Page 15 of The Boss

"I'm not your boss for much longer."

"Seven more days."

"You've been counting."

"Of course I've been counting."

"Why?"

Vivian darts her eyes to the windows then to my shoulders. She sinks her teeth into her lower lip, and the small action sends heat straight through me, my groin tightening all of a sudden. "Because this is torture."

"What is?"

"Sitting and working so close to you. Pretending I don't remember how you felt like. Acting professional when all I can think about is⁠—"

She cuts herself off, but it's too late. Whatever fragile pretense we've been maintaining for days finally snaps.

My voice drops an octave. "Go on, Vivian. Continue what you were saying. What you can think about is what?"

"Matthew."

"Answer the question, Vivian."

"You know the answer."

I brace both hands on either side of her swivel chair, crowding her in, forcing her to look at me. "Say it."

"I-I can't stop thinking about Friday night."

"What about Friday night?"

"All of it. The way you looked at me. The way you touched me. The way you made me feel like I was going to die if you stopped."

She's been just as wrecked as I have, and somehow, knowing that makes an odd sense of pride swell within me. I did that to her. I made it difficult for her to forget me.

I reach out and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, the same gesture I've been watching her make, and she gasps, her eyes turning glassy.

"I haven't been able to focus on anything but you," I say. "Do you know how inconvenient that is for someone who runs a company?"

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not."

She blinks up at me, surprise flickering across her face. "You're not?"

"The only thing I'm sorry about is that it took me three days to get you alone."

Before she can respond, I cup her face in my hands and pull her up for a kiss.

I melt into the kiss the second our mouths crash together, her fingers twisting hard into the front of my shirt. Three days of raw, gnawing tension snaps loose between us, and the taste of her floods my tongue—that warm, singular sweetness that’s been haunting me. I can't get enough. My pulse hammers in my ears, drowning out everything but the soft, needy sounds she's already making against my lips.

"This is insane," she gasps, the words hot and shaky against my mouth.

"Completely."

"We're in your office."

"Levi's office, technically."