Page 113 of Diego

There have been calls and emails. The occasional conversation when something required his direct input.

He has flirted every chance he got.

I have refused to encourage him every single time.

Or at least I have tried.

It is easier through email.

Considerably harder when his voice comes through my phone and turns perfectly ordinary questions about contractor schedules into something ridiculously sexy. Somehow. It seems to be a special skill he possesses.

Five weeks gave me room.

Five weeks let me pretend that the problem between Diego and me could remain suspended right alongside his closing date.

The penthouse deal could not close; therefore, he was still my client.

Therefore, everything else stayed exactly where it was.

Untouched. Unresolved.

Safe.

Now the windows have passed inspection.

And somewhere across the city, Diego is probably receiving the same report.

He is going to be ecstatic.

He has spent weeks making it abundantly clear that he wants out of his nephews’ house. Every delay has irritated him more than the one before it, and I know exactly what happens once the final clearance reaches his people. They will move fast.

The sale will close.

Diego will get his keys.

And then he is going to come looking for me. He has made that very clear. His interest hasn't waned in the slightest.

The thought should not make me feel sick.

A month ago, it would have made me nervous for entirely different reasons. I would have told myself I could say no. That I could remind him again that he owns the company where I work. That I could build another wall if he managed to get through the first one.

Except none of those things is the reason my stomach has been twisting itself into knots today.

I stare down at the inspection email until the words blur slightly.

The penthouse is fine.

The windows are fine.

The sale is fine.

I am the one with a problem.

A very big problem.

Or rather, a very small problem.

My other hand has been clenched so tightly for the last several minutes that my fingers are beginning to ache.