by Miranda Lee
‘Shoot,’ he said.
Harriet scooped in a calming breath before letting it out slowly. ‘As you yourself said,’ she began, her voice wonderfully cool and steady, ‘there will be no sex in the office. That’s a definite no-go. But also not during office hours. No sneaking out at lunchtime to some nearby hotel room.’
Alex scowled. ‘Sounds like you’ve been down this road before.’
She hadn’t, never having indulged in a secret affair before. All her relationships had been out in the open. But she wasn’t about to tell Alex that. ‘Like you said earlier, Alex, I’ve been here before.’
‘Any other rules?’ he asked, still sounding irritated.
‘Only the obvious ones. You will use a condom at all times.’ She’d stopped taking the pill after breaking up with Dwayne. ‘Also, whilst I’m sleeping with you, you don’t sleep with anyone else. The day you take up with a new girlfriend, our relationship—such as it is—will be over.’
‘Fair enough. Am I allowed any rules of my own?’
Harriet was taken aback. She hadn’t anticipated this. ‘But of course,’ she said coolly.
‘We will not have sex at all during the working week,’ he surprised her by saying. ‘When I work, I work hard. I can’t afford to be wrecked the next day after being up half the night. But I expect you to spend every weekend with me. At my apartment,’ he added. ‘Starting from Friday night straight after work.’
A highly erotic thrill rippled through Harriet at the thought that he would want her that much. The prospect of spending every weekend at Alex’s sexual beck and call was intoxicatingly exciting. She had no doubt he would be good in bed. No, he would be better than just good. He’d be fantastic. All of a sudden Harriet found it hard to concentrate on what she should be saying. But she had to. Her pride demanded it.
‘Sorry,’ she said crisply. ‘No can do. I’ll be going out for drinks on a Friday night with friends. I can’t get to your apartment till much later in the evening.’
‘No problem. I can wait. Waiting sometimes makes it better.’
Harriet suppressed a groan. She really was out of her league here. Yes, she’d had lovers before, but none quite like Alex. She could see that he was very experienced at playing erotic games. But there was no turning back. She wanted him too much.
‘I also might have to go out with Emily on the odd Saturday night,’ she added, determined to make at least some show of independence.
‘Can’t you have your girls’ night out during the week?’
‘Sometimes, but not always. But back to the weekends. What do you mean by “at your apartment”? Aren’t you ever going to take me out somewhere? For a drive, perhaps? Or to dinner, or to a show?’
‘No. You’re my PA, Harriet,’ he added, showing her he meant business when he called her Harriet like that. ‘You’re also a marrying kind of girl. I don’t want you to ever think that our affair has anything to do with love. It’s about sex and sexual pleasure. It won’t last. Maybe only a few weeks. But, let’s face it, after what you’ve been through with Dwayne, you can afford a few weeks to indulge yourself in a purely selfish and strictly sexual relationship.’
Shock rippled through Harriet at the mention of Dwayne. Because she hadn’t given him a second thought. The penny dropped that she hadn’t been in love with Dwayne for a long time.
No, be honest, Harriet. You were never in love with him. Yes, it was upsetting breaking up with him. But your heart wasn’t broken, just your dreams.
‘When you’re ready to move on,’ Alex was saying, ‘then just say so and we’ll call it quits. Okay?’
Harriet just stared at him, stunned by the ruthlessness of his proposal and by her reaction to it. Sheer, unadulterated excitement. It was a struggle to stop the heat inside her body from reaching her face. Somehow, she managed.
‘Okay?’ he repeated, his eyes narrowing on hers.
‘Okay,’ she agreed, already afraid that calling it quits might prove impossible. Or it would whilst she was working for him. No matter what happened between them, it was perfectly clear that her days at Ark Properties were now numbered.
‘Good,’ he said, just a tad smugly. ‘I’d kiss you to seal the deal, but I don’t dare. After that last kiss, we’d probably end up having sex on the grass and, as much I occasionally fancy a quickie in the great outdoors, I prefer the comfort of a bed. Or a sofa. Or even a nice, warm spa bath.’
