by Becky McGraw
Dave picked up the folder from the table. “That’s not happening, Mac. It’s a very bad idea for too many reasons to list.”
“Well, talk to her anyway. She’s a very smart woman, so maybe she has another idea.”
“I’ve run this company just fine without Susan Whitmore for six years now, Mac. I don’t need or want her input on our investigations. I am going to talk to her though. I found some options for employment for her. What I need you to do right now is to go figure out another option for us to find out what happened to that baby. That’s what you need to focus on, okay?”
With a deep sigh, Mac nodded. “You got it, boss man,” he said as he shifted to his feet and walked out of the conference room.
Dave huffed a breath too as he followed Mac out of the conference room. Yes, the sooner he got Susan out of his office the better. He had been avoiding her like the plague, hadn’t seen her since their confrontation over the popsicles, but he knew now his luck was running out.
Against all odds, his men were becoming attached to her and she was obviously encouraging it. The last thing he needed in this office was friction or drama, and he could see it coming with the new Susan Whitmore fan club. Dave just needed her gone, before she embedded herself into his group and removing her would be like extracting a cactus spine.
Just as he rounded the corner into the outer office, Susan walked out of the kitchen toward him. She was sucking on something, but it didn’t look like a popsicle. When she got closer he realized it was some kind of candy. It was also the first time he’d seen her that day, or any day since the day he told her to lose the baggy suits.
Her new uniform of choice was skin tight yoga pants and a tank top. No wonder his men were gaga. Dave just barely kept his own tongue from flapping out of his mouth, as his eyes ticked over her full breasts and down her mile-long, muscular legs to her toes while she walked over to her desk. Dave knew Susan was athletic, and over the years he’d often wondered what her body looked like under those baggy black suits. Well he didn’t have to wonder anymore. Every square inch of her tight body was right there for him to see. There was absolutely nothing left to his imagination. Good God—she was built like a brick shithouse. His body quickly registered that fact too.
Susan paused at her desk and held his eyes as she slowly slid the white stick out of her mouth until a round, pink ball appeared. She stopped to twirl the candy between her lips, which made matters much, much worse. As she pulled the candy from her mouth, it made a sucking, popping noise and Dave bit back a groan.
Susan’s eyebrow lifted, and she smiled. Waving the candy at him, she said breezily, in that husky voice of hers, “Howdy, stranger. Did I catch you before you scurried into your office like a cockroach? Or did you need something?”
Now, that was definitely a loaded question, Dave thought, as he stood there staring at her breasts. He couldn’t help himself from giving his imagination free rein. Unless she was a mind reader, it wouldn’t hurt, and he didn’t think her super brain had given her that superpower. If it had, he was probably a dead man, because with her standing right there in front of him, he imagined her throaty, raspy voice would sound just that way when she moaned as he lifted her hips and shoved his aching cock inside of her body. Her body would make that delicious sucking, popping noise she’d made with the candy when he pulled back out. He’d fuck her slowly, torture her until she begged him to make her come. His name would be a hoarse, almost soundless, whisper on her full lips when he finally gave her what she asked for. Her body would clutch his dick, squeeze it like a vise, pulling him further inside of her with every pulsation of her orgasm, until he came too. Dave would fuck her all night long in every position he could think of, and some that had yet to be invented. She would have to beg him for a few minutes to catch her breath in that same raspy voice.
If given the chance, Dave would spend all night long, hell a week, giving her exactly what she was asking for by wearing those clothes, sucking that damned candy, and using that breathy whisper. At that second, he wanted that more than he wanted his next breath.
As much fire as this woman had inside of her, he imagined she would be a freak between the sheets. He wanted to meet that freak and teach her a lesson about teasing a man. Tie that freak to his bed and keep her there until he worked her out of his system.
Dave’s chin dropped to his chest, a groan rumbled in his chest and his breathing hitched, as his cock went rock solid behind his fly. He was surprised when he felt a finger under his chin right before it was tipped upward. His eyes met Susan’s curious blue stare and the spell was broken.
