Bad Girl by Goode, Ella (chrysanthemum read aloud .txt) 📕

“Those were your words, Mr. Holmes.” Thankfully the car rolls to a stop in front of the building, and I can jump out. I curse myself for even bringing it up at all. Now he’s going to know it actually bothered me. I don’t want him to think that anything he does affects me. Even though deep down inside it does.

I don’t get too far from Warren. I pick up my pace when we enter the building. I notice that the elevator doors are about to close so I slip in. That is until a hand grabs them in the nick of time, and they pop back open.

He stands next to me as we ride the elevator up to our floor. It takes forever as people get on and off. I can feel this strange tension forming between Warren and me. I have no idea how to play this. Chris told me to get close to him. Here he is extra close, but I don’t understand what has changed since yesterday.

I’m the first one out when we finally get to our floor. I dart off quickly, running right into Scott.

“Whoa, Leila. You don’t have to throw yourself at me,” he says with a laugh.

“Sorry.” The smile drops from Scott’s face.

“Shouldn't you be working?” Warren says from behind me.

“Right.” Scott turns and speed walks toward his desk.

“You should be more careful,” Warren says. His normal grumpy tone is back.

“I’ll work on that.” I make a beeline for my desk, needing some space from Warren and this weirdness. I know I can’t call Chris and explain this. If he thought someone was on to me, would he even tell me?

“Leila.” Warren’s hand wraps around my wrist. I have no choice but to follow him. He leads me into his office before he lets my wrist go. He shuts the door and I hear the lock click into place.

Oh shit. This is it. He’s going to torture me right here and now. I bet these walls are soundproof. I watch as he slowly turns around. I have to tilt my head back to look up at him. He really is a beast of a man. How the hell did Chris think that I would be able to kill him? I probably should’ve informed him that I couldn’t hurt a fly. I’m the girl that takes the bugs I find in the house outside to release them. But this is different I remind myself.

“Will you stop running from me every second you get the chance?” I stand there, not saying anything. I don’t think it was really a question, but more of a demand. When his eyes drop to my mouth, everything inside of me melts.

“You’re distracting,” he finally says, breaking the silence. “That’s why I don’t care for the look of you. You’re taking all of my attention.” He growls out the last part as my mind wraps around what he’s saying.

“But—” I don’t get a word out because he grabs me. He pulls me into his body, and his mouth comes down onto mine. For a brief moment I lean into him, enjoying the warmth and comfort of his body. I let everything else slip away as he pushes his tongue into my mouth.

A knock on the door has me jumping back. Everything comes flooding back to me about the reality of who this man is. And how much he’s taken from me.

“Go away,” he says to whoever is on the other side of the door.

“I should go.” I try to slip past him, but he grabs my hand.

“I’m taking you home,” he reminds me before releasing me. I open the door to see Connor standing there. “We’ll have lunch in my office,” he says next. Connor’s eyes widen, and he turns to leave.

I turn around to face Warren. “You should have lunch with your girlfriend.” Such a sleaze. I hate how good that kiss was. My lips are still tingling. Along with a few other things.

“Who?” He can’t even remember the woman’s name he was with last night. Typical.

“The blonde.” I roll my eyes before heading for my desk.

This is a mess. At least I’m not in the torture basement, I suppose. Not yet anyway.

Chapter Eight Warren

The taste of her floors me. I’m no longer Warren Holmes, real estate magnate. I’m the rubble that’s left over after a building has been demolished. I need to take her to my home and lock her in the basement, although I don’t know if I’m doing that for my protection or hers. Hers. Definitely hers. She’s a threat to herself walking around looking sexy and tasting like sin.

I slam a hand on my desk. That’s what we should be doing. In this period of uncertainty about employee safety, we can’t have people coming to the office. We need to work from home.

“Connor!” I bark into the intercom. “Tell everyone to go home and work remotely because of the safety hazards.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes. Except for the temp girl. I need five more copies of the K file.” I use the descriptor instead of her name so that Connor doesn’t realize what is happening. I need to keep him in the dark until I get her name on the dotted line—of the marriage contract, that is. That’s the only legal way I can tie her to me.

“The K file? That’s going to take her all day.”

“I’ll have security send someone up to sit in the office until she’s done and walk her to the car.”

“Fine. I’m not going to argue because I love remote working. Byeeeeee!”

I distract myself by doing some day trading for an hour. After making a few hundred thousand, I shut my computer off and check out the office. It’s empty, and all I hear is the whirring of the copy machine. I rub my hands together until I realize I must look like a comic book villain. I clear my throat and shove my hands in my pockets.

“You almost