I rose and started walking for the door. My hand was just resting on the handle when I heard a disturbance behind me. I turned out of curiosity and saw an elegant middle-aged woman with dark hair strutting down the rows of cubicles toward me, her heels clicking loudly. She walked with her head held high and her shoulders back, like a true aristocrat, and barely even glanced at the people she passed. The disturbance I’d heard was her kicking a trash can out of her way, evidenced by the little black bin rolling in a semi-circle by the elevator.
She was headed right for me. Or for Max, more likely than not. Was I supposed to stop her? Who was this woman?
I walked back over to my desk, but stayed standing, greeting the woman with a friendly smile. She looked familiar somehow, but I couldn’t place her stormy blue eyes.
“Hello, can I help you?” I asked.
The woman narrowed her eyes and gave me a once over. “You must be Emma.”
I recognized that voice. Instantly, it all clicked in. Who else could this woman be besides Paulina Westfield? I should have known from the way she walked—like she owned the place—and the cloud of expensive perfume now tickling my nostrils.
“Mrs. Westfield, it’s so nice to finally meet you.” I extended a hand for her to shake, which she did with a claw-like grip.
“Likewise, darling. I’ve been looking forward to seeing Haddie’s successor in person. However are you? And please, you know you can call me Paulina. I insist upon it.”
Paulina and I had built quite the rapport over the phone these past two weeks. She’d been calling every couple of days, and loved to chat if her son wasn’t available—which he often was not.
“I’m great, thanks. Did you have a nice weekend?”
Paulina smirked. “You wouldn’t believe the weekend I had if I told you. Let’s just say I’m a little peaky this morning, and that’s the good news. It was a blast though, simply a blast.” She winked. “I’ve come to see my son, though, I’m afraid. Since he rarely takes my calls, I must take matters into my own hands.”
“I’ll go check if he’s available.” I turned and walked to Max’s door, but I realized a moment too late that Paulina was following me.
She cackled. “Oh, no need for that. If he’s not available, I’ll make him available. I brought him into this world. He didn’t get his dreadful manners from me, mind you.”
With that, Paulina cut in front of me and busted into Max’s office. I stumbled in after her, blanching when I saw the look of irritation that crossed Max’s face.
“There is the prodigal son,” Paulina crooned. “Working hard, I see. Do you have anything to drink?”
She made a beeline for his liquor cabinet as I mouthed to him that I was sorry. He merely smiled and shook his head in a bemused fashion. I supposed there was no stopping Paulina Westfield.
I took my leave then, silently pulling the door behind me. I would thank Max after Paulina had left.
Paulina had already started loudly proclaiming the purpose of her visit, before I even closed the door. “I’m setting you up with a lovely girl named Constance Klein for the charity dinner on Friday, and I absolutely will not take no for an answer. She’s beautiful and of course comes from a very good family. You need a date you know and you could...”
Now that the door was closed, the rest of what she was saying became muffled. Not that I wanted to hear any of it, anyway.
What could be more of a reality check than this visit from Paulina? Max would never go for a girl like me. The dancing, the pretzels, it was just him being nice to me. But when it came down to it, Constance Klein was the kind of girl he’d be taking out on a date, not me. I was his employee. Nothing more.
I slumped down into my chair and started working, half-tempted to rip into the bag of pretzels. If only they hadn’t been marred now by my foolish hope. Thank God Paulina had showed up. I had been about to go in there and thank him, and maybe we’d talk about Friday and even flirt a little. And where would that get me?
Heartbroken. Again.
This crush was no good. I needed to put my foot down and stop giving in to the little fancies I had that told me there was something between us. Even if it had felt like there was on the dance floor.
Even if I wanted it more than anything else in the world.
Paulina left about twenty minutes later, in triumph. She chatted with me on her way out, proclaiming that her job there was done, but that she’d see me again soon.
I figured it was best to catch Max just after she’d left, since then he wouldn’t have a chance to get back into whatever he’d been working on. I knocked lightly on his door, and a second later he called for me to come in.
“Hey,” Max greeted, running a hand through his hair. He stood up when I entered and gestured for me to come sit down.
I shook my head politely. “I actually just wanted to thank you for the pretzels.”
All traces of stress eased from his face, and his eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled. My heart thumped. After two weeks of working here, I still hadn’t gotten used to seeing him. I still reacted every time.
“I’m glad you like them. It seemed like the least I could do.” He thrust his hands in his pockets, and nodded in the direction his mother had gone. “She’s something, isn’t she?”
I hadn’t intended to come in for a chat. It was supposed to be an in and out kind of job, wherein I’d thank him for the pretzels and get back to my desk—before I got another woeful reminder that he was so far out of my league we weren’t even playing the same sport. But bringing up his mom had the opposite effect.
I nodded. “Yep, she’s one hell of a lady.”
Max hid his laugh with a cough.
“Well, I better be getting back to work.” I turned on my heel, not waiting to see his reaction.
