Sizzle

by Sarah O'Rourke

  “Oh, you haven’t heard?” Deborah replied, lowering her voice to a whisper. Obviously she assumed Molly worked on some other floor in the building since she was about to speak so freely.

  “Heard what, exactly?” Molly replied, striving to remain calm as the beautiful woman rose to lean across the counter toward her.

  “Mr. Delancy had to let her go,” she explained. “I guess when she was just fucking the boss, that could be kept under wraps, but now that she’s marrying him…. I guess the company decided her time would be better spent serving him in other ways. The temp agency called me this morning to fill the slot. At first, I was repulsed by what the ladies downstairs were saying about the girl that evidently slept her way to the top, but after seeing him? Who could blame the lady? I’d jump his bones in a second if he crooked his finger my way. Devil Delancy is sex on a stick.”

  Molly’s eyes widened and her breath came quickly. “People are talking about his assistant?” she asked faintly. Of course people are talking, Marilyn’s voice chided. You’re marrying one of the richest men in Atlanta out of the clear blue sky. Did you really think you could avoid the gossip? Didn’t you read ANY of the stories about me and Jackie Baby?

  “Of course, they are. Evidently, she’s not the boss man’s type at all! I mean, you work here, so you’d know,” she remarked, nodding at Molly’s employee lanyard around her neck. “You’ve seen her, right?”

  “I’ve seen her, alright,” Molly muttered, nodding. If she managed to keep from using that lanyard to strangle someone before the day was out, it would be a freaking miracle, too.

  “From what the gals in the typing pool are saying she’s a curvy little thing, but dresses sort of like a frump,” Deborah revealed, lowering her voice.

  Glancing down at her tailored silk skirt and matching shirt, Molly frowned. She looked very well put together today, didn’t she? Her mother had complimented her, hadn’t she? “A frump? Really?”

  “From what I’ve heard, the boss tended to go for poised and elegant ladies, but this woman is more like the girl next door type. I’m not sure how she hooked the sex god sitting in that office,” Deborah mused, jerking her head toward the closed door behind her. “Maybe she’s pregnant.”

  “She’s NOT,” Molly denied sharply, her cheeks reddening as she absently tugged at the edge of her shirt. Had she gained weight? Was that why everybody assumed she was pregnant? She still fit into her size eight dress, didn’t she?

  “Oh, you’re friends with her? I’m sorry. I’m just repeating what I’ve heard,” Deborah stated quickly, straightening quickly. “I hope you understand. I didn’t mean to offend you. I really hope this job becomes permanent for me. I’d love a chance to seduce the boss man.”

  Smiling stiffly, Molly took a step back. “Don’t get too comfortable, Deborah. I have a feeling that the woman that works here won’t give up without a fight,” she warned, walking toward Devil’s door. Oh, she was going to kill him. Murdering him with her bare hands was the only recompense for the indignity of listening to what was being said about her because she was kindhearted enough to do him a favor.

  “Wait! Where are you going?” Deborah asked, watching as Molly walked purposefully toward Mr. Delancy’s door. “You can’t go in there!” she denied, hurrying toward Molly.

  “Watch. Me.” Molly’s eyes dared the other woman to stop her as she shoved open the door to Devil’s office and crossed the threshold. “You son of a bitch! You fired me?” she yelled as Deborah gasped behind her.

  Looking up from his computer, Devil’s smile quickly dissolved as he noted the fury on Molly’s face. “Sweetheart, what are you doing here? We’re supposed to meet for lunch.”

  “Apparently, I’m being fired,” she hissed back. “Call off your dog of war, Devil, and face me like a man,” she demanded, turning to glare at his new office assistant.

  “You’re her?” Deborah asked faintly, stunned. “Oh my God, you can’t be her,” she moaned, paling as she stared into Molly’s furious eyes.

  “She’s who?” Devil growled, turning his dark gaze toward the new assistant that had somehow rattled Molly.

