by Opal Carew
Her eyes widened, but she stood up and took a step forward, leaving six feet between them.
“Keep walking until I tell you to stop.”
She continued forward slowly, her hands clenching into balls at her sides as she approached. He waited until she was two feet from him before he told her to stop. He was a good eight inches taller than her, towering over her as their bodies infringed on the usual comfort margin of personal space. He watched her cheeks tinge a deep rose and she stared at his tie rather than meeting his gaze.
The closeness of her body, and the sweet scent of orange blossoms from her hair, sent his senses reeling. He wanted to drag her into his arms and claim that soft, pink mouth of hers. To feel her soft breasts crushed against his chest again.
But he didn’t.
He smiled. “You see. I’m not ripping off your clothes. We can work in the same office. We can sit side-by-side.”
He wanted to reach for her chin and tip it up, so she would look at him, but as confident as his words were, he was afraid touching her would be his undoing.
“Look at me, Jessica.”
She raised her gaze to his. He could see it. The heat in her big green eyes. And that heat set his blood simmering. He wanted so badly to stroke her cheek. To drag her body against his and storm her mouth.
Instead, he reined in those feelings with an iron will.
“We can even stand facing each other like this without me throwing you onto that couch and having my way with you.” He paused, letting that sink in. “Nothing is going to happen unless you want it to.” When she didn’t say anything, he said, “Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
Oh, God, when she called him sir he wanted to take total control of her, and order her to do some very personal things.
“Good. Now for the next week or two, you’ll need to learn about what we do here. You’ll be working closely with Melanie. She knows what I expect of you and will explain your duties in detail. In a few days, I’ll have you accompany me to a few meetings. I assume Melanie has already given you some reading material.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. That should keep you busy for the rest of the day.”
“Yes, Mr. Ranier.” She turned and headed for the door.
His gaze fell to the delightful sway of her hips as she walked. When she reached for the doorknob, he said, “Jessica.”
She turned to face him.
“If you do change your mind, I’ll be only too happy to continue what we started that night.”
He was sure he saw heat flicker in her eyes before her gaze darted away and she opened the door and escaped.
Damn it, why had he said that? The whole point of this conversation had been to calm her down, not to deliver an invitation to party.
As he sat down at his desk, he knew the reason was because he wanted her. Badly. She’d really gotten under his skin and despite the fact he’d told himself he could handle keeping the relationship between them strictly professional—and he could—he was quickly discovering how excruciatingly difficult that would be.
* * *
Jessica escaped to her office, her cheeks still warm from her encounter with Dane. When he’d ordered her to stand in front of him, so close she could feel the heat of his body, she could barely keep her breathing in check. She’d wanted him to pull her into his arms and kiss her. To ravish her lips, then throw her down on the couch and take her.
He’d calmly pointed out how he could stand so close to her yet not tear off her clothes, which should have made her happy, but instead it had instilled in her a deep desire for him to do just that.
But she knew that was just her raging hormones. Of course she wouldn’t initiate sex with him. It would make it too difficult to work with him.
She rested her chin on her hand and gazed out the window at the city below. But a girl could dream.
After a few moments, she sighed and opened one of the thick binders Melanie had given her. She started reading, familiarizing herself with the organizational structure of Ranier Industries.
Over the next couple of days she spent her time at the office reading and talking to Melanie about her duties. A big part of her job was to keep Dane organized, including maintaining his calendar to coordinate both his business schedule and personal schedule.
Today, she was to start accompanying him to meetings and, as soon as she was up to speed, it would be her job to ensure that he was briefed on what he needed to know for any meeting or appointment he had, to keep at hand all the materials he would need when going into any meeting, to track what went on once there, and to follow up on any action items that arose.
She found it all a bit daunting, but Melanie assured her that Dane was reasonable and would give her plenty of time to learn.
Her phone rang and she picked it up.
“Jessica, come into my office,” Dane said on the line.
“Yes, sir.” She rose and hurried toward his office.
Her hand slipped into her jacket pocket and she stroked the flat, soothing stone as she opened the door and entered his office. Instead of sitting at his desk, he was at the round meeting table with his laptop open.
He glanced up as she walked toward the table.
“Sit down.” He gestured to the chair beside him. “I want to go over the agenda for this afternoon’s meeting.”
She rolled the chair closer beside him so she would be able to see the screen, quivering as she remembered when he’d made her stand so close to him the other day, the heat of attraction simmering between them. She sat down, intensely conscious of his big, masculine presence beside her. Her thumb continued to stroke the stone in her pocket.
As he walked through his talking points for the meeting, she tried to calm her unsteady physical reaction to him. He was her boss. She had to be able to sit beside him without wanting to fling herself into his arms.
But he was so masculine. So sexy. If they just had sex again, maybe that would get rid of all this pent-up desire and allow them to move forward. But she knew that was just her libido talking.
“Jessica?”
She locked gazes with him and flushed when she realized she hadn’t been paying attention.