Starting today, I needed to put more of a professional wall up when it came to Max. It had been so easy to slip into in the kind of casual environment that existed before I got here, to blend in like an extension of Haddie. But I wasn’t Haddie. She didn’t have a crush on Max, and I doubt she’d ever been as close to kissing him as I had been on Friday night. Fool that I was. He wasn’t interested in kissing me, even if sometimes it felt like he was. He was just being a nice guy. The only way I could get that message through to my body, however, was to put him at a distance.
So that was what I was going to do.
Even if it killed me.
Which it might.
Chapter 11
Max
“Yes, Mother. I know which roses to get for a date. I’m not an idiot.”
“Don’t be like that, Maximilian. You know very well I worry about these things. Constance would be a very smart match, and I don’t want you screwing things up by bringing her yellow roses like a cretin.”
I rolled my eyes and crumpled another piece of scrap paper on my desk, tossing it across the room to the waiting recycling bin. It bounced off the side and went tumbling across the floor. Damnit.
“I have to go, Mother. I’m very busy.” I started crumpling another piece of paper.
She sighed, “Yes, I suppose you are. I’ll see you at the dinner tomorrow. Remember to look sharp!”
I mumbled reassurances to her and hung up the phone, throwing the paper toward the basket. This time, it was a perfect shot.
Emma must have noticed that I was off the phone now, as she knocked on my door a second later. I perked up and called for her to enter.
She looked particularly pretty today. Her long brown hair was tied back from her face, but with a couple strands left down to frame her apple cheeks. She was wearing a plain black dress, but the fit of it more than made up for the lack of embellishments. I admired how it tucked in at her waist and curved with the swell of her hips, cinching back in to hug her toned thighs.
Emma didn’t notice me checking her out. She was already walking across the room, her face focused on the paperwork in her hands. She was talking too, but I’d zoned out the moment I saw her.<
br />
“Sorry?” I said. “Could you repeat that?”
Emma looked up when she reached the desk and passed me the papers. “Accounting sent these over. They need your approval so they can submit the financials for the quarter.”
“Ah, right.” I smiled. “Thank you.”
Emma nodded and turned. Before she could reach the door, she bent and picked up the paper ball from the ground and tossed it toward the bin. It went straight in, and I saw a victorious smirk on her lips before she turned and continued out the way she came.
A week ago, there would have been a little more back and forth between us. She’d barely talked to me since Monday, and I couldn’t help but wonder if getting her those pretzels had been a mistake. She said she liked them, though, right? Why would she be mad that I bought her pretzels?
It wasn’t the pretzels though. It couldn’t have been. So that left only one other option—she was upset at me for Friday night. That didn’t make sense either. We were having fun, a great time, and even though things had gotten a bit sexual for a while, neither of us actually did anything worth being upset over. We were having fun. Or at least I thought we were having fun.
This was vexing me far more than I would have expected. On top of that, I was pissed off that Paulina had backed me into a corner with the charity dinner. I was expected to go, and since I was already going, there was no reason I couldn’t bring a woman of my mother’s choosing as a date. It wasn’t like I had anyone else to go with.
I leaned back in my chair and sighed, wishing I could take Emma instead. Though sober reflection the morning after our nightclub encounter reminded me that aggressively coming on to my employee could wind up earning me a lawsuit. Although, I still hadn’t given up on the idea of pursuing her.
No, it was more her cold attitude over the past week that had put the brakes on that plan. I’d begun to think that I’d been misinterpreting something from her. It was driving me mad. She was all I could think about, which made the prospect of taking another woman to the stupid thing tomorrow even more unappealing.
Fuck it.
Fuck. It.
I sat forward and jammed my finger down on the intercom. “Emma, can you come in for a second?”
“Of course,” she said back.
I stood up and straightened my tie, walking around the desk to lean on the other side of it. I was going to sort this out once and for all. And I was going to ask her to come to the dinner with me. I didn’t want to go with Constance. I wanted to go with Emma. And I was too old and too fucking successful to not do what I wanted to do.
Emma looked surprised when she entered my office a moment later. I watched her eyes dip to my forearms, where my shirt was rolled to my elbows and my biceps strained against the cotton. A faint blush stained her cheeks. She could pretend to be as cold as she wanted, but her body would always betray her.
“Close the door,” I instructed.
Emma did, but walked only a couple steps further into the room. “What can I help you with?”
Her big golden eyes widened when I pushed off the desk and started walking toward her. She held her ground, even when I got close enough to smell the sweetness of her perfume.
“Do you have plans tomorrow, Emma?”
She swallowed. “Nope. Why? Do you need me to work?”
“I want you to come to the charity dinner with me.”
Emma’s eyebrows shot up, but she didn’t respond right away. When the eyebrows came back down, they furrowed in a way that made it clear she’d misunderstood my invitation.
“Did Constance cancel on you?” she asked. “I could always call Paulina and arrange another date. Whatever you need.”
“This isn’t about what I need.” I smirked. “This is about what I want, Emma, and what I want is for you to be my date to dinner tomorrow.”
She ran her tongue over her lips and I watched, cock twitching. Her mouth was so plump, so perfect. I wanted to lean down and suck her lower lip between my teeth.
