Only thing was, I gave Aurora my number a week ago and she still hadn't called. I didn't think she was going to. I couldn't say I blamed her, considering how awkward our last exchange was and how she probably regretted the first time we met. I didn't love the idea of having to face her again, especially as my employee, but the girl was talented. I'd be doing the brand a disservice if I didn't at least try.
I walked out of my office a moment later. "I'm heading down to the Fifth Avenue store," I informed my secretary.
"I'll hold your calls."
I nodded at her and strode down the long hallway to the elevator. Energy sizzled through my veins at the thought of getting to see her again. I still found it incredible that out of all the places in New York City, she ended up working in my store. It was the kind of coincidence that makes you sit up and take notice, like the universe was trying to relay a message. Too bad Aurora wasn't listening. I couldn't make her listen, and my balls ached at the thought that I might never get to taste her again. What she lacked in stature she made up in sex appeal. Even in the Lock Knocks uniform of khakis and a navy polo, Aurora stood out from the crowd. She was a princess, after all.
I hadn't made it five steps into Lock Knocks before Jessie was on me.
"Mr. Ralston," she said. "We weren't expecting you for another visit so soon."
I could see the panic in her pale blue eyes. She was a devoted employee, a hard worker who always wanted to prove herself. I'd heard lots of great things about her from other managers back when she was just a floor associate, and her work ethic hadn't waned since her promotion a year ago. It could be grating at times, though, because her eagerness to please often took the form of flattery.
"I came to see Aurora. Is she working today?"
Idiot. I should have called to check beforehand, but my mind had been too scrambled at the thought of gazing into those emerald eyes again. This girl would be the end of me.
Jessie swiveled her head wildly like a frantic owl. "I'm sure she's here somewhere. Want me to call her over the loudspeaker for you?"
I shook my head. "That won't be necessary. I'll find her."
I started walking off in the direction of the toy section. I could tell Jessie was stuck between leaving me be, as I’d clearly stated, and following me around to make sure I didn't stumble upon anything I wouldn't like. In the end she stayed up by the tills while I travelled deeper into the back, and I was glad for it. I wanted to talk to Aurora alone.
I found my princess shelving dolls. She was standing on an adorable little stool so she could reach the upper shelves, which was funny considering they were shorter than normal shelves to accommodate the height of our younger shoppers.
"Hi."
Aurora jumped, eyes bugging wildly out of her head. The stool slipped and she tipped dangerously to one side, one second away from losing her balance. I dove in next to her and grabbed her by the waist to steady her, balancing her torso on my shoulder.
She was warm, her hips fleshy and full. I wanted to sink my teeth into them. I shouldn't have even been touching them with my hands.
"Uh, I think I'm okay now," she said. "Thanks though. You totally saved my life there."
"No problem." I took a step back, putting my hands into my pockets so I wouldn't be tempted to reach for her again. "Sorry for scaring you."
The stool brought her to my height and then some. It was strange looking up at her, and she must've felt it too as she immediately stepped down from the stool.
"I'm easily scared. It's not your fault."
I laughed. "I'll remember that."
"Can I help you with something?" She furrowed her brow, gazing up at me expectantly.
I had a few things I could use her help with, actually, but none that were appropriate for the venue. I cleared my throat.
"I have something I wanted to talk to you about," I said.
Her lips pursed a little, but I finished my thought before she had a chance to get too worried.
"It's a work thing. A design thing, actually."
“A design thing?" Her long auburn hair was secured in a high pony, and she reached back to tighten it. The fabric of her shirt pulled against her tits as she did, and I nearly groaned. "Why do you want to talk to me? I'm just a stock associate."
"Walk with me?"
She nodded, and I started off at a meandering pace around the perimeter of the store.
"I don't know if you know this, but Lock Knocks has been a personal vision of mine from the start," I began. "I wanted to build a store that both kids and parents would enjoy coming to. Something clean and organized, but with enough fun visual interest for kids not to get bored."
"I'd say you've accomplished that," she said thoughtfully, gesturing at an excited troupe of kids as they ran past.
"But the journey's never done, is it?" I turned down the next aisle and we continued to walk. "I've been looking for ways to rebrand and remodel without having to completely strip each of the stores. I want a system that I can put in place that will help visually transform the Lock Knocks brand while still maintaining the classic charms that our customers love."
She kept pace, a frown creeping onto her pretty features. I could tell she was wondering why the hell I was sharing all this with her, so I decided to cut to the chase.
"Aurora."
I stopped and turned to face her. It was hardly the right environment for handing out a promotion, considering there was a complaining toddler and a pantsuit-wearing mother down at the other end of the aisle, but it would have to do.
"I want to bring you onto my design team. Your work around the store has been great and I think your talent would be better served designing full time, rather than doing it between stocking shelves."
I expected her face to blossom into a smile. I hoped, even, since I hadn't seen her smile since the night we met and I was desperate for it. I knew how sweet it would taste. I knew how it would make my heart soar. I craved it like a drug.
