by Eden Proctor
Emily was still watching him, her disapproval all over her face. Daniel watched her back, but didn’t speak immediately, using those seconds of silence to make sure he wouldn’t lose himself in unhelpful side thoughts, like how amazing Emily would look bent over his desk, her ass in the air, her pussy bare, wet, waiting for him to taste, to fuck.
That wasn’t the focus he had been seeking, but Daniel stayed still, waiting for his erection to fade. Once it did, which took far longer than he found acceptable, Daniel again regarded her. And again he saw that fire in her eyes. But he reminded himself that she was essential for closing this deal, so Daniel could appreciate her passion, as long as she stayed in line.
He decided to stay quiet, see how Emily would handle the situation. That would give him insight into her, and give him even more time to recover from his reaction to her.
She glared at him a second longer and then sighed. He saw the question in her face and lifted a brow, encouraging her to speak the thought that was clearly on her mind.
“How on earth did you manage to make so much money?” she asked.
“Hard work, talent, intelligence,” Daniel said, answering, though he was surprised by her question.
She huffed, and her eyes flashed again.
Daniel let out a laugh. “Not the answer you were looking for?”
“No. And not the truth,” she parried back. “It definitely couldn’t have been intelligence because you just did one of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen,” she said.
“You should be nicer to me, Emily. I am your boss after all,” he said, though he couldn’t help but be amused by her reaction.
Emily huffed again, and Daniel smiled.
It really was uncommon for him to get this kind of candor, but he liked the fact that she didn’t just go along.
“I take it you’re not happy about our recent engagement, dear?” he said, his voice light with uncommon humor.
“Not happy?” she asked, frowning, her soft-looking lips twisting into a grimace that still managed to be flattering. “That doesn’t begin to cover it.”
“So tell me, what’s the problem?” he asked.
“The problem?” she asked, her dark eyebrows knitting together. “The problem is you just told that man a lie and made me a part of it.”
When her brows drooped lower and she whispered the word “lie,” Daniel’s amusement rose triple-fold.
“You’re adorable. You think business is something other than a series of lies big and small, something that doesn’t come naturally to everyone in it,” he said.
“It doesn’t come naturally to me,” she said, her soft lips pulling tight in a frown.
Daniel was more than halfway tempted to believe her, and after a moment, decided he would. She seemed like an honest person, or at least one who tried to be. Something he valued, and would value even more once the deal was closed.
“That objection to lying makes you rare indeed. But if it makes a difference, you didn’t lie, I did,” he said.
She snorted and then frowned deeper. “True, but that fact doesn’t make this better. I thought you wanted to close this deal,” she said.
“I don’t want to close this deal. I will close this deal. And you’re going to help me,” he said.
He was completely serious now, and from the way Emily’s expression changed, she could see that.
She pursed her lips, again drawing Daniel’s attention, so much so that he almost missed her next word.
“No,” she said.
Daniel pulled his gaze from her lips and met her eyes. “No?” he said, his voice reflecting his surprise.
“Yes,” she said. “No.”
Daniel smiled at her contradictory words, and she joined him, but the moment of levity soon passed. “I don’t want any part of this…” She paused, clearly searching for her next word. “Scheme.”
“Emily, you seem certain about my intentions even though you don’t know me very well,” he said. By now, he was sure they hadn’t met in anything other than passing.
There was no way he could have forgotten Emily.
“I don’t think there’s any question about your intentions. I heard what you said to Charlie. And no, I don’t know you, but I’ve read about you,” she said.
“And what have you read?” he asked. Daniel was curious about what she knew of him, and, to his surprise, what she thought of him.
“I read that you don’t take prisoners. That you’ll do anything to come out on top,” she said.
“Mostly true,” he said.
She nodded vigorously. “Of course it is. You’re not going to let this go.”
“No, I’m not,” he confirmed.
“And I’m not going to be a part of it. Best of luck to you. Please call Mr. Green and tell him you made a mistake,” she said.
She stood then and placed the folder she’d been holding in a death grip on his desk. Daniel watched her every move avidly, gaze snagging on the curve of her waist, the pert fullness of her ass. She was exquisite. How had he missed her before?
He didn’t have an answer, but Emily had certainly gotten his attention. Still, he had a goal in mind, and he needed to get his mind off Emily’s ass and back to the deal. He shook his head, which cleared the distraction but not completely.
She was on the verge of leaving, and he needed to make sure she stayed, something he couldn’t do if he was busy ogling her and thinking about how great it was going to be when he fucked her.
“Let me see you out,” he said.
She shook her head vehemently, making the dark waves of her hair that tumbled over her shoulders brush against her breasts delightfully. “No, thank you. If you’ll excuse me,” she said.
Daniel, who had stood, let her step aside, watching her as she left, his eyes again glued to her ass. He smiled as she left, feeling a charge that not even the thought of closing the deal he’d worked so hard for had brought.
