Page 54 of The Devil In Denim
“Okay. I might have a couple of cookies left.” She’d locked the box in her bottom desk drawer and tried desperately to forget they were there. “Do you want me to go see? They’re good.”
Alex cocked his head at her, something speculative shimmering in his eyes. “No, thanks. It’s not cookies I’m hungry for.”
“Alex…”
“Just checking in. It’s been four days. Any further thoughts on … potential?”
She bit her lip. “Still thinking.”
His mouth quirked. “Well, that’s not a no, at least.” He stepped closer to her, reached out and brushed a stray strand of hair back from her cheek. “Or is it?”
“No,” she admitted.
“Anything I can do to help speed up the decision process?” He leaned in a little.
Too close. She couldn’t think when he was this close. Didn’t want to think. Just wanted to feel. Which scared her. But she didn’t step away.
“No one’s going to make you do anything you don’t want to,” Alex said softly.
“What I want to do isn’t the problem,” Maggie said, wishing she could look away from the heat in his eyes. “The problem is what I should do.”
“Life’s too short to always do what you think you should do.”
“Spoken like someone who always gets away with what he wants.”
“Spoken like a chicken,” he returned. He lowered his head another half inch until his lips were close enough that all she had to do was move just a fraction and they’d be touching hers.
She remembered what that felt like … remembered the taste of him, dark and hot.
Remembered his hands on her back scorching through the thin fabric of her dress.
Remembered why she had to stay away from him. She pulled back. “Chickens are very underrated birds.”
Alex moved with her. One step. Two. The backs of Maggie’s thighs hit his desk. Damn it.
Trapped. Only it didn’t feel like she was trapped. Not like this was against her will. No, her will was very, very much in favor.
“What are you so scared of?”
“Doing something stupid,” she said. She folded her arms across her chest in an attempt to bolster her powers of resistance.
“I’m not stupid.”
“No, but us sleeping together would be.”
“Why?” He traced a finger along one of hers, the lightest of touches. Still, it was enough to make her shiver. “I think it would be fantastic, not stupid.”
“You’re not the one with something to lose.”
“I’m not going to fire you if you kick me out of your bed,” Alex said. “You said you’d studied me? Ever hear about me doing anything like that?”
“Having an affair with a coworker? No.”
“Well, there you go.”
That was way too convenient. “Maybe you’re just very good at covering your tracks.”
He frowned. “Do you really think I’m that sort of guy?”
