Damn! I never felt chemistry like that before. Never! He can kiss the hell out of me anytime he wants!
A rosy blush colored my cheeks, but I managed to hold his gaze. “Well, it didn’t have to be the first and last time,” I said coyly, swishing the skirt of my dress nervously back and forth. “Do you want to get together later, after work?”
He beamed, but then his expression dimmed into one far more serious. “I actually have something to do,” he said, with a tinge of regret in his voice. He glanced down at the floor, then looked back up at me tentatively, a new hope in his eyes. “Then again, perhaps you could join me.”
How the hell could anyone resist those dimples? I thought, putty in his hands and ready to follow him anywhere.
“Sure, I’d love to,” I said, then pressed the button for the elevator and backed into it with a flirtatious smile. “Pick me up at seven?”
He stuck his hands in his pockets and grinned. “Aren’t you even going to ask me where?”
“It couldn’t matter less,” I said with a smile, mimicking what he always said to answer my concerns.
“Good,” he said.
“Good,” I echoed, jutting my chin out victoriously, as if I’d gotten the last word.
“Fine.”
“Fine!”
It was a standoff, and neither of us was willing to back down, a connection neither one of us was willing to end, though neither of us was willing to admit it either.
His eyebrows lifted slowly, and he cocked his head toward the control panel inside the elevator. “It’s the ground floor, Della.”
“Yeah, I know,” I said, then smacked the button with a begrudging grin on my face.
He returned a look of pure innocence, flashing his most angelic smile. “See you at seven.”
“Maybe,” I mumbled as the floor lit up.”
He was still chuckling, and I couldn’t wipe the silly grin off my face. Inside the
elevator, I was prepared to overanalyze and replay every single word he’d said.
I never in my life had gotten a man like James Cross.
As the elevator fell back to the earth, I got butterflies just thinking about the next time I’d see him.
Chapter 14
“WHERE THE HELL HAVE you been?” Madison hissed the second I walked through the double-doors. “I’ve been calling and calling you!”
“I’m sorry,” I apologized as I was swept down the hall. “I’ve been having, uh...phone troubles this morning.”
“Phone troubles?” she repeated with an acidic glare. “If the damn thing didn’t die, you might, Della. We have serious work to do here.”
“Wow. Crabby much?” I muttered.
She said nothing and just kept marching, with all the rage of a drill sergeant.
“Hey,” I said, tugging her elbow to pull her to a stop. “What’s wrong?”
When she turned to glare at me, I noticed the tell-tale warning signs: her wrinkled, askew designer dress; the frazzled, messy bun instead of her usually perfectly coiffed do; and the naked lashes on one eye while the other was coated with mascara. It was even more evident in the tone of her voice when she spat, “Billings. I lost Billings.”
After a beat of silence, I exploded, “You what!?”
For possibly the first time in her life, Madison bowed her head in shame. “I know. I just... I don’t know what happened. He was onboard one minute, but in the next, I received a call to let me know he sent back the contracts unsigned, with a message that he’s taking his business to Aegis!” Her voice shook in panic, and for a split second, I honestly thought she might cry. “Della, I-I don’t know what to do. Billings was our gateway to at least three subsidiaries, and I treated that wanker like a god. I honestly have no idea what could have possible scared him away.”