“You okay, boss man? You look a little…flushed,” she purred.
With a smug grin, she held his gaze and lifted the candy ball, stuck out her tongue and curled it to twirl the candy in the well, then flicked her tongue over it making little mewling noises in her throat. When she added slow flirtatious sweeps of her eyelashes over her big blue eyes, Dave knew for sure she was playing him, and he wasn’t amused.
She’s a very smart woman.
Evidently more than smart enough to figure out that his problem with her eating the popsicles was about a lot more than a drip trail in the kitchen. And he was almost certain now that the skin-tight yoga suits weren’t about comfort. This was her bid to pay Dave back for his baggy suit comment. Mind games to teach him a lesson.
Because Susan Whitmore thought she was smarter than him.
She would be the one learning a lesson today. About him. “I need to see you in my office, now,” Dave growled as he turned to stomp toward his office.
CHAPTER SIX
Nervousness was a condition totally unfamiliar to Susan, since she was the one usually in control of situations. She was feeling it now though, as she followed Dave Logan into his office, her heart beating an uneven rhythm in her chest. The look in his eyes a second ago even scared her a little, and regret for pushing him on purpose filled her. Two more emotions she usually wasn’t subject to feeling. Hopefully, he wasn’t about to fire her.
Quitting her job at the bureau was dumb, but teasing the obviously angry man storming into his office right now to his breaking point was idiotic, unless she wanted to lose this job too. Giving in to temptation for a little revenge had been a very bad idea. The worst. Susan had underestimated Dave Logan. She really didn’t think he’d catch on that she was ringing his bell, and he deserved to be tortured a little for the way he’d treated her. It was clear now that he was not a man to be messed with any more than she had been that woman at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. That little insight had come too late though. She knew without a doubt she was about to pay the price for the laughs she and Slade had at his expense.
When she’d asked Slade jokingly what was up with her new boss and his aversion to popsicles, his tongue-in-cheek response, “Probably reminds him of the blow jobs he isn’t getting,” sent her anger from zero to sixty in two seconds flat. Slade’s speculation for the reason behind Logan’s baggy suit comment, “He probably wants to see what’s under them,” painted a nasty picture of Dave Logan. He was a sexist pig. His behavior was totally not PC in today’s workplace. Susan felt like her best contribution to Deep Six Security before she left would be teaching Dave Logan a valuable lesson. Slade agreed and even helped her devise a plan. They’d been spending their lunch breaks laughing about the results.
It looked like the plan had backfired. Big time. And she might be the one learning the lesson here. Keep your head down and do your damned job. Lesson learned. But Susan wasn’t wrong in this situation. And she wasn’t going to cower down, or beg Dave Logan to keep her. Susan knew the best defense was always a good offense, so she gathered up her Barracuda bravado, stiffened her shoulders, and lifted her chin as she walked through the doorway, before shutting the door behind her.
Logan’s eyes flew to the sucker in her mouth, which was the only thing keeping her mouth shut at the moment and he frowned. “Throw that damned sucker in the garbage and have a seat,” he grow
led, as he reached down to open a drawer in his desk.
Susan withdrew the sucker and ground her teeth, as she hovered at the trashcan, debating whether to shove it up his nose instead. She could do it, but she could also end up on her ass outside the building. Jobless. Or in handcuffs. The fact that thought sent a little thrill along her nerve endings upset her. Biting back a growl of her own, Susan dropped the sucker into the empty can with a loud thud.
“Happy?” she asked angrily, as she strode to the chair across from his desk and plopped down, before swinging one of her legs across the other. An electric shock zapped her taking her breath. Susan held back a whimper, as her fingernails dug into the wooden arms of the chair and her eyes flew up to Dave Logan who was frowning at her. She held her breath, fighting through the vibrations pulsing through her inner muscles. When they finally slowed to a dull thud, her breath rushed out and moisture soaked her there.
