by Fable Gray
I shrugged. “It’s an interesting project.”
He gave a low chuckle. “Right. You’re a little easier to read than that.”
“What? What was that? A laugh?” I asked. “Are you even allowed to laugh?”
He smiled again. “On the third Tuesday of every month.”
“Wow. So I’m witnessing something very rare.”
His smile lingered, changing his face entirely, and nearly blinding me. It was the whole package, his ballcap and jeans, the curve of his lips that said we were sharing a moment, something he didn’t often share with anyone. It hit me hard.
I was falling for my boss. Just slightly, but it was hard not to when he spoke to me like I was on the same level. Like he respected me. When he shared the same views on keeping the environment safe. When our gazes connected in such a powerful moment of electricity, it made my breath catch. How could I not fall just a little?
I yanked my gaze away and looked out the window, my eyes drawn to the comfort of the mountains, the safeness of the trees. The fog was lifting, the sun parting low clouds that had kept the city and mountains under dimness for days.
I dared to flick my gaze back at Declan just briefly. His eyes were still on me, his jaw set and hands curled into fists on his thighs.
Mountains. Those were my happy place. I stared at them even as I continued to feel Declan’s eyes on me. What the fuck? Was he trying to solve a puzzle?
I shifted in my seat as my body grew warm. I wasn’t sure it was ultimately disturbing or insanely sexy that I was that puzzle.
The more I thought about it, the more my body responded to his gaze. My nipples tightened into hard peaks and a low hum of pleasure hit me right between the legs.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Declan lean toward me, close enough I felt the heat of his arm against mine.
Then he slowly reached out and pointed in the direction I was looking. “There’s our first location.”
My breath caught. His lips were practically on my ear, his breath teasing the wispy hair at my temples.
In any other circumstance, I’d be screaming sexual harassment. But Samantha didn’t feel harassed at all. She felt turned on. And if I wanted to be honest, so did Royal.
What the hell was Declan doing? Trying to seduce his new assistant? Was I even his assistant? I didn’t even have a title. Just…intern.
Intern with benefits, apparently.
The pavement ended and the car bounced over the muddy ruts and bumps.
Declan pressed a button on a panel by the door. “That’ll be far enough, Parker.”
The car came to a stop, and I silently thanked the real me, Royal, for being prepared. I knew how muddy it was going to be out there and I wasn’t going to look like an ass sliding around or falling because I’d worn senseless shoes.
“We’re here,” Declan said, reaching for the door handle.
Inwardly, I breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God.
Chapter 8
I needed to talk to Xander. I needed him here with me, reading the clues. What did Declan’s body language mean? Was he trying to be friends with me or intimidate me?
Or was he just trying to be a normal boss and failing miserably?
I couldn’t deny there was something more between us. A spark. A sizzle.
Something forbidden.
This man was potentially very dangerous.
And yet, with his hand shielded over his eyes as the sun peeked out from the clouds, and his jacket flapping in the wind, he looked…almost vulnerable.
Definitely not some kind of criminal. Maybe just someone who hadn’t had much love in his life.
And dammit, I kind of wanted to be the person who showed him whatever kindness he was missing out on. Or be the person that made him smile, or laugh, even if it was only on the third Tuesday of every month.
“Watch your step,” Declan said, reaching out for me as I tried to walk over a particularly muddy spot about ten feet from the car.
I noticed we were the only ones who got out. Probably better that way. Their shoes would be destroyed in no time.
I put my hand into his, and my cold fingers were engulfed by strong ones—so warm it almost felt like he had a fever. He kept me steady as we walked to a washed-out trail, guiding me like he’d taken this path more than once.
“Have you been out here before?” I asked, mesmerized by the heat of his hand.
“I hike a lot.” He tossed me a smirk that said I wasn’t the only one who enjoyed the outdoors or knew how to navigate them.
“Is that supposed to surprise me?” I asked.
He released my hand when we were on level ground, taking away the warmth I didn’t realize I’d been craving until it was gone.
“I was surprised when I found out you like hiking,” he said.
I snorted. Sure. His expression hadn’t changed at all.
“I guess we’re even then,” I told him. I breathed in deep and looked up to the tips of the peaks, where snow still rested, waiting to melt into the rivers below.
We’d get snow for another few weeks, maybe even longer at that elevation. I’d seen snow on those peaks in July before. But down here, it was starting to warm up, starting to hint of summer.
“It’s beautiful,” I breathed.
“This is what I want people to see,” Declan told me. “They might not hike up there like we do, but they’ll love the views.”
“While eating hundred-dollar sushi and wearing complementary robes,” I said.
He laughed softly. “Exactly. Nature at its finest.”
I nodded. “I’d stay here.”
He faced me. “Really?”
“Sure.” I shrugged. “You get a fancy spa in here, maybe do those rural but also glamorous mud baths or maybe even man-made hot springs with a view like this…yeah, people will pay top dollar.”
“That’s a good idea.” Declan rubbed a hand on his jaw, going into business mode. “Tell me what else you see.”
