CHAPTER FOUR: Crossing the line

Evelyn’s POV

I was going to get fired.

Four years of working for Adrian Vale and I was going to lose my job because I’d decided to get drunk in his office.

Adrian was still standing in the doorway, staring at me like he couldn’t decide whether to call security or have me medically examined.

I lifted the bottle. “Want some?”

His eyebrows rose. “Excuse me?”

“Rum.” I shook the bottle slightly. “It’s actually terrible, but apparently, if you drink enough of it, you stop noticing.”

“Evelyn.”

“Adrian.”

“Get off my desk.”

I looked beneath me, then back at him. “Why?”

“Because it’s my desk.”

“Very observant. That’s probably why you’re a billionaire.”

His jaw tightened and I giggled.

God, I was definitely drunk.

Adrian entered the office, closing the door behind him. His eyes travelled over my bare feet, the bottle in my hand, and the papers I’d apparently knocked onto the floor.

“How much have you had?”

“That’s a personal question.”

“Evelyn.”

“You’re very repetitive tonight.”

He approached the desk, and I watched him carefully. Adrian was always intimidating, but there was something particularly unfair about how good he looked with his sleeves rolled up and his tie hanging loosely around his neck.

I wondered whether he knew that.

Of course he knew.

Men like Adrian Vale didn’t accidentally look like that.

He stopped in front of me and held out his hand.

“The bottle.”

I hugged it against my chest. “No.”

“Give it to me.”

“You’re not my father.”

“Thank God for that.”

I laughed before I could stop myself but I didn’t.

“You’re drunk.”

“Congratulations. Another excellent observation.”

“Evelyn.”

“Oh, for God’s sake.” I thrust the bottle toward him. “Here, take your precious alcohol.”

He took it, examined the label, and closed his eyes briefly.

“What?” I demanded.

“This bottle costs eleven thousand dollars.”

I stared at him and I burst out laughing.

“Eleven thousand?”

“Yes.”

“Dollars?”

“No, Evelyn. Potatoes.”

I laughed harder, so hard that my stomach hurt.

“You’re insane!”

“I’m beginning to think that about you.”

“Eleven thousand dollars for something that tastes like furniture polish? You rich people are fucking stupid.”

He placed the bottle on a shelf well beyond my reach.

“Are you finished?”

“Not even remotely.”

I swung my legs over the edge of his desk. “Come sit with me.”

Adrian looked at me. “What?”

“Sit.” I pointed toward the chair opposite his desk. “I’m inviting you to join me.”

“In my own office?”

“You’re welcome.”

For a moment, I thought he might actually smile Instead, he dragged a hand down his face.

“Why are you here, Evelyn?”

The question should have been easy to answer, I opened my mouth but nothing came out.

Because suddenly, I remembered Daniel and Sienna.

My smile disappeared so quickly that Adrian noticed and his expression changed.

“Evelyn?”

I stared at my bare left hand. “Do you know what happened to me tonight?”

He didn’t answer immediately. “No.”

I swallowed. “My fiancé fucked my best friend.”

The words landed between us and Adrian went completely still. “What?”

I laughed, but there was nothing funny about it “Surprise.”

His eyes moved to my left hand. “Daniel?”

“No, the Pope.”

“Evelyn.” “Yes, Daniel!”

My voice cracked.

“Daniel Cross. My wonderful, loving fiancé. The man I was supposed to marry in three weeks.”

Adrian said nothing. “And Sienna my best friend and m maid of honor. The woman who helped me choose my wedding dress.”

I pressed my lips together and Adrian’s expression darkened.

“How long?” “Two years, Adrian. They’ve been sleeping together for two fucking years.”

He looked away and for a moment, his jaw worked as though he was biting back something unpleasant and then he pulled out the chair opposite me and sat down.

“I’m sorry, Evelyn.”

I stared at him and then I laughed. “You’re sorry?”

“Yes.”

“What do you know about heartbreak?”

The question came out harsher than I intended and Adrian leaned back slowly.

For the first time since I’d known him I saw emotions on his face.

“Believe it or not,” he said quietly, “I know quite a lot.”

I blinked. “You?”

“Me.”

