by Lindsey Hart
“What?” Colette spun around to face Margo after she jammed her lunch bag into the already bursting fridge.
She’d timed everything perfectly to make sure she didn’t show up early to work. She was right on time, but that meant that everyone else was already there and the one fridge in the break room really wasn’t enough for everyone. It was lucky she could even get the door closed.
Margo made a muffled sound behind her jammed up lips.
Colette nearly fisted her hands and slammed them to her hips in impatience. “What? Come on, Margo? What’s going on? You look like you’ve seen a cross between a ghost and something gross. I don’t even know what that is at the moment, but seriously, you’re scaring me. Were you watching those videos about animals giving birth again? Because I told you to stop that. They’re scary. I can’t believe people post those things online. Barf.”
“No!” Margo’s thick eyebrows swiveled together underneath the thick frame of her glasses.
Her forehead wrinkled up like a prune. She stalked over and grabbed Colette by the upper arm so hard that she let out a squeak of surprise. She was too stunned not to let Margo drag her over to the coffee maker, like they were going to get a cup of early morning java to kick start their butts into creative gear for the day, not like they were bending their heads to whisper about some illicit secret.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Margo hissed under her breath. “I thought we were friends. You should have told me. Now everyone knows. It’s definitely out. You’re probably going to get bombarded today.”
“What?” Colette asked as she shook Margo’s hand off her arm.
She stared down at her friend, the one real friend that she had at HBAD. Everyone else was okay, decent even, but she knew that deep down, a lot of people were jealous of her getting a good position when she was barely out of high school and had no real experience, at least in their books. People were civil, but it never really ran any deeper than that. Margo was the one person who’d always been kind to Colette, probably because she didn’t have many friends of her own, in or out of work.
The whole crazy cat lady, bookish nerdy accountant thing Margo had going on likely deterred a lot of people who couldn’t see past her boring exterior to the heart of gold that lay within. Colette wasn’t one of those people. Margo befriended her on her first day of work and made her feel at home. They’d eaten lunch together every single day for years. Sometimes they even hung out outside of work.
Truthfully, Margo’s cats were pretty cool. And she had a wicked green thumb. Her apartment was overflowing with plants, all contained in little garden type structures so that her cats couldn’t eat them. She also had a killer collection of vinyl, was a mean bowler, and knew of the best comedy spots and used bookstores in the city. She loved to thrift and antique, and all of that was right up Colette’s alley.
Despite her eclectic taste, Margo didn’t consider herself at all creative. Colette hated logic and the boring, mundane side of numbers. She didn’t have the patience to sit down and make everything add up and balance perfectly. In essence, she and Margo made a good team.
“Mr. Sex,” Margo whisper-yelled back at Colette.
Oh no. Oh my god, please no.
“We agreed we weren’t going to call him that anymore,” she whisper-yelled back. She did a quick double take to make sure no one was walking past the break room. “Chad came close to overhearing us and we put the brakes on that before anyone found out we’d given him that nickname. And he doesn’t deserve it. He might be hot, but he’s also an asshole. He’s a danger to women all over the world. Mr. Gross is more like it.”
Margo rolled her eyes again. Her lips wobbled with the effort of holding her excitement in. Colette’s stomach cramped up. She had a feeling she really wasn’t going to like whatever Margo had to tell her.
“What? What about him?” she prompted, when Margo started stammering something, a garbled up jumble of language that didn’t even make sense.
“Why didn’t you tell me? I thought you would have trusted me with something like that.” Margo’s lips wobbled again, but this time, hurt sparked in her eyes.
Colette’s throat closed up. She felt like she’d just been picked up by a giant and plunked into a pot of boiling water. “What do you mean I didn’t tell you? What’s going on? Margo!” She stopped just short of gripping her friend’s arms and shaking her.
Margo blinked back at her, confused and still a little betrayed. “You and- and Mr. Sex. I mean- you always said you didn’t like him. We agreed he was hot, but like all insanely beautiful men who walk around like they’re sex incarnate, he was a huge asshole. We agreed to not like him. So- I- I never thought you’d- I mean- you’re dating? How? When? You have to tell me everything!”
