Lip Lock by Susanna Carr

me.”
    She made no move to leave. “I think you’re working too much overtime,” Kyle said.
    “No, I’m not,” Molly quickly denied. “And since when is that problem for a boss?”
    “Since I don’t want my employees to burn out.” Or wander around where they aren’t supposed to be .
    “That won’t happen.”
    “I’d rather not risk it. Come on, Molly.” He walked around to her side of the desk. “Time for you to go.”
    “But, but—” She gestured at the work on her desk.
    He reached for the chair. Kyle noticed how she straightened her spine as his hand landed on the backrest. “Is there anything urgent?”
    Her jaw slid to the side. “No.”
    “Then it will be there tomorrow. You know what they say. All work and no play.”
    “Shouldn’t you take your own advice?” she muttered as she scooped up the papers and put them in a file.
    He leaned down until his mouth was level with her ear. “Ah, but that’s different.”
    “Because you’re the boss?”
    Kyle saw the shiver she tried to suppress. “Because the one I want to play with refuses.”
    Molly pressed her lips together and steadfastly ignored him. She shut down her computer with brisk moves. Kyle realized how unusual the sight was. The woman never shut down early.
    Come to think of it, the woman never shut down. Why was that?
    She made a quick call to inform Sara she was leaving for the day. “Well, I’m done here,” Molly said as she hung up the phone. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Kyle.”
    Kyle pushed the call button for the elevator. “Where’s your coat?”
    “I didn’t bring one,” she said with a slow and leisurely blink.
    She lied. About wearing a coat? What was up with that? Why would she lie about something unimportant?
    The elevator doors opened and Kyle glanced inside. He saw that most of the people leaving were administrative employees. Kyle nodded his acknowledgement and held the door open. “ ’Bye, Molly.”
    She flashed a polite smile, but he could have sworn her eyes said, “Whatever.”
    He waited until the door was closed and ran to the stairwell. He was curious to see if Molly left the building. If she headed for another department.
    If she followed orders.
    He knew he had other things to do. Pressing matters. High priority situations. But from the moment Timothy questioned Molly’s action, it had bugged Kyle. He needed to know.
    He arrived on the main floor well before the elevator doors opened. He hung back as everyone got off, not wanting Molly to see him. He saw that she was chatting with someone he vaguely recognized.
    Molly was always talking with someone, now that he thought about it. It was a good trait for a receptionist.
    And a corporate spy.
    He shook the thought away and tried to place where he knew the woman she was talking to. Human resources, if he wasn’t mistaken. Nothing potentially dangerous about that.
    Molly stepped out of the building and satisfaction filled him. He wouldn’t have to worry about her sneaking around today. Kyle was on the verge of returning to his office when he noticed something was off.
    Everyone turned right and headed for the bus stop or car park. Molly turned left, which led to absolutely nothing. And she was being weird about it.
    His instincts went on high alert. Maybe he did need to worry. Kyle decided to follow.
    By the time he followed through a maze of parking lots and small office campuses, Kyle came to a few conclusions. First, Molly was going to a great extent to hide something. Second, she should be wearing a coat. They both should, he decided as he hunched his shoulders against the cold wind.
    Third, she had no self-preservation, walking around in the dark. Not that there was a lot of crime on this side of the Puget Sound, but that didn’t mean it was nonexistent. Molly should know better.
    And his final conclusion was that he had crossed the level from following to stalking. He hoped no one ever found about it. It would be hard to live down.
    Molly