In Bed With Her Tall, Sexy Handsome Boss: All Night with the Boss / The Boss's Wife for a Week / My Tall Dark Greek Boss. Natalie AndersonЧитать онлайн книгу.
of money for a situation in which she had to fight the most powerful attraction she’d ever known.
He gestured towards the paper on the windows blocking the view to the corridor. ‘The secret-squirrel stuff is for real. Save your social lives for lunch breaks, please.’
‘What lunch breaks?’ interjected James.
Rory grinned. ‘I know, but it’s only a fortnight and this is worth it. We do a good job and we could win a huge contract for the company. There’s a lot riding on this and it could be good for all of us.’
Lissa wasn’t at all sure how this could be good for her—locked away in a tiny room for hours on end with Rory? An intense, artificial atmosphere, the perfect breeding ground for an intense but artificial relationship. She had to be strong.
‘So,’ Rory continued. ‘Lissa, we need you to research these companies and type up meeting notes, compile reports and the final presentation.’
‘All that typing OK with you, Lissa?’ Marnie asked.
Lissa smiled. ‘It’s fine. I’m just the temp,’ she reassured.
‘You’re not “just” anything.’ Rory interrupted. Lissa’s mouth fell open. On the surface she felt embarrassed, but underneath the reaction was volcanic, the heat bubbling, desire swirling upwards. She looked down at the papers before her, willing someone to fill the pregnant silence. After a moment Rory quite calmly began outlining further details of the project.
She found it fascinating to watch him in action. The master of charm and attention, he seemed to enchant the others, made them want to do their best to please him. Slightly distanced, Lissa watched him weave this magic, witnessing their seduction. It totally irritated her.
When it came to giving Lissa instruction there was a flash of unholy enjoyment in his eyes that she couldn’t miss. And a slight chink in her professionalism where she couldn’t help but feel as if she wanted to do the exact opposite of what he requested.
Late on Tuesday afternoon only the two of them worked in the room. The silence sat heavy. Lissa tapped the keyboard and frowned at the screen, determined to pretend he wasn’t there. As if.
Suddenly he stood. Well, she had to look then, didn’t she? He stretched a little, the gesture emphasising his length. She knew she should look away, but it was impossible. He smiled at her—and the need to look away became imperative. Instead she couldn’t help the small smile back.
‘Come on, team-building.’
Her surprise must have been evident.
‘Team-building,’ he repeated, the dizzying smile widening. ‘Some corporate R’n’R.’
She didn’t trust him; that smile had turned a little wicked. ‘Half the team isn’t here.’ She felt nervous about alone time with him outside the office. Memories of that hot embrace flooded her. Excitement trammelled through her, but she bolted it back down in her emotional cellar labelled ‘do not enter’.
‘They’re coming once the meeting is over. Shouldn’t be more than fifteen minutes. We’ll only have time to get there and order the first round.’
It sounded harmless enough. They were meeting the others there. Besides, he was the boss. She didn’t really have much choice. She nodded acquiescence and logged off her computer while he did the same. She got her jacket from the stand in the corner. She pulled it around her and secured the belt firmly, looking up in time to catch him watching her. A definitely sinful smile played on his lips.
Provoked, she deliberately pulled the ends of the belt a little tighter, pinching her waist, emphasising her curves, defiantly holding his gaze. Desire washed over his face, his eyes burning, the skin across his high cheekbones reddening, and she knew her own face mirrored his reaction. Her head tipped back a fraction, she felt the pulse in her lips, felt the longing for him to touch her bared neck. Sharply he turned to exit the room.
They walked to the lift in a silence that hummed with awareness. Mentally she berated herself for the flaunting gesture. Only the tiniest spark could cause an inflammation. Her lower belly and her breasts felt tight from the moment of blatant sexual encouragement. For an instant she’d let her control lapse and now she was paying for it. With every step she felt conscious of his nearness, knowing she wanted to be closer. Much closer. Bad, bad, bad.
Out on the street he surprised her by heading away from the usual company haunt. She tried to recover her equilibrium.
‘We’re not going to Jackson’s?’
‘Well, it wouldn’t be much of a team-building exercise if we went to the local and had the whole company join us. This is just for us, Lissa.’
Just for us? Her pulse raced, beating off kilter again.
He kept walking, and talking. ‘We’re going to be working in close quarters for long hours. We need to be a tight unit. There isn’t room for any issues or…’ he paused ‘…distractions.’
Despite her flirt moment minutes ago, she had no intention of being a distraction. Nor was she going to be distracted. Uh-uh, no way.
‘Marnie and James are competitive with each other. For the most part this is good, but I want the quality of our work to be the primary goal, not one-upmanship or point-scoring or—’ he cleared his throat ‘…scoring at all, for that matter.’
‘Scoring?’ She stopped and stared at him.
His face was slightly reddened, but he met her look squarely with a gleaming one of his own. ‘Lissa, I’ll be honest with you. I’m attracted to you. Have been since the minute I laid eyes on you. That attraction only seems to grow the more I’m around you. But I cannot afford to screw up this project by spending my time chasing you when I should be working. Believe me, it’s damn tempting. So I’m telling you now. I’m interested in you. If you feel the same, then let me know.’
Vaguely she sensed the movement of people passing them on the footpath, of buses and taxis slowly advancing along the street, but it was as if the world had subsided into fuzzy focus leaving only Rory before her, impacting on her with brilliant clarity.
Time held suspended as she saw him watching her as her brain ran through every ugly reason why she couldn’t be honest with him or herself. She couldn’t let anything happen, even though minutes ago she’d practically asked for it. He was her boss. Power plays couldn’t help but enter the equation and she knew nothing about him. She couldn’t risk it.
Finally she spoke, the raw sound embarrassing her. ‘Rory, I can’t. I just can’t.’
He stepped an inch closer. ‘Is that can’t or won’t, Lissa? I know you’re single. I know you enjoyed kissing me.’
Denial was futile, her flush confirmed everything, and so silently she waited him out.
He blew out a deep breath. ‘I’m taking it as a won’t, Lissa. That’s fine. So for now we concentrate on work. But once this project is wrapped then I think we revisit this conversation.’
The blood pounded through her body, her cheeks were still hot, her lips felt full. But she couldn’t be a slave to her desire like this. She’d screwed up one good job already. She wasn’t going to do that again.
He took her arm and gave her the benefit of a full-wattage Rory Baxter smile. ‘Don’t look so worried. It’ll all work out just fine.’
He ushered her into the bar.
‘You choose the table. I’ll get the drinks—apple or cherry?’
She frowned at him.
‘Alcopop? Which flavour?’
‘Oh.’ She felt the heat in her cheeks increase and the small smile popped out without her permission. ‘Actually, I’ll just have a lemonade, please.’
‘Going straight tonight?’
Yes. Straight home. Alone.