Chapter Four: Sandra’s POV

I swallowed; I hadn't expected that question even in a million years.

I blinked, and then it felt like my lungs suddenly lost their breath.

"A thing for you?" I felt stripped immediately, like my clothes were taken off me in the cold and I was left with nothing but my hands to rub off the chill enveloping me tightly.

Then he took a step forward, and the heat that had settled inside my stomach before suddenly took hold. For a moment, my confidence felt like it was being shredded away bit by bit, so I took an involuntary step back.

And he came forward even more. What was he doing, and why was he staring at me like that?

Did he really notice this entire time that I had a thing for him? My cheeks flushed immediately. The backs of my ears, I couldn't see if they had turned crimson, but I could feel the twitch, and I knew the color must have changed by now.

I swallowed hard. So hard that I knew he was watching me very closely, just as much as I heard the click of his shoes on the floor while he backed me down or maybe I was the one who couldn't stop myself from moving backward.

I felt my back thud against the wall, and that was when I stopped moving instantly. My chest heaved, gasping for air that seemed to be slipping out of my lungs.

He stopped right in front of me, his body just half an inch away. I could feel him; I could feel the subtle touch of his clothes against mine, and I could smell him.

My wolf instincts weren't making this any easier, were they?

My nostrils were starting to flare. But it was just a harmless question, couldn't we answer it without all this drama? Did I really have to give myself away like this?

"Why? Was I wrong?" he asked, and I took a deep breath, not breaking eye contact with him for a single second. Breaking eye contact would be admitting the truth.

I knew my body must have betrayed me to an extent and he must have noticed, but I wouldn't go so low as to give him the upper hand.

"Is that what you were trying to test by asking us to meet?" I asked, and he leaned his head even closer. I found my hands clutching tightly at my sides.

I refused to blink.

"I wasn't going to test," he replied, his voice dropping into a low, gravelly frequency. "Because I already know you have a thing for me."

"Well, I don't. How can I have a thing for my brother-in-law?"

All of a sudden, that annoying bastard, the man I loved to watch but hated to hear speak, smirked. His face broke into a mocking, possessive smile that made my legs wobble. "You don't even know how to lie," he slurred out softly.

"I'm not lying."

"Then why are you breathing like that?" he asked, his body swallowing up the last fraction of space between us. I sucked in as much air as possible as the solid heat of his chest pressed directly against mine.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" he continued, his dark, heavy gaze searching my face. "And more so... your ears... they always turn flush like that whenever you look at me."

"That's not true."

"You're always looking at me," he murmured, his voice thick with a dark, unyielding conviction. "I'm not a fool..."

He brought his large, warm hands up to rest on my waist. He didn't pull me in completely yet, but just that subtle amount of firm pressure, his long fingers gripping the flesh of my waist through my clothes, was enough to make me fight every ounce of my self-control just to hold back a gasp.

"I see the way you always peep at me whenever I'm in the room..." He leaned further, his warm breath brushing against the sensitive shell of my ear, sending a lethal, electric jolt straight down my spine.

"And if you knew..." I started to say, and his eyes bore closely into mine.

I don't know why, but I saw my eyes drifting down to his lips. What would happen if I kissed him? What could possibly go wrong right now since he already knew that I had always been into him?

Isn't he strange? If he knew that I was into him all this time, why did he waste time dragging it out?

So he enjoyed the attention he got from me?

"And you say that I'm your brother-in-law? Have you ever seen me as your brother-in-law?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"That you could've showed up, but you didn't." He brought one of his hands to my face, his warm fingers barely grazing my cheek before resting on my jawline. "For a moment, I thought maybe you stopped having a thing for me... but you still do."

He said it while already drifting back, casually pulling away like he hadn't just made me suck in all my breath and stand completely paralyzed.

He smirked, stepping entirely out of my space. "You may leave. I will attend to this report at a later time."

That's it? Is that all it is? I asked myself as I watched him walk calmly back toward his desk, leaving a hollow, aching void settling right through me even with the sudden, heavy pulse of heat settling between my legs.

I clenched my fists at my sides, my nails biting into my palms. What did he want? What was he trying to achieve? A thing for him? Okay, now he was aware of it, so what was the next step?

"Okay? So... now you know that I'm into you. What next?"

"Stop having a thing for me," he said smoothly, sitting down in his leather chair without a single second of hesitation. "Like you said, I'm your brother-in-law. Not only that, I'm your boss."

Was he even listening to himself? This whole fiasco was better when he didn't know or better still, when he acted like he didn't.

Now that it was out in the open, he was playing this cold, infuriating control game.

I was so irritated by him right now that I wanted to grab the heavy glass paperweight off his desk and haul it straight at his stupid, perfect face.

"Aren't you leaving?" he asked without looking up.

"Leave? You expect me to just leave?"

He raised his head from the documents, his eyes cool and dismissive. "Why? Are you waiting for a miracle to happen?"

This human monster! I should just tear him apart right here! But it was a complete disgrace that even with my blood boiling, I still found him painfully attractive.

Fuck! Fuck me for being so turned on by a man who knew exactly how to pull my strings.

I spun around on my heel and grabbed the cold metallic door knob.

"Your sister is getting married." He announced it flatly, his deep voice cutting through the quiet office.

I halted instantly. I didn't turn around, but my grip on the handle tightened until the metal groaned beneath my fingers.

Was he bothered by that? Is that why he had asked me to meet him in the first place? For a moment, I had completely forgotten about the news from home, that he was facing the reality of Cynthia tossing him aside.

I turned my head slightly, looking at him over my shoulder. He had sat up straight, his hands folded neatly over the mahogany desk, his posture rigid.

"I don't want her to marry someone else. I mean, we are a couple... and I want to save my marriage."

Save what marriage? I frowned, turning around completely to stare at him in pure, unadulterated disbelief.