3

                                    

                                          
Taehyung watched as an expression of panic crossed Jennie's face. Yet she seemed unable to take her eyes off the jewelry box he held. She inched forward, the way one would approach a rattlesnake. By the time she finally pried open the box, her fingers were nearly trembling. For a second she stared at the contents with confusion.
"Earrings," she said with a sigh.
Only then did he realize she might have expected something else. Like an engagement ring. Funny how the thought of offering her one of those didn't make him feel nervous at all. But the sheer relief on her face meant only one thing. The thought did make her nervous.
She thrust the earrings toward him and grabbed her shoe from him. "I can't accept these."
"Why not?" he asked, refusing to take back the box.
Standing on one foot, she slipped her foot into her shoe. "That's just not the kind of relationship we have."
"I want a different kind of relationship with you."
He'd been Jennie's lover for more than a month now. She'd insisted they keep their affair a secret because he was her boss, but he was done playing games. He was tired of sneaking around and hiding how he felt. He wanted more.
"It's time to decide what you really want." He studied her expression, taking in the way her eyes widened a little, before her expression became shuttered. She was so damned closed off."Obviously what I want has nothing to do with this." She retrieved her suit jacket from where it had fallen by his office door and slipped into it with brusque efficiency.
It was hard to believe mere minutes ago she'd been lying draped over his chest, exhausted from making love to him not just once, but twice within the past hour. It had always been like that between them: fast and passionate, nearly uncontrollable.
"This relationship has been all about what you want. You've been so worried about people finding out we're together. But I don't care what other people think."
"Of course you don't care. You built one of the most successful biotech companies in the country out of nothing but hard work and sheer determination. No one can accuse you of sleeping your way to the top."
He leveled his gaze at her. "I can personally guarantee that no one will accuse you of that either."
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah. That'll be subtle."
He quirked an eyebrow. "Subtlety has never been my strong suit."
Her gaze drifted over his naked chest as if measuring the strength of his will based on the bulk of his body. "No," she agreed. "No one would ever accuse you of that either." Then she sighed. "I'm not trying to be difficult, but try to see it from my point of view. This is the first job I've had where I didn't work for my brother. And, sure, it's nice having pull with the boss, but most of the time it creates more problems than it solves. Everyone assumes you're skating by on something other than your own hard work." "You did a great job at FMT. Kim Enterprises never would have hired you if you hadn't."
"Exactly. I worked my ass off at FMT. And no one in management so much as hinted that I wasn't doing my job. But I was never as effective as I could have been. When you work in human resources, people have to think you're on their side. Any relationship they think you have with the uppity–ups only gets in the way."
As much as he loved this willful streak of hers, man, it was getting in his way now. He could read her thoughts as easily as if some cartoonist had drawn thought bubbles over her head.
The jewelry he'd given her had freaked her out. Not because she'd wanted it to be a ring and it wasn't. But because for a moment there, she'd been afraid that it was a ring. Which meant the thought of committing to him frightened her.
And that didn't sit well with him. He'd meant the earrings to move their relationship forward. Instead, she was digging in her heals, forcing their relationship to a standstill. Whatever deeply personal reason she had for her behavior, she thought she could hide it behind this excuse about how an affair with him endangered her credibility.
But he wasn't falling for it. If those tactics had worked with the other men she'd dated, no wonder she was still single. He wasn't so easily distracted. And he certainly hadn't built Kim Enterprises into a Fortune 500 company by playing it safe."Okay," he said. "I see your point. In order for you to do your job, people have to trust you. But if that's true, then hiding our relationship is even more of a mistake. Nothing stays hidden forever. Sooner or later, someone is going to find out we're involved. And when they do, it's only going to be worse. The smart thing to do would be to come clean now and tell everyone we're involved."
He watched her carefully, her expression all but unreadable. Odd how he recognized every twitch of desire that crossed her face, but couldn't begin to guess what she was thinking now. Until her expression settled into one of steely resolve.
"No. I can't do that. This isn't just my job at stake—it's my independence. If I lost—" She shook her head, but said no more.
Only the faintest sheen of tears in her eyes told him her answer had hurt her as much as it did him. At least he knew where they stood. She didn't trust him. She wanted her independence because she believed their relationship had an expiration date. She was just waiting around for their affair to end.
He'd gambled everything.
And he'd lost.