more slow steps, stalking her until she instinctively stepped back. Her heels clicked in retreat until her shoulders backed up against the cold drywall.

"What are you doing?" she asked. Her voice trembled, visibly nervous and confused by my predatory advance.

I closed the gap. I raised my large hand, placing my palm flat on the wall beside her face, effectively caging her in. I could feel the heat radiating from her skin. Her breathing grew heavy. Her chest rose and fell rapidly under the lab coat, brushing tantalizingly close to my suit jacket. My other hand rose, my fingers twitching as I resisted the urge to touch the soft skin of her face. The sexual tension between us was thick enough to cut with a knife.

Suddenly, the echoing sound of overlapping voices and footsteps approached from the intersecting hallway behind us.

"Shit!" Tessa cursed under her breath.

Driven by pure panic of being caught in such a compromising position by her colleagues, she grabbed the lapels of my suit jacket. She shoved me backward into a nearby narrow supply closet.

My broad back slammed hard against a wooden shelf in the pitch black as she squeezed inside right after me, frantically pulling the door shut. We were plunged into total darkness in a space barely big enough for one person. My body went rigid as Tessa’s back pressed flush against my chest and groin.

*Damn.*

I didn’t dare move a single muscle, but the damage was instantly done. With her pressed so tightly against me in the dark, I knew for a fact that she could feel my rock-hard cock pressing heavily and unmistakably right above the curve of her ass.