Seduction on the CEO's Terms

by Charlene Sands

  Ali got in her car and drove home, her nerves raw with tension. Once she entered her home, she leaned against the door and breathed in deeply. Joe would be here soon and Ali would have to hold back her innermost desires. She’d have to be Fake Ali again, the submissive girl with no personality and no sense of style. Her reverse makeover had backfired. The guilt she felt deceiving Joe, the man of her dreams, continued to plague her. He was too good a man to dupe this way. “Oh, Ali, what have you gotten yourself into?”

  Ali walked to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. She pulled out a bottle of water and sipped as she contemplated her situation. The only person who would understand all of this was Rena. She’d have to talk to her again about Joe and how much she hated what she was doing to him.

  To both of them.

  Rena would help. She’d been the voice of reason and a good friend. Thankfully, Ali could turn to her, and she vowed if things didn’t get better by the end of the week, she’d have to ask Rena for more advice.

  Not three minutes later, Ali heard a knock at her door and her heart skipped a beat. She walked to the front door, took a deep breath and opened it.

  Joe glanced over her body in a quick scan. “Good,” he said in a rasp, his brows raised, his expression like a wild animal about to devour his prey. “You didn’t change out of your clothes.”

  “I, what?”

  He stepped inside, sweeping her into his arms. Kicking the door shut behind him, Clark Kent turned into Superman. “I’ve been fantasizing about stripping you out of these clothes all day.”

  “Oh, Joe.” Ali wrapped her arms around him.

  Joe nibbled on her throat, then positioned her against the door, grinding his hips to hers.

  “You do this to me, Ali.”

  The strength of his arousal pressed against her.

  “I barely made it here without embarrassing myself.” He cupped her head and kissed her hastily on the lips, his hands reaching for the buttons of her blouse. “I need to touch you.”

  Ali helped. As they fumbled with buttons, Joe nearly ripped her blouse in two. He pushed the material off her shoulders. Then he touched her skin, his hands covering her breasts, his lips crushing her mouth. “You’re amazing, sweetheart,” he groaned.

  Ali’s joy mounted. Joe wanted her, and she felt his intense need with his every touch. Her body welcomed his frenzied caresses and openmouthed heady kisses.

  Ali stood pressed against her door, inviting his assault with little moans and cries of need. She wanted to strip him of his clothes the way he did her. She wanted to push him down to the ground and play out her every fantasy. “I need you, Joe.”

  “I know, sweet Ali. I know.”

  His kisses stole her breath, and his fiery need became hers.

  He unfastened her bra, and her breasts sprang free of their constraints. A guttural sound escaped his throat, the sound primal and urgent. He cupped her breast with one hand and stroked her with his tongue—his hot breath on her creating spasms of heat inside her body. Ali’s pleasure escalated.

  She grew tight and wanton within seconds.

  Joe sensed her need. He unzipped her pants and lowered them down. She stood before him naked but for a tiny black thong, shimmering with tiny rhinestones that spelled out, All Yours—the one part of Real Ali that was still intact. Her act of rebellion, she thought.

  “Sexy,” Joe nearly growled.

  “I wore them for you.”

  A gleam sparked in his hungry eyes. “Hell, Ali. I’m going to imagine you in these every time I see you behind your desk.”

  “You could take them off.”

  “Oh, don’t worry. They’re coming off.” Then Joe picked her up in his arms. “Later.”

  She threw her arms around his neck and held on. Joe strode down the hall, kissing her as he moved. She gestured to her bedroom. “I remember,” he said. “I’ve been dying to see the inside of this room.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, really.”

  Joe pulled her quilt back and settled her onto the sheets. She gazed up at him and waited. He looked at her, his eyes intense and gleaming with dark, hot desire. “How’d I get so lucky?”

  Joe unbuttoned his shirt, and Ali watched with keen interest. His bronzed chest came into view, and Ali’s throat went cotton dry. She’d never tire of seeing him this way.

  Next, he kicked off his shoes, removed his socks and finally released himself from the pants that held his straining erection.

