In the Boss' Bed

by Elizabeth Lennox

  Marcy looked again, fighting back the tears and the panic.

  She’d failed a test? She never failed! No, she wasn’t the best student in any of her classes, but she always scored relatively well! She studied hard and read through the assignments, was good at finding case studies to support all of her arguments….

  Okay, not lately.

  She’d been slacking off over the past few weeks, spending more time with Zeke. Yes, he’d encouraged her to study last weekend. So, she sat beside him on his big, comfy sofa with her books open. He was next to her reviewing contracts, but that didn’t help. She’d still been painfully aware of him next to her. In the end, he’d known she wasn’t studying. “If I make love to you, do you think that would help you study?” he’d offered.

  And of course, Marcy had taken him up on the experiment.

  Looking at her grade, she realized that it hadn’t worked. The experiment had failed. She’d failed!

  With a groan of horror, she realized that this was all her fault. She hadn’t studied well enough for this test. She’d been happy, but not focused. Every night, she’d been in Zeke’s bed, enjoying making love with the man. She’d sneak out in the early morning hours, ignoring his anger and frustration when she insisted on keeping their relationship a secret. Zeke wanted people to know that they were a couple, but she needed to maintain their privacy. Their relationship was too new and Marcy had superstitions that, if others knew about their feelings towards each other, if their feelings were actually acknowledged, then something bad would happen.

  So no, she wouldn’t let Zeke announce to his brothers that they were spending time together. No, she wouldn’t go to any of the cozy restaurants where someone might recognize them. She just wasn’t ready for rumors to fly about her dating Zeke Steele. Goodness, if the Seattle gossip mongers ever found out that she was dating Zeke, they would have no privacy! The Steele brothers were almost infamous around town for their dating escapades!

  She couldn’t do that, she thought. And obviously, she couldn’t seem to get on track for her studies either! She was failing at her relationship with Zeke because he wanted more than she had the courage to give him, she was failing in school because she preferred spending time with Zeke and, pretty soon, she was going to have to go back to working with Teague at the construction site. There was nothing more that she needed to do in Zeke’s office since it was all organized and back to normal. Not to mention, his previous assistant was ready to come back to work.

  Her life was falling apart!

  Marcy sat through the rest of the class, not hearing the professor drone on about contract laws or case examples. She couldn’t seem to get the number at the top of her exam out of her mind. The red numbers taunted her, tormented her mind.

  Everything had been fine before Zeke had walked into her life!

  No, she thought with a painful sadness. This wasn’t Zeke’s fault. He was the best kind of man. He was honorable, generous, a fabulous lover…okay, he was arrogant and demanding, pushy at times, and…her eyes rolled back in her head as she thought about the last time he’d been demanding.

  When she remembered where she was, Marcy admonished herself. This was not what she was supposed to be doing! She was fantasizing about a man instead of concentrating on what the professor was talking about!

  She looked up and realized that the class had ended and the rest of the students were filing out of the lecture hall. Good grief! Had two hours really passed already? She glanced down at her watch. Sure enough, the class was over!

  She was supposed to meet Zeke for lunch but, as she gathered up her books, she knew that she should avoid spending the rest of the afternoon with Zeke. She should spend her time in the library, studying and figuring out how to get her grade back on track for this class.

  Darn it, she hated this! She hated spending all of her time studying and all of her money going to tuition! She hated law school! She hated the time it took away from....

  No! No, no, no! She didn’t hate law school! She was focused on becoming a lawyer! She needed to become a lawyer. She was just messed up because of her relationship with Zeke. And she’d been spending too much time at work, or in his arms. Or fantasizing about the man.

  No more!

  As she walked to her car, she pulled her cell phone out and texted him a message. “Can’t meet for lunch,” she told him. “Have to study.”

  He immediately texted her back. “How did you do on your test?”