“D-dating?”
Colette tried to draw in a few breaths, but her lungs felt like they’d been sealed shut. She tried to grip Margo’s arms, to use her like a lifeline when the room began to tilt and spin, but she missed and as the black spots danced in front of her vision, closing in around her like someone had just snuck into her head and turned off the lights, she wobbled. She swayed towards the counter where the coffeepot sat, percolating away, its pleasant aroma and happy little sounds so at odds with the violent quaking going on in the room.
The floor seemed to be shifting and rolling, like an internal earthquake was happening and the kitchen was the epicenter of it all. It felt like a giant pit was opening up, yawning ahead of her as she stumbled. Suddenly, the counter seemed very far away, and the earth was rolling and everything was black.
Colette went down hard, a shriek and a muffled curse echoed in the background, doing nothing to break her fall. She hit hard, groping in the dark as she tried to find her way, right herself, clear her head and somehow get vertical again.
Except getting vertical seemed like a very daunting task.
While her fingers scrabbled at something abrasive, the break room carpet with its industrial low pill, she struggled to draw in a few labored breaths. Her lungs were more than just on fire. They felt like they’d been doused in gas and set ablaze. Her head rung, the shrill chimes sounding right between her ears in a splitting cacophony that she couldn’t shut off or tune out.
While she was trying to convince her lungs to do what they were supposed to do and save her freaking life by inhaling just a little bit of oxygen around all that fire, something changed. She inhaled and she smelled… something sharp. Crisp. Biting and fresh, like the ocean in the morning with all its spicy trees gathered around its shore to bathe in the early morning dew.
Which was both impossible and ridiculous, because she’d never been to the ocean and she’d smelled pine trees only a few times. She’d hardly ever even been out of the city. And she was pretty sure that she was still in the lunchroom in an executive high rise building that was two stories away from being completely corporate and soulless.
Something hard and strong, firm and unyielding, wrapped around her. All of a sudden, she was being lifted, carried. She swung out wildly, flailing her arms, wondering why the hell she still couldn’t see anything. A muffled oomph sounded right next to her ear when her fist connected with someone squishy, soft, and warm. Skin.
Oh no.
The scent. The spicy sharpness flooding her lungs. The hard, unyielding planes, the warmth seeping through her…
The lunchroom never smelled that good. Most of the time it stank of a combination of something close to rancid tuna and old coffee. The floor certainly was never that warm.
Her hand flailed and she caught the edge of something soft and smooth. Her fingers curled around it before she could think better of it, and she realized that it was the crease of fabric. Warm fabric. Warm, because it was heated by the body below it.
“Put me down!” Colette protested. She shook her head violently, and what do you know, the stars gave way and the darkness parted way. Her head cleared and the ringing stopped.
A rich, deep laugh filled up her ears. Worse, she could feel that laug
hter bubbling up from the body pressed so intimately against hers. From the unyielding chest that it belonged to. She felt it right from his diaphragm, which was embarrassingly close to her side, felt his lung expand near her own chest. The rush of warm, minty scented air hit her in the face like a devastating blast, tickling her cheek.
“No way. You fainted in the lunchroom. It’s my job as your boss, to make sure you’re okay. Health and safety standards and all.”
“Put me down!” Colette protested again. She planted her palm smack dab in the middle of the warm rock pressed up against her, but it was like trying to push away real rock. He didn’t budge.
She blinked hard and when the last of the stars cleared, she realized she wasn’t in the lunchroom anymore. She was in an office. Blaze’s office. The door was closed, and it was just them, and he was holding her in his freaking arms.
Holding her, like she weighed nothing at all. He was staring down at her, his gaze transfixed on her face. No, not just on her face. On her mouth. He was watching her mouth, watching her with that sheen in his eyes and that predatory look he’d had when he stared at her in the back of the limo. Like he wanted to devour her.
