by Eve Langlais
He blew out a sigh and tried to think if he knew anyone who had made an office romance work for them instead of against them. Between employees it wasn’t as destructive, but when it came to owners and employees? Lawsuits in the making. He’d taken part in arbitrating a few of them himself.
Lawsuit or not, he was sure of one thing: she was willing to risk even more than Emily was to get what she wanted.
Chapter Twelve
“Mr. Wynn? You wanted me to notify you at lunch time,” Mercedes said after knocking on his door and poking her head in.
Hunter blinked and looked up at her. The text on the papers had gone from blurry to illegible quite a while ago while his thoughts strayed to a texted image Emily had sent him that threatened to burn his phone in his hand. He was lost in his thoughts and might have continued daydreaming if it weren’t for his secretary. He offered her a smile and said, “Thanks, Mercedes. This is a rough one. I could use a break.”
“You’re heading out then?”
He nodded and picked his phone up off his desk. “I’m meeting Mr. Caskins. I’ll be back this afternoon.”
“I’ll see you then.”
Hunter grabbed his computer and put it in his case before rising from his chair and grabbing his jacket. He walked down the hall and paused as he walked up on the conference room that Tiffany had converted into her office. It was still a work in progress and he heard her grunting as he neared her open door. He tried not to imagine the many ways she might have been caused to grunt, but couldn’t stop himself from looking.
Tiffany was kneeling on the floor in front of the open bottom drawer of a cabinet, her legs spread to give her leverage. Hunter hesitated. He needed to get going–he did have an appointment with Tyler–but there was something about seeing Tiffany on her knees that made him pause. She grunted again as she bent over further and tried to see into the bottom drawer. Her loose skirt lifted in the back, revealing the back of her legs just above her knees along with her toned calves that disappeared into her cream–colored heels.
Hunter bit his lip and turned away. He was about to take a step when he heard Tiffany curse under her breath. He looked back and saw her climb to her feet, moving her left leg first and giving him a glimpse of more thigh as the skirt slid up and then back down her leg. She stared down at the drawer and then bent over, against at her hips, before pushing the drawer in. Her head shifted, letting her hair slip to the side and giving him a clear glimpse of Tiffany’s left eye as she met his.
Hunter twisted away and kept going. His cheeks burned, knowing he’d been caught. She didn’t say anything and didn’t come after him. He nodded and offered a quick smile to the intern at the front desk and then walked out of the office and headed for his car. It wasn’t until he sat down and cast a nervous glance out his window that he realized she hadn’t jumped when she saw him. She hadn’t even reacted; she’d just stayed exactly as she’d been.
“How did she know I was there?” he muttered.
He pressed the starter for his Escalade and shook his head. The engine rumbled to life, soothing his confusion. Hunter reached down and adjusted the growing thickness in his pants and sighed. Tiffany was getting to him. He’d been able to smell her in her office. It was faint–too faint for anyone else to notice, but it sunk into him and wouldn’t let him go. As much as he needed some relief from his frustration, he needed time away from Emily even more. Time to think clearly and not about her. She was ruining his focus with her desire to integrate herself into his life.
He didn’t have any reason to complain; it was just that when things were too good to be true, they usually were. If he let it go unchecked, she’d be imposing on him and making demands on his time. Demands that would interfere with his more primal needs. There were things about him she didn’t know. Things she couldn’t know. His gift was also his curse, but it made him the creature he was.
Hunter scowled and forced himself to step lightly on the accelerator. The Cadillac’s powerful engine might not be capable of leaping to sixty miles an hour in the time it took his heart to beat once but it would still break the tires free on the slushy surface. The last thing he needed was to get in an accident. His personal life was a disaster enough!
He pulled into the chain restaurant’s parking lot a few minutes later and hurried into the warm interior. The lunch crowd was packed but he spotted Tyler as soon as he was assaulted by the press of bodies and odors. The investigator was sitting at the bar, nursing a beer.
