Tempted & Taken (Men of Haven #4)(19)
As soon as she pushed the brew button, he faced her, which made her wonder if he hadn’t been clued in to her every move the entire time. He prowled forward, eyes roving her apartment as though cataloguing every inch. Glancing back toward her bedroom, his gait hitched the tiniest bit when his gaze landed on her disheveled bed. He recovered fast, though, locking stares with her and motioning toward her desk chair with a jerk of his head. “Sit.”
“It would be rude to sit while you stood.” She motioned to the couch behind him. “We can sit there if you like.”
He grinned, leaned his shoulder against the wall that separated her galley kitchen from the living room and crossed his arms. “If you’re gonna argue every time I tell you to do something, me teaching you isn’t gonna last long.”
“But—”
“I’m not the formal sit-on-the-sofa-and-chat type. I sprawl. Usually with a computer or a game controller in my hands. Considering I barely know you and my laptop’s out in the car, I’m not gonna kick my feet up on your pristine cushions and make myself at home. At least not yet. Now, sit.”
She bit back pointing out that she wasn’t a dog, but just barely.
The full-on smile he shot her said she’d conveyed the thought regardless. “You sure you want to work with me?”
Lifting one brow, she practically stomped to her chair and planted her butt in the seat but did it sideways so she kept him in her direct line of sight.
His attention dropped to the hem of her robe where it rested mid-thigh and his smile slipped.
For a second, she couldn’t breathe. Could only focus on the building pulse and ready slickness between her legs. The way he looked at her, the intensity behind it, she could almost imagine his touch, warm and confident as it slipped between her knees up the insides of her thighs until he cupped her sex.
He pushed off the wall and meandered to the kitchen counter, thankfully shattering the moment before she did something stupid like peel her robe back and take care of business herself.
“You might as well learn up front, I’m bossy as hell,” he said. “I’ve got a certain way I do things. Nothing half-ass.” He opened the cabinet right above her coffee maker and snagged a mug like he’d been there a thousand times before.
She snapped taller in her chair. “How’d you know where the cups were?”
“Why’d you put ’em right above the coffee maker?”
“Because that’s where they’re most convenient.”
He glanced back at her, smirked and shut the cabinet door. “That’s how I knew.” He scanned her tidy countertop. “You do milk or sugar?”
“I can make my own.”
“Didn’t ask that. I asked if you take milk or sugar.”
“No. I like it better black.”
“That because you don’t have a sweet tooth, or because you like to hurry up and get down to business?”
She swallowed, the tone in his voice making her question if they were talking about coffee preferences or something far more personal. “I like to get down to business.”
He nodded, but his lips twitched as though fighting back another smile. Turning, he rested his hips against the countertop and curled his fingers around the edge. “Where were we?”
“You’re bossy and nothing half-ass,” she said before her brain could check the flippant retort.
This time he didn’t even try to hide the grin. “When Jason was extolling my virtues, did he also happen to mention I’m arrogant, compulsively organized, controlling and nosey in a way you’re sure to hate inside of one week?”
“I promise you, I’ve met men far more arrogant and controlling than you, and I’m certain I could top your organizational skills if given a chance. So, if you’re trying to scare me off, it won’t work. If you don’t want to take a chance on me, then speak your mind and move on, but I’m not stopping until I’m successful. The only uncertainty is the path I take to get there.”
She wasn’t sure what response she’d expected her rant to generate. Surprise maybe. Irritation for sure. After all, he’d pushed her buttons this morning, so turnabout was fair play. But instead of either, he clipped a quick nod. “Good answer. God knows, you’re gonna need that attitude to get you through the next few months.”
Behind him, the coffee machine spewed and gurgled the last of its cycle.
Knox pushed off the counter, turned and pulled the carafe off the burner. “I doubt you’ve checked your email since I woke you up, but you’ll find three links to different training programs I’ve set up for you.”
“You did?” She spun to her computer and waggled her mouse to bring her screen to life. “There wasn’t anything when I went to sleep last night.”
“Like I said, I don’t sleep much.” The clunk and slide of the coffeepot moving across the warmer sounded behind her mixed with the hiss of a few coffee drops sizzling against the plate. “That’s another thing you’ll have to get used to. I do most of my code reviews overnight so expect to get hit first thing in the morning.”
Zeroing in on his email the second it loaded in her inbox, she clicked on the first of the training links. A browser session opened listing at least fifteen modules with descriptions too dense with information to process with him watching over her shoulder.