Holding Out For Skye (7 page)

“That’s fine. You can ask me things as you think them up.”

Thinking of how all this was new for her, Skye tugged at his hand, stopping him.

“Is there anything else I should know?”

Cian thought fast. He had better take advantage of her ignorance while he could. It was probably the only chance he’d get to crop up opportunities to get closer to her before she caught on to him.

“Well, couples talk to each other every night and spend as much time as they can. Kisses and hugs are a given. Oh, and holding hands.” He gave their held hands a swing.

Skye gave him a suspicious look. Was he swindling her? “Phone calls
every
night?”

“Yep. Unless otherwise occupied.” Oh, she didn’t know how much the suspicion in her eyes delighted him. Dating her was going to be like a roller-coaster ride—nerve-racking and filled with exciting upheavals.
Not to mention the
awesome kisses.

“One kiss and one hug per week. And I’ll think about the holding hands part.” Her stomach quivered as she thought of the kiss.

They entered their office building and headed for the bank of elevators. He still hadn’t let go of her hand.

“Per week?
Please.
You’ve got a lot to learn. Every
day
. One in the morning, and one for the evening.”

“Week.”

He merely smiled at her. “We’ll see.”

Uh, uh, that didn’t bode well. Well, she would just have to stay on her guard. Skye tried to withdraw her hand, only to be thwarted. “Cian, we’re at the office.”

“So?”

“So, you can let go of my hand now.”

“But I don’t want to.”

“
Cian!
”

“Fine, don’t get your feathers all ruffled up.” He reluctantly let go of her hand and curled his into a fist. His hand felt empty without her. He had never felt this way with any of the women he had dated.

Skye felt bereft at the loss of the contact. His touch seemed to strike a chord inside her and fill her with warmth. And a strange excitement. She tried not to blush at her thoughts. She probably needed to have her head examined. Now that they were at the office, she felt nervous again. Was this going to affect their work relationship?

Briskly, she said, “We need some ground rules for when we’re in the office. No holding hands, no kissing or hugging.”

“You’re no fun,” he complained.

“Cian, I mean it. I don’t want Marina to have doubts about whether we can be professionals or not.”

“Yes, by all means let’s be professional,” Cian stated in a dry tone. When she stared at him pointedly, he sighed. “Fine. But we’re not keeping it a secret that we’re together.” The look on his face said he wasn’t going to budge on that point.

“Okay,” she assented reluctantly.

Just then, the elevator doors opened with a
ding.
As when they had left, Skye was dismayed to see that the cab was empty, leaving her alone with Cian. He gestured for her to get in first. For all his teasing and annoying ways, she was always surprised when he acted the perfect gentleman. She didn’t know why his chivalry should surprise her but it did.

He grinned at the look on her face. She
humphed
and once inside took the opposite side from him. But this time, he moved to stand closer to her, emphasizing the change in their status quo.

Skye had to fight the sudden urge to laugh, even though she didn’t find their situation funny at all. Watching the numbers flash, it really hit her that she was now his girlfriend. The bottom of her stomach dropped.

She was Cian Hunter’s
girlfriend
.

“Oh my god, I’m going to be sick.”

The elevator reached their floor. With another
ding
, the doors slid open and they got out.

Understanding her reaction, Cian gave her an amused look. “There, there, dear.” He patted her back. “Be a brave little bird now.”

“Bite me.”

“Where?” Cian whispered in her ear, even as he cautioned himself to be careful with her.

Skye’s breath hitched and she inched away from him. Oh god, what was he doing to her? Taking a deep breath, she ordered herself to get a grip and muttered, “Note to self—remember not to use those words around Cian again.”

He chuckled as she opened the door to their office and they stepped inside. Nick had pulled his chair near Thea’s desk and they were talking quietly. They both looked up at the sound of the door opening.

Everything was the same and yet not. The walls were the same white color, her laptop was on her desk as she’d left it.

She
had changed. Skye wasn’t the same person who had gone out to lunch. Nick and Thea watched them with matching concerned looks.

