Chapter One : (Continued) Late Night Temptations
The office floor was silent, bathed in the cool glow of fluorescent lights. Kai moved like a shadow between desks, his footsteps muted against the plush carpet. He didn't have to look for her—he could feel her presence before he saw her.
And there she was, bent over a stack of reports, fingers dancing across the papers as though trying to escape the loneliness of the office. Her hair spilled forward, a curtain of chestnut waves that made him want to reach out and tuck it behind her ear.
"Late again?" he asked from the doorway, his voice cutting through the quiet like a spark in dry kindling.
She jumped, startled, straightening immediately. "I… didn't hear you," she said, trying to mask the flutter in her chest.
Kai leaned casually against the doorframe, arms crossed, but the intensity in his gaze was impossible to ignore. "You're always here when no one else is. You work too hard."
Her lips curved into a fleeting smile. "Someone has to keep the place running."
He stepped closer, closing the distance between them. Even with the office in shadows, every detail of her seemed to glow her soft eyes, the line of her jaw, the gentle curve of her neck. "Or maybe," he murmured, "you're just lonely."
Her breath hitched. She shouldn't feel this way. She shouldn't be drawn to someone she barely knew, someone who wasn't her husband, someone who....
"Maybe I am," she whispered, almost ashamed, almost desperate.
Kai's eyes softened. He could feel her walls cracking, piece by piece, and it thrilled him. Not because he wanted to take advantage no, that wasn't him but because he recognized her. He saw her like no one else ever did.
The office phone rang, loud and shrill, breaking the spell. She jumped, flustered, glancing toward it. "I… I should....."
Kai's hand shot out, brushing against her arm in a feather-light touch. "Don't," he said. "Just… stay here a moment."
Her chest rose and fell quickly, and she nodded, unsure why she was obeying, why she wanted to obey.
He stepped back slightly, giving her space, but the air between them remained thick, electric. "You know," he said casually, though every word dripped with unspoken tension, "I've never met anyone who makes being here… this interesting."
She looked up at him, meeting his gaze, her own eyes wide and shimmering. "Interesting?"
"Dangerous," he corrected, a small, mischievous smile tugging at his lips. "And yet… I can't look away."
Her cheeks warmed, and she dropped her gaze to the papers, pretending to busy herself while her mind raced.
Kai reached for the folder she'd been sorting, and their fingers brushed again intentional this time. A small jolt shot up her arm, and her pulse leapt. She swallowed hard, trying to ignore it. She had to ignore it.
He leaned in slightly, just close enough that she could feel the heat of him, the faint scent of his cologne, a magnetic mix of cedar and something intoxicatingly clean. "You should leave," he said softly, almost gently. "Before… someone notices us."
"I can't," she whispered, voice barely audible, caught between duty and the pull she couldn't resist.
Kai smiled, a slow, dangerous curl of lips. "Then stay," he breathed. "For a little longer. Just… this once."
She dared to glance at him again, their eyes locking, hearts racing in perfect sync. The office was empty, the night stretched out like a velvet blanket around them, and in that fleeting, suspended moment, the world outside ceased to exist.
And for the first time, she realized that maybe… she didn't want it to.