“It’s a twenty–minute wait, sir; can I take your name?”
Hunter glanced at the hostess and offered a quick smile. “Thanks, but I see my party already.”
“Oh, okay, go ahead then.”
Hunter nodded as he strode passed her and walked up to the empty seat beside Tyler. “Hey,” he said.
“Buy a guy a drink?” Tyler asked.
“You’re buying me one?”
“That’s not how it works,” Tyler said. “You’d make a lousy gay man.”
Hunter chuckled. “Good!”
“Probably wouldn’t even give a guy a reach around,” Tyler complained.
“You’re not gay,” Hunter reminded him.
Tyler laughed. “There is that. Trust me, after what I’ve got for you, you might want to give me a kiss.”
“Unlikely,” Hunter said as he took his seat and signaled the bartender. “I don’t have you working on anything. What’s this about?”
“I do more than just dig up dirt on companies and people,” he reminded him. “I keep your asses safe from all the things you overlook.”
Hunter frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“That skirt you’re chasing? Emily Moony?”
Hunter stiffened. “What about her?”
“How are things going with her?”
Hunter opened his mouth and then closed it as the bartender showed up. “Scotch–no, make it a Black and Tan.”
“Menus?”
“Please,” Hunter said. He jerked his thumb towards Tyler and said, “He’s buying.”
Tyler shrugged. “I’ll bill you for it.”
Hunter chuckled. “So, you were saying?”
“No, you were saying. What’s her story?”
Hunter frowned. “Not much of a story to tell, or at least she hasn’t told me much. Got an associate’s in business and is working on her bachelor’s.”
“Kind of old to be in college, isn’t she?”
“She’s going back,” Hunter said. “She realized an associate’s isn’t worth a damn if you want to do more than answer phones for a living.”
“Hey, I happen to know a few managers with associate’s degrees,” Tyler argued. “Day and night shift managers at a Taco Bell near my house.”
Hunter chuckled. “To their credit, I wouldn’t put up with the shit they probably do.”
Tyler grimaced and tipped his beer in a silent toast before taking a drink.
“Right, so Emily. She’s shy and quiet until you get to know her, but a real firecracker. Won’t take no for an answer.”
“Family?”
Hunter frowned. “She didn’t mention any.”
“Skeletons in her closet?”
“Her last boyfriend was over two years ago,” Hunter said. He chuckled and added, “I think she’s making up for lost time. I haven’t been laid this much in years!”
Tyler grunted. “Gold digger?”
Hunter frowned. He wanted to snap at his friend but stopped. He sighed and shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t think so. At least I don’t think that’s her motivation for screwing me so thoroughly I can’t stop thinking about her.”
Tyler grunted. “My turn.”
Hunter took the beer from the bartender and flicked his eyes over the menu the man left. He turned his attention back to Tyler. “Your turn?”
“Yup. She was born up north, in Petoskey. Moved down here for college and stayed. Her mom and dad got divorced years ago and then her dad died in a hunting ac
cident. Mom passed a few years later from breast cancer.”
“You’re a stalker,” Hunter said.
Tyler chuckled. “That’s a compliment in my line of work.”
Hunter chuckled and set his beer down. “I don’t think that’s ever a compliment. Trust me, I’ve read a lot of court cases.”
“Point is, she’s got nobody. No brothers or sisters. No close family left. Nothing. She’s alone and fighting to make her way in the world.”
“You make it sound pathetic. Or are you trying to make me feel bad for her?”
Tyler wiggled his eyebrow and then held up a finger while the bartender showed up to take the order. “Two orders of wings with your hottest sauce.”
The bartender smirked and turned to Hunter. “Rib eye,” he said. “Rare. Don’t bother with the sides, I won’t eat them.”
The bartender moved to type the order into the computer, giving Hunter a chance to stare at Tyler and wait for him to finish.
“Seems like a good opportunity, that’s all.”
Hunter took another drink. “For me or for the trip?”
