Page 74 of His Good Girl

The low pull in my body turned hot. I pressed my knees together beneath the table and wished the conference table were larger, wider, made of stone, possibly reinforced by one of Callum’s buildings. Anything to hide the fact that my entire nervous system had decided being in trouble was a love language.

“For being bored by onboarding?” I asked.

“For acting like a first day is beneath you.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Then say what you meant.”

I wanted to snap back. I wanted to defend myself. I wanted to tell him I was not entitled, not ungrateful, not some little nepotism hire who expected a corner office because her father had once known the CEO. But the truth rose first, embarrassing and plain.

“I just wanted to be useful,” I attempted to explain.

His expression softened slightly.

“And I wanted…” I stopped.

His gaze sharpened again. “What?”

Nothing about the question was safe.

I looked down at my salad. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Avery.”

“It’s stupid.”

“Say it anyway.”

I laughed once, without humor. “You really do that a lot.”

“What?”

“Make me say things.”

“Only when you’re trying to hide inside the unsaid.”

My face burned hotter.

I looked up. “I wanted to see you.”

Callum went very still.

I should have taken it back. I should have laughed. I should have added something bright and harmless, like because you’re the only person I know here, obviously, or because I had a question about HR, or because Benjamin keeps speaking in prophecies and I needed a translator. Instead, I sat there with my pulse hammering in my throat and let the truth remain there naked on the table.

Callum’s eyes moved over my face, and the restraint in him was no longer subtle. It was visible in his shoulders, his jaw, and even in his hands.

“That,” he said quietly, “is exactly why we need distance at work.”

“I know.”

“Do you?”

“Yes.”

“You say that, but you looked disappointed when Benjamin told you I was unavailable.”

“I didn’t know I was being audited.”