Page 24 of Falling for Her Grumpy Boss

The certainty in her voice catches me off guard enough that I straighten slightly away from the window. There’s no judgment on her face. No disappointment either. If anything, she looks like she’s trying to fit the man standing in front of her together with the version she’d heard about before she walked into this office.

And somehow that unsettles me more than anger would have.

“I don’t make promises I can’t keep.” The words come quieter this time, roughened slightly around the edges from everything sitting underneath them.

Something shifts subtly across her expression then. Curiosity maybe. Or recognition.

“Good to know marriage and forever aren't on the list.”

The remark should feel light. Teasing even. Instead, the second the words leave her mouth, something in the room changes again. The air tightens. The distance between us suddenly feels much smaller than the several feet still separating us.

I hold her gaze longer than I should.

Long enough to notice the faint rise and fall of her breathing.

Long enough to watch awareness flicker slowly across her face when I don’t immediately laugh the question off.

“I’ve never met anyone who made me want that.”

The silence afterward feels almost physical.

Tess stills completely except for the subtle change in her breathing. Most people would miss it. I don’t. Her pupils widen until the hazel of her eyes darkens beneath them, and for one suspended second, her breathing catches altogether before returning quicker than before.

And standing there watching her look at me like that, I become abruptly, painfully aware of how small this office suddenly feels.

CHAPTER 6

Tess

I don’t remember making the decision.

One moment I’m standing in front of his desk, holding my ground like I have all week, pretending the pull between us is something I can ignore if I just focus hard enough on the job I came here to do. The next, everything tilts, and the world narrows to him and the way he looks at me like he’s done pretending. My pulse pounds in my ears. His chest rises and falls a little too fast. Mine isn't much better.

The air between us feels charged. Like we're both waiting for something. Like we're both tired of waiting.

I tell myself to step back. Instead, I step forward. Dylan moves at the same time. The collision is almost clumsy. His mouth finds mine halfway across the distance, the impact sharp enough to steal the breath from my lungs. For a second, neither of us gets it right. Our lips brush and teeth collide. I exhale sharply, and his tongue finds mine. The kiss settles into something deeper, hungrier, and every coherent thought disappears.

I tug at his dress shirt. The fabric pulls loose from his waistband as I drag him closer.

A low sound vibrates through his chest when I snake my hands beneath the fabric and explore his body. His hands stroke up my sides and find my breasts.

Our mouths still fused, and our tongues tangling, he presses me backward. The desk catches my hip when I stumble sideways. Something falls, hitting the floor with a crash neither of us acknowledges. Dylan breaks the kiss long enough to catch me by the waist before I lose my balance completely.

My breath catches. Strong fingers grip around my waist and he lifts me.

A surprised sound escapes me, and I grip his shoulders and straddle his hips with my legs.

With me clinging to him, he turns and lowers me into his chair. The leather is warm beneath me, unfamiliar in a way that makes everything feel sharper, more real. My breath catches as he moves closer, as my knees part without me telling them to, as my dress shifts higher when I try to steady myself and fail.

I should stop this.

The thought comes clear and insistent, dragging Jeremy and Clara with it, their trust, their expectations, the professional boundaries both of us understood the moment I agreed to take this assignment.

It doesn’t hold.

Not when his hands settle on me with a certainty that makes my pulse jump. Not when the tension I’ve been holding onto all week unravels in a way that feels less like losing control and more like giving in to something that was already there. There’s a moment where I think about how disappointed Jeremy and Clara will be, but the thought breaks apart as his hot tongue licks at me, and I cling to the arms of the chair.

A moan slips out of me. I’m rewarded with a chuckle against my wet folds that almost tips me over the edge already. I tighten my grip on the chair and focus on relaxing my lower half.