Nothing had changed. It wasn’t like Oliver knew how I felt. Only Jeannie, a woman who had sat in this seat before me knew what I was feeling. She was the only person who could fully understand what it was like to be next to Oliver day in and day out, seduced by his charms.
Maybe I should take Jeannie’s advice. She ended up losing her job. It was so unfair. Did the company made a habit of canning anyone who got too close to the higher-ups? I had no clue, but it definitely happened with the last woman who occupied this office.
Things wouldn’t happen like that for me. I had to strengthen my resolve. I had to harden myself to his charms, to ignore those looks he gave me when he was sure I wasn’t looking. I had to make sure he knew nothing would ever happen between us.
It would have been simple but Jeannie’s phone call only served to pique my interest. I knew I was being reckless for even thinking it, but if there was any way to get me interested in a guy, it was to hear from his ex-lover that he was the best they’d ever had.
This woman had ruined her career to be with Oliver. What kind of genius in bed must he have been for her to have risked her career, and how could I not be thinking of all the tricks he could pull between the sheets?
I realized with a start that Oliver had finished his phone call next door. I had no idea how long ago he’d hung up, but I got to my feet at once, as though he was going to burst in the door and scold me for slacking.
To my surprise, I heard a knock. He didn’t normally come into my office, and I stumbled over my words for a second before I responded.
“Uh, come in,” I called, sounding a bit frazzled.
He opened the door and walked in, and there was an odd expression on his face, as though he had somehow been privy to the conversation I’d just received.
“Everything alright?” I asked, smiling.
I knew I looked flustered. I was reddening from the chest up, and I wrung my hands together in a way that probably looked neurotic to him.
“Yeah, sure,” he said, nodding and eyeing me curiously, as though trying to put his finger on what was off. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I am,” I assured him, taking my seat back behind my computer and looking up at him expectantly. “What can I do for you?”
“Could you push back the meeting I have with Neil ’til five thirty?” he asked. “I need a little more time to put my proposal together, and I don’t want to rush it.”
“Of course,” I replied, smoothly, checking his schedule and pulling up Neil’s email so I could let him know. “Anything else?”
“Were you just on the phone with someone?” he asked, cocking his head at me.
I froze. Would it be better if I told him? I brushed my hair from my face, buying time, as I tried to come up with an answer.
“Oh, yeah.” I replied. “My Mom, she was calling in to check on me.”
“Oh, okay, he said, shrugging, even though he looked at me with a cock-eyed glance that suggested he didn’t buy it for a second. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Yes, certain,” I replied as firmly as I could. “I’ll rearrange that meeting for you.”
“Thanks.”
He ducked out, and my shoulders softened with relief. Being in a room alone with Oliver was even more difficult knowing what I now knew.
I undid my hair and let it fall down over my shoulders. I massaged my scalp, as I attempted to force the thoughts of Oliver from my head.
I just hoped that he had more restraint than I did.
Chapter 10
Oliver
This last month had been one of the most productive I’d ever pulled off in the history of my career. I had my nose so close to the grindstone it was in danger of getting scraped. I practically had to be wrestled from my office at the end of each day so the cleaning service could get in and get their job done.
I knew it wasn’t good for me to work as hard as this, but the sweet smell of success was an intoxicating reason to go on. I’d forgotten how it felt to be challenged like this, to have to plan carefully and strategize every move I made to ensure that it was drawing me closer to landing the Masterson account once and for all.
They were a British company and, as such, they were somewhat old-fashioned. This was unusual for a tech firm, but I could work with it. I only had to tweak my attitude to make sure I wasn’t coming off too hard or “American” for their liking.
I would do anything to get them on board. I’d be looking at an expansion for the company that would take us from a solid, national brand into a dominating, international one.
Neil was right though when he said we didn’t need it right this second, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to try to chase it down if I could. Landing something like this now would be a big win any way you sliced it.
I also knew, with absolute certainty, that I couldn’t have come as far as I was now without Mona’s constant support both professionally and as a friend. I had never had an assistant even half as good as her, one who seemed to anticipate my every move and work around it to make sure I was getting the most I possibly could out of every single work day.
This was a woman who knew how to strategize, one who knew how to work hard, fast, and efficiently, and she was applying all that knowledge with great effect and with a confident and calming disposition.
She didn’t seem to mind coming in before the crack of dawn to cover the dozens of emails I’d have from my overseas correspondents. She didn’t bat an eye when I requested she stay late as I finished up calls from people across the world so she could organize my schedule for the next day. She had done an incredible job of making sure that no one got too ticked off at me for putting the rest of my life on hold to chase down this account.
I often heard her on the phone, talking calmly but firmly to whomever was on the other end of the line and laying out the facts for them in that professional but aggressive tone that let them know that she understood their concerns but wasn’t going to give in to them, not for anyone.
In fact, sometimes I found myself sitting there listening to her, glancing up at the ceiling and letting the smooth sound of her words wash over me like an incoming tide. It was so refreshing. Almost soothing.