Before she could even open her mouth, Cian announced with great satisfaction from behind her, “Skye and I are dating. For real.”

CHAPTER FIVE

“And you managed that how?” Nick asked wryly.

“I didn’t.
She
begged me to go out with her.” He pointed a thumb at Skye.

Nick snorted and Thea’s mouth dropped open. Skye turned to Cian with a murderous look on her face and punched him on the shoulder.

“Ow! What? I’m just telling the truth,” he said innocently, rubbing at his shoulder. “If I had known you were such a violent woman, I would never have said yes.”

Skye’s eyes filled with menace. “Drowning is too good for you. Strangling too kind. I think pouring boiling oil over you when you’re all tied up with huge ants making mincemeat out of you would be better. Much, much better.”

“My, my, what a vindictive woman you are. You’re going to make my little heart go pitty-pat. I didn’t know I was the star of your secret little fantasies.”

“
Argghhhhh!
” Skye gave a little scream, and curled her hands as if she was going to strangle Cian on the spot. Cian, unaware or more like uncaring of his soon-approaching-demise, continued to grin.

Nick and Thea looked at each other and sighed in exasperation. They were never going to change. It would have been pointless to have thought it’d be otherwise.

“Children,” Nick called out dryly. Skye snapped glaring eyes in his direction, while merriment continued to play in Cian’s. Oh, Cian was a goner, all right. “Before you kill each other, Marina wants you both in her office the moment you get back.”

Skye’s eyes widened. “We are so busted.”

“Oh, please. She just wants to give us a lecture for staying out of the office so late.” Cian held out his hand to her. “Shall we?”

Ignoring his outstretched hand, Skye dropped her bag on her desk. As she walked past him, she reached out and jabbed him with her elbow.

Cian winced, thinking it wouldn’t be manly to let out a groan. He should have remembered those sharp little elbows—he had been on the receiving end of them more often than not.

“See you guys in a bit,” Skye addressed Nick and Thea as she and Cian left to see their boss.

The moment they were gone, Thea turned to Nick. “Are they really dating?”

Nick sighed again. Seemed like he did that a lot around Skye and Cian. “Impossible as it looks, yes I believe they are. God help them.”

SKYE WORRIED her bottom lip as they walked to Marina’s office. She wondered what their boss would have to discuss with the two of them. It was too much to hope that it wouldn’t be about the boyfriend-girlfriend thing.

Skye had a healthy dose of fear and respect for her boss. Marina Blake expected nothing less from her team than what she expected from herself, which was hard work and professional behavior. She was strict when warranted and she didn’t tolerate laziness and sloppy work. She could be a force to reckon with but she was always fair and reasonable.

“Quit worrying, you’re making
me
feel guilty when I haven’t even done anything yet,” said her laid-back new boyfriend.

Skye closed her eyes, sending up a prayer to give her the strength not to kill him. What had she gotten herself into? She was instantly ashamed of herself. She had gone into this with her eyes wide open.

As if sensing her thoughts, (how the hell did he do that anyway?) Cian took her hand and started, “If you’re having second thoughts—”

But she cut him off fiercely, “
No
. No, I’m not.” She gave his hand a squeeze and then dropped it as she raised hers to knock on Marina’s door. At the terse “Come in,” they glanced at each other and entered her office.

Marina watched the two unorthodox members of her team. Oh, they did their job well enough. They just never seemed to
settle
, perpetually setting each other off. Some argument always seemed to be occurring between these two, most of the time instigated by Cian. It amazed her that this contrary reaction between them made them better at their job instead of creating problems.

Skye would never admit it but Marina had a feeling Cian knew very well that they both stimulated each other. In a strange way they seemed to complement one another. Marina was surprised it had taken this long for them to end up together, she’d thought it’d be sooner rather than later.

“Marina, you asked to see us?” Skye ventured nervously. Cian had a nonchalant look on his face.

