Engaging the Boss (Heirs of Damon)
Page 17
“Good at what?”
“At any of this.” He gestured between them. “I have no good instincts.”
She let out an indignant huff. “Don’t you dare say things like that. No one could ask for a better man than I’ve got. Seriously. You don’t have to be a charming talker like Andrew to love someone. I mean it, Jonathan. I feel loved. Really loved with you. You are good at it.”
He smiled at her and took her face in his hands. “I do love you, Sarah. More than anything. I can’t believe you love me back. I still don’t understand why.”
“You don’t have to understand it. You just have to accept it.”
“Okay.” He paused, but she knew he wasn’t finished, so she waited until he continued again. “Anyway, I don’t know if it’s too soon or not.”
“Too soon for what?” She was so focused on easing his concerns that she genuinely, stupidly, had no idea what he was going to say.
Or do.
What he did was stuff his hand into his pocket and pull something out.
She blinked down dumbly at the ring he’d given her for their fake engagement.
“I want it to be real,” he said, his voice like gravel. “I want it to…I mean, if you do too.”
She was so overwhelmed with surprise and joy and emotion she couldn’t do anything but tremble and stare down at the ring.
Evidently, she stared too long. Jonathan stuff the ring back into his pocket. “It’s fine if it’s too soon. I can wait. I’m not any good at—“
“No!” she cried, grabbing for his hand and, when it came up empty, trying to dig into his pocket for the ring. “It’s not too soon. I want it. I want it!”
“Oh.” They had a little scuffle until he manage to get the ring back from her. “Well, am I at least allowed to put it on you myself?”
“Right.” She was shaking helplessly and had to force herself not to grab the beautiful ring back from him, so much did she want it. “I guess you can do that.”
He cleared his throat and picked up her left hand. Then he gently slid the ring onto her finger. He gazed up at her face then, still holding her hand, his expression reflecting everything she needed to know about his love, his commitment, the depths of his generous heart.
A stupid tear slipped out of her eye as she nodded back at him speechlessly.
Then he groaned hoarsely and pulled her into a kiss. A deep one. One that went on for a really long time.
When they finally broke apart, her knees were weak and she had to cling to him to keep her feet.
“That was a proposal,” Jonathan said, his arms holding her unshakably. “Just in case it wasn’t clear.”
She giggled helplessly. “I know it was a proposal, you idiot. And, just so you know, I told you yes.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Just making sure.”
There was a kind of joy so deep it couldn’t possibly be shaped by words. That was what Sarah was feeling as they walked slowly back toward the inn. She could see on Jonathan’s face that he felt exactly the same way.
He held her hand as they walked, and they didn’t speak at all.
***
If you haven’t yet read them, you can read the first two Heirs of Damon books, Seducing the Enemy and Playing the Playboy. The final Heirs of Damon book—Stripping the Billionaire, about Benjamin Damon—will be out this summer.
Teaser Excerpt from Missing
If you enjoyed Engaging the Boss, you might enjoy Missing by the same author.
“Nathan Livingston is sex on a bun.”
Lynn Madison dutifully scrawled the words “sex on a bun” into her little reporter’s notebook and tried not to laugh.
The middle-aged woman selling coffee from a sidewalk cart stared across the street to the square, toward the press conference Lynn was covering. “But you can tell he’s a family man at heart.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Well, he could have been the President by now, like his dad, but instead he pulled out of politics so he could take care of his girls after his wife left him.”
Lynn jotted down a couple of notes. “I wouldn’t say he pulled out of politics. He makes a fortune as a political consultant. People pay exorbitant amounts for even just an hour of his time and advice.”
“Yeah, but that’s different,” the woman said. “He has to work behind the scenes now. He was born into American royalty, but he stepped down for his daughters.”
Glancing over her shoulder, Lynn focused in on Nathan Livingston, standing in front of a bank of microphones and looking as handsome and confident as a movie star.
He was born to be a politician. His grandfather had served in the Senate for forty years. His father had been a two-term president. His uncle was currently the governor of Virginia.
Lynn had actually been an intern in Nathan’s office the year after she graduated from college. Ten years ago now, when he’d had his short-lived career in Congress.
She had to agree with the woman’s earlier assessment. He might not be sex on a bun, but he was definitely sex in a three-thousand-dollar suit.
She had good reason to know. For the last two years, Lynn had been spending one hot night with him every three months.
“What do you think of his project?” she asked, turning back to the woman, trying not to think about the next time she’d get together with Nathan.
“What project?”
“The urban redevelopment project. The one he’s talking about at the press conference.”
“Oh. I didn’t pay any attention to that.”
Lynn smothered another laugh and jotted a final note.
“I love your top,” the woman said. “Where did you get it?”
Lynn glanced down at the pale blue silk blouse she wore. “At a flea market. I think it belonged to someone’s grandmother.”
“Oh, no. It doesn’t look old-fashioned at all. I wish I could make clothes like that work.”
Lynn was ridiculously pleased by the compliment. She had a weakness for vintage blouses and accessories, so she scoured thrift stores and flea markets religiously. She thought she pulled them together pretty well so they looked stylish rather than outdated, but it was nice to have affirmation from a stranger.
She thanked the woman for talking to her and then scouted her surroundings for someone else she could interview.
As the editor of the successful web magazine she and her ex-husband had founded eight years ago, she didn’t usually write stories as minor as this one herself. The press conference had been last-minute, however, and no one else was available to cover it.
She noticed a guy selling knock-off designer purses down the block who didn’t look busy, so she went to talk to him.