  “Your fiancée,” Molly informed him tersely. “She’s realized that the woman she just spent the last ten minutes maligning is your fiancée.” Clenching her jaw, Molly continued. “You see, Deborah, here, was kind enough to let me know what folks have been saying about me since our engagement, Devil. Oh, and she’d like to boink your brains out, too. What was it you said, Deb? You’d jump his bones in a second if he’d only crook his finger your way?” Molly repeated sweetly, repeating the woman’s earlier words back to her. Glancing back at Devil, she smiled ever-so-brightly. “Evidently, you’re a sex god, I’m not your type at all, and I dress like a frump.” Patting Deborah’s arm, she offered the woman a feigned sympathetic smile. “It’s okay, Debbie dear, I’m really not his type, and I do tend to dress for comfort over style, but as far as his sex god status, you can tell the typing pool that I said he’s really not that good at all. He’s got a positively tiny…”

  “Okay,” Devil interrupted quickly, wrapping an arm around Molly’s waist and tugging her backward until her back met his chest. “I think that’s enough talk about my manly attributes, darling. Which, by the way, haven’t even begun to satisfy you yet,” he added in a low voice against her ear.

  “I…I…I…”

  “Don’t bother with an explanation,” Devil ordered the stunned blonde harshly as he glared at her over Molly’s head. “Simply gather your things and go home. Your services will no longer be necessary here at Delancy and Associates, Miss Valentine. Please close the door behind you.”

  “And don’t let it hit you in the ass on the way out,” Molly mumbled, jerking out of Devil’s arms as the other woman quickly nodded and disappeared. Stomping toward the floor to ceiling windows lining one wall, Molly wrapped her arms around herself as the door closed.

  Damn it all to hell, Devil thought as he watched Molly’s shoulders shake with anger. “Molly,” Devil said softly, taking a step toward her.

  Shaking her head, Molly held up a hand, never taking her eyes off the window. “Do. Not. Speak.”

  “But, sweetheart…”

  “Devil, I’m warning you, if you open your mouth one more time before I tell you to speak to me, I’m going to find a way to push your body off the roof of this building. It’ll be very hard for Nana to bemoan our missed wedding when she’s distracted by mourning your passing, won’t it?”

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Devil remained silent for several minutes as Molly stood stiffly at the bank of windows that overlooked the city and wondered how in the hell he was going to undo the damage some catty temp had inflicted on what had, up until now, been a perfectly good day. Meeting her brilliant emerald eyes as she turned to face him, he could see the anger seething just below the surface of her gaze.

  Inelegantly stated, his woman was pissed.

  Holding up his hands, he immediately began to shake his head. “Before you explode, let me just say that I did not choose that woman, Molly. I called down to Human Resources and asked them to find me a temporary replacement since I knew your schedule has been packed with wedding preparations. That,” he said, jabbing a finger toward the closed door, “is what they sent me.”

  “A beautiful, willowy woman with poise and style. I’m shocked,” Molly bit out, tapping her foot against the oriental carpet. “They sent someone that appears to be exactly your style. She looks like Twiggy, but comes with the bonus attachment of a razor-filled mouth. Somebody down there in HR knows you pretty well, Mr. Delancy. I’d think you’d be thrilled.”

  “That isn’t fair and you know it,” Devil retorted, his face turning thunderous at her implication. “I don’t know what you’re thinking over there, but the only thing I expected from that woman was for her to get the damn filing caught up and get out a few letters that I’ve dictated. Nothing more.”

  “You think I’m jealous?” Molly asked, her tee
th clenched.

  “It crossed my mind,” Devil returned simply, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched Molly begin to pace.

  “You conceited, egotistical ass,” Molly growled, throwing her purse down on the nearest chair. “I’m not jealous. I’m pissed. You replaced me, Devil? Without even talking to me first?”

  “Temporarily,” Devil stressed, watching her tense even more. She looked flushed, but he wasn’t sure that was anger or embarrassment flooding her cheeks with color. “I was going to talk to you about it when we had lunch today.” Sighing, he moved toward her and frowned when she took a step back from him.

  Shaking her head, Molly glared at him. “No closer, Dev. I really don’t trust myself not to rip out your eyeballs right now. Momma would be disappointed if I marred your pretty face and ruined the wedding pictures,” she sneered, turning on her heel and pacing away from him.

