by Malone, Q.
“Then maybe you should stop pushing his buttons.”
Kyra snorted. “Well, I’m not going to run from a fight either.”
Megan darted a glance around at the table and chairs in the conference room and spread her arms. “So this, right here, this isn’t running?”
“Again, said by the woman hiding me like I’m in witness protection,” Kyra huffed.
At Megan’s pointed stare, Kyra expelled a quiet sigh. “Okay, fair enough, but I mean the bigger picture. If he wants me gone, he's going to have to fire me. And if he fires me, he’s going to have to give me a damn good reason, or he'll be handing me a big, fat severance check. So I’m not going anywhere.” At least not without another job.
Kyra might be fooling Megan, but she wasn’t fooling herself. She was worried about getting fired. If she and Bryan kept this up much longer, they might actually kill each other.
“Good, that’s the fight I like to see, considering we're going to be with him for the morning meeting.”
Kyra groaned. As the project manager and head of quality assurance, she and Megan were essential at the management meetings. Especially with a new game release as pivotal as the one they had coming up in three months. Tensions were high, and both their teams had been working around the clock.
A late delivery meant inaccurate earnings projections, and that meant no going public in the fall. If they missed their window to go into public trading, who knew when they’d get another one? So there was no skipping this meeting. No matter how much she wanted to avoid Bryan, Kyra was about to be trapped with him for an hour. Given their mutual unwillingness to concede to the other, it wasn’t going to be pretty.
“One of these days you're just going to have to walk into his office and seduce him already.”
“Contrary to what you purport, sex doesn’t fix everything. And for the love of God, he’s our boss.” Kyra adjusted her skirt and blouse, smoothing out the wrinkles. “You forget, both parties have to be into it, and we've already covered the myriad of ways that sleeping with him is a bad idea.” Not to mention any respect she’d managed to squeeze out of him would evaporate.
When the coast was clear, they headed toward the war room where all their team meetings were held. When they got there, Megan patted her shoulder. “You ready to go in?”
Kyra sucked in a long breath. She exhaled, all the while crossing her fingers that Bryan would skip the morning meeting. “No, but it's not like I really have a choice.”
Chapter 2
“You want to tell me what it is about this girl that’s got you so twisted?”
From his vantage point by the window, Bryan scowled at his Vice President of Technology, Tom Reynolds. Kyra Benson was under his skin. She’d been under his skin from the moment she walked through the doors of X2 six months ago. “Nothing. I just want to make sure she's on her shit.”
Tom’s eyebrows rose. “Really? ‘Cause we've been friends since college, and I've never seen you lose your cool the way you do with her.”
Bryan massaged the ache in his neck. Kyra had a way of driving him nuts. “Okay, look, I’ll get my update, then I'll back off. Does that make you happy?”
“Yes. No. Not exactly. I’d rather know what your problem with her is? Do I need to fire her?”
“No, fuck no.” Geez, that was the last thing Bryan needed. “She’s smart and good at her job. She’s just so fucking—” Hot. “Stubborn. And—” Completely fuckable. “Opinionated. She may be smart, but she can’t just have her fucking way all the time. It impacts the other teams, and I have a business to run.”
Tom’s eyebrows did the cha-cha with his hairline again. Then his eyes narrowed. “Do you have a thing for her?”
Yes. “No. Of course not.”
“Dude, yes you do. Your whole posture just changed. You’ve gone all military stance on me and shit.” Tom guffawed. “You know, you’re the dumbest smart guy I know. If you have a thing for her, stop fighting it and ask her out. You can even smooth it out with Human Resources so it’s on the up and up. Get one of those stupid ass love contracts or whatever. Shit, fuck her in your office for all I care. Maybe then we could all get some peace around here.”
“I don't have the hots for her.” Though the idea of fucking Kyra in his office stirred Bryan.
“Yeah, whatever you have to tell yourself, buddy. Just fix it. I know you haven’t really been with anyone serious since Heather.”
