Bared to You: A Crossfire Novel

With such a busy morning, time flew swiftly and I didn’t have time to think about my personal life. I was real y grateful for that. Then I answered the phone and heard Gideon on the line. I wasn’t prepared.

“How’s your Monday been so far?” he asked, his voice sending a shiver of awareness through me.

“Hectic.” I glanced at the clock and was startled to see it was twenty minutes to noon.

“Good.” There was a pause. “I tried cal ing you yesterday. I left a couple messages. I wanted to hear your voice.”

My eyes closed on a deep breath. It had taken every bit of my wil power to make it through the day without listening to the voice mail. I’d even enlisted Cary in the cause, tel ing him to restrain me forcibly if it looked like I might succumb to the urge. “I did the hermit thing and worked a little.”

“Did you get the flowers I sent?”

“Yes. They’re lovely. Thank you.”

“They reminded me of your dress.”

What the hel was he doing? I was beginning to think he had multiple personality disorder. “Some women might say that’s romantic.”

“I only care what you say.” His chair creaked as if he’d pushed to his feet. “I thought about stopping by…I wanted to.”

I sighed, surrendering to my confusion. “I’m glad you didn’t.”

There was another long pause. “I deserved that.”

“I didn’t say it to be a bitch. It’s just the truth.”

“I know. Listen…I arranged for lunch up here in my office so we don’t waste any of the hour leaving and getting back.”

After his parting, I’ll call you, I’d wondered if he would want to get together again after he settled down from whatever trip he’d been on. It was a possibility I’d been dreading since Saturday night, aware that I needed to cut him off, but feeling strung out from the desire to be with him. I wanted to experience again that pure, perfect moment of intimacy we’d shared.

But I couldn’t justify that one moment against al the other moments when he made me feel like crap.

“Gideon, we don’t have any reason to have lunch together. We hashed things out Friday night, and we…

took care of business Saturday. Let’s just leave it at that.”

“Eva.” His voice turned gruff. “I know I fucked up. Let me explain.”

“You don’t have to. It’s okay.”

“It’s not. I need to see you.”

“I don’t want—”

“We can do this the easy way, Eva. Or you can make it difficult.” His tone took on a hard edge that made my pulse quicken. “Either way, you’l hear me out.”

I closed my eyes, understanding that I wasn’t lucky enough to get away with a quick good-bye phone chat.

“Fine. I’l come up.”

“Thank you.” He exhaled audibly. “I can’t wait to see you.”

I returned the receiver to its cradle and stared at the photos on my desk, trying to formulate what I needed to say and steeling myself for the impact of seeing Gideon again. The ferocity of my physical response to him was impossible to control. Somehow I’d have to get past it and take care of business. Later, I’d think about having to see him in the building over the days, weeks, and months ahead. For the moment, I just had to focus on making it through lunch.

Yielding to the inevitable, I got back to work comparing the visual impact of some blow-in card samples.

“Eva.”

I jumped and spun around in my chair, startled to find Gideon standing beside my cubicle. The sight of him blew me away, as usual, and my heart stuttered in my chest. A quick glance at the clock proved that a quarter hour had passed in no time at al .

“Gid—Mr. Cross. You didn’t have to come down here.”

His face was calm and impassive, but his eyes were stormy and hot. “Ready?”

I opened my drawer and pul ed out my purse, taking the opportunity to suck in a deep, shaky breath. He smel ed phenomenal and looked even better.

“Mr. Cross.” Mark’s voice. “It’s great to see you. Is there something—?”

“I’m here for Eva. We have a lunch date.” I straightened in time to see Mark’s brows shoot up.

He recovered quickly, his face smoothing into its usual good-natured handsomeness.

“I’l be back at one,” I assured him.

“See you then. Enjoy your lunch.”

Gideon put his hand at the smal of my back and steered me out to the elevators, garnering raised brows from Megumi when we passed reception. I shifted restlessly as he hit the cal button for the elevator, wishing I could’ve made it through the day without seeing the man whose touch I craved like a drug.

He faced me as we waited for the car, running his fingertips down the sleeve of my satin blouse. “Every time I close my eyes, I see you in that red dress. I hear the sounds you make when you’re turned on. I feel you sliding over my cock, squeezing me like a fist, making me come so hard it hurts.”

“Don’t.” I looked away, unable to bear the intimate way he was looking at me.

“I can’t help it.”