  “Molly, I was trying to do a good thing. We both know that you’re exhausted. You fell asleep twice on the way home from the cancer benefit last night. You could barely make it to your bedroom when I got you home. You begged me to let you collapse on the couch. Damn it, I will not apologize for trying to take care of you!” he argued, growing angry himself. He hadn’t done anything wrong. His behavior had been above reproach. He refused to allow Molly to run herself into the ground. Between the wedding preparations, his social commitments and her job here with him, she was running on fumes – existing on high quantities of caffeine and nerves. He couldn’t allow that to continue. And since the wedding preparations were necessary and there was no way in hell he would tolerate the company of another woman during the various social obligations he had to attend, it was the job that had to go. She was an intelligent woman; she should be able to understand his motivation.

  “I can’t do this, Devil,” she said so softly that he had to strain to hear her.

  “Molly, after the wedding, we’ll revisit the whole job issue. I thought you’d prefer to concentrate on finding something in your own field once we were married. If you won’t consider letting me stake you in opening your own art gallery, you could consider one of the museums in the area. I know the curator at…”

  “Not the job, Dev. The wedding,” Molly clarified huskily as she stared out the window again. “This isn’t going to work for either of us.”

  Shocked as he finally comprehended her sudden words, Devil stared at her stiff back. “You’re trying to break off our engagement?” he asked tightly, his own fist balling at his side as he posed the question. “What the fuck did that bitch say to you?” he questioned harshly, grabbing her arm and spinning her to face him as white-hot rage burned in his gut.

  “Nothing I didn’t already suspect,” Molly mumbled, avoiding his gaze and focusing on the embroidered monogram on his spotless white shirt. “Let me go, Devil. This was a foolish idea. We need to cut our losses, come clean with Nana, and…”

  Devil cut off her infuriating diatribe with his mouth, cupping the back of her neck and tilting her head as he possessed her through a kiss so deep that he thought he glimpsed Molly’s soul. Nipping her full lower lip, he waited for her gasp before quickly sliding his tongue between her parted lips to tangle it with hers. Backing her into the glass window, he plastered his body against hers, holding her captive with his superior weight.

  “Devil, don’t. This won’t help anything. You already know I’m attracted to you. You aren’t proving anything here,” Molly moaned, tearing her mouth from underneath his as his hand traveled down her body, pausing only when he reached the curve of her ass. She squeaked when he suddenly lifted her against the window until they were nose to nose.

  “I’m not letting you go, Molly,” he replied calmly, tightening the hand that cradled her ass. “We’re going to be married in less than a week. Nothing is going to change that - certainly not some catty bitch that crossed your path this morning. I’m sorry that whatever she said upset you so much, but I’m not going to allow her or anyone else to come between us.”

  “You can’t force me to say I do,” she retorted, trying to ignore the heavy length of his arousal as it prodded her through the thin silk of her skirt. She could feel him, hard and thick against her waist as he pressed against her, and the flare of need she felt made her want to weep...mostly because she knew she shouldn’t want this. Deborah had been utterly correct; she wasn’t Devil’s type of woman. She’d never be the classy woman that should be attached to his side.

  She was just ordinary, passable Molly, the woman that agreed to do monumentally stupid things like marry a man who didn’t love her in order to make his grandmother feel better. She had to stop this madness now.

  “Don’t do this to us, Molly,” Devil demanded harshly against her lips.

  “There is no ‘us’, Devil,” Molly whispered, finally staring into his turbulent sea blue eyes. Her heart clenched even tighter as she fought the emotions that were threatening to overtake her, but she forced herself to continue. “That’s a lie we’ve told together so much that you’re actually beginning to believe it. I’m not what you want. I’m certainly not what you need.”

  The muscle in Devil’s jaw clenched and released as he listened to her words, determined to dissuade her of this current half-assed notion in any way necessary. “There’s an ‘us’, Molly. That is not a lie. Perhaps we haven’t had a typical courtship, but there’s very definitely an ‘us’ here. And you’re right, I can’t force you to say ‘I do’, but I can do my damnedest to make you want to say it.”

