Page 97 of Taken By My Grumpy Pakhan

The rest of the day unraveled in a haze of forced professionalism. I sat through two meetings without absorbing a single word that was said, hyperaware of Kazimir’s presence across whatever room we occupied, the memory of his mouth on mine sitting just beneath my skin like a low current I couldn’t switch off.

Worse, Nikolai had apparently pieced together exactly what had transpired in his absence, and I was now beyond certain the decision to step out of the elevator was entirely intentional.

‘Did you reapply your lipstick?’

Kazimir’s text lit up my phone and I cursed the fluttering in my stomach.

‘Since when are you concerned about lipsticks?’

I should be crowned patron saint of foolishness and inconsistency, seeing as all it took for me to fall back into old patterns was a simple kiss.

‘I preferred it smudged. I like knowing you carried bits of me with you and I ruin your makeup as much as I ruin your underwear.’

I turned down my phone, discreetly glancing around to see if anyone saw the text.

Unlike the meeting with Voss, this one was packed with all the executives and the seats next to me were currently occupied by Rose and Caroline on either side.

Thankfully, they didn’t seem to notice a thing.

Kazimir, however, being the proud culprit he was, wore a discreet smirk, his finger beginning to move on his screen.

‘They’ll only notice if you give it away.’

‘You’re enjoying this.’

‘I enjoy watching you.’

The message caused me to freeze again, and I was adjusting myself on the seat before I could stop it.

I didn’t need to look at his next text to know what it was about.

‘Keep squeezing your thighs like that and I’ll empty this room to give them the long-needed attention.’

I could barely come up with an answer that didn’t escalate the situation or leave me more turned on than I already was.

There was something sinfully erotic about talking dirty in a professional environment whilst being surrounded by coworkers.

It curled my toes in my shoes and sent jolts of pleasure into the depths of my core and, to my dismay, I found myself wishing he would empty the room and take care of the growing ache between my thighs.

Eventually, the messages stopped coming and I was able to catch up on the rest of the meeting in spite of the gentle thrum humming beneath my skin.

I felt Kazimir’s eyes on me the entire time, but I stuck to my journal and a little girl gossip about coworkers with Rose and Caroline for the rest of the day.

By the time the workday finally wound down, well past the hour everyone else had cleared out, I was beyond exhausted from both the stress of the day and pretending there wasn’t a fire licking at my nerves the whole day.

I was gathering my things, ready to escape to the relative safety of my apartment and several hours of not having Kazimir in my view, when he appeared in the doorway of my office, jacket slung over one shoulder, looking entirely too unbothered for someone who’d spent the day creating chaos in my chest.

“Have dinner with me,” he said. Not a question, even though there was enough space left in the sentence for me to refuse if I wanted to.

I didn’t want to refuse. That was the problem.

“Is this a work dinner?”

“Does it need to be?”

I considered lying, considered telling him I had plans with Anna and escaping his presence like I wanted to, but his lips curled into that challenging smirk and I found myself giving in.

“Fine,” I said. “But I’m picking the restaurant.”