How in the hell could she forget about the second dumbest thing she’d ever done in her life? She needed to remember to sit more carefully. Cautiously, she uncrossed her legs and wiggled in the chair until she was comfortable. The seam on the tight yoga pants didn’t help her problem.
“No, I’m not happy,” Dave said flatly, as his hot glare speared her. “You’re disrupting my office, and I won’t have it.” His eyes took a quick trip to her toes and back up. Susan felt like he’d stripped her naked with his eyes and found her lacking.
“How the hell am I doing that?” she asked shortly.
“Getting cozy with my men, distracting them from what they’re supposed to be doing, wearing skin tight clothing, sucking on fucking popsicles and candy like a porn star. I don’t know what game you’re playing, but it’s unprofessional. We have clients who come here, and I’m sure they don’t want to see that.”
Susan folded her arms under her breasts, and Logan’s eyes dropped to the edge of her tank top before shooting back up to hers. It was very quick, but Susan didn’t miss it. She knew exactly what this man’s problem was. He wasn’t fooling her a bit. Dave Logan was hot and bothered. It also sounded a lot like he was jealous of Slade and Dex.
Nice try, Logan, but I have your number.
“Well, obviously you don’t mind seeing it, since you’re looking so hard,” she accused with a short, dry laugh. “I’ve been here a week now, and not one client has come into the office. There’s nothing to disrupt. So I guess the question is, what is your problem, Dave Logan? I think Slade is right and you’re just hard up, horny, and repressed. Your condition is not my fault, and if you get turned on by simply watching a woman suck a damned popsicle, I think you need to, ah, take matters in hand and do something about the situation, instead of taking it out on me.”
Dave didn’t say a word, he just looked stunned. Susan didn’t even think he was breathing, so she decided to get this off her chest while he was quiet. She ticked off her points on her fingers. “You had a problem with me smoking, so I quit. I brought in popsicles and blow pops, but now you have a problem with those too. I wore black suits into the office which were perfectly professional, but you didn’t like them. I’ve worn something else, and now you have a problem with my new wardrobe.” Leaning back in the chair, she shook her head. “I think you need to decide what it is that you want. If that’s me wearing something else into this office, since I have no money, you’ll need to fund a new wardrobe for me. Hell, maybe even pick it out for me, since you are the only one who seems to know what’s acceptable.” She leaned forward again to put her elbows on her knees and point at him. “But know this…whatever you pick out for me your men will have to wear too, or you will be committing sexual discrimination. I don’t think Slade or Dex would look good in a mini-skirt and heels. What I have on is no more revealing than what the guys wear, or what you have on,” Susan finished, taking a glance at his tight t-shirt, which hugged his muscled chest like a second skin. She also knew his jeans were just as snug, snugger, because she couldn’t help but notice how they hugged his tight ass as she followed him into the office.
A funny rumble broke the silence that followed her final point, Dave’s face ticked in several places, and bright red color crept up his throat to his hairline like a thermometer sitting in a cup of hot water. Finally, he vaulted up to his feet with his hands fisted at his sides. He drew a deep breath in through his flared nostrils to roar, “Slaaade, get your ass in here!”
The sound bounced off the walls and hurt her ears, but Susan held up a hand as a flash of inspiration struck her. “Oh, wait a second—I’m not finished, Logan,” she interrupted.
Breathing hard, Dave’s eyes swung to meet hers. Right then, Susan knew exactly what a homicidal look was. She felt sure she could defend herself if it came down to it though, and it might, because she wasn’t nearly done with this man. She was going to make damned sure he was scared enough not to fire her.