Harriet tried to banish the thought of having sex with Alex tonight in the spa bath, but it refused to go, evoking images which both aroused and tormented her. Dear God, but she could hardly wait!
‘Now, we’d better get down there and pretend to do some work. I don’t want Wally to think I made up some feeble excuse just so I could go away for a dirty weekend.’
But that’s exactly what you did, Harriet thought dazedly as they both climbed back into the Range Rover. She didn’t believe Alex’s claim that he’d changed his mind about seducing her. He’d meant to have her all along. And now, he had her. Game, set and match!
Chapter Ten
ALEX STRUGGLED TO keep his focus on the job at hand in the two hours they spent with Wally, though he doubted the foreman noticed. He was too busy chatting away with Harriet and showing her everything. Wally seemed inordinately pleased that she would be visiting him in a couple of weeks’ time, and not Alex. It seemed foolish to feel jealousy, but he did.
Alex might have worried about this uncharacteristic reaction more if his head hadn’t been projecting forward to the evening ahead. He was impatient to have Harry in his arms again. Impatient to show her that he was the boss, even in the bedroom; that her ridiculous penchant for rules didn’t apply to him. Yes, he would always use a condom. He wasn’t a fool. But other than that he would not be dictated to, especially when she wanted him as much as he wanted her. He almost felt sorry for Dwayne. How could any man live up to that ridiculous checklist of hers? He’d have to be a saint.
Alex wasn’t a saint. Not even remotely. But neither was he cruel or heartless. He was well aware that Harriet had just been through a tough time in her life. But he had no intention of hurting her. Hell, he would never hurt any woman, especially not Harry, whom he respected and admired enormously. Alex felt confident that having an affair with him would actually be good for her. It might encourage her to lighten up a bit. To live for the moment. To just have fun for a while.
By the time they left for the relatively short drive to the nearby resort, Alex had convinced himself that a strictly sexual affair with him was just what the doctor ordered for someone suffering over the break-up of a relationship.
* * *
Harriet didn’t feel like chatting on the way to the resort, tension over the night ahead gathering in the pit of her stomach. Alex did his best to engage her in conversation, not very successfully. When he finally gave up asking her what she now saw as futile questions about the golf estate, she turned her head to gaze through the passenger window at her surrounds, noting idly that the countryside was very beautiful, with rolling hills and lush paddocks, the grass very green despite it being winter. Not many frosts this far north, she thought. Not to mention near the coast.
A sign came up saying that Coffs Harbour was only a few kilometres away.
By the time they turned into the resort, her nerves were jangling and her belly was as tight as a drum. Harriet still found it hard to believe that she was about to spend the night with Alex. All night, in his bed. Maybe even in his bath as well. It stunned her how quickly she had gone from engaged woman to suddenly single to her boss’s secret mistress. Not that they’d actually done the deed yet. But it was a foregone conclusion. With the wild desires that were flooding her body at that moment, she couldn’t have changed her mind even if she’d wanted to.
The resort was everything its website promised—several storeys high, the main building sat on a bluff overlooking the ocean. It faced north-east, with the back nestled into the rocky hillside. When they pulled into reception shor
tly after six, the sun had just set and dusk had arrived. Solar-powered lights were on everywhere, lining the circular driveway and winking in the tropical-style gardens. A parking valet descended on them as soon as Alex pulled up, taking care of their luggage while they went inside to book in.
Harriet was slightly taken aback when Alex told her to sit down whilst he handled everything. She was used to doing everything for him, but of course they were no longer just boss and employee; they were about to become lovers. She was glad to sit, her knees going to jelly at the thought.
