Blair studies me a moment longer, but finally she relents, imploring me not to work too hard before shutting the door and disappearing down the hall.
“All clear, kitten,” I tease, reaching under my desk to rub Ellie’s ears. “You can crawl back into my lap now.”
“Not a chance, Holt. That was too close.” She rolls out with a rush of breath. “As of right now, our office sexcapades are officially over. No more desk nookie. Or any other kind of workplace nookie.”
“Oh, come on. Where’s your sense of adventure?” I grab her hands and try to pull her into my lap, but she’s not having it.
“Where’s your sense of trying to avoid a lawsuit?”
“Worried Blair is going to sue us?”
“Nothing would surprise me from that woman.” Ellie adjusts her wig and her clothes, straightening all the things I worked so hard to un-straighten, before turning to me with a wink, “But lucky for you, one of us has an apartment a few blocks away. With a bed. And no nosy colleagues.”
“Hey! That’s me!” I vault from my seat, circling the desk and snatching her suit coat from the chair. “Have I told you how brilliant you are today?”
Her smile widens. “I don’t mind hearing it twice.”
“Brilliant,” I say, tossing her the suit coat. “And sexy. And hopefully fast.”
“I’ll take the back elevator and be at your front door before you get there,” she says, eye dancing as she backs toward the door. “Bet you five dollars.”
“I’ll see your five dollars,” I say, “and raise you five orgasms.”
Ellie laughs. “I’ll hold you to it, high roller.”
“Oh, I’m counting on it.”
Chapter 14
From the texts of Jack Holt and Ellie Seyfried
JACK: Just checking in. You get home okay?
* * *
ELLIE: I’m sorry! I meant to text but got in the bath and lost track of time.
* * *
JACK: Are you still in the bath? Naked? Covered with slippery soap bubbles?
* * *
ELLIE: Wouldn’t you like to know? ;-)
* * *
JACK: Yes. Yes, I would. And are you relaxed, Miss Seyfried? Because *I* haven’t been able to relax since you left this bed.
* * *
ELLIE: Leave ’em wanting more, then reel ’em in—that’s my motto.
* * *
JACK: Consider me reeled. Also, I’ve come to an important decision about one of the great dilemmas of our time.
* * *
ELLIE: Do tell.
* * *
JACK: As much as it pains me to say this… You’re right. Office sex is too risky and has to remain off the menu for the time being.
:-[
(That’s my pained face. I am physically pained by the loss of office banging privileges.)
* * *
ELLIE: Hey, don’t blame me! Your nosy colleagues are why we can’t have nice things.
* * *
JACK: Your screaming orgasms are why we can’t have nice things.
* * *
ELLIE: Oh really? Well, maybe I’ll have to keep them to myself from now on.
* * *
JACK: Don’t even joke. That would be cruel and unusual punishment. I want your orgasms. All your orgasms.
* * *
ELLIE: Oh, well… That might be a problem.
Because I’m working on one right now…
All alone in my bathtub…
And there might be screaming…
I hope the neighbors don’t hear…
Oh…
My…
* * *
JACK: Stop! Wait! I’m coming over.
* * *
ELLIE: Sorry…
Too late. ;-)
* * *
JACK: You are evil. Beautiful, sexy, evil.
* * *
ELLIE: And you love every minute of it.
* * *
JACK: I will neither confirm nor deny my love of your evil.
But back to the office sex situation…
We need a new plan. I can’t be expected to go a full eight-hour day without being inside you. It’s inhumane.
* * *
ELLIE: Agreed. I can’t go that long without you, either.
* * *
JACK: Elevator? Hit the stop button, tear off our clothes, and go for it?
* * *
ELLIE: Cameras. And the alarm would be too distracting.
* * *
JACK: True, but great cover for your screaming orgasms.
* * *
ELLIE: Good point. :-)
Um…wow. I’m drawing a blank.
Outside? Battery Park on our lunch break?
* * *
JACK: We’d probably get arrested. Executive lounge?
* * *
ELLIE: No way. Office sex is off the menu, remember?
* * *
JACK: Fine. We’re just going to have to leave town for the day, find some place where we can get naked in peace.
* * *
ELLIE: Montana? Morocco? Mars?
* * *
JACK: I was thinking slightly more local. Just far enough away that we won’t run into our colleagues. Or any people, for that matter.
* * *
ELLIE: No people? Now you’re speaking my language.
* * *
JACK: Perfect. Pick you up at 7 a.m. tomorrow. Plan to be out all day.
* * *
ELLIE: Wait… Seriously? What about work?
