Shit. Shit. Shit.
But just as his head started to lower, I heard the elevator doors open, and oh, here was a new ethical dilemma.
To pretend or not to pretend.
To let one kiss happen and forget about the consequences…or to do what was smart and forget this tryst instead.
My heart squeezed.
I’m sorry.
And then I was ducking under his arm and running away.
I skipped working at Associate the next day and went to a Starbucks near my place instead. Since I used to be a regular, the staff greeted me warmly and didn’t even have to ask for what name to write on the cup.
When I had my latte next to my iPad, I took a photo and posted it on my Instagram stories. Fifteen minutes later, and Ioniko was sliding into the chair in front of me, and I could only stare at him, stunned speechless.
“Kalimera, Schuyler.”
His accented words slid over my skin like an invisible caress, and I was torn between shuddering and knocking my head against the desk. It was so not fair, dammit. Why, why, whyyyyy did every syllable that fell past his lips have to sound so damn sexy?
“How did you—”
He placed his iPad and iPhone on the desk as I spoke, and my voice trailed off when a tap on his iPhone’s screen revealed my Instagram story.
“You’re following me on IG?” I blurted out incredulously.
A few taps on the screen, and then he murmured, “I am now.”
“Huh.” I fought against the urge to grab my phone so I could follow him back and go through his feed and find out—gaaah!
I barely managed to keep myself from literally gasping out loud when Ioniko shifted in his seat and caused his knees to bump into mine. And yes, I do know it was the most innocent and accidental of touches, but it was still more than enough to have color heat my cheeks.
“Sorry about that.” He sounded sincere enough, but when one saw the sinful glitter in his eyes…
“Yeah right.” But this only earned me a lazy smile in response, and a nasty suspicion started forming in my mind as I watched him prop his iPad on its keyboard. “What are you doing?” I asked uneasily.
“I thought I’d work with you here.”
What?
“You don’t mind, do you?”
It didn’t feel right to say yes even if it were true, but if I said no, then that would be a lie. Confusion and consternation warred inside of me, and I said finally, “You’re going to lose interest in me sooner or later. We both know that.”
“Maybe.” Ioniko’s tone was level. “But we could also have a lot of fun before that happens.”
He was very likely right, but the thing was, I had never been the type to live in the present. I liked to think long-term, and this guy? He had short-term written all over him, and even worse, I was pretty sure having a man like Ioniko dump me later on would hurt like hell.
I hastily looked away, but of course it was too late.
“You know…”
And to my shock, his hand suddenly covered mine.
“You’re welcome to do more than just look.”
Gah. Eh. Ah. Even my thoughts were rendered incoherent, and all I could do was stare at the way his large, strong hand completely engulfed mine and…oh God, just the feel of his hand touching mine was too much, and I could feel my mouth going dry with every second that passed.