by Amy Noelle
“Oh, just play it by ear,” Ashley said. “If you end up wanting to bang, just bang. You’re going to drive us all crazy until you do.”
Maybe I was, but she didn’t need to be so rude about it. “I am not. You just think that . . .” My cell rang. “Oh my God! It’s him!”
“Well answer it and let us listen,” Mandy said.
Dream on, pervert. With barely a qualm, I sat up and yelled, “Bye,” then slammed my laptop shut. I answered my phone just before the fourth ring. “Hello.”
“Hi.” His voice was deep, and there was this soft Midwestern twang that just drove me insane.
“Long time no talk.” It wasn’t long at all, which was why I was grinning like an idiot. He’d refused to let me come home alone last night. He’d taken the train with me and walked me to my door where he gave me one more bone-meltingly hot kiss before saying goodnight.
I’d wanted badly to invite him in, but we’d agreed to try this dating thing, so I figured asking him to stay over before we even technically had one was a bad move. Or was last night a date? Did it count? Some television show, or maybe a book I’d read, said the third date was the sex one. So if last night counted, we were all the closer to my finally jumping his bones.
“I just wanted to see if you’d slept any better last night.”
He was so cute. Both of us had been sleep deprived so needlessly, due to my idiocy. I was really lucky Josh was an incredible and forgiving man.
“Like a baby.” After a marathon session with BOB. There was no way I could have slept without taking care of business last night. I’d been way too wired from his kisses and touches and God, just thinking about it now was getting me worked up again.
“Me, too,” he said and gave a gorgeous little laugh. “Much better than I have been, though I wished you were here.”
“You can’t say things like that.”
“Why not?” he asked, laughing again.
“You know why not. Because we’re being good, or whatever.”
“Being good or whatever? We haven’t even gone on a date yet.”
Fuck. That meant last night didn’t count. I needed to find a source that said the second date was the charm.
“You know what I mean,” I said. “You admitted to feeling it, too.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He sounded entirely too innocent.
I didn’t date, but I damn well knew how to flirt and how to challenge. “I’m talking about how since I laid eyes on you all I’ve wanted to do was throw you down on one of our desks and have my way with you.” I grinned and waited for his reaction.
He choked. “Jesus, Nicole, you can’t just say that!”
“Why not? I thought we were putting the cards on the table.”
Josh said, “We are, but you don’t need to show your whole hand right from the get-go. And I don’t know how I’m supposed to sit next to you tomorrow and not think about that all day.”
“Well, I’ll be thinking it so you should be, too. Fair is fair.” I couldn’t contain my delight that he said he was going to sit next to me. Things were right again.
“You’re a cruel woman.”
“Well, since you like me, there must be something wrong with you, too.”
“There are many things wrong with me,” he said, chuckling. That was a lie and a half. “For instance, I already miss you.”
His words made me feel warm all over. Not like the inferno that his kisses ignited, but a lovely, comfortable feeling. “I miss you, too. Last night was way better than I could have hoped for.”
“Me, too. I have no idea what movie we even missed.”
I had to laugh. “Jen was just teasing me about us not seeing more than five minutes of it.”
“That’s being generous. I didn’t see a thing.”
“See? We should have stayed in your room. It would have been more productive.”
“Dangerous, tempting woman. Yes, it would have been, but then I wouldn’t have kept my promise to show you how to date properly. Actually, that’s why I called.”
He wasn’t canceling, was he? “It is? What’s up?” I tried to sound all casual but probably failed.
“I don’t want to wait until Saturday to go out.”
“Really?”
“Really. And I know Friday’s out because of your show, and frankly that’s too far away, too. So, do you want to go to dinner tomorrow night after work? I’d like to do better than cheeseburgers in my bedroom.”
“There’s not much better than cheeseburgers in your bedroom, but yes, I’d love to go to dinner with you.” There, I could accept a date decently. I wasn’t completely inept, despite what my so-called friends said.
He laughed. “Well, we’ll see about that. Anywhere you’d like to go? I guess I owe you Italian after your aborted evening.”
I snickered. “No. I don’t need garlic breath again.”
“I think both of us do,” he muttered. “We won’t make it a late night or anything. Just dinner and I’ll bring you home.”
“That sounds like a plan. The cats get annoyed when I mess with our weekly schedule.”
“When are you going to introduce me? I feel like I know them already.”
He got me. He knew I wasn’t going to let any man into my life who didn’t at least accept my cats, though it would be worlds better if he actually liked them.
“You can meet them tomorrow night if you want. But remember, Hunt will hate you.”
His rich laugh filled the line. “So you say, but I’ve yet to run into an animal that didn’t like me, even an overprotective cat.”
He couldn’t say I hadn’t warned him. “You haven’t met my cat. I’ll apologize beforehand for whatever chunk of your body he takes out.”
“You really know how to sell me on him, don’t you?” I opened my mouth to respond when he said, “Actually I think it speaks pretty highly of you that he’s so protective. Animals are good judges of character.”
I looked over at where Hunt was perched on my recliner, watching me. “That or he just fears any new male will distract me from feeding him on time.”
“You know better than that.”
