The unfortunate part was that sitting down caused the velvet dress to strain across her thighs and shift upward, revealing more of her olive-toned legs.
She wasn’t wearing any tights.
Fuck.
Even though it was tempting disaster, I sat down close beside her, inhaling the oriental perfume that I’d bought her. Feeling territorial, I couldn’t meet her eyes as I handed her a hot mug.
“Were you at work when Patrick called?” she asked.
I nodded.
Silence fell between us. Usually our silence was comfortable.
Not now. The air crackled between us with that tension.
I wasn’t even shocked when Evan said bluntly, “Did I do something?”
I forced myself to meet her gaze. “What?”
She wrinkled her nose in consternation. I wanted to press a kiss to the tip. “You’ve been aloof with me lately. Even a little irritable.”
Hearing the sadness in her tone, I cursed myself for being such a bastard. “It’s not anything you’ve done. It’s me. I’m sorry.”
“Has something happened? Can I help?”
For a moment I couldn’t speak. The overwhelming need to pull her into my arms and tell her just holding her would do the trick was intense. And hard to fight. I felt huge next to her on that couch. She’d be light and fragile in my arms. Except for those luscious thighs. I could almost imagine them gripping my hips as I thrust up into her as she straddled me.
God, she’d be small and tight.
Would she even be able to take me?
Feeling myself grow hard and almost dizzy at the thought, I stood abruptly and wandered over to the window. Willing the heat out of my body before I lost control, I sipped at my tea and tried to think of things that disturbed me. Like the time Pat and I walked in on Pat and Evan’s parents fucking in the kitchen when we were twelve.
We were supposed to be staying at my house that night and had surprised them.
Scarred for life.
All four of us.
“Reid.” Evan sidled up next to me, her perfume driving me nuts.
She was driving me nuts.
This was ridiculous.
I was seconds from grabbing her up in my arms and taking her into the bedroom.
“How’s Pat doing?” I asked, trying to distract myself.
If the subject change confused her, she didn’t say anything. “Haven’t you two spoken recently?”
“I’ve been busy. I keep meaning to call …”
“He’s fine. In Aberdeen for a medical conference. And trying to decide whether he should give into his attraction for a receptionist at his practice. He thinks it might be unprofessional to start something with her.”
Way too close to the bone. I turned away from her, heading into the kitchen to put my mug in the sink. Taking a few deep breaths, I moved back into the sitting room to find her still standing at the window.
Her back was to me as she stared out at the dark water. Light from across the firth spilled over its inky ripples.
Evan turned her head ever so slightly, as if she sensed me staring.
And something about the loneliness I saw within her broke me.
I crossed the distance between us, drawing to a halt as the back of her head touched my upper chest.
I heard her quick inhale and my dick hardened.
“Evan,” I exhaled, shaky with need as I touched her arms, my hands coasting up the soft velvet of her dress.
I could see over the top of her head, see her chest rising and falling with shallow breaths.
Her cheeks flushed, her lids lowered, her lips parted on little pants of excitement.
My fingers slipped under the fabric at her left shoulder and I pushed it down her arm until the neck line gave way and one small, beautiful breast popped free.
Her large rosy nipple tightened in the cool air of the apartment.
“Jesus Christ,” I murmured, in awe, desperate to taste her.
Instead, I cupped her breast in my large hand, engulfing it, kneading it, my thumb plucking at her nipple. My other hand settled on her hip, squeezing it, caressing it, learning the shape of her. I buried my head in her neck, kissing her soft skin, tongue tracing the scent of her perfume as I rolled my hips against the top of her arse. I wanted her to feel how hard she made me.
A moan drifted out of her. “Reid.” Her hands settled on my outer thighs and she undulated her arse against my dick.
It was like a switch going off on me.
Lust covered my mind in a haze.
Whirling her around in my arms, I hoisted her up into them, bringing her mouth to mine. I felt her wrap her legs around my waist as my lips and tongue devoured her. Feeling my way there, I carried her to the opposite end of the sofa. Laying her down, I covered her with my body, my kiss hungry and punishing.
She tasted like everything I’d ever wanted.
I needed inside her.
“Fuck, Evan,” I broke the kiss to pull at her dress, freeing her other breast. “I need to see every inch of you.” I pushed up the hem of her skirt to find her underwear. “You’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever met. I’ve never wanted to be inside a woman more.”
“Oh my God,” she panted, her eyes gleaming with desire and something far more dangerous to my heart. “You keep talking like that and I’m going to come.”
“You keep talking like that and I’m going to come.” My fingers brushed her sex, feeling how wet she was. “Oh fuck, Ev. I can’t wait. I’ve waited too long.” I fumbled for the buttons and zip on my suit trousers, desperate to drive my dick deep inside her.
“Urggh, urggh.” The loud, pained moans were like a bucket of ice water over me.
My eyes flew to the other side of the room.
Cass.
Fuck.
I’d forgotten she was even in the room.
Looking back at Evan, I saw her shock too and she quickly fumbled to cover herself.
Evan Munro was hurrying to cover herself because I had just mauled her.
