Stunning in Stilettos: A Stunning Contemporary Romance

by Nana Malone

  * * *

  “What is your problem with me?”

  Kyra wasn't the type of woman to back down from anything. Bryan could tell it in the way she held her shoulders stiff and the way she pursed her lips and the way she cocked her head. “We don’t have a problem.”

  “Don't we? Please tell me I don't know when someone is throwing animosity my way. I can't wait to hear how you try and explain that I'm being hysterical or in some way blowing this out of proportion. Go on. Tell me that.”

  But before he could speak she put her hand up. “But before you do, remember that we were in a room full of 500 employees who all know that today is my first day, who all know that I couldn't possibly have done anything to piss the boss off so quickly. Or is it that I ask questions, which you tout as one of your core values? So please enlighten me as to the cause of the animosity.” Her voice rose, her cheeks flushed, and her pupils dilated.

  I resent the fact that I want to fuck you. I resent you questioning me on what I built. I resent your feminine scent and that broad smile and your wit because I want you so fucking bad I can't see straight. Yeah ... like he was going to say that.

  “You know what I resent Miss Benson? I resent you questioning me on a project you know nothing about. I resent the implication that as the CEO of this company I wouldn't have thought it through. That I'm in some way whimsical. That you, on your first day, know how to run this place and get shit done better than I do. Do you really think an all hands meeting is the place for your questions? And while we're at it—” But before he could continue, the door to his office opened and Allison, his assistant, poked her head in. “What?” he bellowed.

  She flushed and he immediately regretted his tone. “Uh, I'm sorry, but I figured maybe you didn't know. You're shouting.” Her gaze flickered to Kyra briefly. “The both of you.”

  Jesus. In the course of a couple of hours, Kyra Benson had morphed him into someone he didn't recognize. You really think she's the problem?

  “Fine. I think Miss Benson and I can keep it down.”

  Allison scuttled out of the office and he rolled his shoulders before turning his attention back to Kyra. “It seems the two of us are a volatile combination.”

  * * *

  At this rate, they’d last a month. Kyra leveled a gaze at him even as she tried to bring her blood pressure down with deep breaths.

  Even in the stunners on her feet, she still had to tilt her head up to look at him, he was so damn tall. “You want this project by the summer you're going to need to fork up everything I need. And you're going to have to loosen the reigns of control. That's not how I work. Either you want me to project manage the job, or you want to do it yourself. If you don't want me, then tell me now. I’ll figure out a schedule that might work then send you my findings for what might be possible. But it's going to cost you.”

  “Already asking for more budget?”

  “Sometimes you have to pay. I’ll need more resources and you need to give me your word you'll back off and let me do my job.”

  He stared at her, his hazel eyes warming to a whiskey brown. His pupils dilated a fraction and his lips parted.

  The pulsing between her thighs increased. It was like that look was just an outright mating call. “I'll give you anything you want. Just don't tell me it can't be done.”

  She took a deliberate step back to a safer distance. When she stood too close to him, she couldn’t think. “I never said that. You assumed that's where I was going.”

  His gaze narrowed again. “Are you always such a pain in the ass?”

  Kyra smiled. “Only when I'm right.” She could do this. All she had to do was manage him. And not think about that hot glare trained on her as if she was his prey.

  Bryan Ross is my boss. I will not think about screwing my boss ... unless I'm all alone in the privacy of my own room and I have a weak moment. But otherwise, not gonna happen. Yeah, all she had to do was keep telling herself that. Easy peasy.

  Nine

  “Dude, I heard it was legendary.” Megan danced on her bar stool, practically bouncing up and down in her excitement.

  Kyra just groaned, wondering if it was a good idea to invite her new friend to drinks with Ricca and the crew. They all got along like a house on fire. Unfortunately, it also meant, they all totally were ganging up on her and her near screaming fight with Bryan that morning.

  “I would hardly call it legendary,” Kyra muttered. “He's not dead is he? If I'd bludgeoned him with his paper weight, then it would have been legendary.”

