Burning Desire

Chapter 23

I rolled my eyes at his flattering words and cheesy smile, and pulled him in for another long, hot kiss. Then I released him from my legs' tight grasp and paused a moment to regain composure. My legs felt like jelly when I tried to take a step. Alex gave a whole new meaning to the term "knee-weakening."

"Thank you for sticking up for me," I said sincerely. "I still feel horrible that it happened, but it means a lot to me that you cared that much."

He looked deeply into my eyes and caressed my cheek with his thumb. I caught a glimmer of those familiar gold flecks in his green eyes. They were dazzling, just like his smile and everything else about him. He was one of a kind – the best kind.

"You have no idea how much I care, Kate," he whispered and the words sent a chill through my body, raising goosebumps as it went.

I was awestruck, unable to move or say anything back. This man was striking up emotions within me that I hadn't even known existed. I actually believed him when he said he cared, and that was something I definitely wasn't used to. He'd asked what I was doing to him. Now it was my turn to ask what on earth he was doing to me.

Whatever it was, I fucking loved it.

"I guess we should get back to work, huh?" he sighed.

He hooked his thumb in his jeans and it made me want to grab him by the belt loops and tug him back against my body. I was still trying to come down from my sexual high and I was already starting to get flustered again.

"Is it bad that I want to say no?" I giggled, hating that we couldn't just hide out in the elevator for the rest of the day.

"Nah," he smirked. "I feel the same way."

My smile faded when he pressed the button to send the elevator back on its way to the second floor. I wasn't ready to leave him yet, but I knew that article wasn't going to write itself. He was probably in the middle of writing one, too, given that all of us who were newly delving into current affairs had to have our first articles in to the editors by Friday morning. I wondered what he was writing his on, but I didn't have a chance to ask him before the elevator doors opened.

There stood Selena with another armful of papers and a knowing look on her face.

"Did you two-"

I clasped a hand over her mouth before she could finish her sentence. "Not now."

She mumbled something indecipherable against my hand and Alex chuckled.

"We'll talk about it later," I insisted to her, though I was having a hard time holding in my own laughter. "In private."

"I'll see you tonight." Alex bid me farewell, stepping back into the elevator. "How does seven o'clock sound?"

"Perfect," I smiled and Selena's eyes lit up at the mention of us seeing each other after work.

Once the doors shut, I removed my hand from Selena's mouth and she burst into laughter.

"What the fuck was that?" she grinned, poking my arm playfully. "Give me the juicy details!"

I face-palmed and started walking back to my office with her right behind me, anxious to hear what had happened in the elevator.

When we finally made it out of earshot, I flopped down behind my desk and Selena planted herself in the other chair, setting her pile of paperwork down on the floor.

"Did you get some in the elevator?" she teased. "Was it like a Fifty Shades moment?"

"What is it about elevators?" we quoted in unison and fell into a fit of giggles.

Before I could answer her, my door flung open and there stood Nicole with a box in her arms. She looked furious. If looks could kill, Selena and I would've already died a thousand deaths in two seconds flat.

"Did you get fired?" Selena snorted a laugh.

Neither of us felt sorry for her. We were thrilled to see her leaving. She'd been a pain in the ass from day one.

"This is your fault!" Nicole snapped and almost dropped her box, which just made both of us laugh.

"How do you figure that, Oh Great One?" I mocked.

"Both of you have hated me since the first day I got here!" she shouted and stomped her foot.

Her six-inch heel chose the perfect moment to break off and she stumbled backwards, just barely grabbing onto the doorframe in time to keep from falling. Her face turned beet red in a mixture of rage and embarrassment.

"Maybe if you hadn't been such a snobby bitch from day one, we might've gotten along," Selena stated the obvious with an unsympathetic shrug. "Have fun on the job hunt!"

Nicole let out an aggravated scream and did her best attempt at dramatically turning on the one heel she had left, and she started on her way out of the building, awkwardly hobbling along on her broken stiletto.

"That was fucking hilarious," I managed to say with a straight face.

"Indeed," Selena bobbed her head. "I need coffee. Want to accompany me to the break room?"

I looked fondly at my empty thermos and quickly agreed. What a Monday it had been so far!

We made small talk on the way to the break room, discussing the article I was working on, and Selena told me how excited she was to have Daren as her date for the dinner on Wednesday. I was equally excited to attend with Alex.

When we entered the break room, we found Joseph sitting at a small table, sulking over a bagel. He looked miserable.

"Hey, what happened?" Selena asked, rushing over to sit beside him while I refilled her mug and my thermos.

Joseph poked at his bagel. He had his arm on the table and he was resting his head on his fist, staring off into space.

"I don't know what I was thinking," he murmured, shaking his head. "I got myself in a lot of trouble."

I handed Selena her coffee and sat down beside her. "What did Mandy say?"

He groaned and rubbed his hands over his face. "She was beyond pissed. She wanted an explanation and I couldn't give her a logical one. Yeah, Nicole stole a lot of my ideas without my knowledge, but I also gave her the invitation to begin with, so I guess I can't really blame her. It's my fault, initially. Mandy said I was lucky she didn't fire me."

"Well, she kind of can't fire you. You're one of the best writers at Satisfaction," Selena tried to cheer him up.

Joseph rolled his eyes at her compliment and tore off a piece of his bagel.

"She's giving me one chance to prove that I still deserve to work here," he told us. "If I don't produce an awe-inspiring article for this current affairs bullshit, she said I can start packing up my office next week. So now I've got all this pressure on my shoulders to write the world's greatest article and hope like hell Mandy thinks it's worth keeping me on."

I was relieved that Mandy hadn't fired Joseph. He was a huge asset to the magazine. He always had been. But at the same time, I could understand her fury. It did sound pretty harsh the way she was giving him an ultimatum, and I really hoped she'd be impressed with whatever he wrote about, but I understood where she was coming from.

I'd been pretty flabbergasted when I'd found out about the situation, too. I knew Nicole had seduced her way onto his good side at first, playing the "I need help being a better writer" card. That was before Joseph had found out what a conniving bitch she actually was. He'd stopped helping her then, but she'd continued to steal his ideas behind his back. I only hoped he'd learned his lesson and that this mess would blow over quickly and Mandy would love Joseph again.

"Whatever you write, I have no doubt it will blow Mandy's socks off," I reassured him, patting his arm.

"I hope you're right, Kate."