Amanda Berry - L A Cinderella

“I’m sure it is.” Her eyes darted back to the menu. How could he make her relax?

The waiter stopped by and filled their glasses. They both ordered, and he left, leaving them quite alone in the secluded booth.

She started to fiddle with her fork. He laid his hand over hers, stilling her fidgeting. Her eyes were warm pools of chocolate as they met his, but her body tensed.

“I’m not going to pounce on you.”

Panic and disappointment warred on her face before her shoulders dropped slightly. “I know,” she said, as if she knew he’d never do something like that.

He wanted to shake her. His whole body ached to pull her into his arms again and prove to her that even though he said he wouldn’t, he wanted to.

“Natalie.” He waited for her eyes to meet his again. “You are a very attractive woman. No, don’t deny it. I find you incredibly attractive, but-”

“There’s always a but,” she said under her breath.

He blew out a breath and took a drink of water. He’d never have this much difficulty on a set. Everything was scripted already. He knew exactly how the other person was going to react. Natalie eluded him. He couldn’t figure out her character, couldn’t put her into a category.

“As I was saying, you work for my company. I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you last night.” He should say he’d never do it again, but something stilled his tongue.

The moment their lips had met he’d felt something he’d never experienced before. Desire and passion had been full-force in the front, but something had lingered in the back of his mind keeping him awake all night pondering the feeling. He’d felt protective and possessive. Feelings he had no right to have, but she’d felt right in his arms. He couldn’t say he wouldn’t be tempted again.

“I could have stopped you.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

The hesitation in her voice increased his pulse rate. He had to change the topic. “Have you had a chance to go through the papers again?”

Her body relaxed, and her hands stilled. “Yes, and I came up with the same number. As soon as Mr. Morrison leaves for the evening, I plan to go through the bank statements and figure out if he used a check to get the cash or if he made a withdrawal.”

The confidence she exuded when talking about her job always amazed him. The pink receded from her cheeks, and her eyes were animated. This is the way she should always be. This is the way she should be with him.

His body tightened, but he shoved the desire back. For now, she couldn’t be a part of his life except through work.

He remembered the look on Martin’s face in the parking lot. He wasn’t sure if the man suspected anything was going on between them, but he wouldn’t put it past Martin to say something to the press.

“We’ll have to take things carefully, if the files continue to point to Martin.” Chase turned his thoughts back to business, a much safer subject. “He has his fingers in everything at Pandora. Robert and I talked this morning. We’ll need a list of every bank account he has access to.”

“I was just hired to help out. He hasn’t given me a lot of things to do or shown me much.”

The waiter reappeared and set down their lunches.

“The biggest thing is what he will leak to the press when he leaves. There’s no telling what he’ll make up or what he suspects.” He hoped that was enough to warn her. He didn’t want her to start with the two weeks’ notice again. Martin probably wouldn’t try to bring Natalie into it, anyway.

He needed to make sure Martin wouldn’t insinuate anything. That look on the man’s face when he’d seen them in the parking lot had worried Chase. Surely, Martin wouldn’t think anything was happening between Natalie and Chase. Maybe he should stay away from her desk during the day.

They ate in silence. When the waiter removed the plates, Chase turned to Natalie.

“We’ll need someone to help with the transition until we get a new CFO if Martin is implicated. Can I trust you to stay with us until then?”

She hesitated for a moment, and he held his breath waiting for her reply. “Of course.”

“Natalie, will you give me-Pandora Productions-another chance? I think you have a brilliant mind and would be a great asset to our company.”

The red crept up her cheeks. She nodded slightly and lifted her eyes to his. “I’ll try.”

Natalie sat on the edge of her seat, waiting for the clock to turn five. Mr. Morrison had left at the same time every day for the past month she’d worked here, but tonight he was supposed to leave early. With her luck, he’d probably stick around.

Chase had been avoiding her desk all afternoon. After the first hour of waiting for him to pass by her desk, she’d started to relax. She ignored the twinges of disappointment as time continued to pass.

It would be better for both of them if they kept their relationship purely work-related. She could forget how his lips had caressed hers and how the warmth had flooded through her from the touch of his hands.

