Tempted by the Boss

by Jules Bennett

  “Go pick your room,” she told him. “I’ll wait for the luggage.”

  He turned and went into one room, then the other. Kelly waited in the entryway, wishing they would hurry with the luggage so she could change and explore that beach. She couldn’t wait to dip her toes into the sand and water and start her vacation. Though she was a messed-up bundle of anxiety, she hoped she didn’t lose her nerve after mentally preparing herself for weeks.

  Luke came back out and sighed. Then he unbuttoned his sleeves and rolled them up onto his thick, muscular forearms.

  If his bare arms were making her excited, she would be doomed when it came to seeing him in a bathing suit. She’d only seen Luke in dress clothes, or the occasional jeans and dress shirt, before.

  “I’ll give you the room with the view of the ocean,” he informed her. “I’ll take the room with the garden view.”

  Kelly jerked slightly. “You should take the room with the ocean view. The water is more relaxing and I’m so glad to be here, I’m certainly not complaining about a garden view.”

  “That one has a Jacuzzi tub,” he said. “I wouldn’t use anything like that.”

  She hadn’t thought about the bathrooms. But she wasn’t going to argue. She’d take whichever room he wanted her to.

  There was a knock on the door, and Luke crossed to get the luggage. Once he had everything wheeled inside, along with a few extra items, and they were alone again, Kelly took her bag to her room.

  “What’s all this?” Luke came to stand in her doorway, holding up shopping bags from the resort.

  Kelly sat her suitcase up on the stand in the corner. “That’s the clothing I requested for you for the trip.”

  Luke shook his head and sighed. “Who paid for this? You or Zeke?”

  She held up her hand. “Just stop worrying about everything. Zeke is the financial backer here, but I’m coordinating all the needs on this end. Your job for the next five days is just to enjoy the view, the food, the drinks, and not think about a thing.”

  His eyes held hers and Kelly held her breath, hoping he wouldn’t argue. She just wanted to have a carefree, relaxing time with him. Selfishly, she wanted Luke to see her as more than an assistant, but she still had to work her way up to that.

  Physical attraction had been present from day one. But there was more to Luke that attracted her. He was loyal, kind, powerful, and devoted to his career and his family. There was no way she could’ve ignored that extra tug toward him as time had gone on and this might be her only chance to make her move.

  Time was not on her side right now. But she couldn’t exactly attempt seduction on day one...could she?

  “Fine,” he told her. “I’m all yours for the next five days.”

  That’s what both thrilled and terrified her.

  Three

  “What the hell did you ask them to send me?” Luke yelled through the closed bedroom door.

  There was no way he was stepping foot out of here, not wearing this embarrassing excuse for a bathing suit.

  Why was he being punished? Wasn’t this supposed to be a relaxing trip? Nothing about this bag of clothes had him calming down. If Zeke was here, he’d likely be enjoying this misery a little too much.

  Luke peeked at Kelly through the crack in the door. She stood on the other side wearing some floral cover-up and her long, red hair pulled up on top of her head. She had a beach towel tucked under one arm and her sunglasses perched in front of her bun. Now that was a beach look. What he had on was...hell, he didn’t even know what to call this.

  Why did Kelly look like she’d just stepped off a magazine shoot while he looked like he was ready to participate in some indecent bachelor auction? Because his goods were definitely on display.

  “Just let me see,” she told him, motioning for him to come out. “It can’t be that bad. It’s just a bathing suit. We’re adults.”

  “Oh, this suit is very adult,” he growled. “Did you tell them to find the smallest suit for me?”

  Kelly’s brows drew in. “Is the size too small? I didn’t know how big your...how big... Uh, what size you’d need.”

  Her pink cheeks would be adorable in another capacity, but not when his nether regions were being squeezed to death.

  “I don’t think it’s the size,” he gritted through his teeth. “I think even two sizes up would be skimpy.”

  “Skimpy?” she asked, her eyes wide. “I certainly didn’t ask for that. Can’t you just put on another set of trunks? I asked for them to send three male bathing suits.”

  “Oh, they sent three,” he countered. “They’re all the same, but in different colors. Black, navy, and red.”

  And that wasn’t all they’d sent. He’d opened the bags and gotten a sneak peek on the rest of his wardrobe for the week and he wasn’t too keen on that either, but at least it would cover up his manly bits.

  “Can I just see?” she asked. “I swear I won’t take a picture and post it.”

  She snickered a little and he glared. “I have to say I’m not trusting you much right now. First you kidnapped me—”

  “You really need to adjust your terminology,” she corrected. “This is a much needed vacation.”

  “And then you have the resort deliver sacks full of tourist clothing with a bikini bottom only a woman should wear.”

  “If I’d told you what to pack, you would have known something was up,” she explained. “Listen, you’re just going to have to come out wearing that and I swear, I won’t laugh.”

  “You already laughed and I’m not even out yet.”

  “It’s out of my system. Promise.”

  As if to prove her point, Kelly shrugged, causing the cover-up to dip off one slender shoulder. He tried like hell not to look at the swell of her breast just above the bikini top, but he couldn’t help himself.