Pushing off her, reality came crashing back down.
I had nearly fucked my PA.
My best friend’s wee sister.
Patrick would kill me if he found about this.
Shaking from my complete and total loss of control, I climbed off her and marched across the room to get away from her. Running my hand through my hair, I tried to get a handle on my emotions.
Everything I prided myself on—self-control, honor, loyalty—was being compromised because of my feelings for this woman.
It couldn’t go on. I’d end up losing who I was to her.
“Reid?”
I squeezed my eyes closed at the uncertainty in Evan’s voice.
Then I turned to her, my chest aching, my gut in a knot as I realized what I had to do. “This shouldn’t have happened.”
She looked crestfallen.
Rejected.
And I fucking hated myself for it.
“You’re Pat’s little sister,” I reminded her.
“It’s none of his business.”
I scoffed. “Evan, come on. I can’t jeopardize my friendship with him and your parents.”
Her expression darkened. “That would be true if this was only about sex.”
Tell her it’s not.
Tell her the truth.
But I knew if I did, it would only make it worse for both of us. “You’re too young for me,” I lied.
“I see.” Her voice was brittle.
“We just need to pretend like it didn’t happen.”“I can’t pretend. I’m going to make some calls over the weekend. I’ll find somewhere else to work.”
The air in my apartment turned icy with my displeasure. “Very well.” Evan crossed her arms over her chest, hugging herself.
It took what little self-control I had left not to cross the room and embrace her.
“There’s a guest room, if you’d like to sleep in there.” I was coolly polite.
“No, thank y
ou. I’ll stay out here and keep an eye on Cass.”
So I left her there and hid away like a coward in my bedroom.
When I woke up early the next morning, Evan and her friend were gone.
And I felt alone for the first time in thirty-five years.
One week later
If the distance between Evan and I had bothered me before I’d pawed her in my apartment like an adolescent boy incapable of controlling himself, it was much worse now.
Evan had taken to looking right through me, even when we were discussing work.
I hated it.
It chafed badly.
I wanted to grab her by the shoulders and tell her to stop.
But that would be unfair.
After all, I was the one who said nothing could happen between us.
All week, I’d waited anxiously for her to tell me she’d gotten a job elsewhere. As the days went on with no word from her, however, a part of me hoped she’d been bluffing. The masochist in me just wanted Evan near. No matter if she was giving me the cold shoulder.
A knock sounded at the door, drawing me out of my distracted thoughts and back into my office.
“Come in.”
Evan strode in. Her pretty features were smoothed into a perfectly blank expression.
I tried not to look anywhere else.
Those pencil skirts she wore drove me mad.
“Yes?” I sat back in my chair, pretending indifference toward her.
Evan drew in a breath and then exhaled, betraying her cool countenance. Then she stepped up to my desk and laid down an envelope. “You’ll find a month’s notice in there.”
My stomach dropped. It took me a moment to speak. Finally I replied, “You found a job then?”
She nodded, staring directly into my eyes. “You must have mentioned how good I was at my job to Josh Baxter. When he heard I was looking for a position, he hired me as his PA.”
Josh Baxter?
Josh fucking Baxter.
I was going to kill him.
Swallowing down my anger, I had to clench my jaw to stop furious denial from roaring out.
Josh was two years younger than me. We’d been friends for a few years, meeting as equals in the Scottish business world. He’d opened a gym at the tender age of twenty-six and now had a chain all over the central belt of Scotland. Evan had accompanied me to a charity benefit five months ago when Emmy hadn’t been able to attend. He’d asked after Evan with a look I knew well. He wanted her. I’d explained she was a brilliant PA, Patrick’s wee sister, and completely off limits to him.
That absolute fucker.
Visions of him touching Evan exploded through my brain and I reeled back from my chair. “No.” I stood up.
Her lips parted in shock. “Excuse me?”
I knew I was being a controlling dick and I couldn’t seem to stop myself. “I said no. Find another job. One not with a known womanizer.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. “I think not.”
“Evan,” I practically growled her name in warning.
“I’ll finish up to Christmas and start with Baxter in the new year. End of discussion.” Evan turned around and marched with that alluring swing of her hips toward the door.
Heat pumped through me as I imagined chasing her across the room, pressing her against my door, my straining dick thrusting against that impressive arse of hers.
And I knew Josh Baxter would inevitably want her too.
The thought filled me with a horrific feeling. My throat was closing with it. My heart racing too hard. There was a knot in my gut.
It was jealousy, I realized.
An emotion I was not familiar with.
But Evan slammed out of my office before I could protest any further.
A huge part of me wanted to follow her out of the room and demand that she find another position elsewhere. Or better fucking yet, stay!
I didn’t want to become someone I wasn’t just because I was jealous. That thought stayed me.
Not wanting Evan to hate me any more than I feared she already did, I slumped down in my chair.
Missing her already.
Evan
Mid-December
As soon as Belle and her father walked away with gift in hand, Reid was there. He strode up onto the platform where Santa sat and bent down to whisper something in Santa Gary’s ear.
Whatever it was, it had Gary blanching beneath his fake white beard.