  He stood naked before her, and Ali’s blood pressure skyrocketed. Everything below her navel throbbed with desire. Her nipples peaked to rosy buds.

  Joe noticed. He smiled at her in a way that had her moist between the legs. That’s all it took. One hot look from Joe and Ali was toast.

  He reached into his pants pocket and tossed a half dozen condoms on her nightstand.

  Ali looked at them with a gasp. “Really?”

  “We might need to take the day off tomorrow.”

  Ali shook her head and giggled. She loved Joe more and more each day.

  She wanted to gesture to him to come take her. She wanted to tell him six times might not be enough, but Ali only laid there, watching him, his naked form so enticing, so beautiful that she could easily reach out and touch him, bring him as much pleasure as he brought her.

  Should she do it? Real Ali would have jumped his bones ten minutes ago. Ali sensed that’s what he waited for. Joe wanted more from her. But Ali’s passion was so intense that if she ever unleashed it, Joe wouldn’t know what hit him.

  The question was taken from her when Joe climbed into the bed beside her and took her into his arms. His kisses shut down her mind completely, and she fell into his embrace, allowing him to lead her to oblivion.

  Ali woke in the wee hours of the morning with Joe beside her. They’d made love during the night, not quite the half-dozen times they’d set out for but two rather long incredible and satisfying times that would stay etched in Ali’s memory forever.

  She glanced at her digital alarm clock. It was four in the morning, and they’d be rising soon. She hadn’t expected Joe to stay the night, but it warmed her heart that he did. After their last bout of lovemaking, Joe had taken her into his arms, laying her head on his chest and almost instantly fallen asleep.

  He stirred restlessly next to her, and she froze, not wanting to wake him. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’m awake.”

  Ali lifted up from his chest to peer into his eyes. “It’s early.”

  “How early?”

  “Four o’clock.”

  “I should leave before nosy neighbors see me sneaking out of here.”

  “I don’t care what my neighbors think.”

  Joe chuckled. “No, neither do I. Just thinking about you.” He kissed her forehead and brushed loose strands of hair from her face. “I’m always thinking about you.”

  “That’s nice to know.”

  “Let’s take the day off. Play hooky or do something else.” He caressed her breasts and wiggled his eyebrows, villain style.

  Ali giggled then flopped her head back against her pillow and stared at the ceiling. “I wish we could, but you can’t do that.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’ve scheduled two meetings for you today. It would be rude to cancel at the last minute.”

  “What time?”

  “One is at eleven and one is at three in the afternoon.”

  Joe bent over and kissed her soundly. “That’s seven hours from now.”

  Ali wrapped her arms around his neck. “Yes, that’s true.”

  “We could accomplish a lot in seven hours.”

  Ali stroked his handsome face. “Especially since you’re so thorough.”

  He did the same. “And you’re so efficient.”

  Joe slid his hands over her, gently, sweetly until he’d caressed every inch of her. “I love touching you.”

  “I love you touching me.” But Ali loved more about Joe than that, and she prayed that Jo
e would return that love someday to the woman she really was.

  At ten that morning, Joe was head deep in work at the office. He’d gotten in around nine, and Ali had gone into work a half hour before him. She’d insisted she had work to do, so he’d gone home after they’d made love once more to take a shower and dress. Sometimes he cursed his practical mind. Both he and Ali realized they had obligations at the office that couldn’t be ignored.

  So much for playing hooky all day.

  Sometimes Joe wished he could be a free spirit, acting on a whim like his brother Nick. His younger sibling had no trouble shirking his responsibilities if a good time was to be had.

  Yet, Joe wasn’t complaining. He glanced at Ali, her head down, going over some papers at her desk. She looked up, and their eyes met. The soft look on her face gave him pause. Something powerful was happening between them. It was more than lust, and Joe told himself to slow down.

  There were things about Ali that he didn’t understand. He wanted her to talk about her childhood, have her explain about her mother and also explain how suddenly, her entire demeanor had changed, almost overnight. Ali had gone from flashy and vivacious to conservative and subdued in the span of a few heartbeats it seemed.