“Take a seat.” She sat back and tapped her fingers on her desk. “I won’t beat about the bush. Are you two dating or not?”

Skye and Cian shared a look and as one said, “Vanessa.” Since Vanessa worked in the same company as them, she’d probably wasted no time in rushing to their boss about the two of them dating.

They turned back to Marina, and Skye nodded as Cian said firmly, “Yes. Is it going to be a problem?”

“Cian!” Skye admonished him but Cian stared steadily at Marina.

“You tell me. Is this going to cause problems for our team output? Dating among co-workers is not prohibited but it
is
discouraged. And if there is any hint at all of disorder and unprofessional work, the employees are either shifted to other teams or even dismissed. And I do
not
want my team to be disbanded and be stuck training another new member.”

Skye took a deep breath. This was important, she couldn’t mess this up. “No, our dating will not cause a problem to our work. I give you my word.”

Marina nodded at that. “And if you have any fights in your personal life, won’t it affect your professional one?”

Skye blinked. “But we
always
fight.” Cian grinned at that and she realized it didn’t help their case.

Marina’s lips twitched. “There is that,” she agreed.

Skye tried again. “Even if we do fight, or if we break up—” she looked at Cian, saw the protest in his eyes at the ‘break up’ part, “I give you my word, it will not affect our work.”

“Cian?” Marina waited for his answer.

Cian held Skye’s eyes a moment longer and then he nodded. “It will not affect our work even if we do break up.”

“All right then. Let this be the last we talk of this matter.”

“Thank you, Marina.” Skye started to get up, relieved. But Cian wasn’t letting this go as easily.

“That’s it? You just take us at our word and we can go back to work?”

Skye sent him a horrified what-the-hell-are-you-doing look. Cian ignored her as he looked at their boss. Surprisingly, Marina smiled.

“Yes. As Skye stated herself, you’re always fighting and it hasn’t affected your work so far. As it is, I trust it when my team gives me their word. Furthermore,” Marina continued, now in an icy tone, “I do not appreciate employees below my pay grade calling to lecture me on how I should handle
my
team.”

In spite of herself, Skye was curious. “Vanessa?”

“Yes,” Marina confirmed annoyingly. “And she has since learned the error of her ways.” Turning to Cian, she remarked, “That’s one douche-bag of an ex-girlfriend you have there, Cian.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Cian grinned.

Skye had to fight not to giggle.

“Now, what the hell are you two still doing in my office? Dismissed.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” they chorused as they scrambled out of the office.

Outside in the corridor, Skye giggled. “Oh, to have been a fly on the wall when Vanessa called!”

“Marina must have been really pissed off.”

They looked at each other then burst out laughing.

Nick and Thea were waiting for them anxiously. Cian and Skye quickly filled them in. They both laughed as they too knew Marina didn’t suffer fools. Vanessa would have been no match for her.

“That will teach the cheating skunk!” Thea said satisfactorily.

Skye couldn’t help giggling at Thea’s description of Vanessa. It was a little funny coming from Thea, since she was one of the nicest persons she’d ever known and never had a bad word for anyone. In fact, she never even swore. Not like her. She smirked at Cian as she told Thea how Marina had called Vanessa, ‘Cian’s douche-bag girlfriend’.

Cian chuckled. “I’ve since ‘seen the error of my ways’,” he quoted Marina’s words, “and come up in the world and found a much better one.” He stared pointedly at Skye.

Skye’s breath caught in her throat and she coughed as she looked away from him.
What was he doing to her?

She cleared her throat. “Right. We better get to work.” She turned to her laptop, ignoring Cian’s knowing look.

CHAPTER SIX

The next day, Friday, Skye dragged herself into the office, eyes gritty and looking half-asleep. Nick and Thea were already there.
And of course, Cian
looked all bright-eyed
, Skye thought sourly.

“Mornin’,” she grumbled, as she dropped her bag on her desk.

“Hey, Skye.” Nick smiled at her.

“Hi,” Thea said.

