“I can and I’m about to start right on to the next one, slowpoke.” Smugness radiated from him, annoying the hell out of her.
To do their work without coming to blows, they had decided that for every account they reviewed, they’d split the work into different parts and each would take one portion and then compile it together as and when they finished reviewing it.
Skye gritted her teeth in frustration and barely refrained from tearing at her hair. It was already in tangles as it was, she should have really just pulled it up in a ponytail this morning. The arrogant, superior look on his face made her want to smack him. She didn’t know why everything he did rubbed her wrong.
In the nearly six months they’d been working together, he’d managed to annoy, frustrate and drive her up the wall on a daily basis whenever he could. After she’d learned the ropes of her job, Skye had settled in what she thought of as a good pace. Except for the thorn in her side who repeatedly disturbed that pace.
Just. By. Breathing.
“One of these days, Hunter, I’m going to get better and finish before you and you’ll be left biting the dust in my wake,” she griped, hunching back over her laptop.
“That should be interesting to see. In the meantime, Fletcher, you’re doomed to disappointment,” he chuckled.
“You’ll eat up those words when I pass you by,” she promised him, not even bothering to look up at him. The self-righteous look on his face would probably just piss her off even more. She could practically picture it in her head without even looking at him. And that wasn’t helping her, Skye realized in dismay. Damn him.
Something landed on her desk, disrupting her concentration. Skye stared at the candy bar as if it were a fang-toothed snake that could strike at any moment, then looked up at Cian warily. What was he up to now?
“What, you don’t like chocolate?” Cian knew damn well she loved chocolate. He had made it his goal in life to figure out what her weaknesses were.
“What would your airhead girlfriend say if she knew you were giving me candy? Why are you giving me candy anyway?” Suspicion glinted in her brown eyes.
“Get your mind out of the gutter, Fletcher. It’s not an if-you-get-in-my-car-I’ll-give-you-candy deal.” He suppressed a smile when she flushed. “Besides who said I bought it for you?”
Actually, he had. It disconcerted him that he had bought it and half a dozen others she had a preference for, which were presently residing in his desk drawer, with her in mind. And Vanessa would go ballistic with jealousy, not to mention turn spiteful in a heartbeat. “I’m taking a break, I had a spare candy bar, thought I’d share with you like the good colleague I am. But if you don’t want it, you can just give it back.”
Eyeing him skeptically, Skye unwrapped the bar and took a big bite. No way was she giving back perfectly good chocolate. “Good colleague, my ass,” she muttered through a mouthful of chocolate. She bent her head over her laptop, once again denying his existence. That was her usual motto when it came to him. Ignore him at all costs.
“You’re welcome.” Cian hid his smile when she only grunted. He took out another chocolate bar and munched on it while studying her.
She’d been right, of course, he had been staring at her. He’d finished his task, then had turned to take a break by watching her, knowing she would sense his scrutiny sooner or later and give him the enjoyment of chewing his head off. Skye was intuitive that way, he thought amused. She always sensed when he was watching her.
She hadn’t disappointed him. This time it’d been sooner.
Sparring with her had rapidly become his preferred means of enjoyment. He often annoyed her just for the fun of it.
She pushed at her hair in a gesture that was unconsciously feminine. For a moment, Cian was enthralled. He shook the sudden haze from his mind, which if he had to admit, was happening more and more lately. What the hell?
He couldn’t put a finger on why she intrigued him so, why he enjoyed ragging her so much. For one, she never smiled at him. For another, a snarl and snide remarks were her usual attitude towards him. Not to mention, she wasn’t anything special to look at, he thought pragmatically.
She barely came up to his shoulders. Though she had silky-looking thick brown hair so dark it was almost black and mysterious-looking long-lashed clear coffee-brown eyes and a bow-shaped mouth that begged to be kissed.
Startled, Cian wondered when he had noticed her mouth. He chugged it as another of his observations about her. It didn’t mean a thing, he told himself. He’d have to be dead not to notice attractive women. He liked women. A lot. Not that she was attractive, Cian rectified quickly.
