Tempting The Boss

by Mallory Crowe

  He switched to her other breast, the abandoned nipple cold and wanting while the other peak was spoiled with his tongue. Just as she thought he was completely ignoring her request for more, he released her and pushed off her, pulling her skirt and panties off in one smooth motion. He dropped her garments on the floor, but instead of pushing himself right between her thighs like she expected, he wrapped his arms around her and flipped them both over, him on his back while Victoria straddled him.

  “Ride me, Victoria,” he ordered in a breathless, husky voice.

  She rested her hands on his chest and looked down at him. A small smile curved her mouth. She positioned herself over him as he guided the thick head of his cock to her entrance. She slowly let herself slide onto his hard length and reveled in the shocks of pleasure that seemed to reverberate through her at the friction.

  Dean’s fingers bit into her hips and she could tell he held back. Tried to give her the ability to set the pace. To control it.

  And that’s exactly what she did. She started out slow, but quickly the overwhelming urge to move took her over and she rode him in exactly the way her body demanded. Before long, Dean’s own control seemed to break and he thrust frantically up to meet her halfway, clenching his teeth as a guttural moan escaped him.

  And the second his muscles tensed beneath her, Victoria’s own orgasm swept through her. The quakes rippled through her whole body as she threw her head back to revel in the almost unbearable pleasure taking over.

  As her climax faded, the only sound in the room was their rapid breathing. When she finally opened her eyes, she saw Dean’s self-satisfied grin look up at her.

  “What?” The corner of her mouth hooked up as well.

  “I think I burned the chicken.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Dean opened the back door to let Rigby into the house. The red dog gleefully ran inside and lapped up water from his bowl.

  “Shhh,” said Dean. Victoria was still sleeping when he’d crawled out of bed, and he didn’t want to wake her up any earlier than he had to. Between her father passing and the athletic night they’d had together, she probably needed all the rest she could get.

  He poured water into the coffee maker and threw in his breakfast blend grounds. Before Katy, he’d never been much of a coffee drinker, but her six-year-old antics taught him the true meaning of sleep deprivation. Now he was a faithful convert to the caffeine altar.

  Greg had already called him to see whether he could take on a weekend job, but for the first time in a long time, Dean turned down the work. He had some extra cash after helping out Victoria, and he knew she probably needed him more than Greg did.

  He rubbed his eyes. Hell, he didn’t know she needed him. But he knew she needed someone, and she obviously didn’t mind his support. And he really didn’’t mind giving it. Not just because of the sex, though he sure as hell couldn’t complain about that little perk. But he knew what it was like to lose a parent. He also knew what it was like to not have anyone around to talk to about it.

  So for as long as she wanted, he’d be whatever she needed him to be. And if, after everything was over, she wanted him out of her life, then he’d do that.

  The front door creaked open and he winced. “Katy?”

  “You’re not working?” Katy walked into the kitchen.

  Shit. When was the last time she got home early from a sleepover? He turned to look her over. Her long blonde hair was pulled back loosely and she didn’t look hung over or show any signs of a long night of partying. “What happened at Becky’s?”

  “I just wanted to come home, okay? What’s so wrong with me wanting to spend time with you?”

  Dean stared at her blankly. Seriously? Today of all days she decided she wanted to have brother-sister bonding? “I don’t know if I’’ll have time to do much.” What was the best way to tell his little sister that he had a woman upstairs? Damn it. He’d never had this problem before. Of course, he hadn’t had a woman sleep over since Katy came to stay with him.

  But when Victoria was in his bed, he never even considered asking her to leave. It was perfectly natural to pull her tight against him as they both fell into an exhausted sleep.

  Katy’s face fell a bit. “It’s your first day off in forever and you can’t make time for me?”

  “What makes you think I’m not working?” he countered, unable to muster up the courage to tell her he was bumping her aside for another woman.

  “Well, the sun’s up and you’re in pajamas.” She pointed to the flannel pajama pants she’d gotten him for Christmas last year. “It doesn’t take a genius, Dean.” She shrugged and any sign of disappointment disappeared from her face. “Don’t worry about it. I know you’re busy even when you’’re not working. Rigby and I will hang out.” She grabbed a granola bar from the pantry and turned to leave the kitchen and probably head to her room upstairs.

  Upstairs where he’d left Victoria naked in his bed.

  “Wait!” he called.

  “Oh my God,” she moaned and twisted back around. “What?”

  But before he let a word out, he heard the telltale creaking of the upstairs floorboards.

  Katy frowned. “Is there someone here?” she whispered with wide eyes.

  “It’s just a friend,” he spit out, immediately regretting the lie. “Her father died and I offered to let her crash here.”

  “That’s awful,” said Katy. “Is she doing okay?””

  The stairs moaned and groaned as Victoria made her way down. Dean clenched his jaw. Katy had never met one of his lovers. Not once had he ever gotten these two parts of his life crossed. And he’d been prepared. He read books and articles about how to introduce a woman into a young child’s life. Let them meet on neutral territory, preferably somewhere that would stimulate conversation to keep away awkward silences.

  This situation wasn’t covered in the damn books.