I propped my hands on my hips, thinking it through, and then brainstormed out loud. “You’re going to have both types of people—the ones who want the city and the ones who want nature—so you’ll have to provide access to both. Car service?” I said, squinting my eyes and thinking. I nodded. “With champagne—an elite collection with your own labels. I’ll have to see the other site first to decide which one would work for both kinds of clientele. But yeah, spa, more than one pool depending on the size of the resort. For the outdoorsy types, you get them a sexy, rugged guide and he can get them up those trails without anyone getting hurt and they can brag about how they hiked a peak 14,000 feet tall and didn’t even need oxygen…” Declan laughed again but waved at me to continue.
So I did. I paced while I talked, walking back and forth over the mud-stained earth and telling him everything I would want to see or experience here. Everything I wished other people could see.
“You know, there’s a waterfall hidden back in those trees…just up there.” I pointed, familiar enough with these mountains that I could pinpoint every trail and every piece of wildlife alongside it.
The flora and fauna as well.
“A waterfall,” Declan said, interested. He shifted to peer toward where I was pointing like he might be able to see the waterfall from this distance. “I’d like to see that someday.”
I opened my mouth to tell him I could show him, then thought better of it. I pulled up my list of rules in my head, the ones that started with No Flirting with the Boss. Escorting him to a secret and mysterious hidden waterfall was probably on that list somewhere, too.
Declan looked over expectantly from where he stood, nearly twenty feet away, his foot propped on a rock. We’d wandered out of sight of the cars, just over a low hill.
Because his gaze was giving me the chills, I turned abruptly, planning on surveying the rest of the area. My shoe slipped on the side of a rock, throwing me off balance.
My arms flailed for a brief moment, then suddenly there were arm
s around me.
Declan clasped me tight against his body, keeping me from falling. I held tight for a moment, adrenaline racing through me. It wouldn’t have been bad, probably would have bruised my pride more than anything, but Declan had caught me.
And he had to have moved as fast as lightning to do it.
I lifted my gaze as his scent swirled around me. His muscles flexed, keeping me tight against his chest. It was like sitting near a warm fire instead of standing out in the chilly air.
His pupils expanded and shrunk again when the sun moved through the clouds.
“You…” I uncurled my fingers from the fabric of his jacket. I pointed. “You were just standing over there.”
“And now I’m standing here,” he said, “stopping you from rolling down that hill.”
“I wasn’t going to—” I shook my head. “That’s not the point. You were standing way over there. Like twenty feet away.”
His hold loosened, then fell away. He gave me a look that said I was crazy. “Miss Thompson, I saw you start to slip and I ran over to see if I could stop it. Lucky for you, I did.”
“You’re fast,” I said, my heart still racing.
“Is that a crime?” He turned away, heading back to the cars, not seeming to care anymore if I fell on my ass or not.
I slipped two more times as I followed after him but managed to stay upright. Not a crime, no, but not possible either.
Declan stood at the car, the door open as he waited for me. “Would you like to see the competing location?”
I held his gaze for a long moment, challenging him. I knew what I saw, knew that there was no way he’d have been able to reach me that quickly.
No way.
“Miss Thompson,” Declan said, voice so low it sounded like a warning. “I’m a busy man.”
I trudged around the side of the car, mumbling, “Yes, I’m ready to see the next location.”
“Good.”
He got in after me, but I noticed this time he sat as far away as possible. He promptly got on the phone with his lawyer to discuss some merger I had absolutely no clue about and even less interest in.
Damn Declan. He was making it seem like nothing had happened. Like I’d just imagined the whole thing.
After he spent the entire ride to the next location ignoring me and doing everything he could to avoid eye contact, I almost started to question myself, too.
But no, I knew what I’d seen. And the more he ignored me, the more I believed he was up to no good.
Chapter 9
“So he’s…Superman?” Xander asked. “No, wait, he’s that one—the guy who runs really fast.”
“The Flash,” I mumbled as I turned in the shower and reveled in the heat of the water on my back.
Xander sat around the corner, on a stool, as I gave him the scoop from my first day as a businesswoman at Dark Enterprises.
“Yeah,” he said. “That’s the one. But isn’t The Flash like some regular dude? He’s not rich or anything. What you’re looking at here is a Batman situation—”
“Batman can’t run or move really fast,” I reminded him, feeling more relaxed than I had all day. Sure, we were discussing whether my new boss was some kind of superhero but at least Xander believed me.
At least I hoped he did.
“Batman’s superpower is money,” I told Xander. I squirted shampoo on my hand and then rubbed it into my hair, scrubbing my scalp and closing my eyes.
Xander snorted. “Sounds like Dark to me. I mean, sure, his father’s the one who started the company but now Declan runs the show—and Dark Laboratories alone made enough money last year to buy a couple of countries. No, a lot of countries—”
“Are you trying to distract me?” I asked.
I shut off the water and grabbed a towel from the hook outside the solid glass wall. I padded across the tile until Xander came into view.
He had his phone in his hand, but he didn’t seem to be looking at it. His eyes lifted to mine. “Distract you?”