  Micha snorted. “I knew I liked this girl.” She winked then added, “So correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the same homeboy who you were flirting with over email? So that interview-date was with the CEO?”

  “He neglected to mention that.”

  Megan's expressive green eyes went wide. “Just how flirty did you guys get?”

  “Not flirty.” If only the ground would swallow her up. If only she could go back in time and not make friends with the bubbly redhead. If only she'd stayed in fucking Florida. Kyra sighed.

  “Micha and crew are exaggerating.”

  Jaya and Ricca snickered and made themselves very busy sipping on their margaritas.

  Megan frowned. “That makes a lot more sense now with the fireworks display and the screaming match heard ’round the office.”

  Kyra shook her head. “I don't know what you're talking about. Yes, okay, there was some shouting. I mean, even you have to admit he was a total asshole in the meeting.”

  Megan at least conceded that point. “Yeah, you're right. That's my point though. I've never seen him act like that and I've been there for years. I mean he's a little hot headed, but never like that. He's usually hard on himself and he's fair. I saw him staring at you. The man looked like he'd been struck by lightning.”

  Well, she'd felt like she'd been struck by lightning. So it was only fair. Her hand still tingled from where his much larger hand had enveloped hers that morning, the charge shooting through her, waking long dormant senses. She'd been so acutely aware of his faint aftershave. The artfully disheveled, gelled array of his hair and those intense hazel eyes on her. Unfortunately, she'd also been acutely aware of the way he’d played her. “Yeah well, more like hate at second sight.”

  Jaya piped up. “Did he give any explanation why he didn't mention it?”

  “I didn't let him. It doesn’t matter.”

  Ricca patted her hand. “I'm sure he doesn't hate you, sweetie.”

  “You weren't there, Ree.”

  Megan shook her head vehemently. “I don't know. I'd say it was more of lust at first sight or second sight. You said you two had been flirting before, right?”

  Kyra rolled her eyes. “No. Relationship Machiavelli over there said that.” She hitched a thumb in Micha's direction. “It wasn't like that. He interviewed me and he showed me around town because I didn't know anyone. When I accepted the job, I noticed a quote in my email, so I made a comment. So uh, we chatted, I guess, over email. Everything above board. Nothing flirty at all.”

  Who was she kidding? She'd been the one who waited for his responses to her emails like she was jonesing for a hit. “I didn’t expect him to be my boss.”

  Micha wasn't buying it. “What you expected was for him not to be a hot, prick who you liked flirting with. Just so we're clear, you didn't get a look at his prick, did you?”

  Kyra choked and margarita came out of her nose as the mixture of coughing and laughing took over her body. “No. God no.” More like God she wished. The man had been even better looking the second time around.

  Jaya sat up straight. “So you're saying you didn't find him attractive when you first met?”

  “Oh come on, I'm not dead. I have eyes don't I? He was cute. But that was before I knew who he was. The truth of it is, homeboy is a first class prick. He just winds me up. I thought I was going to get fired. So I'm sort of relieved that I didn't. I turned down all the other job offers. And thanks to you lot,
I unpacked all my shit, so I'm staying put for at least six months.”

  Megan nodded. “Okay. We'll back off. I mean it's not like anything can happen anyway. Especially with everything going on.”

  Kyra chimed in. “At last, gossip I can use. What's going on?”

  “Well, the company is being sued for wrongful termination. Meredith, the VP Technology, the one suspected of corporate espionage, she's claiming that he terminated her after they had a relationship.”

  Kyra didn't know why, but that revelation hurt like she'd been stabbed in the gut. “Wow, okay then.”

  Her new friend shrugged. “That's what she claims, but no one believes it. I've been working there since I was in college at UCSD and he's never dated anyone in the office that I could see. Not once. You've seen the place. It's totally open; there is no hiding dirt. Maybe off site, but I remember her. She dated several of the business guys. And not a single one of those ended well. That's not to say Bryan is an angel. There are woman in and out of that place, all of the supermodel variety. But from what I know he's never dated a single employee.”