* * *
JACK: This is a sanctioned work event. A corporate retreat. Team-building is an essential part of the onboarding process for new hires, Eric. Didn’t you watch the employee orientation video?
* * *
ELLIE: Team-building with just two of us?
* * *
JACK: I pride myself on giving my staff the highest level of personal attention. And by “my staff” I mean the one between my legs, soon to be between yours.
* * *
ELLIE: You really do know how to close the deal, Jack.
No wonder you’re the boss.
* * *
JACK: You ain’t seen nothin’ yet, baby. ;-) Seven a.m. tomorrow. Bring your fine ass, your mustache-free mouth, and a pair of hiking boots. I’ll take care of the rest.
* * *
ELLIE: Okay. But you’d better bring some snacks, too, or I won’t even make it out of the car.
* * *
JACK: As far as I’m concerned, you ARE the snack. But fine…
I’ll bring fancy cheese, just for you.
* * *
ELLIE: CHEESE! You said the magic word. It’s a date. See you soon, sexy.
* * *
JACK: Not soon enough.
Chapter 15
Jack
“So what other things around this gorgeous place might be hungry for our blood?” Ellie snags my arm and holds on tight as I sidle up next to her on the primitive hiking trail. “I’m all about the trees, but I’m not good with wild animals, Jack. Especially bears!”
“It wasn’t a bear. It was a fisher cat.”
“It looked like a bear. A small bear, but a bear. No doubt.”
“It’s more like a weasel, technically. Besides you can’t blame the little guy for wanting a bite.” I give her a playful smack on her ass—the one that only moments ago was bared to the entire state of New York from the top of a nameless, rarely traversed mountain on the outskirts of the Catskills.
We’d just completed our second “team-building” exercise of the morning—the first happening in the car at the deserted trailhead parking area—when a furball scuttled onto the rocks and screeched like a tiny demon, scaring the hell out of her.
“We could’ve been attacked,” she says, clearly unamused.
“No way. You showed him who’s boss with that primal scream of yours. I bet he’s already back in his hole, warning his friends about the fierce, five-foot terror of the Catskills.”
/>
“Five-foot-four, thank you very much.” She shudders. “Do you know how many cases of rabies were confirmed last year in New York state alone?”
“How many?”
“I don’t remember, but it’s a lot. And the treatments are horrible.”
She shivers again and tries to speed-walk ahead of me, but I overtake her easily, grabbing her hips and backing her up to a maple tree on the side of the trail.
“Hey. I’ve got teeth and claws.” I lean in to nibble her neck, making her laugh as she twines her arms around my neck and kisses me full on.
“How did you even find this place?” she murmurs against my lips.
“Do you like it?”
“God, it’s beautiful,” she says, eyes wide with appreciation as she takes it all in again. “But it’s like the trail that time—and park maintenance—forgot.”
“It’s always been like this. My parents used to bring me when I was a kid. Every year or so I find myself gravitating back to it. It’s not on any of the maps, and most people stick to the more popular routes, so it’s the perfect getaway.”
It is perfect. Sunny and clear blue skies, a light breeze to keep us comfortable, and no one else on the trail but the forest dwellers. No fretting about stock valuations, no mind-numbing meetings, and—best of all—no interruptions.
And I love sharing this place with her.
“Thanks for bringing me,” she says. “It’s been way too long since I’ve stepped on actual dirt and grass instead of concrete.”
“I thought you’d enjoy it. Couple years ago, I did a solo backpacking trip up here—little farther in. No human contact for ten days.”
“Impressive. And I’ve got an idea for my next story.” Ellie grins, holding up her hands to frame my face. “Jack Edward Holt. From Wall Street tycoon to wilderness wanderer. How does he find the time to be so constantly fascinating?”
“Admit it.” I hook a finger through her belt loop and tug her close. “You love hanging out with me in the wild.”
Ellie bites her bottom lip, her cheeks pink. “Yeah, I do. Even with the bears.”
“I knew it!” I kiss her forehead. “An adventurer in the making.”
“It was four miles,” she says. “Round trip. I’m hardly scaling Mount Everest.”
“You know what they say. ‘A journey of a thousand steps begins with hiking four miles and mounting me on a rocky outcropping.’”
She grins. “I believe you mounted me.”
“To-may-to, to-mah-to.”
“You’re impossible. Seriously, I—Jack!” Ellie gasps as I wrap her up in a tight squeeze, my fingers seeking those ticklish spots along her rib cage.
“Stop!” she squeals, tears of laughter spilling down her cheeks. “Oh my God, stop! It burns us!”
