by Jenika Snow
“Of course, sir.” Bunny swallowed and hung up the phone, feeling so nervous. Was he going to fire her? Had sleeping with Brice ruined everything?
Or maybe this was exactly what should happen. Maybe if she no longer worked for him she wouldn’t feel this pressure, this worry.
Maybe they could be together without the stress.
She stood, pushed in her chair, and started heading out of her office, the sound of the other employees in the building overly loud. And the closer to Brice she got, the more her knees wobbled, her legs feeling like putty.
She stopped when she got to his door, which was slightly ajar so she could see him standing by the window, his hands clasped behind his back, his big body looking powerful. She brought her knuckles down and knocked on the door, three small raps that had him turning and looking at her.
A moment of silence passed between them.
“Can you please shut the door?” His voice was pitched low, but still so demanding.
After the door was shut, they stood there in silence, neither saying anything, but the tension thick. It wasn’t just Bunny who felt the discomfort. She could see it on Brice’s face.
He exhaled and took a few steps closer, sitting on the top of his desk and staring at her. The tightness on his face was tangible.
“I want to talk about us, about what happened the other night, and how you ran off.”
Bunny swallowed, this thick lump forming in her throat. Her heart was beating like a racehorse.
“I want to know why you really ran off,” he said in a harsh tone, his emotions seeping through. “I want to know why you’re afraid of this, afraid of us.”
She didn’t know what to say, how to respond. Being honest with him scared the hell out of Bunny, but she wanted to tell him the truth so badly. “I…” God, how was she supposed to say all this?
Just spit it out, be honest, tell him like it is.
“I’m afraid of being with you, of what that will all mean.”
He was by her a second later, cupping both sides of her face and leaning down so they were eye level.
“Don’t you see, Bunny?”
She shook her head slowly. “See what?” she whispered.
He looked down at her lips. “That we were meant for each other.”
11
Brice couldn’t recall any time in his life when he had to do all the chasing. Women threw themselves at him most of the time, even if he wanted nothing to do with them. They wanted him because of his status, his wealth. They didn’t give a shit about him; just about what he could buy them, and how much better he could make their lives.
He wanted someone who completed him. And he’d found that with Bunny.
Bunny was everything he’d ever envisioned in a woman to share his life with.
She didn’t flirt, and she certainly hadn’t tried to capture his attention. It had all come naturally and because of that, it only served to make her more desirable. Nothing she displayed about herself was for show, or to make him want her.
She was there because she wanted to be.
“Brice, I’m … I don’t think I’m ready for this.” She breathed out slow and wouldn’t meet his gaze. “You’ve got a meeting in fifteen minutes and this is all new. You’re still my boss.” He took a step toward her, invading her space. He wasn’t going to have her use any excuse to get out of her feelings for him. They were there, he knew they were; she was just hiding them.
“You didn’t enjoy your time with me? It felt like you enjoyed it a hell of a lot.”
“It’s sex.”
“And?”
“And, well, sex is sex. That’s it.”
He smiled. Reaching out, he stroked her leg. She tensed up and he was sure he heard a little gasp. “It was more than that, Bunny. You know that. I felt the way you came undone for me, how you clutched at me and stared in my eyes as you climaxed. We rocked each other’s worlds.”
“This is not appropriate.” Her voice was nothing more than a whisper, her pupils were dilated, and her breathing was erratic.
He chuckled. “Do you always follow the rules, Bunny?”
“Brice, I don’t know what game you’re play—”
He was done arguing with her. Gripping the back of her head, he slammed his lips down on hers, taking the kiss he wanted. Bunny didn’t put up much of a fight. She clung to him like she was desperate.
In fact, she gripped his shirt and a little moan filled the air and he knew he’d won. He moved her back until she was against his desk. Lifting her up, he placed her on the work surface, spreading her thighs so he could get as close to her as physically possible. He wanted nothing more than to shut out the entire world and fuck her like crazy. Breaking from her lips, he slid her jacket off her shoulders, kissing her neck, sucking on the pulse.
“Brice?”
“I know. I know it feels so good.”
He worked the buttons of her blouse, opening the shirt, and seeing that she wore one of these lace bras that only served to highlight her dark nipples. He didn’t want to wait any longer and so he sucked her tit through the fabric. She gasped, wrapping her legs around his waist tightly. She didn’t want him to let go. For a woman who kept on denying him, she was failing miserably at showing him that she didn’t actually want him. This was not a woman who didn’t want him, not with the way she rubbed her hand against the hardness of his cock.
She was fucking fire and he wanted to get burned more than anything else.
There was a sudden knock on his office door and Bunny jerked out of his arms. There was nowhere for her to go but her panicked eyes looked to him.
“Who is it?” he asked. He wanted to kill whoever had chosen that moment to come to his office to fucking talk.
“Sir, Bunny isn’t at her desk and Mr. Hargreaves is waiting.”
