RISQUÉ BUSINESS
by HelenKay Dimon
***
Smashwords Edition
Risqué Business
Copyright © 2011 by HelenKay Dimon
All rights reserved. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the author.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events or organizations is entirely coincidental.
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Original electronic publication date: May 2011
11,000 words
Chapter One
Matt Bradford stared across the conference room table and felt his balls clench. His managers stepped out for the lunch break twenty minutes ago, but the glass-walled space was not totally empty. One person remained. One hot and very off-limits person who broke his concentration just by breathing – Kari Reynolds.
With straight brown hair, green eyes and body that even her proper navy business suit couldn't hide, she qualified as pure temptation. Curvy with big eyes and a full mouth. Then there was the necklace. She wore a string of pearls every single day, and every single night he fantasized about her spread out on his sheets wearing nothing else.
Even now he sat there with his hands folded on his lap to keep from reaching out and stroking the tiny circles…and keep stroking until he hit skin.
"You don’t have to babysit me, you know." She delivered the comment without looking up. Her fingernails drummed against the mahogany tabletop as her gaze stayed focused on the yellow legal pad in front of her.
"I'm not hungry." Now that was a damn lie, but food was not the issue. She was.
She'd come to Coleman Engineering on an interim assignment and at the insistence of corporate headquarters. Matt ran the San Diego satellite office but the owner in New York City, Rob Coleman, set the rules. When a manager there crossed a line with an assistant a few months back, Coleman instituted a company-wide human resources campaign on proper workplace behavior. Matt's division possessed a clean record, but that didn’t matter. Everyone had to attend the training by the outside consulting group, which landed Kari and her mile-long legs right in his path.
Matt had never even dated a woman from the office. He hadn't wanted to take the chance of having his advances misunderstood. But keeping his hands off Kari and his staring to a minimum was killing him. It was as if Rob had invented this twisted sensual game to torture him.
"I leave on Friday," she said.
That was news to Matt. That left only a few more days of watching her and wanting. "Since when?"
"The workshops are finished as of tomorrow and the Human Resources Guide will be revised and available for everyone to review before I go. I'll be back for a follow-up, but the main work is done here." She glanced up at him. "I thought you’d be relieved to be rid of me after three weeks of constant contact."
"Admittedly, before you came I wasn't looking forward to interrupting the workday for lectures on topics that seemed like common sense, but you made it interesting." He left out the part where he spent half the night mentally undressing her as he imagined her authoritative voice guiding him on the fastest way to make her come.
As if she could read his mind, she smiled. Leaning back in her chair with her arms folded under her breasts, she crossed one leg over the other. "In other words, you got used to me."
That heated look, the dip of her blouse, the peek of the shadowed valley beneath the open button, the sexy way her leg swung around in the air. In any other place, in any other time, he would swear she was sending a signal. But that would definitely be a violation of one of her many office rules. Flirting was off the table. He knew he'd read that boring requirement somewhere in her literature.
Still, desire whipped around the room and he thought it was moving in more than one direction. He looked out into the reception area. Except for Lydia sitting in her usual position answering the phone with her back to him, no one was around.
"Are you afraid of me, Matt?" Kari asked.
He swallowed hard to keep from saying the wrong thing. "What?"
"I think you heard me."
Heard and possibly misunderstood. "Just want to make sure I'm not doing anything wrong here."
"Like?"
Kissing her. Licking her. Dreaming up ways of fucking her. "A smart man knows when to stay quiet."
"That's a shame."
He blinked a few times. "Excuse me?"
"I was thinking you might make a pass."
His heartbeat hammered in his ears. He shook his head to clear it. "I don't…is this some kind of test?"
"No."
"Did Rob put you up to this?"
Her eyebrow inched up. "You think Rob is concerned about your sex life?"
Matt felt his eyes bulge but he tried to keep the rest of his body still. "Who said anything about sex?"
"Me."
Oh, she sure wasn't alone in thinking about it. He couldn’t really concentrate on anything else. Hell, he should probably be fired just for the racy pictures popping up in his head. Heaven knew the thoughts he had about her had nothing to do with work, unless you counted what he wanted to do with her on his desk, against his office door…in his chair.
She dropped her arms and leaned in closer. "Matt?"
"Give me a second here." He balled his hands into fists. Dug his nails right into his palms as he tried to think of blood and guts and anything else that would keep his cock from pressing against his zipper. "I'm pretty sure I'm missing something."
She stood up. Walked around the table until she hovered right behind him. With her hands on the back of his chair, she leaned down and blew a breath of warm air across his ear. Their bodies didn't touch but heat radiated off her, penetrating his cotton dress shirt.