“I’m sorry, sir, I missed that last bit.”
* * *
Dane had been going over the agenda with her, trying to ignore the simmering heat inside him at her closeness, but then he’d realized her attention had drifted off. Now her cheeks tinged a deep rose, a response he was getting used to.
Clearly, she was having just as much trouble concentrating when they were close as he was. And it didn’t help that she kept calling him sir. He didn’t tell her to stop, because he felt it would help keep a professional distance between them, but damn it, it also turned him on.
“Okay, just give it a read over on your own to see if you have any questions.”
He leaned back in his chair and watched her as she scanned the document on the screen.
He hoped that this intense craving for her would diminish over time. He knew he could wait it out. On the other hand, if she ever decided to give in to the heat simmering between them, he knew they could find a way to make it work. And if they allowed themselves that release, then the rest of the time in the office together could be more relaxed.
But, damn, he wanted to sweep her into his arms right now and plunder that sweet mouth of hers.
She shifted her gaze from the screen to him. “It’s all clear, but I’ll go over the documents you reference so I have the background.”
“Good. We’ll meet back here at 1 P.M.”
She nodded and stood up to leave. She pulled her hand out of her pocket and something fell to the floor. He leaned down and picked it up.
“This is the stone I gave you when we first met,” he said.
It was still warm from being close to her body.
“Yes. Did you want it back?”
He chuckled. “No, of course not. I’m just surprised you still have it.”
>
He handed it to her and her delicate fingers brushed against his skin as she took it from him.
“I … like it. It’s very calming.”
She slipped it in her pocket again and headed out the door.
He couldn’t stop smiling at the knowledge that she valued the simple stone he had given her.
He’d originally intended to give the stone to his brother, because the blue-lace agate—light blue with white streaks—reminded him of the summer sky at the cottage they’d gone to one summer as kids, where they’d skipped stones on the lake. They’d been close that summer, probably more so because there were no other kids around, but whatever the reason, he treasured those memories. He’d wanted to remind Rafe of that time, in hopes they could get past the issues between them and move forward. Unfortunately, Rafe had up and left before Dane could give it to him.
* * *
Jessica knew Dane had walked into the room even before he said anything. She and Melanie were sitting in the cafeteria, enjoying coffee and muffins during their afternoon break. Even in such a big room, Dane’s authoritative aura filled the space. Only a few other employees were taking their break at this time and several glanced up at his arrival.
“There you are.” He walked to their table. “I’m afraid I’ll have to cut your break short.”
Did he want to talk to Melanie or her? She tried to ignore the quiver of excitement that danced along her spine every time he got close.
“Is there a problem with the presentation?” Melanie asked.
Jessica had covered Melanie’s basic duties this morning because Dane had sent Melanie to the Marketing Department for a few hours to help them put together a quick presentation for this afternoon. Jessica knew everyone was quite anxious about it, so Melanie must be worried something had gone wrong.
“Not at all. I’m told you did an excellent job, as usual.”
Melanie smiled, clearly pleased at his approval.
“Jessica, I need you back upstairs.”
She stood up, and reached for the empty tray on the table so she could dispose of her cup and the plate with her half-eaten muffin.
“Don’t worry, I’ll handle that,” Melanie said.
Jessica grabbed her purse and followed Dane out the door of the cafeteria to the elevators. They stepped inside and the doors closed behind them.
His masculine presence filled the small space, and his closeness made her skin prickle in awareness.
“It’s about that call you took for me this morning from Brenhart and Saunders.”
From what she had learned about the business so far, Jessica knew Ranier Industries had been in talks with Brenhart and Saunders to form a partnership to develop a lighter, more efficient battery for electric cars so the vehicles could travel longer on a single charge. This was a new direction for Ranier and she knew the project was very important to Dane.
“It turns out what I thought was just a meeting with their board is actually a banquet to honor their founder. I need to arrive in a tux and I need you by my side.”
“Me?”
“I’ll have the opportunity to make a lot of inside contacts, and to talk with some of the senior staff on the development team directly. You can track the contacts and their information and take any notes I need.”
“Of course.” Clearly, she’d be working late tonight. He had warned her that would happen on occasion. It wasn’t like she had anything going on this evening. “What time?”
Since this was a formal affair, she’d have to leave early to get ready, and that meant soon. She wondered if the one little black dress she had would do. It wasn’t long or elegant, but maybe Melanie could loan her some jewelry or a nice shawl to dress it up.
“My driver will pick us up here at six.” He glanced at his watch. “That gives us two hours.”
“Oh, well, I’ll have to rush home to get changed. Maybe I should go directly to the event.”
“No time. I need you to go pick up my tux at the dry cleaners before they close. I’ll arrange a dress for you.” The elevator door opened and she followed his brisk pace back to his office. “It should be here by the time you get back.”
“I don’t understand. How will you get me a dress?”
He gestured her into the office and closed the door behind him, then sat down at his laptop sitting on the meeting table and opened a window. “Here she is, Roberto.”