“Since we’re friends,” Susan started breezily. “I thought I’d point out a few things that may cause you a lot of trouble in the future. For example, I have more experience and education than most of the men here. You offered me a secretarial position when I know you are hiring agents at Deep Six, and have been interviewing. Only men. There have been applications and resumes submitted by several qualified women who weren’t interviewed, because I filed them. If a woman was in that mindset, she might construe that to be sexual discrimination in your hiring practices. That could be a very expensive lawsuit waiting to happen.”
Dave Logan’s face came alive with ticks now, his body was practically buzzing. She felt sure his teeth would be ground to dust soon his jaw was so tight. “Are you threatening me?” Dave asked through his teeth, in a low, lethal voice.
“Of course not. I like you, Logan,” Susan replied with a wide, totally feigned smile. “You’re my friend, and as a friend with a great deal of legal experience, I feel it’s my duty to warn you about your potentially expensive oversight.” Susan cleared her throat. “I don’t think you’ve done it on purpose, it’s probably just something that slipped your notice because you’re so busy. Your company is only six years old, so just consider it a growing pain,” Susan said unable to keep the condescension from her tone. Butter wouldn’t have melted in her mouth, as her Texas-born mother used to say.
“The only fucking pain I have around here is you, lady. I ought to just fire your ass. I should never have hired you in the first place,” Dave said as he walked around the desk to stand in front of her chair to glare down at her.
She put a finger to her chin, and smiled. “Um, I wouldn’t suggest that…then I would have cause for a lawsuit myself, wouldn’t I?”
Dave took a step closer, and she could practically feel his laser-like gaze burn her as he stared down at her. Susan craned her neck to look up at him, and watched the pulse pounding at the side of his throat.
“Well, if I’m going to be sued…” Before Susan could blink his hand shot forward to grab her wrist and he jerked her to her feet and into his chest. His arm clamped around her waist and arms and he turned her to pin her against his desk. “I better make it worth my damned while,” Logan growled, before he slammed his mouth down over hers taking her breath.
Susan was too stunned to do anything but let him devour her mouth like the candy she’d dropped into his wastebasket a few minutes ago. When her brain kicked into gear, she struggled to free herself. Dave shoved his fingers into her hair to grip her skull, holding her still while he continued to grind his mouth against hers. Her heart was like a runaway train in her chest, as she tried to gather her scrambled thoughts enough to find a countermove to get out of his hold.
Kidney punch? Not enough reach or momentum, since her elbows were trapped. Knee to the groin? She moved her hips to gauge the odds of connecting with his groin, and boy did she connect. Her pubic bone connected with the head of his rock solid erection. The head of his cock slipped right into the cradle of her thighs and she went still. Susan felt his deep-throated moan in every cell of her body. Delicious heat floated t
hrough her settling between her legs. Dave slowed the kiss, deepened it, and absorbed Susan’s reluctant moan into his mouth. His arm loosened around her a little, and instead of gripping her skull, he held her head as his thumb stroked her scalp near her ear while he kissed her. Chills skittered over her scalp, raising every follicle, then slicked down her neck to harden her nipples.
Because Susan couldn’t help herself, her hips moved in small circles against him. The pressure of his hardness against her aching clit felt too good. Susan slid her palm up his chest to circle his neck and pull his mouth closer. She ground her hips harder against him, and with every gyration, inching her nearer to a climax, something it had been a helluva long time since she’d had. Her tongue tangled with his and it wasn’t long before she became the kisser instead of the kissee, leaning into him, wanting to absorb his delicious heat into her body.
With the transfer of power though, Dave’s arms dropped and he pushed her away to stumble back. Breathing hard, his eyes wild, he took another step back, a look of shock on his face. Susan was breathing just as hard, felt just as wild, but she wanted him to kiss her like that again. And more. She’d been so damned close. From a kiss. And the buzzing between her legs was going to drive her insane like it had been for two weeks.
Damn Carlos and his stupid idea.
When her brain finally engaged, Susan sucked in a shuddering breath, dropped her chin to her chest and slowly exhaled. “What the hell was that about?” she asked.
Was that her hoarse, breathy voice?