He snuck another look into the lobby and saw that Lydia had gone somewhere, damn her. That left Kari and endless possibilities for him to fuck up his career. "We should-"
"I've seen you watching me."
Since she only mentioned the looking he guessed she somehow missed the near-constant erection and general stuttering he did whenever she walked by. Just a sniff of the floral scent wrapping around her and his lower body went into hyper-drive.
"But I would never act on it," he said, not sure if his statement was even true.
"That's my fear."
When he spun around, she stepped back but still stood only inches away with her body well within touching distance. Way too close.
"You better start over," he said. "Maybe talk slower this time."
"My work here is done."
"Uh-huh."
"There's nothing keeping us from acting on all that looking you've been doing."
"You mean…?"
"You're not the only one who's been thinking about it. About us."
A preliminary copy of her handy new work manual sat on the table like a glaring reminder of all he could lose if he stepped one inch too far. "Isn't this a violation of, I don’t know, something?"
She shook her head. "We don’t work together. You’re not my boss. There are no prohibitions here."<
br />
"Good to know." Great, actually.
"Unless one party isn't interested, then-"
"Not an issue."
She glanced into the empty reception area before bending down with her mouth just inches from his. "For me either. I'm more than willing."
"You're-"
"There's nothing wrong with two people wanting each other."
It was a good thing she kept interrupting because his brain wouldn't stop misfiring. "Kari."
She stood up and tugged on the edge of her blazer to put it back in place. "The next move is yours."
Chapter Two
Kari barely made it down the hall to the women's bathroom before her legs gave out. She rested her hands against the sink and watched water drip into the drain. Let the echoing plop of water against metal put her in a trance. Catching her breath took more concentration.
Planning a seduction and actually following through with it had proven to be two very different things. When she put on her lacy pink panties and matching underwire bra that morning in her corporate lease hotel room, the same set that cost her more than her monthly car payment, confidence flowed through her. But seeing Matt's eyes grow dark and his cheeks flush as she gave him the green light made it real.
She'd nearly passed out.
The mix of hot, raw desire and fear of being rejected had warred in her stomach until it flipped inside out. How she'd gotten the words out, made her play, without tripping over her feet or falling over she'd never know.
Even now she stared down at her shaking hands and swore in frustration. Yeah, feeling a hard kick of desire for a guy on a job was a first for her but, for heaven's sake, she'd earned an M.B.A. and worked in a career field she loved. She'd had boyfriends, though none worth remembering, and was not one of those women who feared sex or had never experienced an orgasm. So, she should be over the hiding-in-the-bathroom-like-a-desperate-teen stage of life.
Except for the pang of jealousy she felt every time she saw her best friend model a new shirt that didn’t require a bra, Kari prided herself on her self-esteem. She managed to maintain dieting common sense in the size zero world of Los Angeles despite being a size eight, sometimes ten. She had hips and breasts and a brain…and a bad case of lust for Matt Bradford.
"What are you doing?" As if she conjured him up, his husky voice rumbled off the bathroom tiles.
Her nerves stopped rattling around just in time for a new wave of anxiety to set in. There was definitely a rule against this sort of thing in her handbook. No men in the women's restroom. Seemed obvious but she rushed to explain it to him.
"You can’t be in here." She raced over, and with a hand on his upper arm, tried to shove him into the hallway.
Even with all her tugging, he didn't move. "I run the place."
"Someone will see you."
"We have five minutes." He rested his back against the door, ruining her escape plan.
Now she had to worry about his job and hers. "For the record, this isn’t appropriate."
"Practically sitting on my lap in the conference room was?"
She felt a rush of heat to her cheeks. "Okay, maybe I could have timed that better. We were alone and you weren't making a move."
He snorted. "Didn’t know I could."
"Oh please, I have a feeling you've come on to a woman before." She knew men like Matt did not have a hard time getting attention or action.
As if the black hair and blue eyes weren't tempting enough, this guy had linebacker shoulders, a trim waist, and if she guessed right, a big bank account. Power oozed off of him. But what got her was the charm. The rest of the stuff didn’t matter. He treated his workers with respect and looked at her like she was the sweetest dessert, and that's what broke down her defenses.
"I meant I didn’t know I could make a pass without getting my ass sued." He didn’t roll his eyes but he looked like he wanted to.
"Oh." Her job title tended to get in the way of this sort of thing. One guy she went out with practically leapt out a restaurant bathroom window during a date when she described her work day. She assumed he had something to hide and she was better off not sharing the basket of rolls. "Maybe your office-"
Matt's eyes widened. "Good idea."
"What are you talking about?"
He grabbed her hand and pressed her into his side. "We'll go there. We can have some privacy."