  This was not ok. None of it. He shouldn’t be looking at his assistant’s ample chest...and he sure as hell shouldn’t be enjoying the way she looked. How the hell would he react when she took her cover-up off? One thing was for certain, she would definitely know if he liked it if he left these damn skimpy bottoms on.

  Muttering under his breath, Luke closed the door and looked around the room for a towel. He grabbed one from his en suite and wrapped it around his waist before opening the door once more.

  “Let’s go,” he told her, holding the knot at his side with a death grip. “You have to close your eyes as I’m getting in and out of the water.”

  Her eyes dipped to his chest, then lower, before she brought her focus back up to his eyes. Was that desire he saw looking back at him? No. No way. Kelly had been with him for five years and she’d never once acted like she was attracted to him.

  He needed to ignore the fact she had more skin exposed than he was used to and remember they were adults and professionals. This was nothing more than a relaxing vacation that she went to a good deal of trouble to make happen.

  “No electronics?” he asked.

  She held up her hand. “I promise, I put mine away with yours. I won’t post anything about your little boy shorts.”

  Luke glowered at her. “You’re enjoying this way too much.”

  “Possibly, but it’s only the first day,” she told him. “You’ll learn to enjoy yourself, too. That’s my goal.”

  “I’d rather your goal be to call the gift shop and ask if they have real trunks for a man.”

  Kelly pursed her lips. “I suppose I can do that.”

  He waited while she stepped into the living room and used the house phone to call the gift shop. A moment later, she hung up and turned to face him.

  “All done,” she told him. “Someone is on their way with more options.”

  “I’ll pay for this pair,” he told her.

  “Zeke’s card is on file. No need.”

  She shifted her to
wel to the other hand and headed toward the opening to their own infinity pool.

  “Just join me when you can.”

  Luke waited near the door, but couldn’t take his eyes off the view...and he didn’t mean the ocean and tall palm trees.

  Kelly slowly pulled her cover-up over her curvy body and tossed it onto a lounge chair. She adjusted her sunglasses over her eyes and dipped a toe into the water.

  That bikini should be illegal.

  The scraps of material and strings were just a simple black, but there was very little coverage. They made his bottoms look large.

  Kelly stepped on into the pool and then dove under. She came up at the other end and rested her arms along the ledge as she stared out at the ocean.

  Luke jerked when the doorbell rang. Clutching his towel in one hand, he opened the door with the other.

  “Here you go, sir.”

  The worker handed over another resort bag and nodded his goodbye. Luke closed the door and slipped back into his room. The minute he pulled out the new suit, he groaned. He wasn’t sure which one was worse, but this one did cover a little bit more.

  Reluctantly, he changed and grabbed his towel. By the time he stepped outside, Kelly was lying on a chaise on her belly reading a book.

  Those damn cheeky bottoms of hers were seriously taunting him. He should not be lusting after his assistant. He respected the hell out of her and his thoughts were taking a drastic turn from strictly professional to highly inappropriate.

  Luke blew out a breath. He would just pretend they were in the office. That’s all. Surely he could do that, right?

  But in the office he wasn’t looking at half her bare ass. He never would’ve made it through board meetings if that were the case.

  “There has to be other trunk options than the two I’ve seen.”

  Kelly glanced over her shoulder and busted out laughing. “What? You don’t like the big red lips on your...um...your...”

  He resisted the urge to cover-up said lip section, but instead propped his hands on his hips. “Do I come across as the type of guy who would wear black spandex shorts with red lips on my junk?”

  She rolled over onto her side, the sway of her breasts shifting with the movement, and Luke used a good bit of his willpower to keep his eyes on hers. Damn it, he needed a distraction.

  “Do you have sunscreen?” he asked. “You don’t want to burn.”

  “I sprayed myself, but I don’t know how well I managed my back.” She pointed to the table in the corner. “Grab that bottle and just give me a once-over, please.”

  Luke sprayed her back, even going on down over her cheeks that were only half covered. He sure as hell didn’t want to have to rub aloe on her later if she got too much sun. He’d probably go up in flames if he had to touch her bare skin.

  Once he was done—thankfully he didn’t have to rub anything in—Luke went to the edge of the water.

  “It feels really nice,” she told him, turning back to her book. “We can go to the beach if you want. Or you can go alone. I don’t want to smother you on your vacation.”

  For some reason, the moment she said smother, he got an instant image of her splayed over him. He was seriously going to have to create some distance between them or he would end up embarrassing himself.

  “I think I’ll go take a walk on the beach,” he told her. “I need to clear my head. You just enjoy your book.”

  He headed down to the shore at a record pace and hoped like hell she hadn’t noticed his blatant arousal. There was no way in hell he was going to make it to the end of this trip without crossing the line with his assistant.

  As if he didn’t have enough to worry about with Wingate, now he wanted to strip that pathetic excuse for a bikini off Kelly and take both of their minds off their troubles.

  Four

  Kelly blew out a sigh when Luke left her alone. When he’d stepped outside, she nearly had a heart attack at how sexy he was. She’d known he was built, but she’d never seen him like this.

