A Way Out

Chapter 9

"Exactly."

I was in a trance, captured by his dynamic eyes. He leaned in and I did the same, having no control over my body whatsoever. My head screamed to get away from him, but at that moment all my heart wanted was to be closer, to feel his skin on mine. His blue eyes held my gaze the entire time. Well, that was until the doors of his office opened and we dashed away from each other.

"Here yo-" Cole began. He looked between the two of us like he was watching a tennis match. Cole wasn't stupid, and I felt busted as I looked down to hide my flushed cheeks, my hair falling in front of my face.

Without giving anything a second thought, I stood up and politely said, "Thank you very much, Mr. Hughes, but I was just leaving." I looked at Donovan Dane. "I will think about your offer."

I quickly turned around, but Donovan Dane's voice stopped me. "I can walk you out."

That was the last thing I wanted, but at the same time, it also seemed like it was all I wanted. Silently I cursed the conflict within my body and without looking at him, I responded, "That won't be necessary. Have a nice day."

I rushed out of his office to the elevators, not caring about my heels clicking against that awful green marble floor. I needed fresh air, otherwise, I felt like I was going to faint. My knees already started buckling.

I passed Kristie, the receptionist on the ground floor, on my way out and heard her mutter, "Bitch." It didn't faze me one bit as I wanted to be out of here as quickly as possible. The air that should've left my lungs constricted inside my chest.

The fresh air greeted me with open arms the moment I burst through the front door of Dane Publishing House. I took in a deep breath as I tried to shake everything off my shoulders. We almost... no. It was a mistake, that's for sure. He had been kind to me, and we both weren't thinking clearly. This man had the ability to make my head spin. All I wanted now was to get home and tell Raleigh what had happened. I wanted this confusion out of my body.

"There is more," Raleigh said as she narrowed her eyes at me. I got home thirty minutes ago and the moment I walked into our apartment I started talking, I didn't even care to take my coat off. I immediately plopped down on the couch and I told Raleigh everything. From the moment I walked into the building to the offer, Donovan Dane and Cole Hughes gave me. I had left out what happened the moment before I rushed out of there.

"No, it's nothing," I tried as I fidgeted with my keys.

"Eve, stop this bullshit. You know there is no point in lying to me," she said, sitting up straight and turning off the TV.  Raleigh knew me too well. There hadn't been a time when she didn't catch me on a lie, so doing it was indeed pointless.

"It's... We were talking about that night when he brought me home from the club. He told me he was different when he was with me and then he started to kind of... lean in?" I quickly said, not knowing how else to describe it. A huge grin appeared on Raleigh's face and her eyes started twinkling.

"Babe this sexy piece of man has the hots for you." She smiled at me before taking a sip of her tea and putting it back on the coffee table.

I gave her a death glare before throwing a pillow at her. "You are crazy. If that's the case, then I won't take the offer. All the objectivity would be out of the window. It wouldn't be fair," I said, feeling disappointed at my own words.

Raleigh rolled her eyes. "You are no fun, but you could ask Cole or whatever his name is to assess your work. That way you can accept the offer." I gave it some thought, and what she said wasn't such a bad idea. I had to come with my own terms. It would make Cole overrule Donovan Dane, and I had a good feeling that he didn't like someone overruling him.