The door slammed behind her, and she almost fell off her chair. Mr. Morrison locked the door and turned his shifty eyes to her. “I expect the report first thing Monday morning. Just because Mr. Booker took you for a long lunch doesn’t mean you can neglect your work.”

Her cheeks were on fire. “Of course not, Mr. Morrison. I’ve got the numbers tied into the expense reports and just need to categorize two more reports before I’m finished.” She hoped he was convinced by her lie, because she could hear the tremor in her voice and could feel the tightness of her smile.

“Good. I’ll see you Monday morning.” He hefted his briefcase in his hand and was out the door before she could say anything else.

Now she just had to wait for the rest of the office to clear out. Which shouldn’t take long. Over half the staff hadn’t come back after lunch and half of those remaining had taken off early. They had places to go and be seen.

Her phone rang. She stared at it for a moment. The caller ID came up as Unavailable. She really didn’t want to talk to Jared Anderson again, but he wasn’t the only one who had her phone number.

Tentatively, she picked the phone up from the cradle. “This is Natalie. How may I help you?”

“Nat,” Rachel’s voice yelled above the background noise. “Brian finally asked me out.”

“Good for you.”

Rachel had been trying to get Brian from work to ask her out for months now.

“Don’t wait up, sweetie. I don’t think I’ll be home tonight.”

“Be careful.”

“Hey, sorry about the mess in the kitchen, I was experimenting last night with cupcakes. Turns out I can’t cook, so I picked some up at the store this morning. Would you mind cleaning it up? Just in case Brian and I end up back at our place?”

Natalie had seen the mess when she’d come home last night but had been too exhausted physically and emotionally to do anything about it. “Sure. Be safe.”

“Thanks, sweetie. See ya.” The line went dead.

She set down the phone and stood. Time to wander through and see who was left in the building. The hallway runway was quiet as she headed down to fill her water bottle.

She held her breath as she passed by Chase’s closed door and breathed a sigh of relief when nothing happened.

After filling her bottle, feeling confident that no one was left in the building besides Chase and her, she stopped at his door and knocked tentatively.

“Yeah?” She heard from within. She cracked the door open.

“Chase, Mr. Morrison has left for the day.” As she pushed the door open, a pair of feminine legs came into view. Someone was sitting in the guest chair. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

Alexis Brandt was back for her Friday-night pickup.

“It’s all right, Natalie.” Clearly distracted, Chase looked up from some papers on his desk. He held out a set of keys. “Let me know if you need anything.”

She nodded to Chase, took the keys and pulled the door closed. Her chest had tightened, and she could barely breathe. She walked on wooden legs back to Mr. Morrison’s door. Her hands shook as she inserted the keys to find the right one.

She had no reason to feel jealous. She didn’t have any claim to Chase-just because he’d kissed her last night didn’t mean anything. Hadn’t he said that? The keys made a heavy thud when they slipped from her hands.

Squatting, she picked them up and shoved her glasses back up her nose. She was being ridiculous. Guys like Chase went for girls like Alexis. Just because he’d kissed her didn’t mean he felt anything for her. He kissed women as a career. Maybe he’d just been practicing.

She found the right key and pushed into the office. Get what she needed and get out. The sooner she was done, the sooner she could be away from Chase for a whole weekend. A weekend to strengthen her resolve to stay away from him.

Papers covered Mr. Morrison’s desk. Boxes of files covered the floor in front of five gray filing cabinets. This was going to take hours. Natalie shoved the keys into her jacket pocket.

Picking a drawer, she started methodically rummaging through the files. She was so absorbed in the files she tuned out the noises from down the hall. She didn’t care what those two were doing, anyway. It wasn’t any of her business.

After an hour she stretched, trying to loosen her muscles before heading out to her desk.

There had to be a better way. She keyed in her password but didn’t have access to the reports she wanted.

Chase would have the access she needed. Her face grew warm. She didn’t want to interrupt whatever was happening with Alexis.

But this would go a lot faster if she could look at the information in the computer first. If they were waiting for her to finish, this would get them out the door faster, too.