Page 18 of Falling for Her Grumpy Boss

The movement is small. Thoughtless, probably. It still hits me like a punch low in my body.

Heat tightens through me before I can shut it down. I shift slightly, trying to ease the pressure building beneath my slacks without making it obvious, but my body is already too aware of her. Of the closed office. Of the fact that she’s standing close enough for me to catch the clean scent of her perfume beneath the sharper smell of paper and coffee.

Jesus Christ.

“You’ve done good work this week,” I say, and my voice comes out lower than I intend.

Her eyes hold mine steadily. “Thank you.”

Neither of us moves.

The silence stretches between us until it feels like something alive, tightening instead of easing. I brace my hands against the edge of the desk and try to drag myself back into the conversation we’re supposed to be having.

It doesn’t work.

Because she’s still looking at me.

Her gaze doesn’t drop when I look at her. She goes quieter, still enough that I notice the way her fingers curl once against the edge of the file before relaxing again.

My pulse kicks harder when she takes a small step closer to the desk, probably without realizing she’s doing it. The movement brings her near enough that I can see the faint rise and fall of her breathing, the slight flush spreading high along her throat.

I should reset this now.

Instead, I hear myself say, “Tess.”

Her breath catches softly at the sound of her name in my voice.

That tiny reaction lands somewhere deep and dangerous inside me.

I come around the desk before I fully decide to. The leather chair brushes the back of my legs as I move, the office suddenly feeling too small, too warm. She stays where she is, watching me approach with those steady eyes that should make this easier to stop and somehow only make it worse.

I stop in front of her.

Close.

Close enough to feel the heat of her body slipping through the controlled lines of her suit. Close enough that if either of us leaned forward even slightly⁠—

My hand lifts before I can rethink it.

I touch her jaw carefully, giving her plenty of time to pull away. She doesn’t.

The absence of resistance sends a sharp rush of adrenaline through me.

My thumb brushes lightly across her lower lip.

A tiny shiver moves through her. I feel it under my hand.

And fuck, that does something to me.

Tiny kisses brush against my mouth before I fully realize she’s the one moving first. Soft kisses at the corner of my lips. Another against my jaw.

Even now, she moves with that same quiet control she carried at Indigo, taking over the moment so naturally I barely realize it’s happening until I’m already following her lead.

My breath stalls in my chest.

“Tess…”

Her teeth catch my lower lip gently, teasing instead of biting, and a rough sound slips out of me before I can stop it.