I did, but I didn’t know how he did. There was still so much I didn’t know, really. “Why are you single?” Shit. It slipped out before I could stop myself.
He chuckled. “Isn’t that a good thing?”
For me, obviously. “Yes, but you’re gorgeous and sexy and smart and have the patience of a saint for dealing with me, so I don’t understand how you’re not married with five kids.”
“Five?” He made that choking sound again. “You never fail to surprise me. Well, for starters, I don’t want five kids. Two or three would be fine.” I tried to ignore the little flip in my stomach. It didn’t mean anything. I’d brought it up, after all.
“As to why I’m single, I guess it’s because my serious relationships never panned out. I’ve had a couple of serious girlfriends. One in college for over a year, and another a few years ago. The first ended because she took a job across the country and neither of us were so attached we wanted to do long distance. The second ended because we grew apart. I wasn’t heartbroken when it ended. It didn’t feel right anymore.”
It was all so foreign to me. Other than my high school boyfriend, I hadn’t had one, unless you counted Damian, which was hard to do when he was slutting up the campus. It felt good to know this about Josh, though. I knew him, but I didn’t know a lot about him. I liked finding out more. I guess that’s what dating was all about.
“Okay, I just wondered.”
“Because you think I’m so amazing.” He laughed. “I’m happy to hear it. I could ask you the same question, but I already know your answer. And I have to say, I’m glad you didn’t give anybody a chance until now.”
I felt my cheeks heating. “Me, too.”
“Good. I hate to go but I have to go check on my laundry. I’ll see you in the morning.”
I couldn’t wait. “O
kay. Good night.” We disconnected, and I picked Win off the couch and cuddled him to me. “I have a date,” I said. Tomorrow would be interesting.
Chapter 18
I couldn’t remember ever being so excited for a Monday before. I mean, who would be, really? People with the best job in the world I suppose, but that certainly wasn’t the case with me. However, the most beautiful man I’d ever seen was at my not-so-great job, so I couldn’t find any fault with it today. Last week I’d felt sick heading into the office every day, so sure I’d screwed it up and I’d never get a chance with him. Today I rushed through my morning routine and nearly killed myself tripping over Winchester in my hurry to get out the door. Who cared? Tonight I had a dinner date with Josh.
I still couldn’t believe that the weekend I’d been dreading had turned into something so incredible. Saturday night had been amazing. It was the first time in . . . ever that I’d curled up on the couch with a sexy man who couldn’t stop touching me, while my best friend and her guy were just feet away. It was very high school, but so much fun. And then for him to call me and ask me out already? Like he couldn’t wait to be with me in the same way I couldn’t wait to be with him? It made me giddy. And schoolgirlish. Well, since I’d never dated like a regular person, I guessed it was okay, as long as only I knew how silly I was being.
Smiling like a loon on the El is probably a bad idea, but I couldn’t help myself. I got several weird looks from passersby, but hey, if they thought I was insane, maybe they’d stay away from me, which was all the better. There was nothing I hated worse than getting stuck next to someone who wanted to chat during the ride. Some people were meant for small talk with strangers. I was not one of those people.
I was early, but not too early, when I stepped into the office. The smile on my face immediately dissipated when I saw Josh standing at my old desk smiling at Lisa. Her hand was on his arm, and I wanted to run over and yank it off, but that might be just a tad too possessive at this point in our relationship. Or ever. Still, I hated that he was giving her one of his killer smiles. And I hated that she was touching him. She couldn’t touch him if I broke her hand.
As if he sensed my presence, Josh glanced toward the doorway where I stood staring at him like a moron, and then that smile was all mine. I felt myself smile back automatically, and I sent him a wave before heading to our office. Part of me wanted to go over and find out what lecherous Lisa was saying to him, but the intelligent part of me knew that was not a good idea. The closer I was to her, the more likely I was to strike. And the closer I was to him, the likelier I was to mount him, especially because he was wearing all black and looking fine.
“You know, you could have come over and said hi. I think your work friends miss you.”
I jumped. He must have walked away from Lisa in midsentence, because I hadn’t even sat down at my desk yet. Which meant if I stepped back just a little bit, I’d be pressed up against him.
“I really need to get you that bell,” I said and turned around. He was right there, smiling down at me. I couldn’t help myself. I ran my fingers through that lock of hair.
“But then I wouldn’t be able to sneak up on you.” He nudged the door all the way closed and touched my cheek. “I like putting that look on your face, even if it makes me want to do things I can’t do right now.”
I was going to melt into the floor. “Nobody can come in,” I said.
He laughed and pressed his forehead to mine. “Chris can and probably will when I tell him we’re dating. I want to be as forthcoming as possible, so that nobody can say we did anything wrong.”
Humph. I wanted to do wrong things. He chuckled and kissed my nose. “That’s a rule breaker right there, but I won’t tell if you won’t.” He pulled away and headed around to his desk.
“If we’re going to break rules, shouldn’t we break more interesting ones?” I asked as I sank into my chair.
“No.” He sat and grinned at me as he turned on his computer. I sighed and did the same. “If we break one of the interesting rules, we’ll break all of them, and one or both of us will be fired. I like working with you and want to keep it that way.”