Skye didn’t much care about her appearance, she reached for presentable rather than outstanding. Hell, she didn’t do anything to bring attention to herself. She was prickly, like a cactus—get too close at your own peril. She didn’t play games or care about holding up pretenses. Logically, she shouldn’t have caught his attention. She wasn’t his type at all.
And yet she fascinated him. More than any woman he’d ever met.
Cian seemed to have an almost desperate need to figure out what made her tick.
She was also straight-forward almost to a fault. Especially when it came to him.
A soft smile flitted to his lips, then faded away as he stared broodingly at her bent head. He was thinking entirely too much of Skye these days.
AN HOUR LATER, Skye was finished. She refrained from throwing her arms in the air with a Eureka cry. That wouldn’t be dignified. But she was just happy that she seemed to be getting better at reviewing her assigned accounts and faster as well. That meant she was getting the hang of this—which entailed, she was headed faster for the day when she and Cian would no longer be partners.
She shot a furtive glance in Cian’s direction, then stared openly when she saw he was bent over his own desk and seemed to be working. She noticed how his blue shirt stretched across his broad shoulders, defining the muscles of his back. He had a very nice back. Skye was appalled at that thought and hastily shied away from it.
Her brow creased as she tried to understand why he bugged her so much. Usually her surly and prickly attitude scared people away. He sure didn’t look scared, she thought disgruntled. Skye wondered what it would take to finally get him to stop hassling her.
“I’m done, too,” she called out to him. “Let’s compile this part.”
Cian turned. “Took you long enough.”
Self-righteous jerk. “Of course, some of us produce meticulous work, hence the more time.”
He snorted at that, and motioned her over, shifting to make room for her laptop on his desk. When she only stared at him, he smiled knowingly. “What now?”
“Why should I come sit next to you?” Usually he just turned around to her desk, brought his laptop along and they went through figures with her desk between them. Which was how she liked it. He had a habit of crowding her personal space.
“What are you afraid of? That you’ll fall for me?”
“Oh, please. As if! Where do you get these lame ideas? Sure, that will happen when the devil trades in his horns for a halo.”
His smile widened. “Looks like you’ve given it some thought.”
Her mouth dropped open. “I have not!”
“Yeah. I’d say you’re running scared.”
“You don’t scare me.” Her eyes flashed with temper. Just to prove she wasn’t affected by him, she rolled her chair next to his. She hated the close proximity, would have preferred the previous arrangement but he would just have something else to rag her about.
Cian wisely didn’t say anything. He’d gotten her to sit next to him, hadn’t he? Mission accomplished.
Trying to ignore the propinquity, Skye concentrated on reconciling their work. An amount on his screen caught her attention, and forgetting herself, she moved closer. When she asked him about it,
he turned to explain. And she was startled at how close his face was to hers.
So close, her eyes looked like brown orbs of mystery, Cian thought. A citrusy perfume tantalized his nose, intoxicating him. He unconsciously bent his head towards hers.
Too close, he was too close! Alarm bells rang in Skye’s mind. He was doing it again. Invading her personal space. Well, damn if she’d let him.
Using her foot as leverage on the floor, she wheeled her chair backwards and sent him a glare. “It won’t work, you know,” she told him smartly. “I’m on to you.”
“What?” Cian blinked, feeling as if he’d been released from a spell.
“You think I don’t know you’re trying to annoy me as usual? Just give it up already, will you?”
His brain finally clearing, Cian was aghast at his actions. What the hell had he been doing? If she hadn’t backed away—just a few seconds more and he would have kissed her. What had he been thinking? No, he hadn’t been thinking at all. He didn’t understand what had just happened. The only thing he could remember was falling into her eyes.
Shaken, he managed to control his expression from giving him away. He gave a humorless smile as he realized she was completely unaware of what had almost happened. Did she even see him as a man? he thought. Why the hell that should matter to him, he had no idea. Good thing she had no clue he had almost kissed her. Better to leave it that way.