  Marcy stared at the words, afraid of responding. She couldn’t tell him the truth! She couldn’t admit that she’d failed so miserably. Not to Zeke. He never failed at anything. He was a genius in the business world and knew everything about construction and supplies, contracts and…well, just everything! He never would have failed on an exam.

  Marcy found a seat in the library, far away from the other students who were hunkered down, doing what she should have been doing every evening instead of spending her nights in happy bliss with Zeke.

  No more!

  She would study until she had this stuff down!

  Zeke stared at the words from Marcy and instinctively knew that something was wrong. He knew that she hated law school, but something had gone wrong today.

  Normally, her replies were bubbly and excited. This message was just bland.

  Yes, something was definitely wrong.

  Obviously, she didn’t want to talk about her exam at the moment. He’d question her tonight when she came over. In the meantime, he had some errands to run. After the past few weeks, he knew he needed to make this relationship permanent. He wasn’t going to risk Marcy getting away from him. She was everything he wanted in a partner and he wasn’t going to let her keep ignoring what was happening. So it was time to get her to admit her feelings for him as well.

  It only took one store before he found what he wanted. The diamond was exquisite. The antique setting immediately reminded him of Marcy. More than any other woman, he knew she would appreciate the detailed filigree and the smaller diamonds surrounding the larger, center one. It was exquisite. Just like Marcy.

  Chapter 13

  Zeke prowled his office, furious that Linda was back in her chair and frustrated because he hadn’t seen Marcy all weekend. All of her excuses made sense, but he was still furious and he knew that something else was going on. Something she wasn’t telling him.

  Fifteen minutes after arriving, Zeke was too furious to work. Grabbing his jacket, he walked out, determined to find out what was going on with Marcy. Besides, he just needed to see her, to hold her for a moment. Or an hour. A lifetime.

  “I’ll be back later,” he snapped, ignoring Linda’s surprised expression. He didn’t have time to deal with this. He needed Marcy. He needed to hold her, to see her smile, to feel her body against his.

  Whatever was going on, they would deal with it. Together.

  He parked his car at the edge of the construction site, ignoring the incongruence of his black BMW parked next to the beat-up, weathered pickup trucks the construction crew favored. His whole mind was focused on finding his woman, listening to whatever was going on in her adorable, crazy mind, and then fixing it, so that he could hold her in his arms tonight.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Teague demanded, stomping across the boards covering the mud of the construction site in order to confront his older brother.

  Zeke glared right back, not backing down in any way. “I need to talk to Marcy.”

  Teague shook his head, arrogantly crossing his arms over his massive chest. “No way. She’s been crying off and on ever since she arrived this morning.”

  Zeke’s stomach tightened with that news. Fury hit him fast and hard. “What’s wrong with her? What did you do?” he growled, moving closer. He was about to punch his brother but held back, needing information more than vengeance.

  Teague wasn’t backing down either. “I didn’t do anything to her! She showed up here all teary eyed and pale-faced. She said you didn’t need he
r any longer, so she was reporting for duty here.” Teague moved closer, poking his brother in the chest belligerently. “I told you not to hurt her!”

  Zeke leaned in, still not backing down. “I didn’t hurt her! She left my place Saturday morning with a smile, heading to her class, and I haven’t seen her since!”

  It took about five seconds of glaring before the truth hit him. Then Teague’s eyes instantly cleared as understanding dawned. Backing down, he stomped forward, and then back to Zeke, shaking his head with frustration. “Damn her! She hates law school! What happened?”

  Zeke backed up a bit, but he was still furious that Marcy wouldn’t talk to him, had avoided him, and was now hiding out here at the construction site instead of coming to him and telling him what was going on. “I have no idea. But if you’d get the hell out of my way, I will find out!”

  Teague shook his head again. “She hasn’t talked to any of us. She’s still her super-efficient self, but every time I walk into the office, she’s wiping tears away. So you must have done something, or said something, to hurt her feelings. And I’m not going to let you hurt her again.”