  “That’s crazy.”

  “Yeah, as a result they rolled out an employee fraternization policy from HR on Friday. To catch anything early. And both parties have to sign off that they are in a relationship, etc. And that only works for employees. There is to be no fraternization between subordinates and direct bosses.”

  Micha nudged her. “See, now you guys will be covered when you stop screaming at each other and get to the boning each other phase. He's the boss. He can change the policy.”

  Kyra laughed again. No margarita burn this time though. “I will not be boning him, thank you very much. I'm just trying to keep from getting fired right now.”

  “How are you going to survive the company retreat? At least you get to know him better outside of the office. Maybe you two will bury your hatchet,” Megan said.

  Ricca snorted. “Oh he'll bury something all right.” Every single one of them turned to gape at her and she shrugged. “What? Between this lot and my husband, I can make a suggestive joke.”

  Kyra shook her head. “You know what? That was almost worth taking the verbal ribbing. So freaking awesome.”

  She was suddenly happy she'd gone out. Even though they'd teased her. This had been exactly what she'd been missing at home. Girls’ night. After her relationship with James, she was thrilled to finally have her own identity. It felt amazing and she was never going back to that domineering shit. Ever.

  Ten

  He was surviving. Three weeks with Kyra and he was still alive. Wonder of wonders. As Bryan finished finalizing the hotel check-in procedure for the X2 employees, he went over the rules again.

  The first rule of staying away from Kyra Benson was actually stay the fuck away from Kyra Benson. So far Bryan had managed it okay. For weeks, every meeting they had was chaperoned. And while their exchanges were charged, they'd managed to keep from screaming at each other again, so yay. Total bonus.

  Second rule of staying away from Kyra Benson: Avoid thinking about her in a sexual manner. Okay, to be honest, he could do better in that regard. He was having some trouble. But in retrospect, he'd only thought about her sitting on his desk with her skirt hiked up and those fuck-me shoes three —no make that four — times today. That was certainly better than the ten times or more yesterday.

  Third rule: Stop masturbating to her mental image. He had a problem there. The more he masturbated, the more it came back. That rule needed more work. Like a lot more work.

  Fourth rule of the oh-so-exclusive club: Don't fucking kill Kyra Benson. That sort of went right along with needing a chaperon when they were together.

  And the final most difficult of all rules to follow was to not read her goddamned emails. This was the rule he failed the hardest on. And possibly why he was failing at rule number three. As he was trying to get work done, his email would just beckon to him. Calling him. Telling him to cheat on his own rules. And then he'd be reading one of them and chuckling to himself. And then he'd wonder what she'd look like actually smiling at him, and then well, right back to the fantasy of her sitting on the desk, her skirt hitched up, red and gold shoes sparkling. So rule two broken and inevitably rule three broken. Fuck.

  And there it was again. His erection making itself known. He'd known this woman for a few weeks and she was capable of complete and total torture. She owned him and he was pretty sure she hated him.

  Over the three weeks, they'd mostly managed an air of civility ... almost.

  There had been some heated conversation about the project or why the company retreat couldn't be moved. Or the developers excused. He'd held his ground and she'd tried every avenue in her arsenal to get him to budge. But he had goals and he wasn't going to move them. At the same time he fought her, he also wondered what it would be like to have someone fighting that fiercely for him. The development team was lucky to have her in their corner.

  Sometimes, because he'd built this company on his own in his shoe box of a dorm room, he forgot that normal people needed food, water, sunlight, and family to function. He used to think that was weakness. Until he realized that by having employees it was his responsibility to look after them. And he'd done a decent job. Work hard, play hard. But there were times, like now, that he pushed harder. This project was important. Even if Kyra didn't see it.