What an understatement. Heather had ripped Bryan to shreds and tried to pry apart his company before he even got it off the ground. Of course he hadn’t gone anywhere near a woman emotionally since. Or rather, that was the case until Kyra walked in for her first interview.
He was used to keeping most people at a distance. He only had his mom left for family and not a ton of friends, true friends anyway. Heather had taught him to play things close to the vest. Tom was one of the few who knew him. Then Kyra had walked into the office questioning everything. God, she was so fucking mule-headed. He admired her tenacity, but she was a handful. And she knew she was smart, which didn’t help. And God, she was beautiful, even in the hoodies she favored. He’d nearly swallowed his tongue when he’d seen her in those tights today. With that sassy little skirt. It looked like if she turned quickly enough he’d get a fantastic view of those curves of hers. Without knowing it, she’d been torturing him—for months.
She kept him on his toes, and he liked it. Not to mention her spectacular ass. He’d never dated one of his employees before. Too messy. But he hadn’t been able to get Kyra out of his head. Or forget that night with Elaine in the game room.
He hadn’t seen Kyra, but he’d smelled the lemon-rosemary shampoo she used. She’d been there. She’d seen the whole thing. She’d heard him call out her name. The next day, they’d both pretended the whole thing hadn’t happened. Except, he hadn’t been able to forget. That memory held the top spot in his all-time hottest moments highlight reel. Every day he saw her after that point, he couldn’t stop the memory from intruding.
“Whatever it is, it’s gone on long enough,” Tom reiterated. “You have to fix it. Because if she decides she’s had enough of her pompous ass CEO, she’ll leave, and if she leaves, we'll never get this game out on time, and that tanks our chances of going public. Not to mention the longer you go without sorting this out, the longer you’re a prick. No one likes a prick, Bryan.”
Tom didn't look back as he left Bryan’s office. Bryan watched him and rubbed his jaw. Maybe his friend had a point. Maybe it was time to get Kyra Benson out of his system.
***
An hour later, Kyra stood on the threshold of Bryan’s office, giving herself a pep talk. He’d skipped out on the morning meeting so it was now or never. She could do this. She’d given a million of these status updates before. Not to Bryan Ross you haven’t. Okay, so that was true. She usually gave them to Tom, but her stupid big mouth had gotten her here.
For once, Bryan sat at his desk. Usually, whenever she walked by here, he was shooting hoops or playing darts, or fiddling with one of his desk toys. She understood the compulsion. Every programmer she’d ever known needed mindless distraction to help their brains work through complicated solutions. They couldn’t just sit and code all day without wanting to shoot themselves. For her programmers, figurines were the toy of choice. Sometimes Nerf guns, but she’d had to put the kibosh on those when they’d consistently peppered her door with foam pellets.
After one last deep breath, she knocked.
Bryan waved her in and pointed her to a seat without looking away from his monitor. “Kyra, thanks for coming. Do you have the report containing the burn rates for our guys?”
Ah, now he’d said our. Trying to build camaraderie, was he? “Yes, I have them here. I also sent you a soft copy.” She took the offered chair.
He finally met her gaze, and his expression was solemn. Where the hell was the fiery, teasing glint in his eyes? “Walk me through it, please.”
Kyra shifted uncomforta
bly in her seat. What the hell had gone wrong? Had she taken it too far this morning? No, she might have called him out, but it was the truth. She wasn’t sure how to handle him when he was being cold and aloof like this. Fire or teasing she could handle, this frigid façade was unpleasant to say the least.
For the next thirty minutes, she walked him through every status from beginning to end. When she was done, he said nothing, just stared at her.
Not a good sign. She sighed. Fair enough, if he was going to fire her, she might as well get something off her chest. “Look, I know you don’t respect—”
Bryan leaned forward, interrupting her. “You know, you’re a pain in my ass.”
Kyra’s mouth went slack. What the fuck? Talk about a sucker punch. “You been holding that one in, have you?”
He ignored her. “You’re good at your job and spectacular at protecting your team, but you refuse to see the bigger picture. You push too hard and too fast. It’s unbelievably frustrating.”
