She swallowed, cursing her traitorous mind that was fixating on the man between her knees. “That would be a no.” Sex maybe. Yes, definitely raw, animal attraction and desire. She might be feeling that. Love? Bah. Love was for idiots.
He twisted a strand of her hair around his index finger. “It’s my job to inspire you.”
Her mouth felt dry. “Is that right?” Remember, he’s only motivated by work. This isn’t real.
“Mmm.” He shifted onto his knees, so his face was almost level with hers. “You think a kiss might inspire you?”
Oh, dear Lord. He was not really going to do this, was he? She tried to swallow. “Depends on who it was from. Rudolph, yes.”
“Me.”
Brain melt. “You want to kiss me?” she asked faintly.
“No, I don’t want to,” he said, but there was a humorous tease to his voice. “But I’d do it for the company.”
“You really do know how to make a girl swoon. Do you give lessons on sweet-talking?” She shoved at his chest. “Forget it. A kiss for Roger’s company isn’t exactly going to put me in the mood to be all lovey and romantic.”
“Hell, woman. It’s not for Roger!”
Before she could react to his statement, he laid his hands on either side of her face and kissed her.
Chapter Five
There’s nothing like some good tongue action to make the holiday season brighten right up. Who needs diamonds?
–Angie Miller
The instant Kyle’s lips touched hers, Angie was lost to him. Everything miserable, hateful and depressing vanished from her body, replaced with a warm, bubbling sensation that started in her belly and slowly spread to every nerve in her body.
She grasped the front of his shirt, holding on tight to feelings she didn’t ever want to lose. Kyle was kissing her. Really kissing her. How could it really be happening? Her body was trembling, her heart pounding. Kyle is kissing me. His kiss was tender and sensual, a seduction of his lips tantalized by the slide of his hand over her hip, the brush of his thumb against the bare skin of her lower back. A tease. A flirt. A seduction so intense her entire body was vibrating with desire and need—
He broke the kiss. “Are you ready to write the article yet?” His voice was hoarse, and his hands were now flanking her waist, his thumbs doing slow circles on her skin.
“No. Not yet. I’m still feeling rather bitter and hostile,” she said a little breathlessly. “I think we should try again… you know, for the sake of the article.”
A wicked grin lit up his face, and he locked his hand around the back of her neck, taking control. “For the article,” he agreed in a low voice, just before he kissed her again.
This time when he kissed her, it wasn’t soft or soothing. It was hot and demanding, invading her defenses and leaving her exposed and vulnerable.
And she loved it. It was nothing like the kisses she’d shared with Roger. This was…something deeper. It was everything she’d always thought a kiss from Kyle would be, and then some.
She heard a noise echo from the back of her throat, and Kyle responded by deepening the kiss.
I’m down with that. The antler headband took a dive as she ran her hands through his hair. A worthwhile sacrifice.
His hands were all over her. Back, waist, ribs, wait a sec. Breasts. Was that about the article now, huh?
But damn, it felt good. Just another minute…and she started to lose her balance. Kyle grabbed her thighs and hauled her toward him, locking her legs around his hips. Oh, God. Yes. That was perfect and amazing. Her entire body was thrumming with desire and need.
He gripped her hips, pulling her more tightly against him as he deepened the kiss. His hands moved to her bottom, kneading at her flesh… Oh, God. Yes.
Something crashed to the floor. Her heart, maybe? Because for one that was so thoroughly broken, it was certainly swelling in her chest like nobody’s business. And…
Kyle broke the kiss. “That was my laptop.”
“Lap?” He wanted her on his lap? She opened her eyes to find Kyle peering past her hip at the floor, his hand still on her butt. She followed his glance and looked down. On the floor was a computer. “That was your laptop that fell?” The crash hadn’t been her heart? Well, that was good news.
He glanced at her. “That’s what I said.”
Oh, right. Laptop. Not a request for her to climb on top of his lap. Embarrassment burned through her. She’d never had a kiss that made her forget the English language before. She cleared her throat and realized her hands had somehow worked themselves under his shirt, where she was still massaging his bare chest.