“Yes, you’re right. I’ll just have to come up with better ways.”
“I told you to give it up, not find other ways,” Skye snapped, irked.
Cian managed to smile smugly, though inside, he was still shaken up. “Don’t you know, Fletcher? I never give up.”
Skye sent him one fulminating glare and turned back to her laptop. No matter what she said, he always had a comeback. She would just have to be smarter next time, she told herself determinedly.
CHAPTER THREE
“Come on, let’s go. They are waiting for us. And you haven’t eaten anything all day,” the bane of her existence complained.
It was Thursday. Skye had gotten roped into going out to lunch with Nick, Thea and Cian to celebrate completing the deadline for the review of a particularly important client. Marina had already given them permission to take a longer lunch than usual since all four of them had been working hard all week to finish.
Nick and Thea had already gone ahead to the restaurant, Delizioso, which was conveniently round the corner from their office, to order pizzas and save them seats. Skye had been on the verge of finishing the format of a database she’d been working on, so she’d told them she’d join them later.
For some insane reason, Cian had stayed behind to wait for her. She didn’t need a freaking escort to go to lunch, for god’s sake. And how the hell did he know she hadn’t eaten anything all day? She’d been running late this morning so she hadn’t had time for breakfast.
“Geez, why don’t you go ahead? I’m almost finished.”
“No, you won’t. You’ll just keep stalling. To hell with this!” He grabbed her arm and began pulling her away from her laptop.
Skye looked up in alarm at his too-forward behavior. She could feel the warmth of his hand through the cotton of the three-quarter-sleeved blouse she was wearing. The sensation was disturbing.
She pulled her arm away. Her stomach chose that moment to let out a grumble. He stared pointedly at her and she stared defiantly back.
Then she threw her hands in the air. “Alright, fine! I’m finished anyway. Just let me save the work and lock my laptop.”
She did so and grabbed her bag, slinging it over her shoulder, cross-body style. She loved that bag. It was so cute, dark blue and all velvety with little blue stones sewn on the hem of the flap.
Thankfully, the elevator came soon and they got in. Unfortunately for her, it was an empty one. No people around to act as buffer between her and Cian. They took opposite corners. Skye stared straight ahead, ignoring him completely.
She could feel him staring at her. Damn, when would they get to the ground floor? Finally, as usual, she couldn’t stand his staring. “What?” Goddamn it, she really had to stop letting him affect her so much.
“Nothing.” The smile he flashed her was pure charm.
She glared tetchily at him. There was just something about him that always got on her nerves. The elevator stopped on the ground floor and when it opened, they both got out, walking fast. He walked ahead of her what with those long legs of his eating up ground quickly.
She had to take two steps to match every one of his. He was so damn tall! Everything about him aggravated her.
Skye was surprised when he suddenly halted in his tracks and she bumped into him. “Aren’t we in a hurry now?” she remarked sarcastically.
But he didn’t appear to have heard her. He was staring at something up ahead and he looked knocked for six.
“What is it?” When he didn’t answer, Skye peeked around him in the direction he was staring at. Her own countenance rippled with shock. There, in the alley between their office and the next building, leaning against the wall, was his girlfriend, Vanessa, kissing his cousin, Alastor. Like French kissing. Giving him mouth-to-mouth.
Maybe there was a reasonable excuse. Maybe the guy hadn’t been breathing. Yeah, right.
Of course, Vanessa was the chatterbox brunette Skye’d clashed with in college and she hadn’t been surprised to find out she was Cian’s girlfriend. Vanessa had a model’s body and she was beautiful. Of course Cian would have gone for her.
Thea didn’t like her. She called her his on-again off-again fling and had rambled off about the twit, totally ignoring Skye’s various I-don’t-want-to-know-about-it protests. So Skye had heard an earful.