What was wrong with her that her stomach cramped up and her mouth went dry and an uncomfortable zing of lust induced electricity shot straight between her legs?
“You- you bastard,” she stammered. She hated that her voice wobbled, just like her legs surely would if the brute holding her ever bothered to listen to her and set her back down on her feet. “You told everyone that we were dating?” The word came out like it was poisonous.
Blaze blinked down at her. God. From that angle, his dark lashes looked like they were a thousand miles long. His lips were even more devastating, pouty and firm in turns, but perfectly shaped. His cheekbones appeared severe, but his glowing eyes softened the harshness of his features. He was almost too beautiful to be real. Colette wasn’t sure if it was the overhead lighting that was shining too bright in her sensitive eyes or if Blaze was really so gorgeous it hurt to look at him.
In essence, he was every woman’s fantasy, ripped straight from the pages of the smuttiest of smutty novels, come to life.
“Not everyone,” he drawled, like the whole thing was a joke to him. “I just made sure that I had a rather large, rather grand looking bouquet of flowers delivered to your desk this morning. It was my way of making up for acting less than chivalrous at our date the other night. It wasn’t exactly my fault that the rest of the office is nosy and can’t keep their hands to themselves. Or that the florist might have mistakenly labeled the card, All my love, Blaze.”
“Mistakenly?” Colette spat. “You- you Neanderthal! You’re a scheming, lying, beastly, terrible troll of a man. Put me down! You did that on purpose! You want everyone to think we’re dating. Though I have no idea why. You never- er… you never…”
“What?” Blaze’s brow cocked upward in amusement. “I never what?”
“Nothing,” Colette muttered, her face on fire. “Just put me down before everyone thinks we’re doing something inappropriate in here.”
Blaze leaned down, tucking his face against her ear so that his lips brushed the sensitive skin right below her lobe and his breath tickled the heated column of her neck.
“Oh, I’m counting on it.” He took two steps and unceremoniously did as she asked, opening up his arms and releasing her so quickly that she didn’t have a hope in hell of catching herself.
Colette stared up at the asshat from the tangle of her own limbs. She was thankful she’d opted for leggings and a tunic, since a dress would have only made the entire situation a thousand times more embarrassing. Even so, she pulled down the hem of her tunic and swept a hand over her wild hair.
Fuming, she stumbled to her feet. She was beyond repairing her dignity, but she slammed a finger at Blaze anyway. He just stared back at her, his too perfect lips quirked into a smile she was ashamed to admit that she wanted to eat off his face. Not just kiss. No, she wanted to devour him. She wanted to bite him. Claw at him. Do things that she never would have dreamed of doing.
And she hated that he had the power to affect her like that. To make her freaking pass out on the lunchroom floor. That he could disarm her completely and send her into a tailspin just by wrapping his far too muscular arms around her and pressing her up against his sinful body. Sinful. Yes, it was well known that he used that body for sin.
He confirmed it when he inclined his head and smirked at her knowingly. “I think what you wanted to say was that I’m never with the same woman twice. That’s how you would have worded it, so I’ll put it nicely, just for you. I know how much you hate it when I say crass things. You’re a good girl, aren’t you, Colette. A sweet, prim, proper, good little girl. Who storms into her boss’ office and demands that he take her virginity.”
“You- you….” Colette couldn’t come up with a word vile enough for Blaze, so she pressed her lips into a hard line. “That was a lapse in judgment. I told you to rip up that contract.”
“No can do,” Blaze drawled, as he sauntered over to his office chair. He pulled the thing out and plopped down, looking sinful as the devil himself when he sprawled out and kicked his expensive leather shoes up on the desk. He winked at her. “I have a reputation to keep. So, sweetheart, I’m afraid you’re stuck with me, at least until I fulfill the obligations set out on those pages.”
“Rip. It. Up.”
“No.” He yawned, like the whole conversation actually bored him. “You need to live a little, Colette. Get out and experience new things. Life isn’t all about work and coding. It’s about fun. It’s about pleasure.” He let the word roll off his tongue as his gaze swept over her, so hot it was like a brand.