The deal would close. He had no doubt about the outcome, but that wasn’t the biggest thing on his mind. After this brief conversation, he felt more alive, more energized than he had in as long as he could remember. It had been so long since he’d faced a challenge.
Emily challenged him.
And she was a challenge he looked forward to conquering.
Chapter 3
The rest of the day was incredibly long but also seemed to pass in a flash.
Emily could hardly focus on anything, too busy replaying those moments when Daniel had touched her, remembering the way his thumb had felt against her skin, the sincere affection that had been in his eyes when he’d looked at her.
It was nearly enough to make her forget about everything else that had happened. As the hours passed, she started to think that maybe it had been some kind of bizarre dream, but she knew that wasn’t the case.
Daniel was real, and the impression he left on her was so strong there was no way she could ignore or deny it.
Still, Emily could hardly wrap her mind around everything that had happened. She had known of Daniel’s reputation, knew how ruthlessly he approached his business. The things she’d read, the rumors she’d heard were nothing compared to the experience of being with him in person.
His looks, his presence, were overwhelming, but so was his absolute focus. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to win, including lie to a seemingly kind man like Mr. Green.
She found his tactics distasteful.
She wished she could say the same thing about the man himself.
She couldn’t, though. Not at all.
Because during those moments in his office, he had displayed his ruthlessness, but he also displayed a great sense of humor, ambition that she herself had. She’d always prided herself on going after what she wanted, so she couldn’t be too upset with Daniel for doing the same.
But that didn’t mean she was going to participate in the ridiculous charade he was cooking up. She bit her lip, looked around her cubicle, feeling like everyone around her was watch
ing her and knew what had happened in Daniel’s office.
It was silly; there was no way anyone could know, and when she looked around, saw everyone else going about their day, she relaxed a little.
Which only turned her mind back to the question at hand.
It shouldn’t have been a question. Emily had talked big in Daniel’s office, been firm in her conviction that she wouldn’t participate.
Not that she wasn’t tempted.
Because she was. So very tempted.
She’d gotten out of his office as fast as she could because she knew he would make her an offer. And she didn’t trust herself not to say yes.
Saying yes would mean that she got to spend more time with Daniel, and that was almost too much to resist. She could think of little in her life that would be as interesting as getting to know the brilliant, handsome billionaire.
But pretending to be his fiancée wouldn’t be that, she reminded herself. She wouldn’t be getting to know him, she’d just be fake, helping him with his dishonesty.
And she didn’t want that.
Her body was still humming, though, those few moments with him leaving her near breathless with need.
She didn’t know it was possible to be like him, confident, in command, and though Emily didn’t respect the measures he’d taken, she couldn’t deny how appealing that strength and confidence was, how much she admired him.
She stood quietly and then looked around, happy when she saw the office was starting to empty out.
Admired him.
She scoffed.
There were many words for what she was thinking about Daniel, and admiration wasn’t very high on the list.
Sexy as sin.
Lickable.
Hotter than the law should allow.
That and so many others landed well above admiration.
But that didn’t matter either.
Whatever had happened today, it was a silly story that she’d laugh about with her girlfriends and then forget about.
Daniel would too.
He very seldom had cause to be in HR, and soon enough she would fade. If he remembered her at all, she’d be a joke. He’d laugh about that one time he’d tried to convince the girl in HR to pretend to be his fiancée. Nothing more.
With that reality check firmly in mind, Emily got back to work, wanting to get in a little extra work before she called it a day.
Chapter 4
Later that night, Emily went home. The moment she entered her apartment, she dropped her bags and stepped out of her shoes.
Then she tugged off her bra, happy to finally be out of the torture device. After a quick trip to her bedroom to change into her after-work clothes, she went back to the living room and settled on her couch. She put her feet up on the coffee table, something she knew her father wouldn’t have approved of, and lay back against the couch.
She sighed, again thinking about all that had happened that day. It had been a lot, but at least it had been something interesting.
Interesting days were far too infrequent for Emily.
She did activities when she could, had good friends, and a good life, but she was focused on building her career, and that left little room for anything else.
Anyone else.
She sighed, shifted on the couch. Being Daniel’s fake fiancée would probably be better than being most other men’s real one. Not to mention it would be an adventure, unconventional, but an adventure nonetheless.
So even though she knew she had done the right thing by turning him down, something that even her raging libido couldn’t argue with, there was some melancholy.
“Well, there’s nothing I can do about it now,” she said, heading to her kitchen to make a dinner of chicken and vegetables.
She almost screamed when there was a knock on her door. Then she looked around guiltily, feeling like someone was watching her. She drifted out of the kitchen.
Emily stared at her front door, her mind racing to process what she’d heard.
It couldn’t be.