Tyler smiled. “You can’t stop thinking about her, you said.”
“Because she’s been fucking me silly,” Hunter hissed. “Not because of anything else.”
“Sure,” Tyler said. “I’m saying you’ve got an opportunity here. I know damn well you don’t have anyone else for the trip next week, and none of us are going to be happy if we bring some drugged out hooker to take care of things. We get what we need and she gets taken care of. Then you go back to a normal life like you’ve been wanting.”
Hunter scowled when he felt the buzz in his pocket. He closed his eyes and sighed, and then reached for his phone. When he pulled it out, he saw the teddy bear filling his screen.
“That’s her, isn’t it?” Tyler asked. “Keeping herself in your thoughts. Brother, she might be the sweetest piece of ass you’ve ever had, but that’s not the life you lead. We don’t get to live the way other people do. You know that as well as I do.”
Hunter nodded. “She’s something special, though.”
“I bet,” Tyler said. “Why else would you be thinking this way?”
Hunter stared at him and nodded. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. I’ve been saying the same things to myself. She’s been thinking about taking over for Tiffany at the front desk.”
“Well, that’s not going to work, now is it?” Tyler asked.
“Doesn’t look like it.” Hunter sighed. He slipped his phone in his pocket and waited while their food was delivered. “I’ll take care of it.”
“I know you will.” Tyler nodded and reached for his plate of wings. “I’m not the only one aching for the hunt. Once a year isn’t often enough, and elk and moose just aren’t the same.”
Chapter Thirteen
“Excited?”
“Hmm?” Hunter asked. He glanced over from the road and found his eyes lingering on the long expanse of leg hanging out from beneath Emily’s skirt. He wasn’t sure if she was wearing some sort of unusual panty hose or yoga pants made out of a translucent material with designs on them. It was eye–catching and exciting at the same time.
“About this trip! Tiffany said that the office really gets dead this time of year because the partners check out and can’t focus on anything except their annual hunting trip.”
“Oh, yes. It’s our getaway,” he said. “We can really let ourselves go and forget about work. It’s all about play.”
“And this year you get to play with me! And you’re paying me on top of it! Build up all that testosterone out in the wilderness hunting and then bring it back to take it out on me. I want you to promise me something, okay?”
Hunter raised an eyebrow. “We’re paying you to cook and clean and keep the place safe while we’re out, not to be my consort.”
“Whatever.”She waved it away. “Like I wouldn’t do that anyhow. Now how about that promise?”
“I can’t promise it if I don’t know what it is.”
Emily grinned. “Always the lawyer. Fine. When you come back in from hunting, I want you to take me. Take me hard and rough and have your way with me. Make me feel what a rugged and powerful hunter you are.”
Hunter coughed on his own spit. He turned to see her grinning with a twinkle in her eyes and he shook his head. “You’re something else,” he mumbled.
“You know what I really wish right now?”
“Huh?”
“That you were like a normal rich person and had someone driving us around,” she said while reaching across the console and running her finger up and down his thigh. “Because I would unzip those jeans and totally swallow you whole right now.”
“Fuck,” Hunter muttered. He fought to keep his focus on the road but her words were very distracting. Even worse were her fingers as they crept up his thigh and slid around to rub between his legs. He shifted in the seat of his Escalade to give her better room.
“Uh uh,” Emily teased and gave him a gentle squeeze below the belt. “Safety first.”
“You’re kidding me?”
She grinned and glanced around before unbuckling her seatbelt and leaning over the console. Hunter lifted his arms to give her room and then groaned when she pressed her lips firmly against his zipper and the growing bulge beneath. She straightened and buckled her seatbelt again. “I want to make it to the hunting camp,” she said. “Is the plane big?”
“Big?”
She dug into her purse and pulled out her lipstick. “Big enough I can finish what I started? I’ve always wanted to join the mile–high club.”
Hunter groaned again. “Damn, it’s only a twin engine plane. Six seater, including the pilot and co–pilot. No privacy.”
