Vanessa touched her shoulder. “You okay? I better get to work; Janice is giving me the evil eye. But you call out if you want anything, yeah?”
“I’m fine, thanks.”
Vanessa winked. “I bet you are, with Mr. Sexpot himself tending to you!” Laughter bubbled up in her throat. “Just kidding. Your ankle looks sore. Let him look after you. Enjoy it!”
Jilly just smiled. There wasn’t much else she could do, really. Not with everyone in the office looking at her. She’d been impossible to miss, arriving as she had in Matthew’s arms. She must have looked quite the spectacle.
It didn’t take him long to return. Standing behind her, he draped his jacket around her shoulders, wrapping it around to her front, tucking it down the sides of the chair. Crouching down again, he repositioned the ice pack on her foot, propping it up so it covered both her rapidly swelling ankle and the top of her discoloured foot.
“You have wheels on your chair, Miss Watson. I expect you to use them. If I catch you out of that chair there will be consequences. You need to rest that foot. Stay off it. Do you hear me?” He reached down to grip her chin, tilted her face up to meet his stern gaze. Passion blazed in his eyes.
There will be consequences echoed in her head. I will be forced to discipline you. Unless you want to find out what happens to naughty girls... Was it bad that she was starting to want to find out just what it was that he was alluding to?
She swallowed. “Yes, sir.”
“Good girl.” He stood up, releasing her chin, his simple words sending a thrill of happiness through her. Why did he affect her so much? Why was her skin still tingling where he’d touched it? Why did she want him to touch her again? Why was he making her forget that she’d sworn off men forever?
* * *
Secure in the privacy of his office, Matthew couldn’t get Jilly out of his mind. The way she’d felt in his arms. The cute way she’d blushed when she’d insisted she was fine. The dainty way she’d gasped in pain when his touch hadn’t quite been gentle enough. Her adorable reaction when he’d playfully threatened her with punishment. Had she thought he was serious? Was he serious? Perhaps he was. The thought of spanking that cute ass was certainly appealing. If there was one thing Jilly Watson needed, it was discipline. Lately, she seemed distracted, like she was off in another world, thinking about something else. Something big. Something important. What was going on?
He noticed that she looked tired and yawned a lot, especially when she thought nobody was watching. She didn’t seem to leave her desk much, either, unless it was to replenish her coffee cup, or the bottle of energy drink she’d started consuming way too much of. He didn’t know for sure, but he didn’t think she ate during her lunchbreak. Maybe he should take her out again. Better yet, maybe he should take her out every day. It would be good for them both; he could do with the break, too. And at least then he’d know she was eating.
He broached the subject with her just after morning tea. He was pleased to see she was making use of her wheels, sliding her chair around the office to get to where she needed to go rather than walking, although the ice pack had disappeared, he noted with disapproval.
“Come for lunch with me,” he told her. “My shout. What would you like?”
He frowned when she shook her head. “No, I’m fine. I’m not eating at the moment.”
“And why ever not?” he asked, his tone gruff, scolding. He lightened it, reached out to touch her shoulder. He was coming across as far too grumpy. He was going to scare her off at this rate. “You need to eat. It’s not healthy to miss meals. I don’t want to see you wasting away, Miss Watson.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “Do we need to talk about punishments again?”
“I don’t believe you have any authority to punish me, Mr Stevenson. You’re not my boss.”
Smooth. Very smooth. She met his expression, raised eyebrow to raised eyebrow. Her eyes sparkled with mischief, the corners of her mouth curled up ever so slightly in the tiniest hint of a smile. “Would you like to find out just how far my authority extends, Miss Watson? Or would you like to come to lunch?”
Defiantly, she met his gaze. Absently, her finger snagged a lock of hair that had fallen forward over her shoulder, and she twisted her wrist, wrapping the tendril around her finger in a flirty, erotic manner. Was she teasing him?
“That depends, Mr. Stevenson. What are you going to feed me?” Her eyebrow raised the tiniest bit more, challenging him.
“Whatever your heart desires, Miss Watson. You can find just about everything along the waterfront. Take your pick.”
“Okay.” She winked, twirling her hair around her finger even more, meeting his gaze boldly, but innocently. “I’ll let you know.”
Chapter Five
Matthew took Jilly out for lunch to a different place each day. And every day, even though it was obvious she was trying so hard to be happy and smile, he could see the worry getting deeper on her face. Something was going on, but what was it? Was it something he could help with?
He didn’t want to push her for information. It wasn’t his business, and he didn’t want to pry. Besides, he was busy enough with preparing for trial—it was due to start next week, and already, he was feeling the pressure.
But when he saw the line-up of empty energy drink cans in the rubbish bin beside her desk, and several empty coffee cups, he couldn’t help but scold her. It