  For all he knew, it was another of Ali’s fashion statements. What Joe didn’t know about women could fill volumes, so he didn’t dwell on it. But he knew one thing: He and Ali were good together—so good that he got a hard-on just looking at her sometimes.

  Joe scratched his neck and chuckled. “Get down to business,” he said to himself. “You’ve got a meeting in less than an hour.”

  He finished up a call with a client and then his cell phone rang. He took a quick look at the screen and winced. He really didn’t want to have this conversation.

  “Hey,” he said to Tony.

  “Hey, yourself. How’ve you been?”

  “I’ve got no complaints.”

  “No? Well, I’ve had a few. Seems the guy I sent in my place to the Grapegrowers Convention was a no-show. You missed a lot of networking, bro. I’ve been getting calls for two days asking what happened.”

  “You know that’s not my thing.”

  “But you went, right?”

  “Yeah, I showed up.”

  “So what happened?”

  Joe hesitated, refusing to answer.

  “Ah, Ali happened.”

  Joe wasn’t a kiss-and-tell kind of guy. He kept his mouth shut.

  Tony didn’t give him the same courtesy. “At least admit Rena and I were right about the two of you. You couldn’t go away with her without playing musical beds.”

  “Isn’t that exactly what you and Rena wanted? And listen, Tony, before you go getting ideas, it was just one weekend.”

  “Yeah, and the moon is made of marshmallows.”

  “What?” Joe furrowed his brows.

  “You care about Ali. Just admit it.”

  “Of course I care about her. I’m not…Nick.”

  Tony laughed. “No, you’re a far cry from our baby brother. Don’t worry. I won’t repeat what you said about him. But Ali’s a nice girl, and you, Joe, have been alone way too long.”

  “Leave the matchmaking to someone who knows what they’re doing, bro.”

  Joe didn’t need any more encouragement when it came to Ali. He was having enough trouble sorting out his feelings for her. He’d been gun-shy for so long that he wasn’t ready to open up his heart again. And there was always the fact that if it didn’t work out between them, that he’d lose the best damn personal assistant on the planet.

  All of that aside, Joe liked the status quo at the moment. Sex after work hours had its advantages. Joe glanced at his watch. He had a day full of meetings and work to catch up on. Evening seemed a long time away.

  Joe took a look at Ali again, never tiring of seeing her. She was laughing at something Randy Simmons said, and then the sales manager touched her arm. An act of friendship he was sure, but Joe immediately turned away from them. A jolting pang of jealousy ripped through him. He squeezed his eyes shut and counted to three. He had it bad if he couldn’t stand to see another man casually touch Ali.

  “Joe, you there?”

  “I’m here. I’m busy, Tony. I’d better get back to it.”

  “Okay, fine. And listen, don’t worry about blowing off the convention. You’re the numbers man. You would know whether we’re in good shape or not.”

  “Trust me, Carlino Wines is doing just fine.”

  “Great then. Say hello to Ali for me. Oh, and be sure not to work her too hard.”

  Where did that come from? “I…don’t.”

  “Good, and remember women need at least a few hours of sleep at night.”

  Joe hit the button on his iPhone to the sound of Tony’s deep chuckle.

  At home on Friday night, Ali looked at herself in the mirror, and that same sense of self-loathing plagued her. Wearing no makeup but a little lip gloss and a few swipes of mascara, dressed in a tan pin-striped pantsuit with her wild auburn hair confined in one long braid down her back, Ali frowned. She took her glasses off and laid them down on the dressing table. “Who are you, Ali Pendrake?”

  But Ali knew the image in the mirror wasn’t her. She hated the clothes she wore, and that hadn’t changed. She’d hoped that slowly she’d morph into a woman who enjoyed dressing down, who enjoyed the conservative look of a businesswoman.

  “You,” she said pointing to the mirror, “are not me.”

  It wasn’t only the clothes that bothered her. She’d faked her subdued personality, biting her tongue each time a sassy comment came to mind. She couldn’t say what she wanted. She couldn’t do what she wanted. So many times she wanted to express her feelings to Joe. She wanted to disagree with him about politics and religion and shout at him that rock music wasn’t just a bunch of garbage.