She pouted. “How long is the flight?”
“About four hours.”
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep my hands off you,” she teased. “Didn’t you say Stephen already went up? Six seats and four of us, plus the pilot and co–pilot. We take the back seats and who knows what we can get away with.”
Hunter jerked his eyes away from her to keep from getting them in an accident and shook his head. “You’re going to be the death of me.”
She grinned. “I promise, it’ll be the most pleasant death you can imagine.”
Hunter laughed. “Gee, thanks.”
She grinned and fell silent as he continued his drive to the Detroit Metro Airport. He made it through the traffic and confusing road layout with practiced ease and parked in a private lot. He parked his SUV next to Tyler’s car and climbed out of the car. He grabbed his suitcase and Emily’s, carrying one in each hand, and led her to the building that would let them through to the airfield.
“This is a hunting trip?” Emily asked.
“Yes, why?”
“Where is your gun?”
“At the cabin,” Hunter said. “The firm owns it. The cabin, I mean.”
“Oh, okay. I was wondering about that.”
Hunter placed his bag on the ground and opened the door for Emily. She flashed him a smile and brushed past him, grazing his crotch with the back of her hand on the way through. He jerked and stared after her, but only saw a twitch of her smile before her back was to him. Hunter picked up his bag and followed after her, muttering under his breath at the renewed interest she’d awoken in him.
Tyler looked at them from the small lounge area and waved. “Hunter! I was getting worried you might be late. Is this the girl you’ve been telling us so much about?”
Hunter chuckled. “Not much to tell. She doesn’t let me get a word in usually.”
Emily spun on him, her mouth open in a mock gasp of outrage.
Tyler laughed. “Somehow I doubt that. Jerry’s already out at the plane, getting it ready.”
Emily spun on Hunter again. “Jerry’s the pilot?”
Hunter nodded.
“You didn’t tell me that!”
He shrugged. “Come on, let’s head that way.”
S
he spun around again but didn’t see anybody. “Wait, isn’t there security checks we have to do first? Customs and all that?”
“Jerry took care of clearing everything and our flight path. Our passports have already been filed and approved; it’s a clear flight.”
“You can do that? I thought the TSA had to check everything these days.”
“Yes, we can do that,” Hunter said. “With the right contacts and fees, just about anything can happen.”
“That’s so cool,” Emily said. She stared off into space for a moment and then sighed. “Man, living like this must be nice.”
Hunter’s brow furrowed at her strange comment. He looked at Tyler and saw his friend sharing his concern. Emily’s eyes focused on Hunter and she smiled. “All the more reason for me to convince you to make sure I’m not the one that got away!”
Tyler chuckled. “Good luck with that.”
Emily stuck her lips out in a pout and looked at Hunter. He smiled. “She makes a convincing argument, but we just met. We’ll see.”
“I’ll show you,” she promised. She glanced at Tyler and added, “I’m going to be the last woman he’ll ever want.”
Tyler laughed and Hunter had to chuckle to hide the redness in his cheeks. A fleeting vision of Tiffany slipped into his mind. The new HR manager had left two days ago to spend the holidays with her family. When she’d left work late that night, she’d swung by his office to announce her departure and had been acting odd.
She’d worn the same figure–hugging sweater she’d had on all day, complete with the plunging V–neck that revealed both cleavage and the camisole she wore underneath it. The difference when she came to see him was the missing camisole and bra. He’d struggled to wish her a merry Christmas instead of staring at the tents in her sweater her nipples made. The loose–knit fabric conspired to tie his tongue up twice during the conversation. It was so bad he almost missed the way her shoulders were drooped and her smile not as bright. She seemed sad to be leaving, instead of happy to have time off. Before she’d left, she’d given him a hug and brushed her lips against his cheek. He’d barely noticed the kiss; he had been too busy fighting the urge to look down at her hard pebbles that had poked him in the chest.