Page 85 of Everything She Wanted

“Matt came by to introduce himself.” I don’t know why I feel the need to explain myself, but I do. Should I be worried about this impulse I have to lie?

“Sorry, I should have done that.” His voice is steady, but there’s an edge to it that only I seem to notice.

“No worries, man.” Matt claps a hand on his back. “Well, I’d better finish off a few things.”

He leaves Nick and me alone. Nick shifts on his feet.

“Since I’m here, can I check out that new remote-work app for you? Some people have been having trouble.”

“Sure, I guess.”

He comes up right behind me and kneels next to me as I nudge the keyboard to the side so he can take over. A stronger, more principled woman who values herself would have offered him her chair and swiftly moved away. But I’m not strong, and I’m not principled when it comes to him.

I’m an addict, and he’s my drug of choice, and every single day, I’m chasing another hit.

If I turn my head, my face will be entirely too close to his, so I stare straight ahead, watching as he expertly navigates the screen.

I can do this. Be professional. My calm composure lasts all of two seconds.

“Matt said you told him I was seeing someone,” I blurt out.

He freezes. “It just came up,” he fumbles.

His arm brushes mine, and he doesn’t move it away. I turn to face him for a moment, even though I know he’s close, too close, and anybody could walk by and see us.

“How?” I challenge.

His blue eyes stare at me intensely before answering. “He thinks you’re gorgeous and was wondering when he should ask you out.”

And because I love to punish myself, I say, “Even if I wasn’t seeing someone, he’s not really my type, and I don’t think of him that way,” echoing his words back to him.

Realization dawns on his face as he gets up. “It was you in the supply room on Friday.”

I don’t answer. I stand up and brush past him to slide the office door closed, and then I lean against the wall with my arms crossed. My heart is in tatters.

“Does it matter?” I give him a cold stare, letting my embarrassment, humiliation, and feeling of being used fuel my fury.

He hesitates for a moment before he closes the distance between us and wraps his arms around me, gently pushing me back against the wall. His eyes search my face, while his hands clutch my hips like he’s holding on for dear life.

“I’m so sorry. I never wanted you to hear that.”

I want to shove him away, but I don’t move. “Why, so you could just keep messing with me for the thrill of it? You’re like a cat with a bird, Nick. It’s pathetic.”

His hand reaches for my face, his thumb moving back and forth, caressing my cheek. “I would never mess with you like that.” He sounds sincere, but I’m not playing the part of love fool anymore. “Matt’s going to be working here for a while. I couldn’t risk him letting anything slip,” he adds.

I roll my eyes and pull his hand away from my face. “For your reputation or mine?”

“For us. You’re forgetting that we’re a team, Nisha.” He holds my gaze, unflinching.

My anger slips away and my desperate heart wants to believe his every word, even though I know they can’t possibly be true. I know what I heard, the dismissive tone, the thoughtless words he uttered when he thought no one else was listening.

I trace my fingernail down the side of his face, then neck, watching as his pulse quickens, not being able to help myself. “You’re a liar.”

“Then why are you still standing here?”

Because I can’t control myself around you.

I find myself falling into his trap again, and he knows it.