She and Nick looked like they had color-coordinated today. Nick had on a long-sleeved dark blue shirt over black trousers which went well with his dark good looks and Thea was wearing a beautiful knee-length navy dress, with short sleeves, and small bright blue embroidered flowers at the neckline and on the hem. Their dark clothes were a soothing balm to her sore eyes.

“Hi, Skye. How are you this beautiful day?” Cian flashed her a wide smile. Of course
he
was wearing a blinding white shirt that brought out his light eyes and hurt
hers
. Light gray trousers completed his outfit.

“Aren’t we all bright and chipper this morning?” Sarcasm dripped from her words.

Cian bit back a grin at her snide tone. She would probably punch him if he told her how cute she looked when she was being surly. Nick gave him a questioning look. He just shrugged.

“I have a feeling I’m going to regret asking this, but why do you look so sleep-starved?” Nick ventured reluctantly.

“Ask that—that
moron
!” Eyes narrowed to slits, Skye pointed a finger at Cian, a murderous look on her face. “It’s all
his
fault!”

“What? I’m innocent.” Cian looked like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth.

Nick sighed. He should have known. He and Thea exchanged glances. “What did he do
now
?”

“He kept me up all night talking on the goddamn phone and talking and talking and talking.” She made claws of her fingers as she rambled off. “I don’t know why we have to talk on the phone every night when we’re just going to meet at work. Why do couples have to talk
every
night? And
all
night? Don’t they have to go to work the next morning? Don’t they have
things
to do? How do they
do
it? I don’t
get
it. What’s the big
freaking deal
? But
noooo
, I had to listen to his annoying voice all night until the damn alarm clock blasted my damn ear off!”

She rooted around her drawer for her large mug which was a pretty dark blue with the words, “COFFEE MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO GET OUT OF BED, BUT CHOCOLATE MAKES IT WORTHWHILE” emblazoned in a beautiful white script on one side of it. It had been a gift from Kiera, who had told her the words suited her perfectly. She sent Cian another vicious glare and headed for the small common break room on their floor.

For a moment, there was silence and then Thea giggled. Nick fought not to smile, but lost the battle and laughed out loud. Cian chuckled.

“Does she know that it’s not a must to talk on the phone
every
night and that she could have just turned off her phone?” Thea stared pointedly at Cian.

“Do me a favour, don’t tell her that,” Cian said wryly.

“She’ll catch on to you sooner or later,” Nick warned.

Cian grinned and rubbed his hands in diabolical fashion. “Oh, but think what fun I’ll have in the meantime.”

Thea shook her head at him. “You are so bad. She’ll get you back for this.”

Cian smiled in anticipation. “I can’t wait.”

STILL STEAMED UP, Skye trudged to the break room, which was equipped with a table, chairs and a kitchen counter holding a microwave, coffeemaker, a kettle and a sink. There was a refrigerator in one corner of the room. She headed straight for the coffeemaker, hoping that the coffee would make her feel alive at least, if not more awake.

She was staring at it with bleary eyes, willing the brew to get done soon when Ash sauntered in. He was his usual gorgeous self, with his dark hair and green eyes and his
blinding white
shirt
.

Oh my god, not another freaking white shirt!
Skye thought as she pressed her hand to her eyes. Looked like she was doomed to see white everywhere today.

“You look like shit,” he greeted cheerfully.

“Thanks a lot,” Skye returned sarcastically.

He laughed. “Hey, you’re welcome.”

Skye pulled her hand away from her eyes and glanced at him. He looked so much like Ian Somerhalder that she’d been surprised he didn’t have a big head. He actually hated it that he looked like the actor. He’d told her once that with his looks, he was never going to meet someone who actually wanted to know the
real
him.

To her bewilderment, they’d bonded somehow. Skye was still puzzled how they’d managed to become friends. She scowled. It was all Nick, Thea and Cian’s fault. You became friends with those three and now there were all these people she cared about in her life!

“Earth to Skye! Earth calling to Skye! Come in please.”