She managed to get a good quote from him too. “Livingston fakes it better than any other son of a bitch I know.”
Then she figured she had enough for a short article, so she just stood at the edge of the square and watched Nathan Livingston control the crowd, control the story, control the world.
Even from a distance, he exuded strength and authority. His charisma was solid rather than slick.
She couldn’t help but feel a surge of pleased entitlement at the secret knowledge that she got to have sex with this man. Not very often, but still…
Lynn didn’t always agree with his politics, but she had no doubt that the coffee-woman was right. He could have been President. He could have been anything he wanted.
***
Back in her office, Lynn took fifteen minutes to draft the article.
She made sure to play up the humor and irony while still being fair to Nathan and his project. Their web magazine had established a niche for itself in the very crowded D.C. market by taking a different slant on politics.
They reported all the big news, but their focus was on the “little guys”—how the people on the periphery felt about major happenings and how it affected them.
Lynn was well aware that the Cooler was read more for entertainment than f
or “hard” news, but she didn’t care. They were successful, they did good work, and they’d managed to avoid the stigma of tabloid for the most part.
She was finishing the story when Matt stuck his head in her office. “You got a minute?”
“Uh oh,” she said, when she saw his expression. “If you’re going to tell me we lost another advertiser, I’m going to hit something.”
She and Matt had started the Cooler together, back when they’d been married. He handled the business side, and she handled the news side. They’d gotten divorced four years ago, but Lynn still counted him as one of her best friends.
“Nothing that bad,” he replied, casually dumping a pile of papers out of a chair and onto the floor so he could sit down. “Monica Chastain turned us down for the internship position, so we’ll have to go with our second choice.”
“Damn,” Lynn muttered. “She thought weren’t respectable enough, didn’t she?”
Matt just gave her a half-grin.
Lynn scowled at her ex-husband. His dark hair was too long, as usual, and starting to hang over his eyes. His brown eyes were always laughing. While she was still very fond of him, his constantly laidback attitude about everything was one of the things that had driven her crazy during their marriage.
She understood that avoiding stress was good, but some things—like her feelings, like their relationship—had been genuinely important, and they should have been taken seriously.
She’d never really felt like Matt had.
Moving a pile of files toward the middle of her desk, Lynn made room for herself to lean against the edge. “So who’s next on the list?”
Matt looked down at the piece of paper he’d brought with him, which Lynn could now see was a résumé. “Beth Broadview was our second choice. Junior at George Washington. Good experience. Fluent in three languages.”
“Oh yeah. I remember her. She was a great writer, but she seemed so young to me that I thought Monica would be a better fit.” She thought back to the reserved, dark-haired girl she’d interviewed three weeks ago who had looked about sixteen years old. “She’ll be good. Let’s offer it to her. She better not turn us down.”
“Let’s hope she doesn’t. I’d hate to see you unleash your wrath on the poor, innocent thing.” He stood up, taking a step until he was a little too close to her. “You’re looking very good today, by the way.”
She smiled at the familiar huskiness in his tone. “It’s a new top.”
Matt’s brown eyes lingered on the way the silk of her blouse clung to the curve of her breasts. “It’s a very nice top.”
She laughed and put a hand on his chest, pushing him back a bit. “Don’t get any ideas. You always get horny in the spring, but we’ve managed to go two years now without any slip-ups, and I’d like to keep it that way.”
One of the consequences of working closely with an attractive man you were amicably divorced from was—when neither was seeing anyone else—it was easy to have “slip-ups.” They’d enjoyed having sex with each other for many years, and it was tempting to let that continue, even after the marriage had ended.
Three years ago, they’d even tried a covert reconciliation for a couple of months, but it hadn't worked. Lynn had come to realize that things worked more smoothly between her and Matt when they didn’t let sex muddy the waters.
“Are you sure?” he asked, giving her his most appealing smile. “It’s been a while since you’ve gone out with anyone. The timing might be good for both of us.”
“Uh huh.” She was unable to resist smiling back, although she kept her hand on his chest to hold him away. “I’m doing just fine without dating.”
Matt left her office, good-natured and resigned, as Lynn sank into her desk chair and stared at her reflection in her computer screen, which had gone dark from inactivity.
There wasn't much she wanted to change about her life, but it would be nice to have more sex. She went out on first and second dates fairly regularly, but it had been more than a year since she’d dated anyone longer than that.
It had been eighty-three days since she’d last had sex. At the moment, she was just as horny as her ex-husband.
But Matt wasn't who she fantasized about when she closed her eyes at night.
Lynn pulled up her calendar and stared at today's date. Six more days until the 24th. Six more days until she would have sex again.
Sex with Nathan Livingston was better than any sex she’d had in her life.
And it wasn’t long until she would see him again.
***
You can find out more information about Missing here.
About the Author
Noelle handwrote her first romance novel in a spiral-bound notebook when she was twelve, and she hasn’t stopped writing since. She has lived in eight different states and currently resides in Virginia, where she teaches English, reads any book she can get her hands on, and offers tribute to a very spoiled cocker spaniel.
She loves travel, art, history, and ice cream. After spending far too many years of her life in graduate school, she has decided to reorient her priorities and focus on writing contemporary romances. For more information, please check out her website: noelle-adams.com.
Other Books by Noelle Adams
One Hot Night: Three Contemporary Romance Novellas
A Negotiated Marriage
Listed
Bittersweet
Missing
Revival
Seducing the Enemy
Playing the Playboy
Holiday Heat
Married for Christmas
Salvation
A Baby for Easter
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Teaser Excerpt from Missing
About the Author