Payback for the butt massage. All things fair in love and war, right?
Which raised the question of whether this was love or war. Certainly not love, at least on his part. And not on hers either! She wasn’t going to make that mistake again. So was it war? It didn’t feel like war.
“So—” He moved his hands from her butt to a more neutral place on her hips. No! Come back! “—about the article.”
“Yes. The article.” With supreme effort, she managed to extract her hands from his garments. “I think I could write it now.” Yeah, if she was supposed to write the screenplay for a porn flick.
“Great.” He looked like he was going to kiss her again, but before she could yell an affirmative response, he pulled back and stood up. “I’ll…um…pour some eggnog.”
“Coffee would be better. I could use some caffeine.” She felt the headband against her ankle, so she grabbed it and held it up. “Your crown.”
He stuck it on his head, crookedly again, then shot her a cocky grin. “Coffee coming up.”
She decided not to offer to fix the headband again. Last time that had led to something she wasn’t equipped to deal with. Yes, she knew it had been only for the sake of her story. But it was really hard to keep remembering that. Best not to get involved at all.
Next time he tried to kiss her for inspiration, she was going to kick him in the kneecap. Either that, or next time, it was indeed going to be her heart that crashed and burned, instead of only his computer.
*
By ten o’clock the next morning, Kyle was on his way down the hall for his third cup of morning coffee. He’d stayed up with Angie working on her article until almost two, then he’d accompanied Angie on the cab ride to her place so he could make sure she got there safely. By the time he got back home, it had been after three.
Not that it mattered. He’d spent the rest of the night lying in bed thinking about kissing her. He’d relived every touch a thousand times. He knew what her lips tasted like. He knew what her skin felt like. He could still hear her sharp intake of breath when he’d brushed his hand over her breast. Again, and again, he’d relived it, but in his mind, he hadn’t broken the kiss to go get coffee. He’d tipped her backward off that chair and onto his bed… Oh, yeah.
He swore, and took another drink of coffee. Oh, yeah? Really? How about, oh, crap? That would be more appropriate. What was his problem? Getting involved with Angie Miller was bad news from all angles. Roger’s ex, Sheila’s sister…not to mention the fact she worked for him. Plus, she was dangerous. He’d seen how she’d stolen Roger away from the company. No way was he willing to sacrifice his company for a woman. He was staying out of Angie’s clutches, even if her lips were soft, and she smelled like peaches. And her kisses… hell… she could bring a man to his knees just by…
Shit. Why couldn’t he stop thinking about her? His job was far more enduring than any relationship with a woman, regardless of whether her kisses did make him crazy with desire for more. That’s why he’d never succumbed to his urge to kiss her before, why he’d taken up with her sister. Because he knew what he could give a woman, and it was far less than what Angie would want or what she deserved.
Women like Sheila were his style. They fit his life. A little action, no demands.
“Kyle!”
He turned to find Roger jogging down the hall toward him
. Kyle tensed, wondering what Roger would do if he knew he’d kissed Angie. Even though Roger had dumped Angie, the man-code mandated that the ex would stay off-limits for a certain period of time, if not forever. “Morning.”
“I wanted to thank you for last night.”
“For?” Surely Roger couldn’t know about the kiss.
“For dragging Angie out of the Miller Christmas party. That could have been quite the scene. She probably would have started throwing wine glasses at me if she’d stayed around.”
Kyle tensed. “I think you’re overestimating your allure. Angie seemed fine after we left.”
“Yeah, right. I read yesterday’s article. You weren’t kidding. I didn’t realize I’d broken her heart that badly. Do you think she’s hopeless? Do you think maybe I should take her back for the rest of the month?”