She caught me looking, and the flash of desire in her eyes ignited something in me. Whatever had been her issue this week, she wanted me, probably just as much as I wanted her. And I would make it clear to her that if she came to this party with me, she could have everything she wanted. And more.
“What happened to Constance?” Emma asked.
I shook my head. “Nothing happened to Constance. She’s a nice girl, I’m sure, but she doesn’t suit my needs.”
“Your needs?” Emma scoffed. “And what is that supposed to mean?”
The fact that she was back to being more casual was encouraging. And enticing.
“Maybe ‘needs’ isn’t the right word.” I thrust my hands in my pockets, which naturally curved my body around hers. “I think the word I’m looking for is desires.”
Emma’s breath caught in her throat. “Desires?” she repeated hoarsely.
The air between us was electric. I felt such an intense desire that I thought about scrapping the whole seduction plan and just tossing her onto my desk right now. I wouldn’t care if the whole office heard her moans. I just wanted to bury my cock in her and show her what she did to me every fucking day.
“I desire somebody who I enjoy talking to,” I said, stressing the word desire. “Someone who interests me.” I reached out to brush a strand of hair from her face, more because it was killing me that I wasn’t touching her than anything else. She shivered.
Emma cleared her throat. “I think that I...” She paused, seeming to bolster her strength. “I think that I could fulfill those desires for you.”
Oh, could she ever.
My cock strained against the zipper of my pants, and I knew if she looked down she’d notice. I half wanted her to.
“That’s good to hear.” I quirked the corners of my mouth, staring down at her. “You’ve been an excellent employee so far, but I can’t wait to put your other skills to the test.”
“My other skills?”
I paused, letting the innuendo sink in before I answered. “Your social intercourse skills.”
“Right.” She licked her lips again, and I nearly groaned with the effort not to lick them myself next. “I won’t disappoint you.”
“I doubt you could if you wanted to.”
Emma sucked in a breath, and it occurred to me that she’d forgotten to breath. The fact that I’d affected her so heavily only made my arousal stronger.
“I should get back to work,” she said.
“Of course,” I grinned. “I hope I’m not working you too hard.”
She smiled brightly. “Not at all.”
“Good,” I said. “Because I’m going to be working you very hard tomorrow.”
Emma’s mouth dropped open. She slammed it closed a second later, then turned on her heel and headed for the door with a face as red as a raspberry. I watched her go, smiling like the Cheshire Cat.
She stopped in the doorway, hand grazing the wooden frame like she needed something to hang onto. “I look forward to it.”
It was only after Emma closed the door behind her that I realized my cock was so hard it hurt. I couldn’t risk getting off here, so I’d have to wait until later to act on my arousal. It occurred to me that today was the last day I’d have of imagining Emma naked, without actually knowing what she looked like naked.
Tomorrow she would be mine. And once she was, I’d make certain that I knew every nook and cranny of her body so that I’d have it burned into my memory forever.
Chapter 12
Emma
“This is so exciting!” Willow said, giggling. “Once a waitress going nowhere, now an executive assistant going to a fancy charity dinner!”
“Hey, I wasn’t going nowhere!”
She waved me off. “You know what I mean. Show me what you’re going to wear!”
I’d gone shopping yesterday after work, still so high on the dark promise of the sexual-tension-laden conversation with Max, that I hadn’t been paying much attention to price tags. I
was now the proud owner of a beautiful emerald gown that hung tight to my body to the knee, then flared into a gentle mermaid bottom. I figured I deserved it for all the hard work I’d been doing to get my act together, but I also just wanted to look good for Max.
“Hang on a sec,” I said. “I’m nearly done with my hair and then I’ll change into it.”
“Ooh, the grand makeover reveal!” She sighed dreamily. “I love it. I wish I had your life.”
I laughed and listened to her steps fall away from the bathroom door. I was trying to make the best bombshell curls I could with the limited tools on hand, which included a curling iron from the nineties and an array of all natural hair products.
“Do you want a glass of wine to help with the nerves?” Willow called.
“No thanks!” I called back.
“Okay, well if you change your mind, I’m going to have one.”
I rolled my eyes in the mirror and kept on curling. I still couldn’t believe that tonight was actually happening. Not just the dinner, but the whole enchilada. There was no way that I’d misinterpreted our conversation in his office yesterday. He wanted me, and we had established that I wanted him too. Whether it was proper or not, something was happening tonight. I’d signed myself up for something and I was betting it was going to be one hell of a ride.
We hadn’t had any more sexy chats like that since. In fact, Max had been frustratingly polite, but every once and awhile he’d smile like he was undressing me with his eyes, and I felt just as exposed as if he had been. It was our new game, but the newest one would be the one we played tonight.
Was I ready for that, though?
My phone buzzed on the counter, and I looked down at the screen. A wave of nausea rolled over me and I had to set the curling iron back down on the counter.
Lance had texted me. Dare I read what he had to say? What was it going to be this time—just that he missed me, or something more?
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