The Temp (6 page)

Then his lips were on hers.

The kiss shot her nerves all the way down her body.

His hands wrapped around her waist pulling her against him. There was nothing in existence except her, him and that kiss.

Feeling so much beneath the thin layers of clothing, their lips melted together.

One hand had her pinned against him, hard and unrelenting; the other had her face pressed against his. His tongue was soft, moist and playful, flicking against hers, inviting her in, and dancing with her. Was this really happening?

The kiss was over all too soon.

He pulled away. His breathing came hard as he stepped back. “Fuck.” Eve blinked. “Eve,” he ran a hand through his hair. “I shouldn’t have. I couldn’t resist. I”-for a moment it was like he was apologising for the kiss.

Eve didn’t know what to think, whether he was sorry he’d done it or sorry for its abruptness.

“I have a meeting to go to,” that was his cue. He cast one last look at her, straightened his jacket and disappeared out into the bustling street, swallowing up in the maze of suits.

A tear slip down her cheek. She touched her lips, tingling from the sensation. Her blood throbbed in her veins. Everything had happened so fast. It had been a moment of pure pleasure and satisfaction and with a sudden feeling of-

Rejection. Had he really meant to kiss her?

She stepped out of the alley following the throng of people, weaving back to the office. Her mind was on auto as she stepped into the foyer of Roman Industries ltd.

She didn’t see Roman for the rest of the day.

11

“I have something to tell you.”

Trisha beamed at Eve over the kitchen counter. They sat on the kitchen stools in Trisha’s place which was a few floors lower than Eve’s.

“Well, what is it?” Eve said.

“We’re moving to Jersey,” Trisha said, her curly red hair bounced as she said it. She was dressed in her black fitted restaurant uniform for her soon to be starting shift.

“No,” of all the bad news Eve had heard today, this was the worst. “You can’t leave.” As if that were enough to stop her. Trisha fixed her with a
don’t-be-childish
look.

“Eve,” she scolded. “I don’t like the neighbourhood and Jack’s getting too big for this place.”

“Who’s going to”-Eve swallowed back her complaints.

The sparkling promise and excitement was clear in Trisha’s face. She’d wanted this a long time, a place for Jack to grow up in, a place he could be safe.

Eve sighed, her shoulder slumping. “I’m sorry,” she whispered and heard Trigger’s voice in her head telling her never to show weakness, she couldn’t help it. “It won’t be the same without you or Jack.” Eve bit her lip and stared down at the counter, her tear ducts fighting a wayward battle.

“Oh, sweetie,” Trisha came round the counter and embraced her. “I won’t be far. You’ll be able to visit me. You know I can’t live without you.” She smelled of honey and cinnamon and family.

Trisha and Jack, gone.
It would be unbearable and too selfish of her to even ask them to stay. She couldn’t ask them to stay, not for her especially not for her imminent loneliness. Eve swallowed back the pain. Having them out of the way of her problems would protect them.
Problems.
She cleared her throat, pulling out of their embrace, the emptiness invading her core as soon as Trisha’s warmth was gone.

She had to tell them.

She’d decided Trisha was the only one she could confide in. Eve had to let this go, had to release the burden of her secret,
secrets,
starting with the blackmail.

Trisha pulled back and waited, those clear eyes of hers always patient and understanding.

Eve’s mouth worked, her brow dampening.

“Eve, what is it?” that concern on Trisha’s face.

She had to say it.

Her gaze skittered across the apartment. This was the place Eve went when her life was too complicated, when problems arose. Trisha always understood troubles. She always knew how to deal with them. Eve had decided to tell Trisha
everything
about her blackmail, about Trigger and about Roman Pierce. Even if Trisha didn’t know how to help at least Eve wouldn’t feel so alone in this.

“Eve sweetie, how are you?” Trisha finally said after Eve’s failed attempt. She picked up Jack, her two year old and held him propped against her hip. Eve looked between the two, Trisha and Jack, Jack and Trisha, they only had each other.

“Good,” Eve sighed, fiddling with a frayed part of her sleeve. Trisha’s brow rose smelling the lie straightaway.

As a temp, Eve sometimes had days between jobs and looking after Jack had taken some of the burden off Trisha. She’d miss them more than she let on.

“Evee,” Jack clapped his hands out and Eve took him from her friend.

“Careful, he’s getting a lot heavier these days. Soon mama will need you to pick her up,” Trisha poked a finger at Jack.

The boy giggled in response. 

Eve held him close to her relishing in his pale perfect skin and delicate warmth; his locks were strawberry red like his mothers and he had dimples. Her insides warmed immediately. What was she doing? She couldn’t tell Trisha the truth and burden her on top of her already burdened lifestyle. What was she thinking bringing a single mother and her son into her troubles?

Eve inhaled Jack’s vanilla scent. She squeezed him to her. “I want what you have.” She’d never said it out loud before; a pang invading her when she saw how happy Trisha and Jack were.