  And there Victoria was, looking like his wet dream and nightmare combined, only wearing one of his oversized Yankees t-shirts and standing right in front of his little sister.

  He took a deep swallow. “Um…Katy, this is Victoria. Victoria, this is Katy.”

  Victoria looked absolutely terrified for a brief moment before she perfectly masked her fear and smiled at Katy. “We actually met before,” said Victoria awkwardly. “When I picked Dean up. I didn’t realize you were going to be here.” She twisted her fingers in the cotton of the shirt, pulling it down another inch or two to give her as much modesty as possible.

  Katy took a step back and glanced between Victoria and Dean. “It’s fine. I mean, it’s nice to see you again. You’re both adults and probably protected, so…”

  “I was just about to make breakfast,” said Dean to break up Katy’s awkward rambling. “Does anyone want bacon and eggs?”

  “I should probably go,” said Victoria. “I need to get started on the arrangements. I don’t know the first thing about funerals…”

  “Dean can help,” offered Katy. “He planned everything for our parents. He’s basically an expert.”

  Victoria met his eyes and he simply shrugged. Two funerals at once didn’t exactly make him an expert, but it sure as hell made him more knowledgeable than he ever wanted to be. But this was Richard Green. People would probably fly in from all over the country to pay their last respects. He didn’t know a damn thing about that.

  But there was one more reason he should stick with Victoria. “Did you have more interviews today that you needed to get done?”

  She paled and looked down. “I completely forgot about the interviews.” She rubbed her fingers through her hair. “I need to get dressed,”” she muttered as she turned back to the stairs, abruptly looking back to Katy. “I’m so sorry about this. I’m normally much more put together.”

  Katy shrugged, but Dean couldn’t get a read on her. “It’s all good.”

  Victoria gave another halfhearted smile before she headed up the stairs.

  “Oh. My. God,” s
aid Katy as soon as Victoria was out of earshot. “She came to you for comfort and you slept with her.”

  Ahh…discussing his sex life with his sister. One of his all-time greatest fears. And this morning seemed as if it had so much promise just a few minutes ago. “It’’s none of your business.” Dean crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Well, in order to get to my bedroom I have to pass by a half-naked woman, so isn’t it kind of my business? Have you been dating her a long time? Why are you keeping it a secret from me?”

  “I wasn’t keeping a secret because we aren’t dating.” He immediately regretted the word.

  Katy crossed her arms over her chest and raised an all too knowing brow. “So you’re having casual sex? You really don’t seem like the casual sex type.””

  “For the love of—” He broke off before he said something he’d regret. To be honest, there was nothing casual about his relationship with Victoria. But if he had no idea what was going on, how was he supposed to explain it to Katy? “Listen, what happened last night wasn’t planned and I don’t have a good or respectable answer for you,”” he said truthfully.

  Katy rolled her eyes but luckily decided to switch off the subject of sex. “So you’re dating one of the richest women in the city now?”

  He snorted. Katy had no idea just how rich Victoria was. Not that it mattered. “She has more money than me,” admitted Dean.

  She rolled her eyes. “Please. Everyone has more money than you.”

  “You don’t,” he reminded her. The floorboards above him creaked and he knew Victoria was probably frantically getting ready. ““I’m going to see if she needs any help today.” He pushed away from the counter.

  He could feel Katy’s gaze follow him, but luckily she didn’t give him any more grief. But he wasn’t sure what to think about how excited she’’d gotten when she remembered Victoria had money. He’d always assumed she was happy enough with things the way they were. Had she just been tolerating their small house and paycheck-to-paycheck living?

  Victoria was slipping her feet into her black pumps as he walked in, and her skirt crept dangerously high up her legs. For a moment, all Dean could think about was throwing her right back on the bed…

  “I’m so sorry about downstairs,” she said, pulling him out of his fantasy.

  He ran a hand over his face and through his hair to clear his head. “It could’ve been worse. You could’ve come down naked.”” He winked.

  A small smile curled her lips. “Oh God. I couldn’t even imagine. Poor girl would be scarred for life.”

  He took a seat on the bed next to her and his expression grew serious. “What’s the plan for today?”

  She let out a sigh and stared at the floor. “I missed a call from Terry this morning. I will probably meet up with him, and I suppose we can figure it out together.”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Being alone with Terry?”

  Her back stiffened. “I don’t think I need to be afraid of him.”

  Dean reached over and set his hand on top of hers. “I know he’s your brother, but you were afraid of what he would do last week. He hasn’t done anything to convince you he’’s trustworthy.”

  She shook her head. “No. I saw him yesterday. He was crushed.”

  “Or he’s a good actor. I’m not saying you have to tell him off or have an armed guard. But let me hang around for the day. Don’’t let yourself be alone with him. Just in case.”

  “Have you hang around? And what exactly am I supposed to tell Terry? That you’re still doing consulting work?” She snorted.

  “He already thinks we’re together…” Dean clenched his free hand into a fist as he waited for her response. What the hell was he even doing? Telling Victoria to let the world think they were a real couple? Going public with a relationship he didn’t even know if he wanted?

