Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 58211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 291(@200wpm)___ 233(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 291(@200wpm)___ 233(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
Me: This morning, I type. Don’t give it any more thought, okay? Deal?
My Secret Santa: As long as you’re okay.
Me: It shouldn’t matter to you if I’m okay, but I am. It’s over.
I stuff the phone back in the drawer and stare stubbornly at my computer screen.
CHAPTER 12
ASHER
The atmosphere when I arrive at the office is frosty. Mia seems awkward about running into me last night, staring down at her desk every time I walk by. It’s preferable to her ogling me, at least. Derek has his headphones on, typing away. The man produces good work, which is irritating. If he were a subpar employee, I’d be able to find an excuse to fire his ass.
I stand at my office door, watching him as his fingers fly across the keyboard. Holly lied to me, saying that HR called Derek in and he had given her a written apology. He’d been at his desk for five hours straight. She doesn’t want to confront the issue.
I know it’s not my place. It’s her choice. Standing here, watching him, it’s dangerous. It makes me think about tearing the headphones off and smacking him across the face with them.
“If you ever come near my Holly again, I’ll break your nose.”
Then what? Holly hears about it and hates me even more. That’s the last thing I need. Or, worse, people will ask why I’m getting so angry. Word gets back to Dan. He learns that his sister and his best friend have betrayed him.
Derek takes off his headphones. Maybe he saw me in the screen’s reflection. Or maybe, like prey, he sensed me staring at him. “Is there something I can help you with, sir?”
“No,” I grunt, slamming my office door.
I grab the Secret Santa phone, glaring at the screen. Again, the ludicrous idea comes to me that this isn’t Holly. There are too many similarities: first, the story about her dad, and then the Derek stuff. If this isn’t Holly, I should enter the lottery because fate is indisputably having some fun with me.
Later, I’m in Dan’s home gym, sweating so much my clothes stick to me, steam rising from my body. I’m working out hard to forget what I did earlier today. I texted my Secret Santa four more times without a reply, acting like I am suddenly a goddamn teenager.
Me: What exactly did HR say?
Me: What did he say in his written apology?
Me: Let me know if you need anything.
Me: Are you ignoring me, Miss Goody Two-shoes?
It would’ve been unthinkable to me not long ago to text somebody so much without a reply. I’ve never been the type to hound a woman. With Mia, my ex, not my employee, she was the one chasing me. It never felt like this.
I jump off the treadmill. I’ve already hit the weights. In the wall mirror, I look wild, ready for a fight. That’s what I want—to hurt Derek physically for hurting my Snowflake.
I walk down the hallway, hearing the shower coming from Holly’s room, most likely the en suite. Dan’s still in the office. Maybe it’s the exercise endorphins or wanting to make our relationship—friendship—fun again, not so intense. Perhaps I just want to get her back for my first day here when she moved my clothes.
I decide to prank her.
I’ll go into her en suite and do the whole flush-the-chain trick, turning her deliciously hot shower water ice-cold.
I grin. Yeah. This could be how we turn everything back to normal again. Pushing her bedroom door open, I move across the room, then the en suite, ensuring my back is to the shower as I approach the toilet. The last thing I need is to see her naked. That would seriously break any resolve I’ve got.
This is about fun, not lust. Sidestepping across the bathroom, I lay my hand on the toilet handle. Before I press it, the shower stops.
I missed my chance, dammit. I better get out of here before she accuses me of being a peeper.
“Asher?”
This is bad. The smile vanishes from my face.
“I was going to flush the toilet when you were in the shower,” I tell her.
“Relax. I know you’re not a Peeping Tom.”
“Seems like I missed my chance. If you let me crabwalk my way out of here, I’m happy to pretend this never happened if you are.”
“But aren’t you tempted to look?”
My dick hardens, my lust burning, my seed swelling in my balls like it’s trying to get me to take an insane risk. Dan could come home at any moment. He probably won’t make a beeline for his sister’s bathroom, but it’s still wrong.
“Why would you ask me that?” I snap.
“Because I’m genuinely curious.”
“You know the answer.”
Her voice is breathy, moaning. She sounds as horny as I am. My gym shorts do little to conceal how excited she’s making me. If I turn around and see her perfect, curvy, naked body, I’ll lose it, and she’ll know about it.