But Aurora didn't smile. Her brow creased with confusion and she shot a distressed look at the woman at the end of the aisle, then grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward the set of double doors leading to the back of the store. I allowed her to drag me, uncertain why she was reacting so sketchily. Had I said something strange?
The doors swung closed behind us, blocking out much of the noise from the store. The store's sound system was tuned in to a kid's radio station that we payed extra to access, and strings of bubbly pop music permeated the air.
Aurora dropped my wrist and took a cautionary look both ways in the back room. Once she was satisfied that we were alone, she spun on me.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked in a hushed whisper. "Do you feel guilty or something?"
I still did feel guilty, in a way, though I couldn't find it in myself to regret our hot encounter. I wish it could have ended differently, but I wouldn't trade the memory of her silken pussy for anything.
That wasn't why I was offering her a promotion though, and I endeavored to make that clear. She continued talking, however, not giving me a chance to explain.
"Look, I'm sorry that I haven't called you. I don't hate you. It's just been a stressful few weeks for me and it's all been a bit much. I just got out of a relationship, moved to a new city, and got a new job working for a guy who accidentally had sex with me." She folded her arms over her chest, but the gesture wasn't defensive. It was more self-comforting. "You can stop feeling guilty, though. I swear, I'm not upset about what happened. I just want to move on with my life."
"I understand," I said. "This has nothing to do with that. I want you on the design team because you're talented and I've seen what you can do. Nobody around me right now has fresh ideas and the company badly needs some."
Her lips pursed in thought. I couldn't tell whether she'd already made up her mind, but it didn't seem positive if she had. Much as I wanted her to be happy with my proposal, I knew the situation was more complicated than that. Perhaps I was stupid to think that we
could move on from our sordid start and join forces.
God, did she have to look so goddamn sexy like this though? Her lower lip jutted defiantly, eyes blazing. She either didn't believe that the offer had nothing to do with our history, or she believed me but hated me for asking anyway. Either way, it didn't look like I'd be getting the answer I wanted out of her.
"Think about it." I offered up a brief smile and then went to walk around her, heading back toward the store.
Aurora's hand shot out and gripped my bicep as I passed. I stilled, looking down into her big green eyes.
"Thank you," she said. "I'm not processing this well. I should have said thank you earlier."
I turned to face her, but she didn't release her hold on my arm. I didn't want her to.
I cocked a grin. "The thanks is appreciated but unnecessary. You’d be doing me a favor by taking the job, since I'd only have to try to find someone to emulate what you're already perfectly creating."
She laughed and her eyes dipped to her fingers on my bicep. Slowly, she let them fall away.
"Still, thank you."
I nodded. "Does that mean you'll take the job?"
"It means I'll consider it." She smiled coyly. "If I'd known I was such a valuable resource, maybe I would've played harder ball when Jessie was hiring me."
"If I'd known that you were going to be such a valuable resource, I would've given you at least two orgasms before running from your room."
I couldn't help it. I wanted to shove the words back in my mouth as soon as they left, but it was already too late. I figured this would be the part where Aurora shied away, but she didn't. She met my eyes boldly and her lips took on a mischievous tilt.
"It's never too late to make a second good first impression."
I don't know if she knew what those words, the challenge in them, did to me, but if she did she was a wilder cat than I even knew.
And she was about to be in trouble. Deep trouble.
Chapter 11
Aurora
I shouldn't have said it.
I should have ignored his comment and gone on with my day. I should have done anything other than feed into his game, since I knew it was a particularly dangerous one for me to play. I'd only just surgically removed the tumor of Nolan from my life, and it seemed crazy to me that my next move would be to hit on my boss immediately after he'd offered me a promotion.
Did that stop me? No.
Apparently, I was still actively living my new, sassier life that had me doing things I wouldn't normally do and saying things I wouldn't normally say.
Apparently, I was going out of my mind, too, because the fire that flashed in his eyes thrilled me.
"You're a mystery to me, you know that?" Brendon sidled closer, until our breath mingled in the small space between us. "I don't think I could ever figure you out."
"I hope that won't stop you from trying."
I was a mystery alright, even to myself. I almost didn't recognize this girl, but I liked her. She was the wild child I'd always wanted to be, the one that Amy had eventually grown into, leaving me in the dust.
"You're teasing me." It was halfway between an accusation and a revelation. He grinned and shoved his hands in the pockets of his slacks, giving our conversation an even more casual edge. "You like to do that, don't you?"
I nearly told him that the last thing I was known as in my hometown was a tease, but I liked the idea of him thinking it of me. The truth was that it'd been driving me crazy trying not to call him. It was literally keeping me up at night as hot lust curled in my belly and begged me to pick up the phone.
I kept thinking that sleeping with him again would be a backslide, would undermine the good work I'd done building a new life here, but I wasn't so sure. Wasn't the whole point of a new life supposed to be that it was new? Why was I still doing things the way the old Aurora would have done them?
The new Aurora was more fun. She was flirty. She had mind-blowing sex with hot strangers she met in the hallway of her hotel. More importantly, most importantly, she was fearless.