  “It’s not going to matter,” she told him.

  He frowned. “It can’t hurt to have me around. You need to be more careful. With everything with your dad and the plant purchase, you’re going to be more distracted than ever. Let me be a second set of eyes and ears for you.”

  “It’s not going to matter if I’m alone with Terry because he’s coming to work for me.”

  Dean rapidly blinked as he leaned away from her. “What?”

  She tightened her lips and pushed herself off the bed. “I said he’s coming to work for me next week. I offered him a job last night.”

  Dean stood too, and bore down on Victoria. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  She glared up at him. “I’m running a damn business, Dean. A family business. If Terry wants to be involved, he’s allowed. Remember, there’s a chance he owns the place now anyway.”

  “Is that what this is about? You’re throwing him a bone so he doesn’t throw you out on your ass if your father left him everything?””

  “No. It’s about my brother coming to me and asking for a favor. If I say no, that could be the end of our relationship forever. If he’s willing to forgive me for firing him, the least I can do is give him a job he’s completely overqualified for.”

  “And what if you do get the company? How long before you happen to have a little ‘accident’ and Terry steps up to take your place?””

  Victoria pushed against his chest, but he refused to move. He wasn’t letting her out of this damn house until she came to her senses. Terry might talk a good game and play the grieving son, but someone had already tried to kill Victoria twice. Why wouldn’t she listen to reason? He refused to believe someone this smart could be so stupid.

  “For the love of God, Dean. Just leave me alone. If you haven’t realized, I have a funeral to plan. It’s going to be a hard enough day as is without you giving me grief.””

  “It will get a hell of a lot harder if you’re dead! I’m not letting you go anywhere until I know you’re taking some sort of precaution to make sure you’re safe.”

  “I’m already taking precautions! Gordon has five different guys—each one costing me a fortune, by the way—who are all trying to find out who wants me dead. None of them can find any connection between Terry and what’s happening to me. No mysterious payments out of his account. No shady meetings with guys since he got back to the city. No emails or texts that could be a hit order. Nothing. I’m not a fool, Dean. I do want to live.”

  Dean frowned. Victoria was able to hire the best of the best, and he knew from experience that whoever wanted her dead was no professional. Chances were they’d leave muddy footprints all over the place. If it was Terry, Gordon should’ve been able to figure something out by now. ““Are you sure you want to take the chance?”

  “Consider, for a moment, that Terry isn’t trying to kill me. What kind of message would it send if I don’t help him plan Dad’’s funeral?”

  He bit back a growl of frustration. Hell, if he ever had a chance of keeping her away from Terry, it was gone now. She would need to help plan her father’s funeral and there wasn’t a thing he could say to stop her. So he said the next best thing. ““I’m going with you.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  As Victoria’s gaze bounced between Dean and Terry, she realized just how big of a mistake she’d made. Dean glared at Terry with barely concealed contempt, and Terry kept awkwardly shifting his weight as they reviewed the myriad funeral options laid out before them.

  There were caskets to choose from, flowers, venues, menus. She’d actually faced a moment of panic and called up Grace for help. But of course she wasn’t available to devote the next three whole days to planning a funeral.

  This wasn’t just a funeral, though. This was a multinational meeting of business conglomerates that she only had days to throw together. Luckily, it wasn’t a secret that her family had money, and her father had made some arrangements before his sudden heart attack last week.

  Their family funeral home that had also handled her grandmother’s funeral decades ago had stepped up to make things as easy as possible
. And when Dean wasn’t looking as if he was about to punch her brother in the face, he actually made a few good points.

  It was almost frustrating when he was so helpful. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d truly relied on anyone besides her assistant Denise. She didn’t even want Dean to come with her today, but it was strangely comforting that when her hand slipped below the table, his would be there to catch it. Something she knew Terry had noticed, but she didn’t care at this point.

  People mistaking her and Dean for an honest-to-goodness couple was the least of her concerns. At the moment, the top priority was flowers, which was the first time in her life flowers had been a priority.

  “Everything seems so cheerful,” she muttered as she flipped the pages in one of the massive books the funeral director provided. He had five of them. Five books of just funeral flowers. Who knew? And of course she’d need to look through every page. Her father deserved the best, and she needed to know she’d considered every option.

  “Oh…that one’s pretty!” Joslyn, across the table, pointed to a white lily bouquet.

  Victoria frowned. “You don’t think it’s too pretty?”

  “Do you think your dad would like it?” asked Dean.

  Terry and Victoria both let out a laugh at the same time. “Please,” said Victoria. “Dad probably never stopped to smell any type of flower ever.””

  “So would he want no flowers?” asked Joslyn, brow furrowed in confusion.

  “Oh no,” said Terry. “He’d want a massive display. He’’d want to go out with a bang and impress everyone.”

  Victoria smiled at the memory of how much Dad liked to show off. For someone so frugal with money sometimes, he sure did like to splurge every now and again. “It’s like no matter what we pick, it’s not going to really be right for him anyway.”

  Dean took the book and flipped it shut. “Then don’t worry about it.”

  She sighed. “He needs flowers.”