“I like it, too.” What was left unsaid, of course, was that our working together was temporary. But it was the one thing I couldn’t let myself forget. As much as I wanted him—this—I had to remember we were on a timeline unless something changed. Even though he’d said he’d be willing to move to Chicago “if things worked out” between us, that was still pretty vague, and we hadn’t even gone on our first date yet. So I guessed I needed to write a kickass instruction manual so Starfire fell in love with our company and wanted me to write for them for eternity. I couldn’t do it without Josh, so this was a good plan.
Josh stood and shot me a smile. “Chris wants to talk to us in his office.”
“Oh, God, you told him?” I asked, my heart beating wildly.
“Not yet, but we may as well kill two birds with one stone.”
I sighed and stood. He pushed my hair off my shoulder. “It’ll be okay. Trust me.”
Right. Chris already knew that Josh, by some miracle, liked me, so this wouldn’t be earth-shattering news. He held the door open for me, and I smiled at Angela and Andrew as I headed toward Chris’s office. No smile for Lisa, though. She could bite me.
When we got to Chris’s office he was on the phone, but he gestured for us to sit down. Josh pulled out a chair for me, and his fingers moved across my neck before he pulled his hand away. That didn’t exactly help calm me down. I was on fire again.
Chris hung up and smiled at us. “I just got off the phone with New York.” I felt my stomach do a little flip. “Starfire is so pleased with what they’ve seen, they’re definitely interested in talking about their upcoming line of computers and MP3 players. We may need to send you to San Francisco in the next couple of weeks, Josh.”
And my stomach was flipping even more. “Nicole, they’re very pleased with your work as well, and would love to have you continue with their other product lines. Is that something you’d consider? I know electronics isn’t your thing, but . . .”
“No, I’ll do it. I mean, if I could work with Josh so I’d know what I was doing,” I said. Josh chuckled, and I kicked him lightly.
“Well, I’m certain Josh would be involved, but he’s got other accounts based out of New York, I’m sure—”
“Chris, remember what I discussed with you my first day here?”
Chris looked between the two of us and nodded slowly. “So, that’s how it is?”
“We don’t know how it is yet, but we’re both open to finding out. I don’t know if that makes things better or worse in your eyes as far as us working together, but I think we make a pretty great team. I can do my job from anywhere, as you well know. I know I’ll have to travel, but I’ll make sure Nic’s well versed in what she’s doing before I do.”
“You are a great team, and I’d hate to imagine what would happen if things failed to work out between you two. Starfire wanted you both,” Chris said and leaned in to study us intently. “Would you be able to handle that?”
I probably wouldn’t, but I nodded anyway while Josh said he would. Chris sighed and shook his head. “There’s no company policy against fraternizing, as long as you keep it out of the workplace.”
Josh chuckled. “If there was a policy about it, several people in the New York office would be fired, including our CEO. His wife is in our IT department.”
“Really?” Chris asked. “I hadn’t heard that. He just got married last year, didn’t he?”
“Yes, sir. And while I do promise we’ll keep it out of the workplace, I can tell you that they didn’t. The office supply room needs a better lock.” Josh winked at me, and I felt myself getting hot about the two of us in a very tiny closet. The office we shared was pretty small, too, but he could still put some space between us. Not in a closet.
“Yes, well, only one of you in the supply closet at a time,” Chris said. Was he blush
ing? Was I?
“We’ll be good,” Josh promised. More like he’d be good and I’d sulk about it, but at least one of us was trustworthy.
“Excellent. I’ll get in touch with HR and make sure they’re in the know, just as a precaution.”
“Great. And I can probably head to San Francisco in a couple of weeks. We’re making good progress, but we have a way to go yet.” The way he looked at me when he said that made me wonder if he was talking about the stupid phone manual or us.
“Sounds good. You let your bosses and Starfire know what works for you. I’ll let you get to work.” He waited until we’d stood and Josh’s hand was on the door before he said, “I’ll be in to check your progress in a little bit.”
He had yet to set foot in our office, so we all knew what kind of check he was talking about. I tried not to scowl as Josh laughed and told him we’d see him later. As soon as we were back in the office, I started complaining.
“What, does he think we’re five? We don’t need to be monitored like little kids on the playground. We can behave like—”
And then his hard, hot lips were on mine, and my back was pressed against the door. I let out a little squeak before wrapping my arms around his neck. I wanted to wrap my legs around his waist, too, but the damn blue pencil skirt I was wearing made that impossible. What had I been thinking when I’d worn this? Who cared that my ass looked good in it when I couldn’t get closer to him?
Josh released me and ran his fingers through my hair. “Sorry. I had to get that out before we got to work, or I wouldn’t be able to concentrate. And I didn’t figure he’d follow us in right away. He’ll want us to get a little comfortable.”
Well, damn. What about me? “You could give a girl a little warning.”
He smiled and kissed me again. God, the man could slay me just as easily with a hard, hot kiss as a soft, sweet one. “At least I didn’t sneak up on you and do it, right?”
Now I had images of him sneaking up behind me, throwing me down, and having his way with me. “Uh, right.” He stepped back, took my hand, and led me to my chair.