Read Flashes of Me for Free Online Page A

cheeks flush. She hastens to her feet and her phone clatters to the tabletop.
    I wait for Henley to call Camille on her antics, to mention the security breach, to accuse her of jeopardizing the safety of employees. He doesn’t. He calmly strides to a small bar fridge and extracts three bottles of water, clasping them in one big hand. “Is this okay?” We both nod.
    Henley returns to the end of the table, sets the bottles down, arranges our plates and utensils, and opens the takeout containers. Camille takes the seat to his right, her expression adoring. I sit to his left. He doesn’t look at or speak to either of us, the silence disturbing me.
    “Whatever you ordered for me smells good.” I smile at Camille, seeking to ease the tension in the room. “I guess the cafeteria didn’t have chicken fingers and fries.”
    “They had chicken fingers and fries,” she answers, her gaze fixed on Henley’s face. “But I like you too much to order that. I chose the stir fry of the day for both of us. I hope you like it.” Her response is unnaturally polite and professional, her efforts to impress Henley irking me. He’s my behemoth, my man.
    I force a laugh. “I can guarantee I’ll like it. They say hunger is the best spice and I’m starving.”
    “These are yours.” Henley hands us both a container. “And this is mine.” He dumps the contents of the third container on his plate. He has ordered a massive artery-clogging roast beef sandwich, a bag of potato chips, and a giant dill pickle.
    “Is that your veggie?” I tease, poking the pickle with the tongs of my fork. Henley doesn’t say anything. I open my takeout container and transfer beef and broccoli over rice onto my plate while Camille watches me, her face tight with worry. “This is one of my favorite meals,” I assure her. “Broccoli is really good for you.” I slide my gaze to Henley. “ Everyone should eat it.”
    Henley narrows his eyes. I smile sweetly. He sighs and pushes his plate toward mine. I heap some of the stir fry beside his sandwich, giving him extra broccoli. “There.” I nudge his plate and he places it in front of him. “We won’t tell anyone you deviated from your diet of small children and cuddly kittens.”
    Camille inhales sharply, her eyes rounding.
    “I do like eating kittens.” Henley’s lips lift.
    I imagine his tongue flicking over my wet pussy and I wiggle in my chair. “I thought we were obeying your rules.”
    “We are obeying my rules.” His tone becomes curt. Henley turns toward Camille. “Camille, you mentioned an interest in cybersecurity.” He gives her his full attention, ignoring me.
    I eat and listen as the two of them talk security metrics and system design. Although I grew up around these discussions, I can’t contribute because if I do they’ll ask how I gained my knowledge. I’ll have to lie and I don’t want to lie to Henley.
    Camille grows increasingly frustrated with Henley’s general answers to her detailed questions. “Are you being deliberately evasive?” she finally demands, her face flushed. “How can I learn anything if you won’t answer my questions and Miss Yen has me inputting time logs?”
    Henley’s lips flatten.
    “I’m shredding files.” I rise to my feet. “But my father says we can learn from every job.” I place the garbage in the bin and stack our empty plates. “Where should I take these?”
    “Leave them here.” Henley waves one of his hands. “Someone else will take care of them.” He stands, shaking the nonexistent wrinkles out of his black pants. He’s big and strong and sexy. I swallow hard, his size arousing me. “I’ll walk you out.” He moves to the door.
    “I’d learn more if I worked for you, Mr. Henley.” Camille’s hero worship is starting to grate on my nerves. “Does your department hire interns?”
    “No.” He follows us as we walk along the glass hallway. The transparent offices now house more male employees than they previously did.