Kyra chewed her bottom lip. All along she’d assumed he didn’t respect her opinion. That he fought her to be contrary. What else had she been wrong about?
He sat back. “You can relax. I’m going to give you more resources.”
Surprised relief washed over her. The idea of going back to her guys and telling them to get used to two more months of sixteen hour days was making her sick. “Oh. Thank God. How many?”
“There’s one guy on site who will start tomorrow. I’ve got three other contractors coming in as well. They can start next week.” He stood as if dismissing her.
Bewildered, she shook her head. “I, uh, I don’t know what to say.” It was like he’d been replaced by a different person. Disappointment flooded her. She liked getting what she wanted, but it felt somehow empty.
“You can start with a thank you.”
Smirking, she ran her fingertips over the edge of the reports folder as she stood. “Thank you. It’ll mean a lot to the team. Who’s the onsite guy? I thought all the other teams were at capacity?”
He gave her a crooked smile. “Me.”
Fuck no. “No. No. No. No, we’ll kill each other.” She shook her head vehemently.
“It’s funny you should mention that, because I have a solution for our little problem.”
“One that doesn’t involve me getting fired?”
He shook his head, his eyes lighting up. “Nope—unless you want to role play and you can be the boss.”
Kyra coughed as she almost swallowed her tongue. “Excuse me?” She backed up a step.
“I know I’m not the only one who feels the electricity. I can feel your body. How aware of me you are. Every time you walk into a room, I’m distracted. The nerves and anticipation about when I get to fight with you again are starting to become a noticeable problem.”
“You can’t just solve this by sleeping with me. That’s absurd.”
He took a step toward her, and she backed up.
“Is it? You really want to tell me you don’t feel this?” He pointed a finger back and forth between them. “You mean to tell me that wasn’t you outside the game room that night in March, watching me? You want to tell me you didn’t see Elaine suck me off?” He stepped into her space, close enough to kiss her. “You want to tell me you didn’t hear me call your name?”
Oh, God. Heat flooded her body, and her palms began to sweat. He’d known all along it was her. Her body clenched and heated as she recalled the way he’d said her name. Every instinct she had said to run. But she held her ground and refused to back up a step. He was trying to unsettle her. And it was working, but he didn’t have to know that. “You’re nuts. You can’t just take whatever you want. I-I’m not interested.”
He shrugged. “Prove it.”
“What? How?” She tried to swallow around the sawdust in her mouth. In such close quarters, his Chrome cologne mixed with the scent of him swirled around her, intoxicating her. Tempting her.
“Kiss me.” He stepped even closer. “One kiss. If you feel the heat, great, then we see what we can do about that. If not, I’ll leave you alone. I’ll give you someone else for the project, and I’ll back off. I’ll be on my best behavior.” He crossed his heart with two fingers.
Kiss him. Was he insane? Krya knew the rules. No bringing fantasy men into daily life, that wasn’t how it worked. They were supposed to stay in happy fantasy land where she was always her ideal size, no matter how much ice-cream she ate, and she could afford all the designer clothes she wanted. He was supposed to be safe.
Mr. Way Out of Her League wasn’t supposed to feel this way. But she already knew he did. The fierce lust she’d seen on his face as he climaxed into another woman’s mouth—that had been for her. She’d known it all along. So kiss him already.
Kyra bitch-slapped her inner devil and tried to use her brain. One kiss wouldn’t hurt anything. They could just go back to normal. This meant she could complete her project in peace. All it would take was one kiss.
She cleared her throat. “One kiss, and you’ll back off?”
He grinned. “Provided you want me to.”
She rolled her eyes. “You really are insufferable.”
“Just kiss me, and maybe we can go back to our lives.”
Of all the things in her life that Kyra knew to be colossal mistakes, this was one of them. But that didn’t stop her. She stepped directly in front of Bryan, her heels giving her added height, and she fluttered her eyes closed.