“Adrian Vale?” I asks again for clarification.

“That’s generally what people call me.”

I shook my head. “No. I don’t believe you.”

“You’re entitled to your opinion.”

“You’re rich.”

“Unfortunately, money doesn’t make people incapable of betrayal.”

I stopped smiling, he was looking at me differently now, like my boss but a man sitting across from a woman who had completely fallen apart.

“Someone hurt you?” I asked.

His gaze shifted toward the windows. “Yes.”

“Who?”

“Someone I trusted.”

“What happened?”

He was quiet for so long that I thought he wouldn’t answer.

Then he said, “I learned that some people enjoy taking things simply because they belong to someone else.”

I frowned. “That’s horrible.”

“Yes.”

“Did you love her?”

His eyes returned to mine. “At the time, I thought I did.”

Something about his answer made my chest ache. “Did she cheat?”

Adrian’s expression closed. “That’s enough questions.”

“That’s a yes.”

“Evelyn.”

“Was she pretty?”

He sighed. “You’re drunk.”

“And you’re avoiding the question.”

He almost smiled. “She was beautiful.”

I considered that. “Prettier than me?”

The silence that followed was strange.

Adrian’s eyes settled on my face and I suddenly became very aware of how close he was sitting.

“Don’t ask me that,” he said.

“Why?”

“Because you’re not going to like the answer.”

My stomach fluttered which was ridiculous.

I was sitting on my boss’s desk, drunk on his eleven-thousand-dollar rum, less than two hours after discovering that my fiancé was a cheating bastard.

I had no business noticing Adrian Vale’s mouth but I did.

“You’re actually very handsome, you know.”

His eyebrows lifted. “Am I?”

“Unfortunately.”

“How unfortunate.”

“Terribly. It makes your personality even more disappointing.”

This time, he laughed but it did something strange to me.

I’d worked for Adrian for four years, and I could probably count the number of times I’d heard him laugh on one hand.

I wanted to hear it again.

“Come here,” I whispered.

His amusement vanished. “Why?”

“Because you’re too far away.” I’m sitting directly in front of you.”

“Still too far.”

“Evelyn.”

There it was again, he said my name except this time, he said it differently.

Almost like a warning.

I slipped off the desk, the floor moved unexpectedly beneath my feet, and I stumbled.

Adrian stood immediately, his hands caught my waist before I could fall.

“Careful.”

I grabbed his shoulders and for a moment, neither of us moved.

He was warm, that was my first coherent thought my second was that he smelled ridiculously good.

I looked up and his grey eyes were fixed on mine. “You’re very tall,” I whispered.

“So I’ve been told.”

“And annoyingly handsome.”

“You mentioned that.”

“And you’re holding me.”

“Because you nearly fell.”

“Oh.”

I should have stepped away.

I knew that but his hands were steady against my waist, and for the first time that evening, I didn’t feel like the entire world was collapsing beneath me.

I felt safe which made absolutely no sense, this was Adrian Vale who terrified entire boardrooms.

The man who once made a senior executive cry because he’d arrived at a meeting with the wrong financial projections.

My very handsome, very unavailable boss.

I looked at his mouth again and Adrian noticed.

His fingers tightened slightly. “Evelyn.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t.”

I blinked. “Don’t what?”

His gaze dropped briefly to my lips before returning to my eyes.

“Whatever you’re thinking.”

But that was the problem I wasn’t thinking properly.

All I knew was that Daniel had spent two years kissing someone else while telling me he loved me and here was Adrian, holding me like I mattered.

I didn’t understand why that made my heart beat faster or why I suddenly wanted to know what his lips felt like.

I rose onto my toes and Adrian went completely still.

My hands slid higher against his shoulders.

I knew I should stop because was my boss, I was drunk and engagement had ended only hours ago in actuality there were a thousand reasons why this was a terrible idea but for some reason, none of them seemed capable of making me move away.

“Adrian,” I whispered.

His breathing changed.

And when I leaned closer, he didn’t immediately let go.

Our faces were inches apart.

I could feel his breath against my lips.

For one impossible second, I thought he was going to kiss me.

Then his eyes closed.

“Fuck, Evelyn.”

And I leaned in anyway.