So, fuck it, I said to myself. Fuck it all. New Aurora was here to stay.
I grabbed Brendon by the tie, pulling him down to my level while I rose on my tiptoes. "I'm not that much of a tease," I whispered just before covering his mouth with mine.
It was crazy. It was reckless. It was really, really stupid. But hell, it was fun.
Who cared if I screwed up this job by screwing my boss? I'd only just begun rebuilding my life from nothing, and I could start over again if I really needed to. I wanted to be irresponsible for once and Brendon seemed like the best way.
Plus, it was getting downright impossible to resist him.
He pulled me hard against his chest the moment our lips touched, anchoring those large hands on my ass and biting on my lower lip with relish. I moaned and opened up for him, letting his tongue probe my mouth and stroke along my own. His kiss was every bit as explosive and amazing as I remembered it to be, and I soon found myself swaying as I grew drunk on it.
My core twisted, curling tight and hot in my belly as his hands roamed my back and curled into fists in my hair. He pulled my head back and stared deep down into my eyes, lips parted with lust.
He didn't say anything. I didn't say anything either. It was almost like he was searching for something in my eyes, something that he evidently found as a moment later his mouth crashed down again.
He pushed me back, back, back, until my shoulders met with the rough cement wall and his muscled torso crushed my breasts flat between us. The kiss grew in fervor, a dance of licking and sucking and biting that we both performed in perfect unison. I groaned and rolled my hips up against his, desperate for some form of release.
He pulled away, panting, and held my face in his hands. His thumbs stroked roughly over my cheeks.
"You're taking the rest of the day off." His voice was thick with lust.
"I am?"
He nodded, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the exit.
I didn't argue. He was the boss, after all.
It settled in somewhere between Lock Knocks and wherever Brendon was taking me that this was probably a bad idea. Kissing him was one thing, but shirking work to leave with him to presumably go on an all-day screw fest was another thing entirely.
I couldn't help myself. He was so sexy that it made my heart pound mercilessly in my chest. I was enthralled in the same way I had been that first night we spent together. It was a bit like having an out of body experience, except I could feel every caress on my shoulder, on my arm, my thigh, as we cabbed for his place.
The ride passed in a whirlwind. We didn't speak. Not with our mouths, anyway. Our bodies were saying all sorts of things to each other, things that we probably shouldn't say out loud. Not in front of witnesses.
When we finally arrived at his apartment, I barely had time to register how beautiful his place was before he was on me again. He guided me through the front door, his chest pressed against my back and the hard band of his arm wrapped around my torso to hold me in place.
He was so big and tall, so strong and unyielding. When he held me, it felt like I was anchored down to the earth itself. I leaned into him, offering up my neck for him to suck as we shuffled toward the bedroom. At least, I figured we were heading for the bedroom. We could have been on our way to the balcony, to the kitchen, to the stars for all I cared. I just wanted to feel Brendon inside of me again and I'd do whatever it took to get me there.
"I forgot how good your skin tasted," he murmured, sending shivers coursing down my spine. "You're so fucking sweet, Aurora. Everything about you..." He bit at the sensitive flesh of my throat at the same time as he pushed me through the door into his bedroom. "So sweet..."
I was one big bundle of nerves and I barely knew which way was up. It dimly registered that I was in over my head with him, that whatever passion was unfolding would probably be way too much for me to handle, but I didn't care. I wasn't afraid.
If it had been anyone else I might have been. I might have recognized that these feelings churning in my core weren't usual to have for somebody I barely knew. If only I had the wherewithal to resist. I was diving headlong into a dark, cavernous lake and I had no idea if there were rocks at the bottom waiting to drown me. What's the use of breathing if drowning promises such sweet absolution?
Brendon's bed was neatly made with navy and white sheets that felt luxurious against my palm as he spun me and backed me into it. His hands found my face, thumbs brushing over my cheeks as he kissed me long and deep. There it was again—that sweetness that had first tempted me the night we met. He was so passionate and driven, but there was always a hint of something warm and gentle in everything he did. It was like watching a wolf gently care for a tiny kitten, except I was the kitten and I had to trust that I wasn't about to be devoured.
Even though part of me wanted to be devoured.
Brendon's hands slid down my neck, my breasts, guiding down my hips and over my ass. He worked his way back up with agonizing slowness, unbuttoning my pants and then moving up to pull off my Lock Knocks polo shirt. The second it was gone he lowered his face to the cleft of my breasts, kissing them gently as his fingers unclasped my bra and let it fall to the floor.
Brendon rose to his full height, looking down at me through lust-drenched eyes. I flushed under his inspection. Normally this would be the part where I'd long to cross my arms over my chest and get under the covers as quickly as possible, but I felt confident and sexy under his gaze.
He bit his lower lip and leaned down to kiss me again, pushing down on my khakis until they and my underwear hit the floor. I was completely naked in my boss' bedroom. My sexy boss. My incredibly sexy, magnetically attractive boss. It was scandalous. It was amazing. I couldn't wait to tell Amy, but more than anything I couldn't wait to get him naked too.
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