“I’m sure you don’t want it exactly like I have,” Trisha said as she went to the kettle, pouring two cups of instant coffee. 

Eve shrugged. “You’re doing fine without a man in your life.”

Trisha’s apartment was the exact same as hers in layout. It was a one bedroom with an en-suite and a small kitchenette with a counter and tiny living space.

“Really Eve, how are you doing?” there was no getting around Trisha.

“I have a lot on my plate.” Eve touched her lips feeling the after touch of when Roman had kissed her, the tingling caress. She hadn’t seen him afterwards and the next day he was backed up in meetings. For all intense and purposes it was like things had been swept under a rug. Her lips quivered, despite her escalating romantic life she was determined to find another way out of this blackmail, regardless of how Roman Pierce affected her.

“Oh,” Trisha’s brow quirked. “It wouldn’t have anything to do with a Roman Pierce I met the other day?”
oh, right.
There was really no getting around her. Eve didn’t say anything as she pressed Jack to her, burying her tinged cheeks in his jumper. “I saw the way he was looking at you, Eve. Do you like him?”

Eve sighed. “It doesn’t matter if I do. He’s my boss.”

“And?” it was Eve’s turn to fix Trisha a look as she pursed her lips. “Well, I guess Nick won’t be disappointed.”

“What?” Eve’s brow shot up. “Nick?”

“Oh, come on Eve. It’s so plain for the world to see. Nick likes you, always has. It’s so like you not to see what’s right in front of you.”
Nick?

“I didn’t know,” a stillness settled in between them.

“Well,” Trisha quirked another brow at her. “Do you like him?”

“Who?”

“Nick.” Eve bit her lip. She hadn’t considered Nick in that way. She hadn’t considered anyone in that way. Sex had never been a right below-the-surface need for Eve. It hadn’t even been there for the most part, until her new job.

“Don’t you have to leave soon?”

Trisha grimaced at her phone. “Shoot. Fine, I’m off.” She grabbed her house keys. Don’t think this conversation is over.” Trisha grabbed her purse, giving Jack a hug and kiss goodbye and was out the door the next minute.

The door thumped behind her.

Eve sighed and took Jack three storeys up to her place. It was the same as Trisha’s except for the view; hers faced down onto the side streets, a mixture of industrial chocolate, rusted fire exits and distant skyscraper grey peeking up on the horizon. She already had a corner in mind where Jack could play. She set up the play area and let him crawl over the pillows like he always did.

*

The camera zoomed in on her face and zoomed out to the boy. The footage was in black and white.

He sat back as he watched the two in her apartment. The camera angle was perfect giving him a 280 degree view of the studio apartment. The bedroom was divided by a partition door though she kept it open most of the time, meaning he saw what went on in there. She was so predictable, in her movements, her habits, and her introverted nature. Having the boy here, it didn’t take a genius to know the girl didn’t think others she cared about were in danger.

It was possible, if not probable; she didn’t fully understand the lengths he would go to, to get what he wanted.

He zoomed the camera in on the boy’s face again. Even in black and white, he didn’t look like Eve, so he could determine he wasn’t hers. He didn’t know where the boy had come from. He’d find out soon enough, if he needed to use it against her.

In the meantime, she was compliant.

12

Eve had been dreading this day ever since Roman Pierce had kissed her.
It was the last day. It had been two weeks since that kiss and nothing. Two long hard weeks of looking and longing and staring out of the corner of her eye.

Nothing.

Things between her and Roman had returned to normal, worse than normal, as if it had never happened. Maybe it was better this way, having things end before they even began, she’d go back to Trigger as his temp and things would return back to normal.
Blackmail normal.
She hadn’t been called upon; she was beginning to think they wouldn’t need her after all.

“Eve, can you come into my office?” Roman said over the phone.

“Yes,” this was it. Her heart thumped wildly as she got up. She wore a tight fitted silver pencil skirt and satin grey blouse, her dull grey blazer hung over the back of the chair. Melinda, Roman’s permanent secretary was coming back tomorrow, so it was truly her last day. These last two weeks she’d worked hard and enjoyed the way Roman was around her. He’d turned over a new leaf in staring at her in
his way.
There was intrigue there and Eve couldn’t help fantasize at night what it might be like to throw everything down the line for him. Her palm squeezed over the door handle.

Roman always phrased his words in polite questions without ever an inflection at the end, he was never truly asking, simply telling her politely. Her body shivered feeling his eyes skim over her, finally resting on her face. 

Eve had waited so long for this talk; so long.

The electricity was hot and static in the air between them. Naturally she would either go back to Trigger or not have a job. Naturally. Though having an underlying mission meant she’d probably go back to Trigger. She didn’t know how she could work for him knowing she’d always be thinking of Roman Pierce, the man one floor above her, if not
right
above her.

