“And I understand why your head’s not screwed on straight.”
My jaw flexes. “If there’s nothing else, you can tell my uncle you did your duty.”
“From me to you, I’m going to advise you to be careful.”
“I never asked permission, Celeste. Not from anyone, and certainly not from you.”
She stands. “For the record, Xavier? I never supported you firing her in the first place.”
That gets my attention.
“One of your rare, stupid moves. Keep your head on straight, and don’t make another one.”
She pivots cleanly, her heels biting into the marble, and strides toward the door.
Her hand is on the knob when I finally snap out of it.
“You didn’t come because of Walter.”
“No.” Turning around, she looks at me. “I wanted to meet Seraphina for myself.”
I scowl. “You were being nosy.”
“Thorough,” she counters. “Looking out for your best interests.”
“Nosy,” I assert.
Without acknowledging me, she opens the door and leaves.
In the reception area, she exchanges a few words with Seraphina. Then there’s a click, which means Celeste is gone.
But my foul mood is not. “Seraphina!”
My voice ricochets through the office.
A beat later, the door opens, and she enters—poised, polished, goddamn radiant in that fitted navy blouse and high-waisted pencil skirt that hugs her hips like a sin custom stitched for my destruction.
“Xavier?” She knits her eyebrows together. “Is everything all right?”
Every time I see her, attraction hits me like a blow to the chest. The impossible elegance of her. The fire under the composure. The vanilla-laced scent that doesn’t just haunt me—it fucking brands me.
I drink her in.
My pulse pounds at my temples. My cock is already hard, pressed against my workout pants in a way that’s becoming unsustainable.
“Close the door,” I say, my voice low. Rougher than it should be.
She does.
“Now lock it.”
While she does as I say, I close the blinds, then wait for her. “Come here.”
She hesitates just long enough to make me twitch. Then she crosses the room, eyes locked on mine, the sway of her hips as deliberate as it is unconscious.
I shouldn’t touch her like this—not after a workout, not in this office, not with a board meeting looming, and my need battling with frustration—but she impressed the hell out of Celeste, and my pride is a living, breathing thing right now. All teeth and heat and territorial need.
The moment she’s within reach, I catch her wrist and pull her into me, my mouth crushing hers.