  Zeke clenched his teeth, his fury and worry over Marcy almost choking him. “I told you, I haven’t seen her. I’ve been trying to give her space all weekend, but not any longer. And yes, I know she hates law school. But I still haven’t figured out how to get her to admit that. So get out of my way, Teague. Marcy is my woman and I’m not letting you stop me from finding out what is hurting her!”

  Teague looked at his older brother for a long moment, his mind thinking back to the gorgeous, blonde woman he should have fought for a few months ago. What he saw in Zeke’s eyes reassured him, but also revealed what he should have done the moment he’d realized his woman had left. With a sigh of resignation, he nodded, giving his brother what he needed. “Okay. Go make her feel better. But if she starts crying again, I’m going to have to kick your ass.”

  Zeke was grateful that his brother was willing to protect Marcy, but still furious that the man was standing in his way. “I’ll protect Marcy,” he stated firmly. “She’s mine!”

  Teague shook his head. “Marcy is like a little sister to all of the guys around here. So don’t mess with her, Zeke.”

  “Back off!” he growled. He knew his Marcy. And he knew what a delectable little body she had. The idea that all of these men thought of Marcy as a sister was impossible. She was just too perfect. They were lusting after her and he didn’t like it! Not one little bit!

  Teague didn’t move for a long moment, both large men glaring at each other. But when the door to the office opened up, both of them knew that Marcy was there.

  “What are you two fighting about?” Marcy demanded, her hands on her hips as she glared at the men who had been acting like bulls for the past five minutes. “You are brothers. You can’t fight.”

  Zeke and Teague both pulled back, not wanting to reveal their animosity around the tiny, bustling woman. Teague turned around, facing Marcy with an angry glare. “He made you cry, Marcy. I’ll get rid of him if you’d like.”

  Marcy’s mouth fell open and she looked up at Zeke. She saw the worry, the concern in his eyes and shook her head. “Zeke didn’t make me cry. I’m perfectly fine,” she argued.

  Zeke moved closer, saw the redness around her eyes, and her lack of lipstick. His Marcy was always pulled together, always beautiful. The clamp that had been around his chest all weekend tightened. “You’re sad, honey. Tell me what’s wrong and I’ll fix it.”

  Marcy’s chin wobbled with his words and she wanted to throw herself into his arms. But she had to be strong. She couldn’t rely on Zeke for comfort. She’d messed up and she’d have to get herself out of this mess.

  Taking a deep breath, she crossed her arms over her chest, trying to find something to calm herself, but this was a mess she’d created on her own. She’d have to fix it on her own. “You didn’t make me cry, Zeke. I just…I…” she sniffed, bowing her head. “I failed my last test,” she whispered, full of shame while admitting her failure. “I failed and I have to study to get back on track.”

  Zeke looked around, noticing the others that were stopping to stare. Some of the men looked like they were ready to take him on as well and he smiled, relieved that she had so many people around to defend her. But he was here now. He was going to fix this for her.

  “Come on, honey. Let’s go into the office and talk about this,” he urged.

  Marcy took two steps, feeling wonderful again now that Zeke was here and his hand was touching her back. She needed him. She’d needed him all weekend. She’d wanted to call him up on Saturday evening and ask if she could just curl up in his arms and sob out her frustration.

  But she’d forced herself to be strong, to handle this issue on her own. Her fascination with Zeke had caused her world to lose focus. So, she was punishing herself by not letting herself be with him.

  When she realized where they were going, and the fact that no one else would enter that office while Zeke was with her, she stopped, pulling back so that he wasn’t touching her again.

  “I can’t go into that office with you, Zeke,” she said firmly, shaking her head to emphasize her words.

  “Why not, love?” he asked her gently, his hand coming up to cup her jaw. Just looking down at her, her lovely curls bouncing around her pale skin and those eyes! Damn, he loved her eyes! The crystal blue eyes were his undoing. He couldn’t hold back any longer.

