Embraced by Fire by Louise Delamore Page B

to talk about Thursday’s function. By the time she left Victor’s office, she recognised the clammy hands of panic.
    This was ridiculous. She let out a whoosh of air. She never reacted this way to men. She worked with him for goodness’ sake, she couldn’t ignore and avoid him forever. Straightening her spine, and paying no heed to the barrel of cats in her stomach, she walked over to where he was working through his choreography. His face set in concentration.
    She was halfway across the floor when he stopped and dropped his torches into their stand. Then…oh cripes, he wasn’t?
    She squeezed her eyes shut, then quickly opened them again.
    He was.
    He was unbuttoning his long-sleeved shirt. He pulled it off in one quick, unselfconscious move. Her feet forgot what they were doing. The tight, white t-shirt he wore underneath revealed his muscular body to perfection. The edge of a tattoo on his upper arm peeked out below his sleeve. Her tongue stuck to her palate as her mouth dehydrated. Without thinking, she turned and hurried in the opposite direction.
    She almost ran nose first into a support pillar, flinging her hands out in time to prevent bloodshed. This was madness. She blinked away the image of Ryu’s muscles flexing as he rolled his shoulders. Focus, Kait, Focus .
    Ducking around the other side of the pillar so she couldn’t be seen from the practice floor, she leaned against the cold concrete. Her racing heart thumped against the pillar at her back. So much for attempting reasonable adult behaviour. He was a fascinating magician and she utterly be-spelled.
    Rubbing her hands against her upper arms, she attempted to get herself back in line. First step, go back to her office and hide. Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself away from the pillar and took steps so outwardly composed no one watching would know all she wanted to do was run.
    Except, her office wasn’t empty. Her steps slowed. A dark, male silhouette moved behind the mottled-glass office door. She stopped, her mind in no state to cope with a curve ball. She had an open door policy, and was always available if any of the staff needed to talk. But no one went into her office if she wasn’t there…
    The shadowy figure slammed a hand loudly against her desk. Her shoulders tensed. Now did not seem like a good time to confront whoever was in there. A muffled but obviously angry voice filtered through the door. The voice sounded familiar… Johnny?
    The voice raised a notch, frustration in every word. Definitely Johnny. What was he doing in her office? She stared at the door handle. Should she go in? She bit her lip. It wasn’t appropriate for him to be in there on his own. While she trusted him it wouldn’t look good if the others found out.
    Her hand reached out, but as her fingers touched the cool, metal door handle she stopped. Rough expletives filled the room beyond, his tone not one she’d ever heard from her friend. She backed up, eyes on his silhouette. He clearly needed a place to have a private, and obviously unpleasant, phone conversation.
    What on earth could be wrong? He’d been fine on Saturday night. She watched as his silhouette began pacing, hand alternating between waving wildly and clenching at his side. If only she could hear what he was saying, but his voice was too muffled to make out the words, only his tone was clear. Wait, what was she thinking, eavesdropping on a friend? She took another step back, away from temptation.
    Johnny’s conversation cut off with a curt word and he threw his phone against the wall. He bent, both hands braced on her desk, breathing heavily. She counted the seconds as he tried to recover himself. Should she go in and talk to him, find out what was wrong?
    She nibbled her lip as she stared at his hunched figure. Now didn’t seem like the right time. Johnny was usually so upbeat, he wouldn’t want her to see him like this. She would find time later when he was calm, and make sure he knew she was