  All that dark, taut skin with those black snug shorts—even the red lips right smack in the center didn’t take away from his potent sex appeal. If anything, those shorts were damn hot on him, and she thought they were perfectly fitting for what she wanted to do.

  The closer she got to trying to seduce him and make the biggest risk of her life, the more her nerves jumbled all together and her common sense told her not to take this chance.

  But she had to. It was now or never. So no matter her fears, she had to push them aside and go after what she wanted.

  As much as Kelly wanted to admire Luke even more, it was probably best that he went down to the beach alone right now. She hadn’t missed the way his eyes had traveled over her body—the man really should wear some sunglasses to hide the fact he was giving her a visual lick.

  She also didn’t miss the obvious attraction he had to her. Those skimpy shorts hid nothing. Hmm...maybe getting him into bed wouldn’t be as difficult as she thought.

  Kelly smiled as she flipped the page in her book. Good to know this new bikini was working like a charm, just like she intended. Men were simply primal creatures...even men married to their jobs. They still had basic needs and still craved bare skin and a little temptation.

  A fling wouldn’t hurt, would it? They were adults and they could keep this separate from the office. She wasn’t looking for a ring on her finger or any promise of commitment. The only relationship Luke wanted was his career...a situation she knew all too well because of her father. She’d seen the struggle her mother had gone through trying to get any attention from her husband. Kelly never wanted a life like that, and she knew she deserved better.

  So, a little fun in the sun had to be the theme for this trip.

  A bit later, the doorbell rang again. Luke was still not back, so she got up and went to answer.

  “Aloha, ma’am.” The concierge wheeled a cart of food and drinks inside. “Where shall I set up this dinner for you?”

  Kelly glanced around and really wasn’t sure. “How about you leave it here and we will take care of it?”

  He nodded. “Please let us know if you require any further service this evening.”

  Kelly thanked him and showed him out. She went to the cart and lifted the domed lids. Surf and turf with grilled asparagus and a cauliflower rice. Wine, beers, and a particular bottle of bourbon that she’d requested.

  There was also a white-and-gold card advertising their nightly resort entertainment. She was still tired from the trip and not really in the mood to be around a bunch of people, so she wasn’t going to mention that to Luke.

  Kelly figured the sun would start to set soon, so she carried the plates out to the patio area and set everything up. She poured herself a glass of wine and got Luke a beer, then put the alcohol in the fridge, save for the bourbon that she left on the counter.

  Luke still wasn’t back so Kelly went to her bedroom and changed into a pair of shorts and a tank. She took her hair down and brushed it, then put it back up into a top knot. The movement had her shoulders feeling tight, and she glanced in the mirror to see she’d gotten a little pink today. She’d have to be more liberal with the sunscreen tomorrow. Apparently she’d gotten so sidetracked with her Luke fantasies and then her book, she’d lost track of time and hadn’t reapplied.

  As Kelly stepped out of her room, Luke was coming up the steps by their pool. Water droplets ran over his broad chest and beaded all over his close-cropped hair and beard. He carried a towel and stopped by the pool to dry off. Since he hadn’t spotted her yet, she felt a little voyeuristic standing here watching him rub his towel all over his very fine body.

  Kelly cleared her throat and headed out to the patio.

  “You’re just in time,” she told him. “I hope you’re ready for dinner.”

  “I’ll get changed and be right out.”


  He walked by her without glancing her way and Kelly ignored that twinge of disappointment. He seemed upset about something, but she had no clue what. He didn’t have his cell to check emails or take calls, so what could have bothered him on a secluded beach?

  Perhaps he was irritated at his attraction toward her. Luke wouldn’t like that he was losing control over anything, especially his feelings. She’d never known him to mix business and pleasure. Even when he’d been engaged, he’d put his career first.

  Kelly didn’t want more than this right here. She wanted these few days alone with Luke to prove to him she was more than his assistant. Two adults in a romantic resort indulging in a heated fling that would stay just between them was all she was asking for. With the possibility of him finding her attractive, Kelly had a burst of hope that layered over all those nerves.

  Kelly didn’t mind one bit helping him take his mind off Wingate and everything they’d left back in Royal. She just hoped Luke was ready for all she had in mind.

  By the time Luke came back out, he was still scowling, and she couldn’t help but laugh when she saw his outfit.

  “I swear, I didn’t ask them to send all of these tacky things,” she defended. “I just gave them your sizes and said I needed trunks, shorts, and shirts. I asked for a pair of sandals and sunglasses, too.”

  “Oh, I got everything you asked for. But this was the best outfit out of the eccentric variety.”

  Kelly couldn’t help but laugh at the green-and-white plaid shorts and the white T-shirt that read EYE CANDY in bold, black letters.

  “I seriously considered putting a suit on,” he grumbled as he took a seat at the table. “And I mean the kind of suits I brought.”

  “Aw, now you’re just being a grouch. It’s Christmas time, and we’re on a private beach. Perk up. I’m the only one who can see you, right?”