Fuck. Had it really been fifteen minutes?
“She’ll be out in a moment. We’re just finishing up a few things in here first,” he said.
He waited a few seconds before turning back to Bunny, who was already shaking her head.
“This shouldn’t have happened.”
This is what he’d been hoping to avoid. “Why?”
“You’re my boss. This is so inappropriate. You think anyone in this building is going to look at me the same way again?” She gave him a push and seeing how upset she was, he took a step back, giving her the space she clearly needed.
She jumped off his desk, pushing her skirt down.
“You really care about what people think?”
“No. I don’t but when it comes to work I don’t want to be known for being in the position I am because they think I’m a slut. This is not what I wanted for myself. I work hard.”
“No one will ever think that,” he said.
She started to button her shirt, and he moved her hands out of the way.
“I can do that.”
“Stop being so damn stubborn and accept help when it is offered.”
“Look, I’ve seen what it has been like for some women, Brice. They are outcasts and even if they worked hard prior to screwing their boss, it never lasts.”
“You think I’d let that happen with you?” he asked. Her shirt was now buttoned and those beautiful tits were gone from sight.
This wasn’t how he wanted to end things.
“It doesn’t matter if you want it or not. There will always be a stigma attached to the woman. I don’t know why. Look, I’m sorry. I can’t do this.”
She started to walk out of his office but he stopped her. Grabbing her hand, he turned her toward him.
“Brice, please.”
“Go and use my bathroom. Your hair doesn’t look right.”
“Oh.”
“Yes.”
He watched her leave. This wasn’t over, not by a long shot. She was scared and he got it. Work colleagues could be cruel and he wouldn’t have anyone speaking bad about her. She worked hard and was the best damn PA he’d ever had. He wouldn’t want her to qu
it her job either to be with him.
He ran a hand down his face in an attempt to clear the lust from his thoughts. It was hard to do. His dick was still rock hard and he wanted nothing more than to fuck her and to show her he wasn’t going to run out on her at the first opportunity. He wasn’t willing to give up, though.
Bunny could keep on running. He was more than happy to keep on chasing her. He wasn’t known for backing down. Bunny would belong to him. There was no way he could see his life without her. She owned his heart; he just needed her to see it.
12
The following week
Bunny sat on her couch with her legs curled up underneath her, the TV on but the volume too low for her to really hear much. She had a bottle of wine on the coffee table, a glass filled up to the brim, and a pint of rocky road ice cream in her hand.
She’d already polished off half of it between taking long drinks from her wine glass. All she could think about was Brice, the things he said, the things she wanted with him.
But Bunny was afraid of the unknown, of the future where he was concerned.
For two years she’d wanted him, wanted Brice to notice her, to take interest. And when she finally had that, all she could think about was the repercussions of them being together.
She thought she’d be able to handle breaking the rules, crossing lines where he was concerned. And she was. Because what she was really afraid of was having her heart broken.
Brice could tell her whatever he wanted, but the truth was she loved him. To even think that he might reciprocate those feelings seemed like fiction. All she wanted was to be honest with him, to tell him there was nothing more in the world that she wanted than to just be with him and say fuck everything else.
Fuck everyone else.
Maybe that’s what she needed to do? Maybe she needed to just tell him how she really felt, that she was in love with him, had been for the past two years. That would either have him running in the other direction or admitting he felt the same for her.
She snorted at that last part and dug her spoon into the ice cream, bringing the massive scoop to her mouth. She stared at the TV screen just as an ice cream headache started.
“Shit,” she grumbled and set the pint down, grabbing her forehead and closing her eyes.
A fucking ice cream headache was the cherry on the shit sundae of her life, it seemed.
She heard her cell vibrate on the coffee table and reached out to grab it. Bunny stared down at the screen and saw Lena’s face flash across the display.
Lena was an old school friend. They talked a couple times a month, or they had dinner and a movie. Although Bunny considered Lena an old friend, with their work schedules and Lena’s interior design business booming, there wasn’t a whole lot of time for them to get together. But whenever they did talk, it was like no time had passed at all, as if they’d just seen each other the previous day.
Although Bunny contemplated not answering it because she was in a foul mood with her own thoughts, maybe Lena could give her some insight on what she should do.
“Hey,” Bunny said and shifted on the couch so her back was against the cushions and her feet were on the floor.
“Hey you.”
It had been a few weeks since they’d talked, but as always, they fell right into the routine of conversation. Lena started talking about what she was up to, how her interior design business was growing, how she was getting new clients left and right. She talked about the new guy she was seeing, how she really loved this one—not like the last one—and how it started off as a one-night stand but just had naturally worked into something more.
Bunny swallowed as she listened to Lena talk about her love life, wanting nothing more than to spill the beans on her own.
“Hello?” Lena’s voice came through the line and Bunny cleared her throat and blinked a few times, coming back to the present.
“I’m sorry, I was lost in my thoughts,” she said honestly.