Skye blinked to find Ash snapping his fingers in front of her face. “Don’t do that! It’s annoying!”

Laughter burst out of him again. She sent him a disgruntled look.

“I saw you come in. Came to say hi.”

Ash leaned back against the counter and watched her as she poured coffee into her mug. She blew on it and took a sip, closing her eyes in pleasure. The coffee gave her the much needed kick to start the day.

“So what’s going on between you and Hunter?”

“What do you mean?”

“Is it true about you two dating?”

She sighed. “Unfortunately yes. Does
everyone
know?”

Ash smirked. “Pretty much, yeah. About damn time too.”

“What do you mean?”

“The sparks between you and Hunter could light up the whole building.”

Skye could feel her cheeks firing up with color. “
What?
”

He gave her a knowing look. “Seeing how thickheaded
you
are, I thought either he’d figure out you had the hots for each other or he wouldn’t and you’d eventually kill him.”

“That’s ludicrous! I don’t have the hots for him.” Did she? She couldn’t deny the sparks between her and Cian.

“Liar, liar, pants on fire.”

She rolled her eyes at him.
“
Very mature. I’m leaving now.”

“Wait, wait. You’re too easy to tease.”

“Hardy har har. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Yeah, when your new boyfriend lets you.”

“Like he could stop me,” she drawled as she left, his laughter ringing in her ears.

WHEN SKYE GOT back with her coffee, Cian held out a white unmarked box to her. She stared at it, then regarded him suspiciously.

“Don’t worry, it won’t bite,” he reassured, trying not to grin at the look on her face.

“With you, who knows?” She set her mug on her desk and sat down.

Cian sent Nick a pointed look when he chuckled. Thea tried not to smile.

“C’mon, you know you want to open it.” Cian waved the box temptingly in front of her.

“I don’t, I really don’t,” she told him warily.

“You know you do,” he differed.

She sipped her drink, brown eyes full of suspicion, staring at him as if any minute now he was going to sprout horns. It made him grin. She was so cute.

Skye gave him another distrustful look, then with a sigh, took the box. Her eyes widened with surprise and greed when she opened it. The box was full of half a dozen chocolate donuts.

“Donuts,” she breathed. “
Oh my god, Chocolate Donuts.
” Her mouth watered. She absolutely
loved
chocolate donuts.

Cian grinned as he watched her reverently take one out. Oh, he definitely knew the way to her heart.

Skye took a bite, then moaned as the flavor exploded in her mouth. “
Oh… my… god.
”

Cian inwardly groaned. If she knew how much that look on her face had him wanting to kiss her… . She opened her eyes and their gazes met. What she saw on his face put a blush on hers.
Or maybe she did know
, he thought as she quickly looked away.
Interesting.

Nick watched them both, and then shared a smile with Thea. This was going very well. “So, can I have one?”

Skye eyed him owlishly. “Mine.”

“Aww, come on, you know you can’t eat all of them,” Nick protested.

“Says who?” Skye inquired.

“Says me,” Nick said.

“I don’t have to eat all of them
today
. I can eat them tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, and the day after that,” Skye replied.

“Seriously?” Nick said in disbelief, though he shouldn’t have been surprised. When it came to food, Skye wasn’t known to share.

“I’m not sharing,” Skye declared.

“You’ll get sick, you know,” Nick pointed out.

Skye only pulled the box closer. “Mine. Get your own.”

“Com’on, don’t go all
Gollum
on me. It’s just one doughnut,” Nick justified.

In reply to that, Skye wrapped her arms possessively around the box and in a dramatic voice, quoted, “
Precious, my precious.
”

Nick gave her a mock grimace. Thea giggled.

“I thought you’d be like that,” Cian drawled in an amused tone, “so… . .” He pulled out another box from his drawer, this one with
Dunkin’ Donuts
written on the side. He had gotten an unmarked box especially for Skye so he could surprise her. He handed it to Nick, who smiled at Skye with glee.