“Hey, mate,” Gary pulled away from Reid. His words just loud enough for me to hear, “No harm meant, aye.”
Reid cut him a dark look before turning it on me.
I bristled at his displeasure as his gaze raked down my body and back up again. “They needed an Elf,” I whispered.
Suddenly he was before me, his chest almost touching me. “And you thought it would be a good idea for my PA to dress up in a ridiculous elf costume? Why couldn’t someone else do it?”
“You’re making a scene,” I said it through gritted teeth as I beamed up at him. “The kids are waiting to meet Santa.”
He flicked a look over my shoulder and his scowl eased. When his gaze returned to mine he said, “As soon as you’re on break, I want you in my office.”
Irritated that he was being so uptight about the whole thing, I gave him a brief nod and then whirled around to face the line of kids again. As I talked with a shy little boy, I eventually felt the heat of Reid’s stare disappear. When I turned back around toward Santa, my boss was, thankfully, gone.
“Is it true Mr. Shaw is unhappy about this?” Kelly hurried toward me as I walked through the atrium in my costume, drawing stares from customers.
As promised, I was on my way to deal with Reid during my break. I waved Kelly off as she walked along with me. “It’s fine. I should have asked him before I agreed to do it. He obviously needed me for something and is annoyed I wasn’t there for him. Which is fair enough.”
“Oh God, I feel awful for getting you in trouble.”
I shrugged. “How much trouble can I really get into? I’m leaving, remember.”
“Right.” Kelly frowned. The announcement I was leaving confused most of the staff. When asked why I was moving on, I lied and said I needed a new challenge. I knew they weren’t buying it. Who needed a new challenge after only working in a job for nine months?
Oh well.
Let them gossip about it.
I left Kelly standing in the beauty department and made my way to the elevators. Swiping my ID card across the screen below the buttons for the customer floors, I unlocked the staff floor buttons. With a shaking hand, I pressed for the top floor.
Why I was so nervous, I had no idea.
I couldn’t possibly still care what Reid thought of me.
Yes, I could.
Ugh!
By the time I reached his office door, my heart hammered against my rib cage. I knocked softly.
“Come in.”
My belly fluttered at the sound of his voice.
Damn him.
I stepped inside and found him walking around his desk to lean against it. He crossed his arms over his chest and his right ankle over his left.
His dark eyes gleamed with something that could have been anger or lust. Maybe even both.
That look made my palms sweat.
Reid’s gaze lowered down my body and back up again.
I shifted uncomfortably, feeling a deep, low, needful tug in my belly.
While earlier he’d said the costume was ridiculous, I got the very distinct feeling he was imagining ripping me out of it.
Oh boy.
“You wanted to see me?”
His eyes returned to mine. “Didn’t you think it appropriate to ask me first before you played Santa’s Little Helper for the day?”
“Probably. But we had paying customers waiting to meet Santa. They needed me.”
“I needed you. We were supposed to go over the applications for your replacement today.
”
My replacement.
I hated how much that word stung.
“I assumed you could do that on your own.”
“You assume too much.” Reid abruptly pushed up off the desk and strode toward me.
I braced myself, my breathing grew shallow.
The air between us crackled. There was a dark intent in Reid’s eyes.
To my confusion, he brushed past me. I glanced over my shoulder, wondering where he was going.
He looked back at me as he stopped at the door and then very deliberately locked it.
Oh. My. God.
“Reid?” I could barely hear over the rushing of blood in my ears. The damn elf costume was suddenly way too hot. The stockings chafing.
“It doesn’t matter,” Reid said.
“What doesn’t?”
“The applications. I’ve already chosen your replacement.”
That damn hurt shoved its way through, confusing me all the more. Why was he saying that when he looked like he was ready to devour me?”
“Oh?” I frowned.
He nodded and prowled across the room to me. I sucked in a breath as he cupped my hips in his hands and began pushing me backward. I stumbled a little at first, but then dazedly allowed him to move me across the room, my silly elf shoes jingling all the way.
Until my arse hit his desk.
I was panting now at the unadulterated desire in his eyes.
“I’ve decided to replace Evan Munro with Santa’s Little Helper.” He smirked, bending his head toward mine.
Wait!
What was happening here?
Yanking myself out of the sexual fog he so easily cast over me, I pushed against his chest, stopping his descent. His brow furrowed, his eyes questioning.
“Don’t,” I said, almost pleading and hating myself for it. “I can’t be just a casual fuck to you.”
Reid’s expression hardened with anger. He wrapped his hand around my nape, a possessive, territorial, claiming gesture that secretly bloody thrilled me. “Is that what you think of me?”
Trying to control my breathing and failing, I whispered, “You said I was too young. That we couldn’t because of Patrick.”
“I was a damn fool,” he said hoarsely, his lips almost brushing mine. “I can’t let you go. I can’t stop thinking about you.” His gaze moved from my mouth to meet mine, and his grip on my nape tightened. “You’re all I think about, Evan. You’ve driven me to goddamn distraction. If I don’t get inside you soon, I’m going to lose my mind.”
All I Want For Christmas Is You Page 8