“Not until you admit that was the most fun you’ve had since we got high and planned our apocalypse escape. Admit it, Seyfried.”
“Okay, okay! You win!” She squirms free and leans back against the tree to catch her breath, still giggling as she tugs a lock of hair from her mouth.
Maybe it’s the fresh mountain air, the workout from our hike, or that sexy glow on her skin, but I can’t stop staring at her. Can’t stop grinning like a kid on Christmas, knowing that I have the power to make this woman laugh like that. That she has the power to make this former diehard workaholic bail on his clients so we can play hooky together.
Actually, she’s got a lot more power than that.
Ellie’s the one wearing a mask for this assignment, but I’ve been doing the same damn thing for more than a decade, hiding behind my confident, master-of-all-I-survey persona.
Ian is the only person I stayed close to after my parents died—the only one who truly knows anything about my past. Not the headlines version, but the hard, ugly stuff beneath. The crappy year bouncing around foster care. The uphill battle to get my ass into college after my grades dropped in the wake of the accident.
I spent a long time building walls around my heart after that, convinced it was the only way to keep it from imploding again.
But Ellie…
For the first time since the accident, those walls are starting to crumble. She makes me want to open myself up to possibilities. To trust in something good again. To believe, like that happy kid from long ago, that loving someone doesn’t automatically come with a one-way ticket to heartbreak.
Yes, we’ve got great chemistry, the sex is off the charts, and she’s so much fun to be with—always has been. But I’d be lying if I said that this is just a good time.
Looking at that smile on her face as we make our way down the last rocky stretch of trail, seeing that sense of adventure peeking out from beneath her practical shell…
Damn. I don’t want this thing between us to have an expiration date.
I want to find out where it might lead.
Not just for today, or a few more weeks while she finishes her research, or until Ian gets back. But…for keeps.
For keeps. The thought settles comfortably inside me as if it has been there all along, warm and happy and right. Totally fucking right.
Heading across the deserted parking lot to the car, I see the mountains rising up ahead of us again, and I’m hit with a spark of inspiration so intense it can’t be ignored.
It’s a great idea. The best idea.
She has to say yes…
“Ellie. Have you ever been skiing?
“Once. Ian took me with a few friends when I was in high school. I got overconfident on the bunny hill and graduated to a blue run way before I was ready. I face-planted into the snow a dozen times before I finally made it down.”
“That’s it?”
She lifts a shoulder. “I’ve never been brave enough to try again.”
“You need a better teacher.”
Her lips curve. “Got anyone in mind?”
“Well now that you mention it, Ms. Seyfried…” I pull her into another embrace, sliding a finger under her chin and tilting her face up.
I know the question I’m about to ask is a big one, for lots of reasons. It’s obvious we both feel a connection, but we haven’t been hanging out together that long, and we definitely haven’t talked about “us”—or what that even means. And if she accepts my offer, we’ll probably have to come clean with Ian.
And then there’s the possibility that she’ll flat out say no. That the very question will send her running back to the city to wrap up her research, bang out her article, and disappear from my life once again.
But like the beautiful woman in my arms, asking just feels right.
“I have ten days off for Christmas this year,” I say, with a hell of a lot more confidence than I feel. Why am I so damn nervous? “I was planning to hit the slopes in Colorado—do a little skiing, maybe hit a few snowshoe trails in Rocky Mountain National Park, get snowed in someplace quiet with a nice big fire. I’d love to take you with me, El.”
“Christmas in the Rockies?” Her mouth rounds into a soft, pink O, her eyes widening. “Is this… Are you serious?”
I tuck a stray lock of dark brown hair behind her ear, my fingers curling around the back of her neck.
Spending Christmas together, alone in the Rockies… It’s not a confession of love or a marriage proposal. Far from it. But it’s a big step nevertheless. If I say yes, if I confirm this is, indeed, a real invitation, then we both know I’m inviting her for much more than a mountain getaway.
I’m inviting her into the wild unknown of something more—a future.
“I’m serious,” I say, the warm feeling in my chest expanding outward, edging my lips into another grin. “Spend Christmas with me, Ellie. Let me show you one of my other favorite places in the world.”
She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly as a grin takes possession of her pretty face. “One question. Will you bring the Cheetos?”
“Baby, I’ll bring you whatever you want.”
“Okay,” she says, still beaming. “Christmas in C
olorado. You and me. I’m in.”
Her and me. Yeah, that’s sounds right.
“We make a great team.” I take her hand, dragging her not-so-subtly toward the car. “In fact, I think we should close out this adventure with a post-hike team-building exercise to reinforce everything we’ve learned today.”
Like a Boss Page 12