Chapter 3
It was only supposed to be a kiss. A way to flush Kyra out of his system. But the best laid plans and all... As Bryan hovered over her lips, he knew kissing her was a mistake. Knew that if he did, she’d change him forever.
Sliding his lips over hers, he continued the motion until she parted her lips on a sigh. He took advantage and slipped his tongue inside her warm giving lips, and his heart hammered. God, she tasted so sweet. Her tongue met his tentatively at first, then slid over his, inviting him to stay and play a while. While he sucked on her tongue, she pressed her body into him. Her soft breasts rubbed against him, and his cock thickened as he wondered what color her nipples would be. Blackberry, cocoa, a dusky rose?
Needing to breathe, Bryan tried to pull back from the kiss. If he could just breathe for a minute, then maybe—ah, God.
Kyra sank her fingers into his hair and held him in place. It drove him nuts, making it impossible to think. Impossible to use rational thought. She’d confirmed what he’d known all along—they were combustible. His body drove the show, with lust making it impossible to think or rationalize. All he could think about was how it would feel to have Kyra’s lips wrapped around his cock. No surrogate, just her.
He moaned and scooped his hand over her ass, tucking her into him further so they fit like puzzle pieces. The length of his erection continued to poke insistently against her belly. Bryan continued to smooth his hands over her ass, lifting her to mold her body more fully against his.
When her heated core came into contact with his dick, Kyra mewled and rocked her hips. Bryan held tight onto her hips. He’d fantasized about her ass for so long. Her curves were something he’d become a bit of an expert on. His dick twitched, begging to be released and used. Begging to slide into her sweet oblivion.
When he felt the garter straps at the tops of her thighs, he growled and pulled back. “Are you wearing garters?”
Her eyes went wide, then a slow seductive smile lit her lips. “Maybe.”
“Seriously? Are you trying to kill me?”
She tightened her legs around him. “Could be.”
Her tongue peeked out to lick her bottom lip, and he stared, transfixed. Seating her on the edge of his desk, he continued to devour her lips as his hips rocked against hers. He smoothed his hands over her stocking-clad thighs, and when he finally made contact with the bare flesh above the silky nylon, he grunted. “God, you are so soft,” he murmured.
His body screamed now, now now. He wanted her. Had wanted her. Now he could
have her, but he wanted her to be sure. “Kyra. Now’s a good time to stop me if you don’t want this. Otherwise, we’re going to fuck right here on my desk.”
***
Kyra knew if she wanted this, she would have to make a deliberate conscious choice. And she wanted Bryan. There was no escaping him. Guys like him wouldn’t be held onto, so she’d take him when she could, but she knew better than to expect permanency. Her heart screamed in protest, but her brain was in agreement. Take him for the fun, but don’t get attached.
She cleared her throat and whispered, “I want this.”
Bryan pulled back from the kiss slightly, and she whimpered. His gaze was hot and intense, making her skin feel too tight and too hot. If there was one thing she was never going to get enough of, it would be Bryan.
He went in for another kiss, this one hungrier. Bolder. He devoured her lips. She wiggled her hips against his hard erection, and he hissed curses into her mouth. He moved his free hand from her face to the hem of her blouse and slid his fingers under the sheer material. The moment his fingers made contact with her bare skin, she gasped.
He paused and immediately met her gaze. “Are you okay?”“
Kyra responded by lacing her fingers into his hair again and giving the strands a tug.
Bryan shuddered. “Jesus, Kyra.”
She lowered one of her arms and placed her palm over the still fingers he held at her waist. Gently, she drew his hand to her right breast.
His eyes flared, and his lips parted as he whispered her name. She widened her legs, settling him further between them. As he kissed her again, his palm curved around her breast and tested the weight. His thumb slowly circled her nipple, and his hips rocked into her, positioning his rock hard cock at her cleft.
With a muttered curse, he yanked her blouse up over her head. She struggled to help him, but he held her still while her arms were tied up on the blouse. She felt his movements as he kneeled in front of her, his long arms still securing the blouse in place.
Gently, he nuzzled the cleft of her breasts, and she whimpered.