Despite her best efforts not to, Colette shivered. “Go to hell, Mr. Hanson. It’s never going to happen.”
“Okay, sweetheart. Enjoy your day. Try not to let the rumor mill bother you too much. If it’s getting out of hand, you can always come to me for help. I’d be happy to clarify whatever misunderstandings arise from the flowers. Oh, and Colette… I’ll pick you up at seven tonight. Wear a dress again.”
With that, he dropped his feet, swiveled around, gave her his side and started typing something furiously into his open laptop.
She stood there stunned, in disbelief at how easily he’d dismissed her. She let out an undignified huff of rage before she stormed to the door. She was about to rip it open, when stupidly, she looked back.
Blaze blew her a kiss without looking up from his work.
CHAPTER 9
Blaze
Blaze had once told himself he wasn’t going to be that kind of boss. The kind who fucked his employees. For the most part, he’d managed to keep that promise to himself. He’d had only one small mishap. Okay, maybe two. No one got fired. There was no lawsuit. The world kept turning.
How the hell Colette was still single, let alone a virgin, was beyond him.
She was the kind of beautiful that literally was like the sun. It hurt to look at. If you stared directly into the surface, it would probably blind you.
She was incredible. A woman worthy of a thousand one night stands. Of an infinite amount of lawsuits. Of countless sleepless nights.
Which is exactly what he’d spent thinking about her.
For longer than he cared to admit.
There was something about Colette that wasn’t like other women. It wasn’t her huge eyes or her pouty mouth, her perky tits or her tight ass. It wasn’t her body at all. It was what was inside of it. Namely, her head.
Which shocked the hell out of him because he wasn’t one of those guys who usually gave a shit if a woman had a brain or not. He was just as likely to tell them to bend over his desk- because yes, he might not have made a habit of pooching his employees, but he had made a habit of letting every single person in the office know that he wasn’t above fucking someone who didn’t work for him, in his office- as he was to ask their opinion about something.
It wasn’
t that he didn’t care. Oh wait. Yes, it was. He didn’t care. Because he’d never met a woman who he actually wanted to know anything about other than if they wanted to sleep with him or not. And where they’d like to commence said sleeping, minus the sleeping. Okay, maybe he sometimes asked if they wanted to suck his dick. And if he could eat their pussy. Because he was generous like that. Beyond sex, though, the questions were limited. He’d never had so much as a work conversation with any member of the opposite sex in as long as he could remember.
So why the hell was he currently sitting at his desk trying to come up with one appropriate question that Colette wouldn’t throw back in his face. A question that had meaning. A question he actually wanted to know the answer to. It wasn’t that he couldn’t come up with anything. Because he could. He could think of a thousand things he wanted to know about her. It was that he didn’t think she’d answer anything he asked. At least not honestly.
Because she hated him.
Instead of trying to brainstorm questions, it was probably a better idea to come up with a list of ways to make Colette believe he wasn’t the devil himself.
It had been a very long time since he’d had to be smooth enough to wine and dine a woman and make her feel special. Usually, he just looked at them and they fell all over him. Not Colette. He knew she wouldn’t be easy to tame.
That stunt she pulled at the restaurant, leaving him high and dry, nearly made him panic.
Until he thought of the flowers.
It would cause quite a stir in the office, letting his staff know that they were dating. Which they weren’t. But no one had to know that. The rumor mill was a powerful thing and people’s lips were probably flapping so hard out there they were on the verge of catching fire.
He’d never dated.
Because he didn’t date.
It was just that simple.
Except with Colette, it wasn’t that simple. Nothing about her was simple.
She was the reason he was banging other chicks instead of banging her. She was the only woman he’d ever known that wouldn’t give him the time of day. She wouldn’t even look his way most times, like he didn’t exist. Even though he was her damn boss. In a way, it was her fault. All of it. He was a man with needs and he had to take out his frustrations on more than just his hand.