The foyer was spacious and luxurious, with various seating arrangements dotted around. Over in a far corner was a bar and beyond that a large doorway with a sign over it, indicating the bistro-style restaurant she’d read about. She knew the à la carte restaurant was on the top floor, where the view of the ocean would be perfect during the daytime, as well as in the evening in summer, when daylight-saving time had it staying light till eight-thirty. She started thinking this would be the perfect place for future clients of their golf course to stay. She might contact the manager at a later date and see about their advertising on the Ark Properties website.
No sooner had Harriet thought that when she remembered she would probably not be working for Ark Properties for much longer. She sighed, then glanced over at where Alex was still at the desk, booking them in. Would it all be worth it? she wondered. Would the pleasure he’d promised live up to her expectations?
Harriet only had to recall the intoxicating expertise of his kiss to know the answer to that. Sex with Alex was going to be fantastic. Fantastic and unforgettable. It was the unforgettable part, however, which was the real worry. She couldn’t imagine herself getting over him as quickly as she’d got over Dwayne. But when Alex turned from the desk and smiled over at her, all her concerns for the future fled. Her heart lurched as she watched him walk towards her. God, but he was gorgeous. Gorgeous and all hers. For now, anyway. Adrenaline shot through her veins, accompanied by the heat of a desire so strong that she wasn’t sure she would be able to stand up.
‘All done,’ he said, still smiling. ‘Our luggage has been sent up and they booked us a table for dinner at seven-thirty. Are you coming?’ he said and held his hand out.
She put her much smaller hand in his large one, sucking in sharply when his fingers closed hot and strong around hers. He drew her up onto her feet, his mouth no longer smiling, his eyes darkening as they met hers.
‘I’m not going to be able to wait till after dinner,’ he said in a low, gravelly voice only she would hear. ‘This is getting beyond bearing.’
‘Yes,’ she agreed, her face flushing wildly as everything she’d ever believed about herself was tipped on its head. She’d thought she knew how this kind of thing felt. She’d experienced sexual desire before. But this was different from anything she’d ever experienced.
‘Don’t say another word,’ he growled and steered her hurriedly towards the bank of lifts against the back wall. ‘When we get into the apartment, I want you to go to your bathroom and shower,’ he told her on the way. ‘I’ll do the same in mine. Don’t dress. Just put on one of their bathrobes. We’ll meet in the living room. You have ten minutes. Not a second longer.’
There was another couple waiting to use the lifts and a fiercely aroused Harriet avoided their eyes. But she noticed when the woman started staring at Alex. It used to amuse Harriet when women ogled her boss, but this time she hated it with a passion, especially since this woman was young and attractive. Harriet knew she would have to get a grip on her jealousy if she was to survive her affair with Alex. He wasn’t the type of man who’d appreciate a possessive lover.
She kept her eyes averted as they rode the lift upwards, the other couple alighting well before their own stop. Thank God. When the lift doors opened on their floor, Alex took her elbow and ushered her along the hallway.
The apartment was exactly as it had appeared on the website. Harriet already knew the floor plan by heart. The decor was no surprise, either, the website having detailed photos of all the rooms. The furniture was typical five-star-hotel furniture, comfy and classy. The colour palette was in blue, grey and white, the walls white, the carpet grey, the kitchen and bathrooms white.
Harriet didn’t stop to look around, though she did notice that Alex actually had more luggage then she had, all their bags having been brought up and deposited in the entrance hall. She swept up her bag and walked swiftly through the living room and down the short hallway into the second bedroom, which she already knew had an en suite bathroom. Dropping her bag at the foot of the bed, Harriet raced into the bathroom, stripped off, then plunged into a hot, though far from relaxing, shower.
Harriet was way beyond relaxation. Alex had used the words ‘beyond bearing’ downstairs. She had already reached that point herself, her mind constantly filling with arousing images, her body balancing on a knife-edge of desire so sharp that the beating of the hot water against her erect nipples was actually painful. When she went to wash between her thighs, she had to stop for fear that she might come.
She was close. So very close. She had to stop thinking about Alex. Had to stop thinking about doing it with him. Had to stop thinking. Oh, God...