"Wait." She held a hand against the door to keep him from flinging it open.
"Why?"
From this angle, she felt tiny. She never felt tiny. At five-seven guys didn’t exactly tower over her. But the five-inch difference grew when he stood so close, with his broad shoulders blocking out the area behind him. "Dragging me down the hall will seem strange to your staff, don't you think?"
The corner of his mouth kicked up in a smile. "I have some restraint."
Since she had to take the first step in confronting the truth about their attraction, she'd say he had too much. "You're not acting like it."
"You’re going to follow me."
True but she didn’t plan to be submissive about it. "What makes you so sure?"
He slipped two fingers close to her cheek and tucked her hair behind one ear. "Because when we get to my office, I'm going to lock the door and…"
Her heart pounded against her ribcage. "Yes?"
"You have to follow me to find out."
The scene screamed trouble. She repeated that fact in her mind a good twenty times as she traveled down the hall with her head up and a fake smile plastered to her face. His fleeting touch had set off a trembling inside her that made it difficult to walk in a straight line, but on the outside she pretended to be all business. She also tried not to trip over the handsome hottie in front of her.
He didn’t run but his determined stomp couldn't be described as covert. He'd be more subtle if he made a general announcement over the office intercom that they were about to get naked.
Office protocol wouldn't save her either. Kari knew the unorthodox afternoon rules now. Matt insisted people not work through lunch, that they actually move around and not be chained to their desks. That meant the phones rang but were quickly answered and messages sent to voicemail. Most of the staff would be outside enjoying the near perfect spring weather and the office's location right near the marina. The rest would be hiding from Matt to avoid a lecture on priorities.
The steady office buzz would kick back up soon…but not yet.
Even in the relative quiet they had to be careful, so she waited until they were in his office to explain about the line between correct behavior and not, and how he was jumping all over it. Or she would have if he hadn't slammed her back against the door and started kissing her like he'd die if he didn’t have his mouth on hers.
Their lips met as their breathing mixed. Strong hands roamed down her back to her hips. His palms flattened against her, his fingers digging into her skin with a sting that flooded her with excitement. Through layers of clothing, lean muscles slid against her softness. The ridge of his erection pressed against her stomach.
She did this to him. Her and not some tiny, witless chick with huge breasts. Some men appreciated a woman with hips and an I.Q.
Take that ex-boyfriend who said to eat more salads.
The rush of power overtook Kari. With her body flush against Matt's, she felt beautiful. Wild and free rather than bound by rules and restrictions. After a series of recent dates that barely raised her blood pressure, she stumbled into a guy who should have been nothing more than a paycheck and found something extraordinary. Around him she couldn't keep her mind on the job or her hands to her sides.
She clenched fists full of his jacket against his back as her thigh slid up his nice and slow. When his mouth shifted to her jawline then down the pulsing vein on her neck, her head fell back. She gulped for air and inhaled the spicy scent of his cologne. Not overpowering. Just a trace to lure her in.
She felt him shift. A second later, the soft click of the lock regi
stered in her brain. Icy reality splashed over her. She knew better. A hook-up afterhours by consenting adults who could separate business and pleasure bent the rules. Sex in the boss' office in the middle of the workday ripped the rules to shreds.
"Matt, wait." Her protest got lost when his lips met hers in a kiss that rumbled to her knees.
His mouth slanted over hers as his hands slipped under her butt and lifted her tight to his erection. With her back braced against the door and her leg hitched on his hip, she pressed hard against him, letting her fingers plunge into his hair and her tongue touch against his.
"God, I've dreamed about this ever since you walked in the front door that first day." He whispered his confession as his fingers slipped past the elastic at the top of her thigh-highs.
"You've been thinking about my underwear?"
"Your panties, what's under them – everything." His rough breaths brushed against the base of her neck. "Stripping them off you. Getting inside you."
Every word tumbled through her, falling past her defenses and diving into the churning sea of need deep inside her. "You make me forget my common sense."
His finger brushed against the wet crotch of her panties. "Then let me give you something else to remember."
One minute he held her. The next he was gone.
He slid down her body to his knees, the expensive suit forgotten. In a smooth move, he bunched her skirt at her waist. First with his finger then his tongue, he caressed her through the thin material that barely covered her.
Her hips bucked but he held her still. Need slammed into her, making her dizzy. To keep from falling to the floor, she braced one hand against the hard wood behind her. The other went to his shoulder. Then into his soft hair. When he shifted her panties to the side and pressed his lips against her slick flesh, her hand clenched.
"Matt, yes…" Harsh breathing filled the room. She didn’t realize she'd chanted his name until her throat went dry from the rough whisper.
Risque Business Page 1