I sighed. “Okay, listen, I know what I told you was…you know, basically impossible. But my faculties are intact. I’m not prone to exaggeration.” When he started to grin, I frowned. “I mean when it’s something like this. I’m pretty grounded in the real world. I’m a scientist.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” he said, standing when I walked out of the bathroom and headed to my room. “Okay, so break it down for me again.”
“We were talking, I was pacing, nothing exciting. Then I turned to look at him and he was doing his weird stare thing so I was like, no eye-contact, and turned back around really quick. And I swear to you, he was standing nowhere near me.” I walked to the closet and pointed to Xander. “Stand over there in the corner. Right by the mirror. Yeah, there. We were standing this far away—maybe even a little more—and in a split second he was right in front of me.”
“Holding you,” Xander said.
I rolled my eyes. “He was trying to stop me from falling so yeah, he kind of had to touch me to do that.”
“Was he strong?” Xander asked. “He looks strong. I mean, I’ve only ever seen him in a suit but—he wasn’t wearing a suit today, was he?”
“No. Jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. Boots. Simple.”
Xander shivered, making me crack a smile. “Mountain man chic. God, I need a visual.”
“Sorry,” I told him, walking into the closet to find something comfortable for the evening. “I didn’t take a picture.”
“I knew I should have had a camera on you today. Work was boring after the morning meeting. Employees are whiny and I just wanted to binge-watch your life. It’s way more exciting than mine.”
After I was dressed, we walked to the kitchen together as Xander told me what he’d seen on the cameras at Dark Enterprises today.
“So basically, nothing interesting,” Xander told me. “I think your Declan is going to be the key.”
“He’s not my Declan. He’s my boss, and you didn’t tell me what you think.”
Xander leaned on the counter, spinning his phone in circles on the slick surface. “I don’t know what to think. I believe you. But it’s also impossible. It’s a lot easier to believe that Dark is a liar and that he’s just a bad person than that there’s something more…fantastic going on. I was going to say supernatural, but this isn’t really supernatural is it? Or paranorm—”
“Xander. Focus.”
“I don’t know, Ro, okay? I can’t speculate on something that makes no sense. I need…proof or—”
“Yes,” I said suddenly. “That’s what we need. Proof.” I walked to his table of computers and peered in the basket of equipment he’d brought down. “Where’s that camera? That little one I had when I went in there for my fake interview?”
Xander came over and folded his arms. “Why?”
“Because I’m going to show you. I’m going to film it—all of it—and then you’ll see. He’s going to do it again.”
“Do what? Move faster than the speed of light and let you get it on camera?”
I grinned. “Yes. And then you’ll see.”
“And how are you going to do that?”
“I don’t know. I’ll knock over a glass of water or trip in my heels or something. Eventually, he’ll do it again.”
Xander angled his head, considering this. “I mean…I guess that could work. But you can’t just wear a camera everywhere. You need to camouflage it or something.”
“Yes. Perfect.” I walked back to my room, and when I returned, I handed him my mother’s brooch. It was just a small pin she used to wear, one I’d given her as a kid because she always called me honey. It was a sparkly bumblebee. I’d proudly told her that bees make honey and then I’d given her the pin—I think I was eight at the time and I’d bought the brooch at a yard sale with my own money. “Can you use this? Like, glue the camera to it or…?”
He looked at the pin from all angles and then sat. “That camera won’t work. But I think I have something tha
t will.”
“I’ll order dinner,” I said, encouraged. He’d get me a camera and I’d make sure Xander was fed. Sounded like a fair exchange to me.
Once the food was delivered Xander brought his box to the table to finish what he was doing. I put on music in the background and paced behind him because I couldn’t sit still.
When my phone buzzed on the counter, I walked over and froze.
Declan’s name appeared on the screen over a brief text message. I’d saved his number after the surprise call last night.
You did good work today.
I smiled, ridiculously pleased for a moment before I remembered he was still a liar. A super-fast one.
I frowned but typed the answer Samantha would have given. Thank you.
His response was lightning fast. We’ll be working on the office tomorrow. Regular attire.
Yes, sir, I returned. Yeah, sarcasm. But he deserved it.
When I didn’t get a response, I bit my lip. Dammit. I never did know when to keep my mouth shut.
After several minutes, he wrote, Goodnight, Miss Thompson.
I set my phone on the counter again and mumbled, “Goodnight, Mr. Dark.”
“What was that?” Xander asked.
“Nothing. How’s it looking?”
He swiveled in his chair and passed over the pin. “Try this. Put it on.”
I did what he said, clipping the pin to my robe.
“Now walk to your room or something. Let me make sure it works.”
I made a trip to my bedroom and then returned to the kitchen, walking around the island twice before Xander said, “Yep. It’s good. You got yourself a super-secret, super-spy bumble bee camera pin.”
I grinned. “Nice. Thank you, Xander.”
“That’s what I’m here for.”
I walked to him and put my arms around his shoulders. “I really do appreciate this, you know.”
“I know. Just do me one favor,” he said.
“Anything.”
“Make sure you get a few good shots of him in his suit, okay? And maybe a few from the back, too.”