“Hey, what’s up?” Lena’s voice grew serious and Bunny looked down at her feet, her toenails painted bright red.
She was an extrovert on the outside, but inside she was the shy bookworm type of girl. That’s why she’d never expressed her interest in Brice before that one night they’d shared, why she was afraid to actually move forward. The thought of her life changing, of rejection, her heart being broken, had that shy little girl rising up to the surface once more.
She liked to pretend she had her shit together, but the truth was she didn’t.
“Lena, I don’t even know where to start.” She exhaled slowly.
“Just jump right into the good stuff. That’s how we roll anyway, right?”
Bunny chuckled although she wasn’t feeling very humorous at the moment.
“I’m in love with my boss. Slept with him. But now I’m worried about getting my heart broke.” There was a moment of silence before she heard rustling on the other end.
“Does he love you back?”
That was the thing with Lena. She didn’t judge. She didn’t dig deeper. She took what Bunny gave her and left it at that.
“I don’t know. If he does he’s never told me, although he said plenty. Love wasn’t one of them.”
“So just ask him.”
Bunny snorted. “That’s easier said than done.”
“But it is that easy. You just go up to him and tell him how you feel. If he feels the same way, then there you go. And if he doesn’t, then you walk away and don’t waste another minute of your time.”
She heard someone at the front door. “Lena, let me call you back.” She set the phone down and stood, walking toward it. Gripping the handle and pulling it open, Bunny’s heart stopped as she stared at Brice.
“Hey,” he said softly, his voice thick.
“Hi,” she said in response, her voice nothing more than a whisper.
A moment of silence passed between them.
“I can’t let you walk away.” Her throat tightened at his words. “I love you, Bunny. And I’m not willing to throw us away.”
13
Brice had never been the kind of guy to chase a woman. There was no need for him to. They always chased after him; it was insane. If he wanted a date for the evening, he had an entire booklet of women who had thrown their numbers at him. He could call them, and within an hour he’d have a date, ready and primed for the evening.
All of those other women meant nothing to him. Just an itch that needed scratching. It was ridiculous how easy it had been for him.
He’d taken it for granted that every single woman would be exactly the same. His money spoke the loudest, followed by his dick. He wasn’t bragging when he said he knew what do with his … member.
Never in all of his years had he ever had a woman walk away nor been so unsure about himself. That wasn’t the way he rolled. Women were always wanting to be all over him, and until now, he used to fucking hate it.
It wasn’t him they wanted, but the money and power he could give them.
Bunny, the woman right in front of him, the woman who had been working for him for years, was the first woman to make him doubt everything. They had sex, she wanted to leave. He told her about his feelings, she wanted to leave.
He couldn’t make her stay, and he knew that. It wasn’t a joke to him and he wasn’t used to playing this game of chasing the woman he wanted. This was the last thing he wanted to do, but he couldn’t get her out of his head, and there was no way he’d be able to wait until Monday to see her. No matter how close it was, it felt too long.
Bunny’s mouth was open. “You love me?”
“Yes, I love you, more than anything.”
She opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, and placed her hand on her stomach. She gave him this weird look before her other hand went to her mouth, and she suddenly turned away from him and darted across the room.
Worried, he stepped into her place and closed the door, locking it behind him before going to find her bent over a toile
t.
The scent of vomit was heavy in the air but that didn’t bother him. Removing his jacket, he threw it out of the room and quickly rolled up his sleeves. Wrapping her hair around his fist, he didn’t pull or tug on it, simply rubbed her back as she kept on vomiting.
“Go away. This is all my fault,” she said. “I shouldn’t have eaten so much ice cream.”
He placed a hand to her head and felt a slight temperature. Not too much, but one that made him believe this was more than ice cream.
“I don’t want you to see this,” she said.
“What? I can help you in your time of need.”
“This is more than a time of need. This is so unattractive.” She ended that with throwing up.
He kept rubbing her back. He wasn’t disgusted with her throwing up. If anything, he was happy that he was here to help her, to take care of her. This was what a real couple did. They didn’t run away from their responsibility; they took charge and took care of each other. This was exactly what he was doing now.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“It smells.”
“Still don’t care.”
“This is going to ruin the illusion of me being awesome,” she said.
He chuckled. “It’s not going to ruin anything. So you’re not feeling your best. I don’t care. It’s not like I’m going to kiss you with a vomit face.”
“Oh God, I hate this.”
She was sick a couple more times, but after the final one, she stayed over the toilet. After about ten minutes when no more sick was coming, he handed her some tissues to wipe her mouth as he cleaned the toilet.
“You know how to clean?” she asked.
“I can function rather well as a human being.”
“I meant, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you clean.”
“I don’t need to clean anything in the office. I hire cleaners to do that for me. At home, I tend to take care of myself, but I do have a cleaner who comes in once a week to clean the bulk of the apartment.”
She groaned and he stopped talking.