She would accompany me to meetings now, too. Not all of them, but it was useful to have someone there with me who was a little less sleep-deprived, someone who could fill me in on details I might have missed in my overworked state. She was there to offer me the information I needed in a competent, confident tone. I could have listened to it all day.
Her contributions to the company were definitely not going unnoticed.
“How long has she worked here now?” Neil asked, jerking his head toward Mona’s office, which was currently empty as I’d long-since sent her home.
It was a Friday night, and though she’d offered to stay in as long as it took to get everything done, I’d practically chased her out with orders to get some rest and forget about office-related stuff for a few days. She had reluctantly left, making me promise to go home at a reasonable time that evening and not to spend the rest of the night refreshing my email to see if anything new had come in.
“I think a couple of months or so?” I said, doing the math in my head. “Why?”
“She’s…” Neil looked over at the office, as though she might walk out of it at any second. “She’s good, that’s all. Really good. I think she’s a major asset to the company.”
“Yeah, she’s a pro,” I agreed, fondly, feeling a small swell of pride, even though her being hired here had nothing to do with me. “I’m glad to have her around. Keeps me on track when I feel like I’m getting buried under it all.”
It had taken Neil a while to come around to the concept that I was going after the Masterson account, but in the last week, he finally agreed it seemed like the best course of action, especially when he saw how damned close I was to landing it for good.
I could see that glow in his eyes. He had started coming down to my office more regularly for updates
on how things were progressing. He was as excited as I was, and I couldn’t say I blamed him. This could be huge for us if we pulled it off. Enormous.
“Yeah, you might need to slow down a little,” he remarked, but he he knew it was falling on deaf ears.
I didn’t play those kinds of games. I was either all in or all out, and right now, there was nothing he could have done to yank me from the roll I had found myself on.
“Good luck with that,” I said, grinning.
Neil paused for a moment before he spoke again. I could see the cogs turning in his brain as he thought about the best way to phrase whatever it was he needed to get out.
“What is it?” I demanded.
“You’re spending a lot of time with her,” he replied. “Nothing’s happening, is it?”
“No!” I exclaimed, a little too defensively.
He raised his eyebrows at me, and I rolled my eyes.
“Seriously, Neil,” I said again, this time making sure to keep my attitude in check, so he didn’t have any reason to doubt me. “I know how it looks to you, but nothing like that is happening with us. You really think she’d look twice at someone like me?”
“Yes,” he responded, bluntly, catching me off guard.
I took a deep breath and continued.
“I’m too busy right now to think about pursuing anything with anyone, let alone Mona,” I assured him. “Nothing’s happening, nothing’s going to, either. Is that good enough for you? She’s worked here for weeks now, and there hasn’t been a hint of anything. I don’t know what else I can do to convince you.”
“Okay.” Neil eyed me again, suspicious. “Whatever you say.”
“You want a drink?” I asked, changing the subject and turning to the small drinks table behind me. “I could sure use one.”
“Hell, yes,” he agreed, and soon enough, the two of us were shooting the shit about our time in college, all talk of Mona forgotten.
He left after one drink and a good hour of conversation, and I returned my attention to the screen in front of me, and paying no attention to the nagging, little voice at the back of my head that was telling me I should have left for home hours ago.
The conversation Neil and I had shared about Mona was still thrumming around my head, and I couldn’t shake the thought of her once again. That was why I had picked up this fucking account in the first place, to get my mind off her. I hadn’t accounted for the fact she was going to turn out to be one of the most painfully efficient assistants in the history of the company, and that meant spending even more time around her than usual.
How on Earth was I meant to keep my attraction to her on the down-low when I spent what felt like every minute of every day in her company?
I wanted her more than ever. The more she showed herself to be competent and controlled when it came to business, the bigger and stronger my attraction grew. We still exchanged those looks, those moments, those little dashes of desire that neither of us could verbalize. I was telling the truth when I said nothing had happened, but I wasn’t sure if I could honestly say that nothing ever would.
I made my way into her office, almost without realizing I was doing it. The place smelled lightly of her, and I felt a little creepy for even recognizing what her scent was. I couldn’t help it, though. It felt that, despite my best efforts, I’d absorbed this intimate knowledge of Mona – how she smelled, the way her eyes scrunched up when she smiled, and how she yawned while tilting backward so she could stretch her back that got sore working in that chair all day.
I brushed my hand across the back of that chair, imagining what if would be like if she were here. She would turn to look up at me and give me that bright, beautiful smile, maybe ask if there was something I needed or something she could do.
And maybe this time, instead of asking her to shift around a meeting or switch up a schedule, I would tell her the truth – that she was the only thing I needed, that all of this was only an attempt to distract myself from her and how utterly and completely perfect I was sure we’d be for each other if we just gave things a chance.
But I needed to hold myself back from this as best I could. Even if it hurt, even if every fiber of my being told me it was wrong for me to fight these feelings.