Skye’s mouth dropped open. “You didn’t!”

“I did,” he confirmed, gray eyes glittering with humor.

Skye eyed the other box thoughtfully and wondered if she could grab it from them. Accurately guessing her thoughts, Cian smirked. “Not a chance in hell, sweetheart. I wouldn’t try it if I were you. You’ve got yours.”

She huffed and gave him a look of betrayal. Cian laughed. “Aw, come on, you know you don’t share.”

“I’m not talking to you.” Finishing off her donut, she stashed
her
box into her drawer and took another gulp of coffee. With the sugar and caffeine rush, her system was more awake and ready to work.

“That’s okay, we don’t have to talk,” Cian acceded.

“There’s glazed and chocolate and… .” Nick noted around a mouthful of doughnut.

Skye looked at Cian warily. It wasn’t like him to give in so easily. “What do you mean ‘We don’t have to talk’,” she ventured cautiously.

“Yummy. I better take only one.” Thea took out a sugar-powdered one and daintily took a bite.

“Just that,” Cian stated.

Okay, he
was up to something
, Skye thought. “And ‘that’ means
what
exactly?”

Cian relished the coming explosion. He said casually, “Oh, just that there’s a lot of
other
stuff we can do that doesn’t require speaking.”

“What stuff?”

Nick and Thea hid their smiles. They knew exactly what Cian was getting at.

“For example,
kissing
is an action that doesn’t require speaking. We can just do that. I’m
very
agreeable to it.”

Skye’s face went red. She remembered the kiss all too well. Nick coughed and Thea slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. Skye shot Cian daggers with her eyes. If looks could kill, he’d be dead on the spot. He shot her a shit-eating grin in return. Before she could come up with a comeback though, there was a knock on the door, and Marina stepped in.

She watched them with a sharp glance. “Good morning. I see you’re having a party.”

The four of them hustled to look dignified as they wished her a good morning.

“We were just discussing the schedule for today,” Nick started.

Marina gave him a pointed look, then smiled. “You’re not in any trouble. Skye, your half-day leave for today was approved. You may leave at lunch. Just let Nick know if you have any pressing work that needs to be attended to.”

“Thanks, Marina. There’s nothing urgent so I can get to it on Monday,” Skye told her.

“Alright then. See you on Monday.” Marina turned to leave.

“Doughnut?” Nick held out the box.

Marina thought about it, then said, “Why not? I might as well live dangerously.” She took out a sprinkle-covered one and left.

Cian turned to Skye. “Half-day?” he asked in a tranquil tone that to Skye brooked trouble. Was he pissed-off she hadn’t told him? He sure didn’t look it.

Cian was pissed-off. When had she planned on telling him?

“Uh, yeah,” Skye replied nervously.

“When were you going to tell me?” he said, still in that same tone.

Nick and Thea wisely kept their mouths shut and turned to their work.

“Um, now?”

“I see.”

Skye was annoyed. It wasn’t like she had been planning to keep it a secret from him. “Look, I wasn’t hiding it from you. I was going to tell you. Kiera called me last night. The school she was teaching at let her go because they said they had too many teachers they couldn’t afford and she was really down in the dumps about it. So I’m meeting her for lunch and we’re going to hang out. Hopefully it will cheer her up.”

“You don’t have to explain yourself to me,” Cian told her.

“Yes I do. We’re dating, aren’t we? And sulking doesn’t become you.”

“Yes it does. I look very good at it. When did she call you? I thought I was the only one who called you last night.”

Shit. He
had
to ask that question, of course. He never let her get away with anything. “She called before you.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me last night, when I talked to you
right
after she called
?”

“Honestly? I was exhausted and didn’t think of it. And then I fell asleep,” she said apologetically.

Cian relented. “Okay. Did you tell her about us?”

An
uh-oh
look slipped over Skye’s face.

“You didn’t tell your
best friend
about us?” Oh, he knew damn well she hadn’t. She was so going to owe him. He thought about what he could get out of her.