Page 19 of Catalyst
“I did notice, but on the chance of hurting your feelings, I won’t tell you what I was thinking.”
“Now you have to tell me.”
I grimace. “Um, well… I sort of thought you were just too uptight to take off your jacket and relax.”
“Wow. Your opinion of me is quite something.”
“No, no. I actually respect you a lot,” I say, imploring him to hear my words. “I’ve worked with some real doozies. Misogynists, narcissists, you name it. You, Adam, are the first boss who has pushed me to do better than my best and made me feel appreciated when I do. There are moments when you could let yourself relax a little, but only because you’ve built an incredible team around you capable of doing their jobs exactly how you would. I’m sure it’s difficult to see through all the responsibilities as the boss, but you really can start to let go of the tight hold you have on the reins, knowing your company is in good hands.”
For a long moment, Adam just stares at me. I’m about to interrupt the silence when he gifts me with his smile and says, “But you still think I’m too uptight.”
I groan while laughing at his cheekiness. The slow song we were dancing to turns into something more upbeat. “We should probably stop before I have a chance to step on your toes. Maiming my boss was not on my agenda tonight.”
“Let’s go see how many drinks we need to catch up on.”
CHAPTER9
Ellie
If you toldme last week I’d be pressed up against my boss, I’d have laughed until I peed my pants. Then I would have told you to walk your crazy ass to a clinic because you needed medical attention.
And yet, here I sway, our hands clasped and his fingers wrapped around my hip.
It’s sensational and torture at the same time. I can feel every tight muscle in his body pressed against me. All I want to do is rub myself against him like a horny teenager. I also refuse to move away from him to relieve the torture. When will I ever get to do this again? No matter how much we’ve been flirting tonight—which has been a lot, to my utter delight—come Monday morning, things will go back to normal, as if this phenomenal evening never happened.
I look up into Adam’s blue eyes that are shining with more happiness than I’ve seen in the past few weeks and want to pinch myself. We’ve been dancing off and on all night. My feet are killing me in these heels, and I don’t have a single regret.
“What’s got your mind thinking so hard?” Adam asks.
“How do you know I’m thinking about anything?”
“You get this little furrow between your eyebrows when you’re really concentrating on something.” He runs a finger up and down my forehead, showing me what he’s talking about.
“I never knew I did that.”
“Well, are you going to tell me?”
“Probably not.” I grin at him.
Adam scoffs as if he’s hurt, but the small smile quirking up his lips tells me he’s more amused by me than he’d willingly admit.
“I was thinking I’m going to owe us all milkshakes.” Close enough to the truth without being a lie.
“Tonight has been rather fun. Usually, Matthew and I are headed home by now.”
“Where did he run off to, anyway?”
“He’s chatting with one of his old high school buddies.” Adam tips his head toward the other side of the room. Matthew is standing next to a tall, dark-haired man, laughing at something he’s saying.
“Holy shit, that’s Desmond Areneto!” I shouldn’t be surprised that Matthew knows one of the best hockey players of our generation.
“You know who Areneto is?”
“He’s only one of the best right wingers in the NHL. He’s on his way to beating the record for most goals in a season.”
“I am acknowledging my own gender biases when I say I did not expect you to be a sports fan to the level of knowing a player’s stats.”
“I appreciate your acknowledgment.” I swear, this man slays me every time he says shit like that.