I walked out of her office, and without missing a beat, scooped up my coat and headed straight for the stairs. I didn’t want to be here anymore, not without her.
Jesus. I hoped she had a better grasp on her self-control than I did because things were bubbling over inside of me and I didn’t know how much longer I could hold off.
Chapter 11
Mona
When I arrived in the office that Monday morning, I was surprised to find it empty.
It wasn’t like Oliver to miss an early start like this. I glanced around, searching for clues that might indicate where he had gone. My eyes fell on his drinks cabinet, and I briefly considered diving in and pouring myself something, but it was so early in the day that I knew my body would reject any kind of alcohol – or, indeed, any liquid that wasn’t extremely high in caffeine.
I spotted a note on the table, scrawled out in messy handwriting that I recognized at once as Oliver’s. I looked closer.
‘Meeting – back at ten,’ the note read, and I wondered why he hadn’t just emailed me the information instead. He could be so old-fashioned in the most unexpected of ways. I found it kind of charming.
I made my way around the office, almost reverently, touching the small motorcycle trinket on his desk and enjoying the view out the window as the sun rose high above the city. The light was warm and soft, and I could have stood there all day soaking it in if I didn’t have a million other things to get on with.
I ran my hand absently over the back of his chair. It was tall, almost as tall as I was, and his jacket was slung haphazardly over the arm. I glanced around, hardly able to believe I was really about to do what had just crossed my mind.
Before I could stop myself, I leaned in, closed my eyes, and pressed my face against his jacket, inhaling deeply. The scent of his aftershave filled my senses, and I let out the tiniest moan. I pulled back, flushing, and looked around, as though someone might have caught me, but I was alone in the office, with a couple of hours still before he was due back.
I slipped into the seat, leaning my head back against the soft leather and closed my eyes. I ran my hands along the armrests, squeezing them softly, and watching as the imprint of my hand dented and released in the fabric. I tilted my head to the side so I could capture the scent of his jacket once more.
Mmm, he smelled so good. He was so far removed from the guys I knew in college, who always seemed to smell of Axe body spray and cheap beer. His aftershave was rich, fragrant, and deliciously tempting, the kind that made me want to bury my face against his neck and breathe him in like I could consume him whole if I tried hard enough.
I bit my lip as the thought crossed my mind. Maybe I’d even bare my teeth, let him feel them against his neck. I could imagine the laugh he’d let out at my mock ferociousness, the way he’d slip his hands around me and tug me away gently so he could look me in the eyes.
“So, you want to play rough, do you?” he’d say, and it would be as much a challenge as it was anything else.
I’d bite my lip and nod up at him coyly.
“Take off your panties,” he’d order.
My mind envisioned the two of us, me in front of the desk and him in this very seat behind it. As my mind played out this fantasy, I slipped my hand beneath my trousers, beneath my panties, and my fingers found my clit and set to work. It had been a while since I’d found the time to grant myself some relief.
I’d lean down seductively, taking my time, hooking my fingers around my panties and pulling them down my legs before delicately stepping out of them and looking back to him for orders.
He’d hold out his hand.
“Give them to me,” he’d order, calmly, and I would do as I was told at once, handing them over dutifully. He’
d pluck them from between my fingers and lift them to his face, inhaling deeply and shooting me a wicked smile as he did so.
“Turn around, and touch your toes,” he’d demand.
By now I would be able to feel my clit pulsing to attention, demanding to be taken care of. I’d do as I was told at once. My skirt would ride up, and I’d hear the sound of the chair creaking beneath him as he leaned forward and took me in. He’d pause for a moment, and the room would be so quiet I could hear my heartbeat. Then, finally, he would speak again.
“Finger yourself,” he’d growl, his voice low and heated.
My desire-fuddled brain would take a second to work out what he meant, but as soon as I did, I would slip my hand between my legs and push two fingers into my soaking wet pussy.
Back in his office chair, I squirmed and ground my pussy against my fingers, breathing in the smell of his aftershave. It felt so close to being real that I could almost reach out and touch it, and it was making me almost crazy with desire.
I’d push my fingers in and out of my pussy, moving slowly, making like I’d forgotten he was even in the room and getting myself off as best I could. My body would be tense all over as I waited for his next order, but he’d take his time and make me wait, enjoying the show too much to intervene quite yet. Finally, he’d speak again.
“Turn to me. Put your hands on the desk.”
Again, I would eagerly comply, my fingers slick as I pressed my hands against the cool wood of the desk in front of me. I’d look at him for a moment and he’d look back, still sitting in that chair, his face somehow impassive, despite everything that was happening, while mine would have my need written all over it.
He’d meet my gaze, and he’d offer me the briefest smile, one that told me he knew how badly I needed this and that he wasn’t going to make me wait much longer.
He’d get to his feet and slowly walk around me, his gaze burning into me the whole time. I’d shift back and forth, desperate for some kind of release, and when he positioned himself behind me, I’d know it was coming at last.
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