Free The Temp by A. K Cates Page B

face scrunched as she tried to breathe, in and out. In and out, like she was supposed to. In and out. In and out. In and out. There was no escape. Eve opened her eyes, Roman stood before her. She gasped, her chest hurt.
    Was she hyperventilating?
    “You don’t do well in confined spaces,” it wasn’t a question, merely a statement.
    Her chest heaved. “It takes me a minute to calm down.” She was caught for the moment in her own turmoil and then he was looking at her.
    That look, those hooded dark pools of light and dark.
    “You’re ok now?” there was a hint of fear lining his voice.
    “I’ll un-tint them”-
    “No, I can handle this.” She needed to better herself, her fears. For so long she’d been afraid. She finally nodded, her fingers bracing white over the edge of his desk.
    Roman sat down at the desk and folded one leg over the other and clasped his hands together. Then he surveyed her in that naked way. Naked. There was an intense quiet in the room.
    “Eve,” his head tilted to the side. “Eve.” Oh, when he said her name like that, it sent shivers down her spine and back up her neck. Her knees slackened, she fought the urge to sink into the chair.
    Two could play at this game. 
    “Roman,” she stepped around the desk. “Rome.”
    “Nobody’s called me that in a long time,” his voice was low.
    “Nobody but me?” Eve smiled. “Can I keep it?”
    “Keep what?”
    “Your name, can I call you Rome?” her face lit up with the thought of possessing a name no one called him but her, only her.
    “You didn’t want to work for me another week.” It wasn’t a question, it was purely statement. His head tilted to the side again surveying her in that way. “Why?”
    She was utterly naked under his gaze, those hooded dark pupils of his, that mouth quirking up at the sides, all sphinx and coy and impenetrable. There were so many things she wanted to do. She wanted badly to grab him right there and thrust him upon her, thrust , who said thrust these days? This wasn’t a lovelorn romance novel. She wanted to feel his body, his lips and it wasn’t at all like her. She wanted this, him and the ridiculous romance novel.
    …Then again.
    She wasn’t the kind to take such a bold step. She couldn’t.
    Eve stepped back closer to the door. “If that’s all, I’ll be heading back to my desk,” her fingers pressed on the handle. “Rome,” she smiled lilting to the name, the sound vibrating on her tongue. Her grin twinkled back at him and she was out the door.
    She could do this…one more week of his body, his eyes, his stare. Seven days of his heavenly scent, his warmth in her presence, his electricity. Her nerves twitched.
    Oh god, she couldn’t wait that long.
    *
    “How have things been going?” Trigger said. He leaned against the wall in the alley, his grey suit darker in the shadows.
    Eve jumped as usual. She hadn’t expected him to be there.
    The alley had become their usual spot to rendezvous.
    “Why do you ask me these mundane questions?” she panted getting over his impeding icy presence.  “Why do we even meet up? If they need me they’ll call on me won’t they? Why bother with all these check-ups?”
    Trigger’s brow rose. “That’s not necessarily how it works. They take an interest in everything, every angle. I’ve been asked to monitor your relationship with Roman.”
    “Why?”
    “Why do you think?” he narrowed on her. What did they know? They couldn’t possible have any idea could they? Trigger shouldn’t know, couldn’t. Her feelings-
    “He gave me one more week,” Eve said. She hated this, herself and even Trigger Raines to a degree since he was here with her forcing her to give information to blackmailers.
    “One more week,” he said. “We need more time.”
    “I don’t know if I can do this,” her fingers fiddled with the handle of her bag.
    “You don’t have a choice, like I said; this is the mess you’re in.”
    “Trigger?” Eve stammered.