  He eliminated the space between them, pulling her into his arms. It was just going to be a small kiss, he promised himself, a gentle, reassuring kiss. In the split second it took to pull her close, he vowed that he wouldn’t do more than a simple kiss. But as soon as his lips touched her trembling mouth, he knew that he was in trouble. This was Marcy, he thought, as he pulled her closer.

  And others were watching.

  Damn. He pulled back, his eyes on fire to have her back in his bed, all of her delectable curves waiting for his touch.

  “Hell,” he muttered and pulled her into the office, slamming the door behind him. As soon as they were alone again, away the prying eyes of the construction crew, he pulled her right back into his arms and kissed her. Deeply.

  Marcy knew that the closed door would be a bad idea, but she didn’t have a chance to tell Zeke to leave it open before he pulled her into his arms and kissed her again. Darn it, she’d missed him! She’d missed him so much! It had only been two days since she’d last seen him, but she was almost in pain as she desperately lifted her arms to hold him, to bring him closer.

  Within moments, she was a trembling, pathetic mess. She needed him so desperately and she’d denied herself this man for too long. That didn’t bode well for her determination to keep him out of her life, at least until after she’d finished law school. But she didn’t care. Not while he was touching her, his mouth moving over hers, and his tongue teasing her mouth. She wanted him. Badly!

  When he lifted his head again, she whimpered, wanting more. Her fingers slipped between the buttons on his shirt and she almost laughed when he groaned and stopped her sneaky fingers.

  “We have to get out of here,” he decided and took her hand, tugging her right back out the door.

  Marcy was halfway towards his car, running right alongside him when she realized what she was doing. “Wait!”

  Zeke turned around and looked at her, saw the concern in her pretty, blue eyes and stopped even though he didn’t want to. “What’s wrong?” he asked, smoothing the tousled curls back off her pale face. He’d done that to her, he realized. His fingers had messed up her hair, dismantled her style. And he wanted to do a hell of a lot more!

  “I can’t go with you, Zeke,” she told him with pleading eyes, trying to get him to understand. And what was worse, she needed him to be the strong one. If it were up to her, she’d dive into his arms and never leave them.

  “Why?”

  She shook her head, looking straight ahead instead of up into his intelligent, gree
n eyes. “Because we’re bad for each other.”

  Zeke’s hand froze in her hair. “How the hell are we bad for each other?” he demanded, almost roaring the question as his fury reared up, hot as lava.

  “We just…” she paused, trying to figure out the words to explain. But he was too close. She started to step backwards but he stopped her. With a look in his dark eyes, she knew that she should run. But she was too late. A moment later, she was tossed over his shoulder. Marcy looked around, stunned and confused.

  When he plunked her into the passenger seat of his car, her head was spinning and her anger welled up, almost choking her. A smarter woman would have jumped out of his car and given him a piece of her mind. But Marcy just sat there, glaring at him while he walked around to the driver’s seat. When he started up the engine and drove away, she sputtered, too angry for words.

  “Wait until we reach my place,” he cautioned, a smug look on his handsome features. “You can yell at me all you want once we’re there.”

  She huffed a bit more, then sat back in her seat, and crossed her arms over her chest, glaring out the windshield as fury choked her.

  He parked his car in the parking garage of his apartment complex, not at his office as she’d been expecting. But she should have expected this. She should have anticipated this.

  “I’m not going into your apartment, Zeke,” she growled with a stubborn jut of her chin.

  Zeke turned in the car, looking down at her adorable features. “Marcy, you were supposed to come back here Saturday after your class. You didn’t. You have been spending every night in my arms for the past few weeks. And yet, you didn’t show up Saturday, leaving me to wonder what’s going on. Furthermore, you didn’t text me on Sunday to tell me that you weren’t coming last night either. So yes, you’re coming into the building and we’re going to go up to my place. You’re going to explain to me what happened between the moment you left my bed on Saturday morning and after your class Saturday afternoon. So you either get out on your own steam or,” and his handsome features broke into a look that made her toes curl with need, “I’ll carry you into the building.” His eyes moved down her figure.