“Probably not,” I say. “I haven’t had the time to really dive into the more complicated ones. You know, because I spent the morning running around the strip, trying to get our marriage annulled.”
Chance’s face softens slightly. “Yeah, I get it. Sorry. It’s just, this is important,” he says.
“I know. Just like you know I’ve never missed a deadline. And I don’t intend to start now. Everything you’ve asked for will be on your desk first thing Monday morning.”
“Good. There’s one more thing,” he says.
This is it. He’s going to go back to being human Chance and say something nice.
He raises an eyebrow and looks pointedly at my laptop.
I realize I have it all wrong. He means one more thing he wants me to do for work. I remind myself I am being paid quite handsomely to be here. I’m not here for a vacation. That was never on the cards. I need to snap out of this assumption that Chance and I are going to be anything other than what we’ve always been.
I move to the laptop and pick it up. I sit down on the bed, perching it on my knee. Chance begins to talk, telling me what he needs me to do. There’s really nothing in the instructions that I can’t remember and I don’t bother noting any of them down. I just listen, or rather, I let the sound of his voice, low and masculine, wash over me, while I desperately try to ignore the way my pussy is getting wetter and wetter as I look at Chance.
Finally, he stops talking and looks at me questioningly.
“What?” I say, aware of his gaze on my face. I can feel myself flushing under his gaze and I force myself to look away from his eyes, even though they try to hold me in place.
“I’m just wondering why you’re not taking any of this down,” he says. His voice has changed, his sentences short and clipped like he’s trying and failing to hide his anger at me.
Well, my boss or not, he doesn’t get to play that card. We were both there last night. He fucked up every bit as much as I did. I stand up and take my laptop to the small table in the corner of the room and then I turn back to Chance. “And I’m just wondering if you even remember a time when your life wasn’t consumed by work. I mean you’re in Vegas for God’s sake and all you can think about is work.”
“Excuse me?” Chance asks his gaze looking angry.
Good. It’s nice to know he can still feel something.
“Look, despite last night, our relationship is strictly business and nothing has changed between us,” he says.
“Are you sure about that?” I challenge him.
He stares at me again, his face unreadable.
I decide to elaborate before he thinks I’m trying to have sex with him. “Because before this, you’ve always trusted me to do what you ask of me. Not once have I ever taken more than a note or two when you give me instructions. And not once, have I ever let you down. You’ve never questioned my methods before, yet now, you seem to think I need to write down everything you say.”
I see the realization dawn on his face and I’m slightly vindicated when he has the decency to look a little ashamed of himself.
“You’re right. I’m sorry,” he says. “So where was I?”
“You were about to tell me about a time when you just let go, had fun and did something you wanted to do outside of work,” I say. I know it’s a risk saying it, but I feel like we’ve moved past this stiff interaction. I’ve always thought of Chance as a happy workaholic. Someone who works too hard because they choose to. But this morning, I saw a glimpse of a man who wants more. Who wants to not be chained to his desk all day. Who actually has personality.
He jumps up off the bed, and for a second, I think I’ve misjudged the situation horribly. I’ve massively overstepped the mark and Chance is angry with me. Like really angry. I feel a shiver run through my body as he moves so gracefully, lithe yet strong. The shiver I feel isn’t fear though. It’s desire. Chance’s size and his smoldering anger doesn’t scare me. It turns me on.
“You realize your questions are totally out of line, right?” he says.
He doesn’t sound as angry as I imagined and I decide to push it a little but further. “See that’s the thing. They’re not. I’m not asking you about anything deeply personal. I’m asking you to tell me about a time you had fun. That’s it. It’s not inappropriate. Colleagues talk to each other.”
He sighs and sits back down, the anger gone completely now. “Running a business isn’t about having fun Sierra. I can’t just give in to my every desire or let emotions rule me. I know to some people that sounds miserable, but to me, it’s just the way it is. Yes, I’ve made sacrifices in my personal life, but the business wouldn’t be where it is today if I hadn’t.”
“But at what point do you say yes, I’ve made it, now I can actually have a life?” I ask.
His eyes are fixed on mine again, and I know this time it’s definitely desire I can see in them. I start to walk slowly towards him. I try to stop myself, but I can’t. It’s like my feet are on autopilot just moving me towards him.
“I don’t know,” Chance admits. “Every time I think about it my mind just refuses to answer. I can’t just start making stupid decisions now.”
“I agree,” I say. “But I don’t think having a little fun every now and then is stupid.” I’m still moving towards him. I stop when I’m a foot away and gaze into his eyes. “I think