  He wasn't an idiot though. He kept the open plan office for a reason. He wanted to be able to suss out any discontent early. And the gossip mill was running rampant. He knew there was a pot to see how long it would take before he fired her ... or she killed him.

  Bryan scrubbed his hand down his face. The only reason he was responding to Kyra so strongly was because it had been a while. Ever since Meredith filed countersuit, he'd been hands off with women anywhere in San Diego. He hadn't had the time to date and he knew how it would look.

  But maybe the best way to get Kyra out of his head was to get laid. He’d work out the tension and the kinks. And then he’d be back to normal.

  That was it. His cock twitched as if in agreement. Damn it. This shit had to get under control or he was going to ruin everything. Kyra Benson was good at what she did. He needed her. He’d call Elaine, tonight. Before he did or said something stupid to Kyra.

  As he walked through the hotel lobby, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Something was—damn it. There, at registration, stood a woman he recognized by her ass alone.

  Then the hair artfully styled into a thick side braid of some sort that framed her face. Kyra. What the hell was she doing here already? He'd come up to LA this morning to attend a couple of meetings. No one else was expected until tomorrow morning.

  As if tuned into the same frequency that he was, she immediately looked up and around, searching for the source of unease. What he should have done was head straight for his room, grab his workout gear and work off some of this tension. He should walk in the total opposite direction. He should. But it didn't look like he was going to. I'll take fucked up scenarios for a thousand, Alex.

  Pulled to her like a magnet, he walked up to her and muttered, “I thought you all weren't coming up until later.”

  Kyra spun slowly in her black heels, flicking her room key in her hand. She wore rolled up slouchy jeans, a T-shirt and a slouchy sweater. She should have looked average. But with those shoes on … She looked good enough to eat.

  “Well, since my guys have to work while they're here, I wanted to get a war room set up for them. And get some game stuff they can play with, as well as make sure things are stocked. We're here for four days, so they'll need some stress relievers.”

  He frowned. “You could have just mentioned what you'd need. I would have had Allison take care of it.”

  “I don't mind and it's kind of fun. This is my space. My guys. I'm starting to get to know them. Who likes Oreos as a midnight snack, who prefers Gummy bears. It's sort of a ritual.”

  As she spoke, he could tell that when she said tea
m, she wasn't just giving lip service. She meant it. She really did mean to take care of them. “I understand. Though, next time, just tell me and we'll foot the bill.”

  She shrugged. “Like I said, no big deal.”

  He set his jaw. “Is there ever a time when you'll just do as you're told?”

  Her mouth opened then immediately snapped shut. “Sure. Mr. Ross.”

  “Cut it out with the Mr. Ross stuff would you? Call me Bryan.”

  “You're the one who keeps referring to me as Miss Benson.”

  He couldn't win. But instead of getting embroiled in a battle with her, he sighed. “I'm going to go. Let me know if you need anything.”

  When he let himself into his hotel room five minutes later, he felt as if he'd just escaped a fire. More like a trial by. Why the hell couldn't he just forget her? Two seconds in her presence and insta-hard on. Mind producing all kinds of scenarios in which he could put her smart mouth to good use. All of which were inappropriate. Fuck him. Yes please.

  No, scratch that. Fuck anybody but her. All he needed was to get some. Then he'd behave like a rational human being.

  It was just sex. That was all. Worse things had happened. He was going next level with the company. And then what? And then, he'd be happy. Or so he hoped. The driving ambition to be greater, faster, better would stop ... right?

  He yanked his phone out of his pocket and sent a text. Dinner tonight. It wasn't a question. He and Elaine had casually dated for years. He suspected she'd wanted more, but he was clear about what he wanted. Whenever he was in town, they'd meet up, and then he'd turn around and go home. That arrangement worked for him. Her too. Works for mostly you.

  Okay where the hell had that come from? He’d been honest about not wanting more. But every time he saw her, he felt it. Saw it in her eyes. The arrangement was working less and less for her. They could talk about that tonight while he was actively trying to scrub Kyra from the brain.