  That was the problem. She did want to say yes to him. Only she wanted it to be real. “You need to put me down,” she ordered huskily as his bigger body settled more firmly against hers and his head bent to nuzzle that vulnerable spot beneath her ear.

  “I like having you right where you are, Molly,” he replied, licking the throbbing pulse point in her neck as he rocked his hips against her. Drifting one hand over her breast, he found her nipple hard and erect behind the bra and filmy shirt. “It feels like you like it, too,” he murmured, strumming his thumb against her beaded nipple. “In fact, I think you love having my hands on you,” he whispered against her ear, squeezing her ass. “Wrap your legs around me, Molly,” he urged, moving his palm to her bare thigh and lifting one leg around his waist.

  “Devil,” Molly groaned as the small movement brought her in stark contact with his growing erection.

  “Do it,” he growled impatiently against her mouth. God Almighty, it was almost impossible to keep his hands off of her now that he had her. “Now.”

  It was that urgent edge in his voice that had her obeying his command. Gripping his shoulders as she wrapped her legs around his waist, locking her ankles together, she met his darkened eyes. “Now, what?” she asked him breathlessly.

  “Now, I show you just how much of an “us” there really is and you learn exactly how good it is when we’re together,” Devil bit out before covering her lips and kissing her hungrily. Pressing his hands against the rounded spheres of her ass, he pulled her away from the window and carried her effortlessly across the room to drop her on the edge of his desk.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Molly’s whole body tingled as her ass met the polished surface of his cherry wood desk. She nervously watched him as he pulled back long enough to drag his tie from around his neck and drop it carelessly to the floor. Licking her dry lips, she gazed at him as he unbuttoned his shirt with determined flicks of his fingers. “Devil, what the hell are you doing?” she asked huskily, curling her fingers around the edge of his desk as he roughly pulled his shirt from his slacks and shrugged it off his broad shoulders.

  “I already answered that question,” he replied smoothly, reaching for the silver buckle of his belt.

  Molly’s panties dampened and her nipples hardened to diamond-hard points as she watched him strip. Her core clenched as her eyes raked his sculpted chest and drifted down to the hardened eight-pack that made up his perfect abdomen. A fine mat of hair trailed down his chest an
d her fingers itched to touch it. “We can’t do this here,” Molly groaned, watching as his slacks sagged when he flicked open the button of his slacks. Her mouth watered, imagining what the material hid from her eyes. She could see he was hard, the material tenting over his arousal left little to her imagination. “Anyone could come in here. You didn’t even lock your office door,” she worried out loud, looking over her shoulder toward the entrance to his office.

  Reaching around her leg, Devil jerked open a desk drawer and depressed a button inside before slipping one arm beneath Molly’s legs and the other behind her back.

  Molly stared in stunned amazement as the wall behind Devil separated to reveal a hidden bedroom. She’d heard that he had a corporate suite in the building where he stayed overnight whenever there were ongoing heated negotiations overseas. With the time difference between here and many of the countries in which he held interests, sometimes there were meetings in the middle of the night. He’d never expected her to attend before, so she’d always assumed his suite was on another floor since she’d never seen it. It appeared the location of that suite had been underneath her nose all along. “You’ve got a secret hidden room?” she asked faintly as he moved through the gap in the wall, pausing only long enough to hit a button on the other side of the wall with his elbow. “Devil, if this is some Fifty Shades of Grey shit, I am soooo not interested,” she warned, scanning the small room for any sign of whips or chains while the wall slid closed behind them. Finding nothing but a king-size bed, simple nightstand, and wall-mounted flat-screen television, she decided that it might be okay. Maybe.

  Devil’s chest rumbled as he laughed, grateful that she was at least capable of coherent thought again. Dropping her in the center of the bed, he grinned as Molly came immediately to her knees. Toeing off his loafers, he shook his head. “I promise, Molly, it’s a perfectly normal bedroom. No kinky goods to be found. Unless you count me, that is. I’ve got a couple of incredibly X-rated thoughts on what I’d like to do to you.” He winked at her playfully as he pushed his slacks over his hips.