Elena’s POV

“Stay late again, Elena.”

Julian Crowe’s voice hit me the second I stepped into his corner office. Low. Rough. Like he already knew I would say yes.

“I have plans,” I said, even though we both knew that was a lie. My only plan was going home to an empty apartment and trying not to think about him.

He didn’t look up from the contract spread across his desk. The top two buttons of his black shirt were open. His tie hung loose around his neck. The sight of that bare strip of throat made my stomach tighten.

“Cancel them.”

I closed the door harder than I meant...