She sat down and stared at the attractive man with black hair and deep, brown eyes staring back at her from the screen. “Good to meet you, Ms. Long. What are your measurements?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“If I’m going to pick out a dress for you, I need to know the size.”
“Oh, I’m an eight.”
He laughed, dismissing her words. “If you don’t have your exact measurements, just tell me your bra size. I’ll stay away from anything fitted at the waist and hips.” He held a pen and small notebook in his hand. “So…?”
“You want my bra size?”
She was very conscious of Dane sitting in the chair right beside her. She couldn’t help remembering when she’d stripped her bra off in front of him, then how he’d gazed at her naked breasts with heat simmering in his eyes.
“It’s … um … 34C.”
Her cheeks flamed as he wrote down the information. It was just very unsettling sitting in a business office with two men discussing her bra size.
He also asked her shoe size and various preferences in dress color and shoe style. She swore if he asked her weight, she’d walk away.
“Now stand up and turn around. Make sure I can see you in the camera.”
She stood up, feeling a little ridiculous, and started to turn.
“Wait. Take your jacket off first. I want to get an idea of your body type.”
She shed her jacket and turned around, then sat down again.
“Good, now lean in close to the camera.” He narrowed his eyes as he examined her face. “Nice bone structure. Your eyes are a lovely shade of green.” He jotted more things in his notebook then disappeared from the screen.
She glanced at Dane. “Wouldn’t it just be easier for me to go home?”
“Roberto is my personal shopper. He’s at one of the most exclusive women’s stores in the city right now. Don’t worry.”
Roberto appeared again. “I have two dresses here I think would be perfect.” He held up a pale blue one with a high-waisted bodice that glittered with beads and sequins. “It all depends on what it looks like against your skin tone. I can’t tell for sure with this computer monitor. I think the safer choice would be this one.” He held up a lovely black dress in a silky fabric. It looked so rich and elegant. “Okay, I can tell by your expression that this is the one. I’ll have them send it right over.”
* * *
Jessica happily escaped to the street, on her way to pick up Dane’s tuxedo. It had cooled off a bit since this morning, so she pulled her jacket tighter around her. She walked the couple of blocks to the dry cleaners, paid for the suit with the company credit card Dane had given her, then quickly walked back to the office.
The lobby was empty except for the security staff at the desk, and when she arrived on the executive floor, Melanie was gone. Dane must have told her Jessica would be working late. She walked to Dane’s office and went in. The lovely black dress Roberto had shown her was draped over one of the leather chairs. She carefully laid Dane’s tux on the couch, careful not to wrinkle it, then lifted the clear plastic that was covering the dress and ran her hand over the silky fabric.
“There you are.”
She turned around and her eyes widened as she saw Dane standing in the center of the office wearing only a towel. His thick hair was damp and his face was freshly shaven. Seeing his broad, naked chest and breathing in his musky aftershave triggered memories of the two of them entwined in an intimate embrace. She sucked in a breath, not wanting to go there. To remember how their naked bodies had arched together, his hot, hard masculi
nity and authoritative attitude overwhelming her with the desire to do things she’d never done before.
He walked toward her and she held her breath. Was he going to sweep her into his arms? If he consumed her lips in a breathless kiss, she knew she would not be able to resist him. Not once her hands came in contact with his chest. It would be too much. She would succumb.
But he stepped right past her to the tuxedo lying on the couch. He tore back the plastic and pulled out the hanger with the white shirt.
“Good. I couldn’t remember if I had sent in a shirt with it.” He tossed the shirt on the back of the couch and walked to a cupboard near his desk, then retrieved a pair of boxers and some socks from a drawer inside.
Then he dropped his towel. Her gaze dropped to his big, dangling cock, even though she tried to stop it. Oh, God, she couldn’t help remembering it big and hard. And so long.
He pulled on his boxers, then sat down on the chair to pull on the socks.
“Aren’t you going to get changed?” he asked.
“Um…” A little rattled, she snatched up the dress and glanced around, then started for the door.
“Where are you going?”
“The ladies’ room.”
“We don’t have time.”
“But … I can’t change here.”
“Why not? I’ve seen you totally naked. Seeing a little lingerie is no big deal.”
Her heart lurched. “It’s a big deal to me.”
He chuckled. “All right. Use my private bathroom then.”
Of course. She carried the dress to the open door behind him, then slipped inside.
“Wait.”
She stopped and turned toward him again.
He picked up a small bag from his desk and lifted something out of it, then held it up. A strapless black bra.
“Roberto sent this. The straps on the dress are pretty skinny.”
She stared at the spaghetti straps and knew her current bra just wouldn’t work. She walked toward him and held out her hand. When he gave her the bra, the brush of his fingers on her skin sent quivers through her. He still wore just his boxers, his beautifully sculpted chest bare.
It would be so easy to acquiesce to the demands of her body and stroke the contours of his chest, surrendering to the raging attraction between them.