She frowned but then went toward the door, thinking it was probably her neighbor from two doors down. The older woman sometimes dropped by when she wanted company, and Emily enjoyed their conversations.
But when she looked through the peephole, she did not see her elderly neighbor.
Instead, her eyes collided with a massive, suit-clad chest.
She looked up, saw the strong jaw and the intense blue eyes that seemed to be staring directly at her.
Before her mind could process that thought, her body shivered.
It was Daniel.
Outside her apartment.
She frowned, then decided she would ignore the visitor. There was no reason for him to be at her home, and she certainly didn’t have anything to discuss with him.
“I saw you come in, Emily. Open the door.”
The sound of her voice made her pause, but she swallowed past the impulse to go toward his voice and headed back to the kitchen. She turned on her heel, but paused when his voice came at her through the door.
“I can see your shadow, Emily,” he said. “Open the door.”
Again, the command in his voice almost made Emily stop, but she kept moving toward her kitchen.
This was her home, and she didn’t take orders here.
“Emily, don’t be ridiculous,” he said.
She ignored him, though her hands faltered when she reached for the chicken. She closed the refrigerator door and then stood against it, deciding that she wouldn’t get anything done until Daniel was gone.
She stood, waiting, imagined him in her modest building’s hallway.
And she also imagined the idea of him being there for some other reason, a thrill going through her body at the thought of Daniel having come not because he wanted something from her, but because he wanted her.
It was a ridiculous thought, and she tried to shut it out, but her mind kept going, was filled with lots of him. A few minutes after he had arrived, everything in the hall was quiet, and Emily felt herself begin to calm.
Her heart pounded, raced in fact, and her breath was still heavy. And where she had expected to feel relief, there was none.
In fact, much to her surprise, she felt a faint twinge of disappointment.
Which was ridiculous.
She wanted nothing to do with Daniel’s sham, and she should be proud of herself for not giving in to his whims like everyone else did. But while she guessed she was proud in some abstract way, the strongest feeling she felt was one of sadness, a little twinge of loss.
Still frowning, she pushed the feeling aside and lifted herself off the refrigerator door to continue making her dinner.
Daniel wasn’t her problem, and she wouldn’t let him distract her for another moment. She pulled the chicken out of the refrigerator and then opened her cabinet for spices, losing herself in the soothing, familiar process.
“Emily!”
She screamed, dropped the saltshaker she held in her hand, and whirled around.
Her mind could not process what her eyes were seeing.
Daniel was standing in her living room, just at the edge of her kitchen, his presence larger-than-life, eyes watching her as he looked every bit like he owned the place.
“What…? How…?”
She gaped, opening and closing her mouth, some part of her thinking she must look horribly unattractive. Which shouldn’t matter. What should matter was that he had barged into her home, but all Emily could think was that she must look horrible, feet bare, her body dressed in ratty yoga pants and a T-shirt.
And no bra.
As if on cue, her nipples puckered, and Daniel looked down, no doubt noticing her response. The little flare of fire in his eyes only made the sensation that much stronger. What was wrong with her? He’d gotten into her place somehow, was standing in her space like it was his, and she was getting turned on.
That was ridiculous, shameful in fact, but Emily couldn’t pretend that her body
wasn’t responding, even though her mind told her that this was insane.
Daniel didn’t seem to share her surprise.
Instead he walked toward her, his lithe, graceful movements so incongruent with her small, homey apartment. He picked up the saltshaker that rolled around on the floor and set it on the counter.
“Good thing it didn’t break,” he said, gesturing toward the ceramic saltshaker that was shaped like a cow.
“Why?” she asked, and then she blinked, feeling silly for asking such a stupid question.
“Isn’t that supposed to be bad luck? I don’t believe in that kind of thing, but if you’re superstitious…”
Emily shook her head, her mind unable to process the bizarre situation that was unfolding.
Was it really possible that Daniel was in her house chatting about broken saltshakers?
That thought fled when Daniel looked down again, his gaze snagging on her nipples. He was definitely here, and this conversation was happening.
That was enough to get Emily moving.
She crossed her arms under her breasts, but drop them quickly when his gaze lowered again. She let her arms hang at her sides, feeling exposed with his attention on her.
“How did you get in here?” she bit out.
“The key, obviously,” he said.
He lifted his hand to reveal the key he held in his strong fingers, looking so smug Emily wanted to smack him and then kiss him.
“Obviously,” she said, glaring harder.
“How did you get the key?” she asked.
He shrugged. “The same way I get everything else. Through cunning and determination. Or cash,” he said.
Emily was momentarily taken aback, his calm and certitude throwing her off.
“What if I’d had the chain on?” she asked.
She wasn’t entirely sure why she asked the question, but it was the first thing that had come into her mind, and standing there gaping at him was less preferable than asking the stupid question.
“Then I would have had the door removed.” He said it like it made all the sense in the world.