Vanessa’d been after Cian since college, hoping for an engagement ring since he was loaded but it hadn’t been forthcoming. Skye had to give him credit that at least he was too smart for that. He’d only gone out with her ‘for fun’, then they’d both decided to ‘see’ other people. Now they were ‘dating’ again. Skye had been like what a twisted relationship!
Skye couldn’t stand Vanessa’s airhead, snotty, Oh-I-am-so-helpless-I-need-a-man attitude. She worked in the same company as them, albeit in another team. Who would have thought the dolt actually had gray matter in that flimsy head of hers? When she’d seen her again, Skye had been like “Omg. Freaking small world.”
Snapping out of his shock, Cian strode towards them, caught Vanessa’s arm and wrenched her from Alastor. “Vanessa! What’s the meaning of this?”
Vanessa pouted at him. “Isn’t it obvious?”
Alastor gave a grating laugh. “Well, golden boy sure is stupid even when he can see the evidence with his own eyes.”
Alastor was as tall as Cian’s six foot two frame, but he was the complete opposite of him. Where Cian had fair good looks, Alastor had dark hair and cold black eyes. Skye had seen him before and the image of a vicious snake had popped into her mind.
Cian sent him a freezing look. “You stay out of this.” He turned back to Vanessa. “Start talking.”
Vanessa tugged her arm from his grasp. “Well, I’m dumping you, okay?”
“You couldn’t have just said it instead of two-timing me?” Incredulity rang in Cian’s voice.
Vanessa smiled coyly. “What would have been the fun in that?”
Cian stared at her with disgust and turned away from her before he did something he’d regret. He’d never been inclined to violence towards women until that moment. And to think he’d been attracted to that slut! Had he actually cared for that bitch?
Skye glanced at him. The expression on his face was cold and unwelcoming. But in his eyes, those mercury-colored eyes, she could see shock and hurt there. Skye didn’t stop to wonder how she knew what he was feeling. She simply acted.
Stepping closer, she slipped her hand in his. Startled, he looked
down at her.
Skye ignored the unwelcome tingles that shot up her arm from the contact and beamed a smile at him. “Cian, isn’t this great? Now we don’t have to hold back anymore!”
He just stared at her, baffled. She turned to Vanessa, who was watching her with confusion.
“You see, Vanessa,” Skye explained. “Cian and I fell in love but we decided not to be together because he was with you. He wanted to break up with you but I wouldn’t let him. I thought you’d be really, really hurt.”
Beside her, Cian felt a jolt of surprise. What the hell was she talking about? But he didn’t belie her statement.
Vanessa’s and Alastor’s mouths dropped open and they stared at her dumbfounded.
Didn’t expect that, did ya? Skye thought to herself in satisfaction. Tables turned and all that, you pieces of shit.
“Mind the flies,” she drawled. They quickly shut their mouths but continued to stare at her in disbelief.
Skye tightened her fingers on Cian’s, hoping he’d gotten the message by now. She slowly felt him relax by her side. In her peripheral vision, she caught the small smile on his face. Good, she thought.
“But… but you’re always fighting!” Vanessa burst out. “And you can’t stand him!”
“Duh. It was all those fights that caused the chemistry between us, you know?” Skye stated as if it should have been perfectly obvious. “Haven’t you heard opposites attract?”
“I don’t believe it,” Alastor said skeptically.
“Me neither,” Vanessa stated, taking her cue from Alastor and staring from Skye to Cian and back.
“Gee, Vanessa, don’t you remember that time when you came to see Cian and accidentally heard us discussing something about you? He wanted to tell you the truth but I wouldn’t let him. And then you walked in and we switched subjects,” Skye provided helpfully.
Cian remembered the conversation she was referring to, which had been two weeks ago, just before Vanessa’s birthday. Skye had always disliked Vanessa. She called her his airhead vain girlfriend and said he was a moron for liking frivolous girls like her and of course, that he had no taste. Cian hadn’t been looking for a serious relationship, simply someone to have fun with.
Holding Out For Skye Page 3