The idea of permanence flitted through her mind again, of Jack and Trisha, of a future she wasn’t entitled to. There was no way she could ask. The timing didn’t feel right. So she took her time sauntering into his office.

If this was it, it would be the best and last of everything. Her hips swayed, her daring smile met his and his face was shadowed, hooded. She moved slowly into the room never straying from his gaze. It was bold, completely beyond what she was capable of. It was her last day. So she could be bold. She could be out of her comfort zone. She could be more than she’d been before.
More.
A fleeting hope.

Eve stood before him.

Roman motioned to the opposite seat with a flick of his hand. Her smile tugged. She sat, folded her legs at an angle so as to show him the full length of them. Oh, how it was daring. She’d imagined this day for so long she knew everything she would do down to the very last intimate detail. In her dreams she was always brave, braver. Her heart raced all the while, the adrenaline surging, making it so much more delicious. This was her brazen self, the part of her she’d always kept hidden, almost non-existent.

“How have you been doing these last few weeks?” he opened up with. 

Eve frowned and recovered quickly tugging it back into a sweet smile. It was such a guarded question she didn’t know how to respond. Was he testing her? “You’re a good boss. The work is interesting”-Eve trailed off.

“As you know, Melinda originally took a three week holiday,” Roman began and even if they’d had the talk about her not wanting his attention in
his way
, his eyes still trailed up her legs. He wetted his lips. Her spine shivered. Eve was barely listening as her face lit up and set on him and her hand travelled down her thigh resting there, waiting.

“Eve?”

“What?” she blinked, she hadn’t been listening.

“I said are you ok to stay on another week?”

“What?” Eve straightened up as if a bucket of iced water had been thrown on her.
What?
He wasn’t going to send her back to Trigger or have her packing? And if he didn’t do that, then they couldn’t…couldn’t…be together. Did he even want her in that way?
Oh, god.
She’d been so stupid, so naïve. 

“Can you stay another week?” he said again.

No,
it really was all in her head, all this time.
The kiss…
Something about his expression changed to amusement, crinkling at the corners. He was laughing at her. “Melinda extended her trip after she caught a bug; the doctor said she wasn’t fit to travel back yet.” Roman’s words rang out like cold reality.

Eve clasped her hands together. Her cheeks flared up, giving it all away. She felt ridiculous; mortified she’d behaved in such a way when she’d made that little unforgettable statement on her first day.
Stupid sexual harassment meeting.

She got up wishing she could make a quick getaway.

“Oh right,” she straightened her skirt, eyes downward. “Fine, another week.” On auto she walked towards the door. Her hand found the handle somehow in her trance, her feet found their step and suddenly…suddenly his hand rested on hers.

His hand-

“Eve,” the way he said her name was like torture. Why couldn’t she resist him?

“Yes Sir,” Eve whispered barely able to say it out loud.

“Eve,” his fingers squeezed hers, her breathing hitched. “Was there another way you had envisioned this playing out?” his voice held a lilt to it, so different from the workaholic voice he often used. This one was careening like a Cheshire cat edging up along side her rubbing his scent all over her.

“No, Sir,” she stammered.

“Why don’t you call me by my first name?”

What?
Her breathing hitched. Was this really happening?

“Roman,” she whispered his name exactly how she’d imagined it in her dreams. He’d take her and she’d whisper his name, and scream it later in the throng of heat, their heat. As if-

“I like it when you say my name.” Eve turned in her step and came face to face with him, so close. Until now he’d kept to his word in not doing anything inappropriate. Funny what she considered inappropriate. There was something so daring, so dominant in his actions. 

She backed up to the door. Her cheeks were flaming red. Had she instigated this? She’d wanted it a moment ago, though it was like he was toying with her emotions, playing with her, as if he could ever feel like she did. How did she feel? She didn’t know exactly…she simply wanted him, craved him. She always wanted what she couldn’t have, didn’t fully understand.

This was her doing. She’d folded her legs and fluttered her eyelashes and this was the fantasy she’d wanted. Sexual harassment meetings be damned as usual.

Yet, only if he wasn’t her boss anymore. He. Couldn’t. Be. Her. Boss. It was unprofessional and worst of all dangerous to her blackmailers. They’d put an end to it, for sure or worse…would they dare?

“Roman,” her gaze reached up to his face, braving it, him, his lips, sculpted, parted. She cleared her voice finding traction once more in her thoughts. “Was there anything else Mr Pierce, one more week?” Eve said and tried to instil some of her original professionalism she’d employed these last few weeks.

“What if I haven’t said one more week, what then? Would we be having a different conversation?” it took her a moment to realise he really was referring to
this.
Whatever
this
was between them.

He spun on his foot and walked back to his desk. He was walking away. Eve’s heart slammed in her chest, he was dismissing her. He had to be.

This was it. This was the end of it.

He picked up a remote and pressed a button.

Everything went dark.