First Rule: Don't Fall For The Enemy

CHAPTER 10

MIRA'S POV

My phone buzzed as I stared at the stack of reports on my desk, the words blurring together after hours of pretending to focus on work.

“Made dinner. Pasta with that sauce you like. Any luck today? - J”

I glanced toward Adrian's office, where he'd been holed up all day, barely emerging except for two brief phone calls. His door had remained firmly closed, making it impossible for me to access his computer or files.

“Be home in 10. Adrian hasn't left his office all day. No opportunities. - M”

I hit send and checked the time. Seven-fifteen. Well past my usual closing time, and the office was nearly empty except for the cleaning crew starting their rounds. I should go home. Jesse was waiting with dinner, probably hoping we could salvage something from yesterday's disaster.

But as I gathered my things, something made me hesitate. Adrian hadn't eaten anything all day that I'd seen, and the light was still on in his office. He was probably still working, probably would be here until midnight again.

Just checking on him, I told myself. Making sure he doesn't need anything before I leave.

I knocked softly on his door, waiting for his gruff "come in" before entering. Adrian was hunched over his desk, his suit jacket discarded, tie loosened, sleeves rolled up. Papers were scattered everywhere, and he looked exhausted.

"I'm heading home," I said. "Is there anything you need before I go?"

He barely looked up. "No. Go home, Elise."

"Have you eaten anything today?"

"I'm fine." His voice was clipped, distant. Different from yesterday's desperate search for me.

"You don't look fine. You look like you haven't slept in days."

This time he did look up, and I saw the weariness in his dark eyes, the tension in his jaw. "I said I'm fine."

"When's the last time you had a proper meal? Or more than three hours of sleep?"

"Elise." He set down his pen with deliberate control. "I appreciate your concern, but I don't need a mother. I need you to go home."

The dismissal stung, but I could see through it. This was about yesterday, about him looking for me and not finding me. About whatever he'd wanted to tell me that had made him search the entire building.

"What did you want to talk to me about yesterday?" I asked, taking a step closer to his desk.

His jaw tightened. "It wasn't important."

"It seemed important. Important enough to have Margaret help you search for me."

"You left early. I needed to discuss the Morrison account." The lie came easily, but I could see the truth in his eyes.

"The Morrison account that isn't scheduled for review until next month?"

He looked away, focusing on the papers in front of him. "Go home, Elise. Please."

There was something raw in that last word, something that made my chest tight. I should leave. Should go home to Jesse and the dinner he'd made and try to pretend that my heart wasn't breaking for the exhausted man in front of me.

Instead, I moved around his desk. "Let me help you with these files. You'll be here all night at this rate."

"I don't need—"

"Adrian." I used his first name deliberately, and saw his shoulders tense at the sound. "Let me help."

For a moment, I thought he'd refuse again. Then he sighed, a sound so tired it made me want to wrap my arms around him.

"The Henderson merger documents need to be sorted by date," he said quietly. "And the Blackstone contracts need to be cross-referenced with the legal amendments."

"I can do that."

I moved to the filing cabinet where he'd indicated the documents were stored, hyperaware of his presence behind me. When I opened the drawer, several files tumbled out, papers scattering across the floor.

"Damn," I muttered, dropping to my knees to gather them up.

"Here, let me—" Adrian was suddenly beside me, both of us reaching for the same scattered documents.

Our fingers brushed as we both grabbed for a contract, the contact sending electricity shooting through my hand. I looked up to find his face inches from mine, his dark eyes intense and searching.

"Elise," he whispered, and I could hear everything he wasn't saying in that single word.

"Adrian—"

"I looked for you yesterday because I needed to tell you something." His hand covered mine, warm and solid. "I needed to tell you that I can't stop thinking about you."

My breath caught. "You shouldn't—"

"I know I shouldn't. I know this is complicated, dangerous. But sitting in this office without you, wondering where you'd gone, it made me realize something."

"What?"

"That I'm falling for you. Hard." His thumb traced across my knuckles. "And I don't think I can pretend otherwise anymore."

I stared into his eyes, seeing the vulnerability there, the raw honesty that he rarely let anyone see. This was the moment I should pull away, should remind him about professional boundaries, should think about Jesse waiting at home.

Instead, I found myself leaning closer.

"This is a mistake," I whispered.

"Probably." His free hand came up to cup my cheek. "Do you care?"

"I should."

"But do you?"

I looked at his lips, at the way they curved slightly when he was nervous, at the five o'clock shadow that made him look less like a corporate shark and more like a man. A man who was looking at me like I was the most precious thing in his world.

"No," I breathed. "I don't care."

That was all the permission he needed. His lips crashed against mine with a desperation that took my breath away, all the weeks of tension and restraint finally breaking free. This wasn't the careful, controlled man I knew from board meetings. This was raw need, pure want, everything he'd been holding back poured into this single moment.

I kissed him back with equal fervor, my hands fisting in his shirt, pulling him closer. He tasted like coffee and mint and something uniquely him that made my head spin. When his tongue swept across my lower lip, I opened for him eagerly, a soft moan escaping as he deepened the kiss.

His hands tangled in my hair, tilting my head to give him better access, and I felt myself drowning in the sensation. This was what I'd been craving without realizing it, what every almost-moment had been building toward. The way he kissed me was consuming, desperate, like he was trying to pour two months of wanting into this single connection.

"God, Elise," he groaned against my lips. "I've wanted this for so long."

"Adrian—"

My phone buzzed in my pocket, the sound cutting through the haze of desire like a cold slap. Reality crashed back in a rush—Jesse. Dinner. The promise I'd made to be home in ten minutes.

I jerked back, my lips swollen, my breathing ragged. Adrian's eyes were dark with desire, his hair messed from my fingers, and he looked so beautiful it made my chest ache.

"I have to go," I said, scrambling to my feet.

"Elise, wait—"

"I can't. I'm sorry, I can't do this."

I grabbed my purse and rushed toward the door, not trusting myself to look back. Because if I looked back, if I saw the hurt in his eyes, I might not leave at all.

"Elise!" he called after me, but I was already gone, running toward the elevator like my life depended on it.

The ride down seemed to take forever, giving me time to fix my hair and wipe away the evidence of what had just happened. But I could still taste him on my lips, could still feel the ghost of his hands in my hair.

I made it home in record time, my heart still pounding from the kiss and the panic of almost being caught. But as I approached my building, I saw Jesse outside by the dumpster, throwing away garbage bags.

"Hey," he called when he saw me. "You're late again."

I forced a smile, hoping he couldn't see the guilt written all over my face. "Sorry. Lost track of time."

"Doing what?" His eyes were suspicious, searching. "I thought you said Adrian didn't leave his office all day."

"He didn't. I was just... finishing up some reports. You know how it is."

"Do I?" He moved closer, and I fought the urge to step back. "Because you look a little flustered."

"Just tired. It's been a long day."

Jesse studied my face for a moment longer, then nodded. "Well, dinner's ready. I made that pasta you like."

"That sounds perfect," I said, following him toward the building.

But as we walked up the stairs to our apartment, I caught my reflection in the hallway mirror. My lips were still slightly swollen, my cheeks flushed, my eyes bright with the memory of Adrian's kiss.

And for the first time since this assignment began, I realized I was living a double life. Lying to Jesse. Lying to myself.

And I wasn't sure I could stop.