I've been gone for a long while. Sorry, everyone! Saw a few new reviews that motivated me to post another chapter. Thanks to those of you who have kept reading! Updates will be slow, but I will most likely finish this story.

xoxo Enjoy


"I let you down." Sincerity colored Matteo's voice. When Aleena searched his face she couldn't detect any insincerity. "I'm sorry, Lee. I left you alone in a hard spot and I shouldn't have done that. I should have been there to take the heat as well."

"Yes, you should have but I handled it. I'm capable of doing it, I just think it's better when we do things together." While she wanted Matteo to take responsibility, Aleena didn't want him to think she was completely dependent upon him. The last thing she wanted was a repeat of the month before when they'd barely said a decent thing to each other. She had thought they were at the end of their friendship then, and that had scared her.

Now that she had him back she wanted him by her side. In business matters, that is. Just business matters, right? She thought as she studied an unusually humble looking Matteo, his head bowed as he leant against the door behind him. His white oxford stretched nicely over his fit torso and was tucked into the navy blue straight-leg dress pants he wore. He hadn't styled his loose curls like the day before; instead they were neatly combed into compliance. She ended her perusal with his face, eyes widening when she saw Matteo watching her from under his long dark lashes. She'd always been jealous of those.

"What?" she scowled at his smirk. "You can keep looking, if you'd like." He purred.

"I was just enjoying this moment of you actually being compliant and apologetic. You looked like a wounded puppy."

Matteo decided to let the insult slide and revel in the afterglow of Aleena checking him out. She had looked perplexed, which was exactly how he felt when he caught himself admiring or checking her out for too long.

"Sure, sure. Summery of this little moment: I'm an awful partner, for which I am sorry, but you forgive me and still want to work with me. And you just checked me out for a solid fifteen seconds."

"Summery of this moment: You owe me and you're a fool."

Aleena planned to shoulder past Matteo; therefore, she was rather surprised when he grabbed her hand as she passed him. Sighing, she spoke without looking at him, "Bourdieu, I have things to do."

"I don't want you to walk away still upset with me."

"I'm not upset. "

"Which means you are."

"What do you want from me right now?" Aleena wished she could have kept her voice cool and collected but frustration seeped into her tone.

Matteo tugged her to face him; one hand snuck around her waist and the other tipping up her chin. She found herself pressed firmly against him and the close proximity of their bodies and faces made her breath quicken. She wet her lips quickly with her tongue; his eyes flickered down to observe the motion before meeting hers again.

His normally stormy blue eyes seemed clearer and greyer. She had no idea what he was searching for as he looked so intently at her. Aleena felt his words fan over her skin. "I want you to know how proud I am for what you did today."

If she nodded she was sure she'd bump her forehead on his nose. Even as she leant her head back to create some space, the tip of her nose skimmed his chin.

"And you had to invade my personal space to tell me this?" Her voice came out unusually high pitched and breathy. Space, she needed space before she did something ridiculous—like act on all those thoughts that had been swimming around in her head since the morning after he came over soaking wet and sincerely apologetic. There was something strangely appealing about a man humble enough to admit when he was wrong.

He chuckled softly and dipped he head to press his face against her neck. The smooth, sweet skin there always tempted him. "What are you thinking about?"

This sounds familiar. She thought, willing her heart rate to stop acting like she just ran a five-minute mile. What am I thinking about apart from your mouth on mine? "I'm thinking about how you've been apologizing to me a lot lately. And how you seem to love asking what I'm thinking about when you are trying to distract me."

"Distract you? Me? Never. I'm just giving you a minute to feel less frustrated with me."

She felt heat, warmth, as his mouth moved along her neck with his words. "I'm less frustrated now!" She pushed almost frantically at his chest and slid out of his tight hold.

Less irritated maybe, but suddenly she was a whole lot more frustrated in a specific other way involving rampant hormones.

"Go do your job! I'm leaving soon. I've done enough today." With that, she hurried away. He chuckled as he followed her.

The feeling of her skin was tattooed on his lips and the warmth of her body against his stored away in his memory.