Harriet snapped off the shower and almost fell out of the cubicle, drying herself inadequately before drawing on the thick white bathrobe that was hanging on the back of the door. A quick glance in the bathroom mirror showed pink cheeks and messed-up hair. Sighing, she took her hair down, combing it with her fingers till it fell around her face in its usual tidy curtain. There seemed little point in bothering with make-up, though a quick spray of deodorant might be a good idea. So would cleaning her teeth. Dashing back into the bedroom, she pulled out her toilet bag and returned to the bathroom to attend to both matters.
More than ten minutes had definitely passed by the time she forced her jelly-like legs to carry her towards the bedroom door, her uncharacteristic tardiness not helped by a new and rather undermining train of thought. As much as she wanted Alex, she was suddenly terrified of somehow disappointing him. Maybe he would find her body too...well...ordinary. She didn’t have spectacular breasts, an overly curvy bottom or legs that went up to her armpits. Her figure was very nice—she looked quite good naked—but it was nothing out of the box.
And then there was the worry about her own performance in bed. She’d never had any complaints before, but she suspected that Alex’s standards were very high, and very demanding. He’d already demonstrated dominant tendencies, his rules for their affair clearly trying to turn her into some kind of submissive. And, whilst Harriet found such a scenario exciting, she wasn’t sure how long she could sustain such a role. It went against her basic nature. Harriet was very independent in spirit, an organiser and a planner. Over the years she’d developed firm ideas over what she wanted in men and in life. Dwayne had gone as far as to call her bossy and controlling during their last argument, but Harriet didn’t see herself that way.
Well, maybe a little...
It crossed her mind that her rather scandalous behaviour today could be her subconscious trying to break out of her usual sensible mould by doing something wild and rebellious.
Becoming the boss’s secret mistress would certainly qualify as that!
Chapter Eleven
ALEX GLANCED UP when she entered the living room, his hands stilling on the bottle of champagne he was opening. It had been sitting in an ice bucket on the kitchen counter, along with two champagne glasses and a basket of fruit. Compliments of the management.
It had been over ten minutes since she’d fled his presence like the hounds of hell were after her. Her big brown eyes, he noted, looked just as they had that day he’d interviewed her. Deliciously nervous yet fiercely determined at the same time. He wondered how they would look when she was about to come. Would they grow wider, or scrunch up as she struggled not to let go?
He liked to prolong a woman’s pleasure. Liked to prolong his own as well. Alex suspected, however, tha
t there wouldn’t be much prolonging this first time.
‘Do you like champagne?’ he asked.
She blinked, then stared at the bottle, as though she hadn’t even seen it.
‘Not really,’ she replied. ‘It gives me a headache.’
Alex laughed, then dumped the bottle back in the ice bucket. ‘Well, we can’t have that, can we? Should I make you some coffee, then? You must be thirsty.’
‘I don’t want anything,’ she said before sucking in a deep breath. ‘Just you.’
* * *
Harriet’s bold admission shocked her. And him as well, judging by the startled look on his face.
But she simply hadn’t been able to bear the thought of any more delay.
His surprised expression soon changed to one of hunger, his blue eyes clouding as they narrowed, then focused on her mouth.
She just wanted his hands on her naked body, and him inside her.
When he came out from where he’d been standing behind the breakfast bar, Harriet froze, needing all of her physical and mental strength to hold herself upright as he walked towards her. When he was close enough, he reached out and slowly undid the sash of the robe, Harriet’s chest tightening as he parted it. When he slipped his hands inside and started playing with her tightly aching nipples, she gasped, then groaned. As much as she craved such attention, she craved him more.
‘Please don’t torture me, Alex,’ she said shakily, her desperate eyes pleading with him.
‘Don’t torture you!’ he exclaimed, then laughed. ‘Sweetheart, you’ve been torturing me all day.’ After shoving the ice bucket down to one end of the counter, he took a rough hold of her waist and hoisted her up onto the stone breakfast bar, pushing her back till her upper body was flat, parting her robe further, then parting her legs.