Rejected and Pregnant I Fled The Pack (Evelyn and Damon) novel Chapter 268

Nadia pov

He'd finally pulled on a shirt, though I found myself still occasionally glancing over anyway, understanding I'd genuinely crossed some invisible threshold today where pretending I wasn't affected by him felt increasingly pointless.

*He looks edible,* my wolf sighed internally, something almost dreamy in that particular observation, and I felt my own cheeks warm slightly at my wolf's continued, unhelpful commentary.

We'd settled into reviewing some of the council documentation together, spread across his desk, and I found myself genuinely struggling to actually focus on the legal terminology when Ethan leaned forward slightly, his shirt riding up just enough to expose a brief strip of that same, impressively defined torso.

I nearly dropped the paper I was holding.

"Everything alright," he asked, glancing up, obvious amusement already building in his expression at whatever he'd noticed in my own flustered reaction.

"Fine," I said quickly, forcing my attention back toward the document in front of me, though the words apparently blurred together into meaningless legal jargon given how thoroughly my mind remained distracted.

"You're doing it again," he observed, something warm and teasing in his voice.

"Doing what," I asked, though the defensive quality of my own question probably gave away exactly what he meant.

"Staring," he said simply, genuine amusement evident despite his obvious attempt at maintaining some semblance of professional focus on our actual, important work.

I sighed, understanding further denial seemed genuinely pointless given how thoroughly I'd already been caught multiple times throughout this single day alone. "Your muscles are genuinely distracting," I admitted, something between embarrassment and reluctant honesty evident in my tone.

Something delighted crossed his expression at that admission. "Are they now," he said, genuine satisfaction evident in his voice.

"You know they are," I said, rolling my eyes slightly despite my own continued, obvious blush. "I've barely managed to actually process anything from this document, given how frequently you've been shifting positions and inadvertently displaying whatever's currently hidden beneath your shirt."

"Inadvertently," he repeated, something skeptical entering his tone now, genuine amusement building further.

I felt fresh heat building across my cheeks, understanding he'd apparently noticed my earlier observation regarding his deliberate movements while shirtless. "Perhaps not entirely inadvertent," I conceded, "on your part, at least."

He laughed genuinely at that acknowledgment, something warm and thoroughly pleased evident in the sound. "I confess," he said, settling back in his chair with obvious, comfortable satisfaction, "I've genuinely enjoyed watching you struggle with maintaining focus."

"That's genuinely unfair," I protested, though my own voice carried considerably more amusement than actual complaint. "You're apparently deliberately distracting me during important legal preparation."

"Perhaps we both need occasional, small breaks from such heavy material," he suggested, something gentle beneath his continued teasing. "Especially given everything difficult we're otherwise navigating."

I considered that, understanding the genuine wisdom in his observation despite my own continued, reluctant amusement. "Perhaps," I agreed, setting aside the document I'd been struggling to actually process.

He studied me for a moment, something thoughtful replacing his earlier playful teasing. "Can I ask you something," he said carefully.

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