Page 63 of For the Love of Art

Employee.

He’d given me a designation to the incredibly beautiful woman whose name was apparently Gloria, poor thing, and he’d ensured it was a non-threatening title. All my conflicted feelings about Nathan felt so stupid.

“Wait!”

My feet didn’t want to stop.

“Isla!”

A hand grabbed my arm, forcing me to face him.

We were so close. My lips could easily brush his if I moved to my tip-toes and titled my chin. I wanted to– so badly.

“Are you going to fire me?” I blurted.

My brain was on fire. The closeness, the smell of his cologne, and the fact that he was still touching me was consuming.

Nathan’s brows came together. “Fire you? Why would I fire you?”

“Han.”

Nathan’s eyes searched mine, and his features softened.

“No.”

“No?”

Nathan slowly shook his head, confirming what he’d already said.

We were both breathing heavily, and I wanted to beg him to kiss me like he’d wanted at this apartment.

He finally let go of my arm and stepped back.

“If I’m being honest, I didn’t know if I should scold or kiss you that day.”

The admission shocked me.

Kiss me. I thought again.

Instead, I said, “I don’t know what to say.”

“And I don’t know what to do!”

“What do you mean?”

Nathan sighed and gestured between him and me. “About this. Us.” He shook his head. “I never should’ve hired someone I was so attracted to.”

His admission took my breath away. It wasn’t a far leap to think he felt something after our almost kiss.

“I’m not going to fire you,” he reiterated his earlier statement.

“You’re just going to stay away?”

“You had good instincts with Han. You took a risk, even though it wasn’t a calculated risk when I did the math later that day–” He stopped and squared his jaw. “There are many places I’ll take risks, but my business has never been one of them.”

“I scared you.”

The corner of Nathan’s mouth twitched, suppressing a smile. “You have scared me since the moment you walked through those doors.”