“No! I don’t think taking her back is the solution,” Kyle snapped. He took a breath and forced himself to relax, surprised at the intensity of his response to Roger dating Angie again. “Did you read today’s story? It’s much better.” After that kiss, he and Angie had had fun taking that screaming couple’s episode and turning it into a colorful love story about the power of diamonds. It hadn’t quite been the sappy slant that he knew Swift was hoping for, but it was a hell of a lot better than the first story she’d written.
No call had come from Swift this morning telling him they were ending the deal, so he figured they were still skating by.
Roger shrugged. “If you change your mind, let me know. I’m sure I could put Sheila on hold for a few weeks.”
“No. I have it under control.” Kyle flexed his fingers and considered tossing Roger down the elevator shaft. The bastard thought he could manipulate Angie?
Roger clapped him on the shoulder. “See? I knew you could handle her.” He frowned. “Hey, you aren’t mad about Sheila are you? I know you and she had a thing—” He left it hanging in the air for Kyle to finish.
Kyle shrugged. “She’s all yours.”
“Well, right, I know that. But are you mad? Because you know, you wouldn’t be getting her back even if I wasn’t in the picture.”
“I don’t want her.” Kyle hadn’t wanted her at the time, and he didn’t want her now. He had no idea how he’d managed to date her for as long as he had, but he knew now why he’d done it: anything to get the temptation of Angie Miller out of his system.
As it turned out, the strategy had been an abysmal failure.
“Good. I’m glad to hear it.” Roger glanced over his shoulder to check for eavesdroppers, then leaned toward Kyle and lowered his voice. “You know how Sheila and Angie’s dad is in the Christmas musical every year?”
Kyle recalled accompanying Sheila to that event, while Angie had hung on Roger’s arm. Ah, the better days. Not. “Yeah.”
“Well, opening night is Friday night. I’m going to take Sheila, so will you keep Angie occupied? I don’t want it to get weird for me and Sheila, you know?”
“God forbid you feel uncomfortable,” Kyle said drily.
“Exactly! Give Angie some extra work or something.”
“How about if I take her back to my place and keep her occupied?” He had no intention of doing that, but he wanted to know what Roger’s response would be. Because if Roger didn’t care, then, well…
Roger was in his face in an instant, his eyes glittery and black. “Don’t touch her.”
“Why not?”
“Because she’s mine.”
“You dumped her.”
“Doesn’t matter. You want the company, you keep your hands off Angie.”
Kyle narrowed his eyes, his fists closing instinctively. “I wasn’t going to do anything,” he said evenly. “I was merely curious, seeing as how you’re dating my ex and all.”
Roger shrugged. “It’s different.”
Indeed. Maybe because Angie was a great person and Sheila was shallow and self-serving?
“And I’m bringing Sheila to the company Christmas party. Deal with Angie on that one too.”
Kyle stilled. “Sheila’s coming to the New Age holiday party?”
“Yeah. She’s got this sexy green dress I’ve been dying to see her wear.”
“Angie works for this company,” Kyle said. “She deserves to be able to go to the party.”
Roger snorted. “It’s for her own good. You saw the article she wrote. The woman can’t live without me.”
For the first time in his life, Kyle wanted to punch his friend. “I think she can handle it.” You’re not that much of a loss, and I’ll make sure she realizes it.
Roger shrugged. “It’s your funeral if it makes her unable to write anything decent.”
“Kyle?” His admin hollered down the hall. “Swift is on the phone for you.”
Swift? Were they calling to complain about the story? If so, he wasn’t going to tell Angie. She needed support, not more things bringing her down. Somehow, he’d find a way to protect her.
Or maybe Swift was calling to say the story was much better and they were satisfied.
Yeah, that was it. It had been a much better story.
*
Heidi had her feet tucked up under her as she munched on sushi for their late morning snack in Angie’s office. Angie nibbled on some seaweed. “So, what happened at my parents’ after I left last night?”
“Oh, right.” Heidi shoved the pompom of her Santa hat out of her face. “It was totally weird. After you left, everyone just resumed conversation like nothing had happened.”
Angie frowned. “Are you kidding? No one said anything?” She’d been so certain her mom would call her first thing this morning to explain. No call.