  She wanted to be herself.

  She loved Joe Carlino with all of her heart, but she wasn’t being fair to him or to herself with this charade. She was like a little kid who’d caught a big fish and then didn’t know what to do with it.

  Joe was her big fish. He was the love of her life. But he hadn’t been even remotely attracted to the Real Ali Pendrake. One year’s worth of hoping had proven that. So why on earth hadn’t she let things be?

  Now, it was too late. She was in love too deeply to get out without horrid injury. She didn’t know if she was brave enough to tell him the truth.

  “Who are you?” she asked again to the reflection in the mirror.

  The week had been magical on the Joe front. She’d see him at the office during the day, and the hunger in his eyes reassured her that she couldn’t let him go. He’d catch her in a private moment at work and steal a quick kiss, saying it was his sustenance until they’d met at night.

  He’d come over with dinner each evening after work, but they never managed to eat their meal until the midnight hour, too consumed with each other to feel any other sort of hunger but the sexual kind.

  Ali was in heaven while he was with her.

  But she was in her own private hell when they were apart.

  Tonight, she actually begged off with Joe. She needed an escape from Fake Ali for one night. She needed to be herself.

  Joe had frowned when she told him she had a cooking lesson with Royce that would go late into the evening. She could see it was on the tip of his tongue to offer to come over after her lesson, but he’d held back. Maybe he’d hoped she would be the one to do the inviting, or maybe, he realized they needed a short break from each other. They’d been together every day and night for one entire week.

  Ali kicked off her brown pumps, slipped out of her pantsuit and unbraided her hair. She ran her hands through the strands, and as her hair loosened from their bonds, so had Ali. She felt free, alive. Herself.

  She turned on the radio, and a U-2 song blasted out. Ali danced her way to the shower, stepped inside and sang along with the radio, washing her hair, soaping her body and rinsing off as she moved
with the music.

  She toweled off, fingered through her hair, allowing it to dry naturally for the time being. Later, she’d take a round brush to it and use the blow-dryer to add more wispy curls.

  Ali walked to her closet and spread the hangers wide, ignoring her Fake Ali clothes. She picked out a pair of black jeans and nodded. “I’ve missed you,” she said, stroking the material as she would a long, lost love.

  Next she searched for just the right blouse. She found a black silk that had gold tones of op art emblazoned on the front, the neck high on her throat, but the back dipping low with crisscrossing straps. She grabbed her leather boots from the floor of her closet and sighed. “I’ve missed you, too.”

  Ali opened her jewelry box and went right to a pair of thin, gold hoop earrings. Without pause, she set them onto her earlobes and stepped back from her dresser to admire them. “Nice.”

  She put her face on—a little blush on her cheeks, eyeliner and shadow to enhance the jade color of her eyes—and then lined her lips with cherry-red lipstick. She finished off her hair with the blow-dryer, then dressed in the clothes she’d picked out and stepped into her foyer where she could view herself in the full-length mirror. She liked what she saw.

  The knock came at her door at precisely eight o’clock, and Ali was ready for Royce.

  “Wow,” he said, glancing at her with keen interest. He had a nice way about him, and some women might think him incredibly handsome in that blond, surfer looking kind of way. He held a grocery bag full of items for the lesson.

  “Come in,” she said, allowing him entrance. “What are we making tonight?”

  “Well, I uh,” Royce didn’t take his eyes off her. “You look dynamite, Ali. Are you expecting someone else, later?”

  Ali laughed. “No way. I’m up for our cookout.”

  “Really, because you look too gorgeous to stay home and make dinner. If I had half a brain, I’d offer to take you dancing. I have a friend who plays guitar in a band, and he’s got a gig tonight in Yountville.”

  Ali opened her eyes wide, tempted to take Royce up on it. “Gosh, I haven’t been to a concert since I left New York.”

  Royce narrowed his eyes. “Are you saying you want to go?”