Bitter Love

Chapter 25:Damned

Adrien's pov

It had been a week since I appointed her team leader—a logical, calculated decision. She’d earned it, proven herself capable, and I was supposed to be here evaluating her performance. Listening to her presentation.

But hell.

She was standing at the front of the room, her voice clear and steady as she spoke. Her hazel eyes scanned the room, her posture confident, professional. She looked every bit the leader I had imagined her to be.

And yet I couldn’t focus on a single damn word.

My gaze had drifted before I could stop it, locking onto her lips. They were pink, soft, and slightly parted as she took a breath mid-sentence. I watched, transfixed, as they shaped words I wasn’t even trying to hear. When she pressed them together for just a second, turning a page of her report, my throat tightened.

I swallowed hard. Fuck.

Dragging my gaze away, I fixed it on the table in front of me, willing myself to concentrate. But it was no use. The way she gestured toward the screen, her fingers moving with a certain grace—it was impossible to ignore. Her blonde hair shimmered under the light, the loose strands falling forward before she tucked them behind her ear.

I should have been evaluating her, should have been asking questions or making notes. Instead, I was watching the way that loose strand framed her face, the soft curve of her neck as she tilted her head.

This was wrong. I knew it was wrong. But when she turned slightly, the freckles on her nose caught my attention, and I was damned.

She glanced up, scanning the room, and then her hazel eyes landed on mine.

For a moment, everything stopped.

Her eyes widened just slightly, like she hadn’t expected me to be staring, and something flickered across her face—uncertainty, maybe. Or something else. Whatever it was, it hit me like a punch to the chest.

My jaw clenched as I swallowed again, feeling the weight of the moment settle between us. Her gaze darted away, but the damage was already done.

I adjusted in my seat, loosening my tie just enough to breathe. My hands gripped the armrest as if that would somehow ground me, but my pulse was hammering in my ears, drowning out her voice entirely.

Her lips moved again, forming more words I didn’t hear, and I cursed silently, dragging a hand over my jaw to try and snap out of it. Focus, I told myself. This was a professional setting. I was her boss.

And yet.

She shifted her weight, gesturing toward the screen again, and my gaze followed the subtle movement of her body like a moth to a flame. The fabric of her blazer hugged her frame perfectly, teasing just enough to make me shift uncomfortably in my seat.

Fuck. I needed to get a grip.

When she smiled—a small, quick smile as she answered someone’s question—it was my undoing. It wasn’t directed at me, but it didn’t matter. The curve of her lips, the way her eyes softened just slightly... I was screwed.

My fingers tightened around the armrest, my knuckles white as I tried to anchor myself. I couldn’t let anyone notice. Couldn’t let her notice.

But then she glanced at me again. It was brief, almost accidental, but her lips parted like she wanted to say something. That flicker of hesitation in her hazel eyes sent heat crawling under my skin, leaving me restless and on edge.

When the presentation ended, I barely registered the applause around me. She was gathering her papers now, her fingers trembling slightly as she stacked them. The tension in her shoulders was obvious, and I wondered—was she nervous? Did she feel it too?

“Excellent work,” I said, my voice low and clipped, harsher than I intended.

Her head snapped up, her eyes locking with mine again for the briefest second. Her lips pressed together, and she gave me a quick nod before retreating to her seat.

I didn’t need to watch her walk back. But I did. Every step, every shift of her frame, was imprinted in my mind.

The meeting continued around me, voices rising and falling like background noise. I forced myself to sit still, to appear composed, but my thoughts betrayed me.

I was damned.

She had no idea what she was doing to me.

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Heey guysss♥️

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