“Nope.” Heidi took a sip of her soda. “Your mom’s really a good cook, you know? Those shrimp hors d’oeuvres were really good. I was totally bummed Quinn couldn’t make it.”
“Heidi! Stop talking about the food! My entire family betrayed me and no one cared?”
“Nope. I wouldn’t worry about it though.”
“Why not?” It seemed to her that being excommunicated by her family was sort of a big deal.
“Because you got to kiss Kyle.”
She knew she shouldn’t have told Heidi about that. “I told you. He was trying to inspire me.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet. When Quinn inspires me like that, we wind up sweaty and…”
“Thanks for the visual.” Like she hadn’t had her share of hot and sweaty dreams last night.
Heidi sat up and leaned closer. “I do have a question for you.”
“What’s that?” If Heidi asked her about birth control, Angie was going to kick her out of the office. One kiss didn’t mean sex was around the corner.
“Do you know what you’re doing?”
Angie frowned. “About what?”
“Kyle. When you talk about him kissing you, there’s that same glow in your eyes as there was when you first met him. Remember what happened then?”
Angie stiffened. “Of course I remember. I’m not falling for him again.”
“Are you sure? He didn’t even kiss you last time, and it still took you ages to recover when he started dating Sheila.”
“The kiss was to inspire me. For the article. I know it, so don’t worry about me.” She’d been reminding herself all morning, but she couldn’t help wondering whether this time it was different. He’d never kissed her before. He wouldn’t kiss her and not mean it, would he? Well, he might if he’d made it very clear it was purely for the company. Which he had.
And that was fine. She didn’t need a man right now anyway. She had some healing to do, and she had to do it on her own. Speaking of that…“Did you read today’s story?”
Heidi nodded. “It was a lot better than your first one. It didn’t even sound like you wanted to kill every happy person in the world.” She lifted a brow. “It read like you were having fun while you wrote it.”
Angie sighed with satisfaction and leaned back in her chair. “I knew it was better. See? Roger can
’t destroy me.”
“Or maybe it’s Kyle who is healing you. Trade one man for another, and all that.”
Angie sat up. Impossible. She wasn’t the type who needed a man in her life to be able to write good stuff. “No way.”
Heidi furrowed her brow. “Maybe men are your muse. Roger’s been your muse, and then when you didn’t have one, you couldn’t write. Kyle gives you a hot kiss and voila, you’re back.” She shook her head. “I thought you weren’t getting attached to Kyle. He’s not a relationship kind of guy.”
“You’re wrong. I don’t need a man to heal me, especially not Kyle.” Needing a man in that way made her much too vulnerable and dependent. It was unacceptable, and she was going to prove it by keeping her distance from Kyle and still writing great stories.
“Well, maybe we need to find another way to inspire you. You need romance and sex on the brain? We can talk sex. That’ll get you going, without the burden of involving a man. We’ll get some wine and some chocolate and spend the night at my place talking sex. Quinn is working late this week, so he won’t be by. What do you think? Do alcohol and sex sound good to you?”
“Must you talk about that kind of thing in the workplace?” Kyle was standing in the door, his hands on his hips, the corner of his mouth quirking.
Heidi was unapologetic. “I’m trying to inspire Angie for her smut stories. What better way than to talk sex? Want to join us? Got any good sex stories?”
The flash of surprise on his face was gone so quickly Angie would have missed it if she hadn’t been gawking at him and the heavy outline of whiskers on his face. Someone hadn’t shaved this morning, and she’d be damned if that wasn’t a very good look for him.
“Plenty of good sex. No stories,” he said.
Plenty of good sex? With who? Sheila? Other women? And why did that give her such a hollow feeling?
“Well, I suppose that’s admirable in a man. No kiss and tell,” Heidi said.
“And Angie isn’t writing smut stories,” Kyle said. “They’re about love, romance and the everlasting passionate commitment between a man and a woman.”
Jingle This! Page 7
