Just A Kiss: A Club Temptation Novella (Club Temptation Collection)

by J. H. Croix

  My curiosity got the better of me. “Send her back. If I tap the intercom button while she’s in here, please come rescue me.”

  Ellen grinned and nodded before leaving my office. A moment later, Ellen opened the door again. “Her office is right here,” Ellen said in a cheery voice.

  Mara stepped through the door, looking straight out of a magazine. Dressed demurely in a dove gray blazer, she wore a fitted navy top underneath and matching pants. Even though everything she wore was perfectly appropriate, she somehow pulled off sexy.

  Meanwhile, I sat there with my hair up in a messy ponytail, a skirt I’d thrown on quickly this morning, and a denim jacket over a fitted T-shirt. If I’d needed a reminder of what I wasn’t, I guess I had it.

  The door clicked shut behind Mara, and I stood, gesturing to the chair across from my desk. “Please have a seat.”

  I sat back down when she did, and I smoothed my damp palms over my skirt, relieved she couldn’t see my restless hands under my desk. “What can I do for you?” I asked, annoyed that my voice came out a little scratchy.

  “I came to tell you that nothing happened with Zane last weekend. And before you go thinking he put me up to this, he didn’t. I ran into him at the coffee shop, and he looks miserable. When I asked him what was wrong, he told me I was permanently banned from ever requesting a ride home. He can be kind of an asshole.”

  I stared at her and choked on a laugh. The threat of tears welled in my eyes as I tried to calm the jumble of emotions racing through me. “Why are you telling me this?”

  “Zane is too proud to say anything, but I’m nosy, so I asked around. Rumor has it he’s totally smitten with you. If you’ve cut him off because you saw him give me a ride home, I thought I should set the record straight. Not only was it just a ride but Zane turned me down when I asked for more. Before you go thinking anything else, I wasn’t secretly in love with him, nor am I pining for him. He’s just a man, and he has a lot of money. I think he really likes you, and it appears maybe, just maybe, you brought him to his knees.” I must’ve been staring agog at her because she laughed softly. “If you like him, or maybe even more, you should talk to him. You are well suited.”

  “You think?” My question slipped out before I could stop it, and my cheeks went hot. Not for the first time, I wished I wasn’t always so easy to read.

  Mara leaned forward. “Yes. Don’t get me wrong, Zane is sexy, and he’s powerful, and he’s all about conveying the image that he does, which is that of an untouchable businessman. But he’s actually a nice guy, and I think you know that. I always figured someday he’d fall for someone. I’ve known him since I did some work for an advertising campaign for his company a few years ago. You’re brilliant. My goodness, even I know who you are. You’ve won awards and all that. Maybe we don’t work in the same field, but I respect a woman who’s made her way in a man’s world.”

  My mouth dropped open, and I snapped it shut. “That’s a part of the problem. I told Zane I wasn’t ready for us to be public because I’m concerned how it’ll look for me. I was an intern at his company once.”

  “Did you sleep with him when you were an intern?” she asked bluntly.

  “Oh, God no. He hardly even looked at me.”

  “Oh, I’m sure he did. You’re his type with the brainy, sexy librarian vibe. I’m not you, and obviously, I’m not trying to make my way up in the computer and gaming field. But I do know that it doesn’t really matter what anyone thinks in the long run. Screw them all. If you want him, go get him.”

  Chapter 19

  Zane

  What could I do to fix a non-fixable problem? The problem being I knew Eva had a point. There would be chatter when our relationship became public. Because that was how the world treated women. It wouldn’t matter that she could point to the success she’d already had establishing and running her own company. It wouldn’t matter that she was brilliant in her own right. It wouldn’t matter that she hadn’t partnered with my company on any projects.

  I couldn’t resist hoping she would, though, because I fully intended to partner with her on projects going forward. She had a more creative brain than I did when it came to gaming.

  It would matter that she’d once been an intern at my company. There would probably be speculation that we had a relationship back then. I could try all kinds of things to say that wasn’t the case, but that would only put more fuel on the brushfire of gossip.

  None of this changed the fact that I was in love with her, and I missed her. I was going to do the only thing I could do. I wanted to make sure she knew that.

  Heading down to the market, I scouted out the wildflowers. Specifically, burgundy and pink. I was going to deliver them personally.

  After I found what I wanted, I slipped the jump drive with the game I wanted Eva’s help on in the middle of the bouquet tied on a ribbon. When I reached her office building, I was surprised to see Mara leaving. A sense of dread tightened in my gut when she approached me.

  “Mara…” I began.

  She held a neatly manicured hand up. “Please stop. I’m glad to see you here. I hope those are for Eva.”

  “Mara—” I began again, only to get her palm once more.

  “I know you didn’t talk to me about this. But word travels, so I took it upon myself to come tell your friend that you turned me away last weekend and that you were just being a gentleman and giving me a ride. She’s lovely, and I’m all for love.”

  I stared back at Mara for a moment and chuckled. “Fair enough. You are, as always, well-connected.”

  “I’d like credit at the wedding,” she teased. “Kidding,” she added when my eyes widened slightly. “Go get your girl, Zane.” Mara smiled, and I realized there was more to her than I’d considered.

  On the elevator ride to Eva’s office, I realized my plan had a major flaw. I didn’t know if she was tied up. Obviously, she’d made time to see Mara, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have something lined up the second Mara walked out the door. Well, fuck it. I was already here with the flowers, so I would wait as long as necessary.

  When I pushed through the glass door into the waiting area, a receptionist looked up from a desk. A bright smile spread across her face. “Hello, how can I help you?”

  “I’m hoping Eva Slater is available.”

  “Do you have an appointment?” the receptionist asked.

  Great, so that was how it was going to go today. “I don’t. I’ll wait, if necessary.”

  Chapter 20

  Eva

  “Say that again.”

  “Zane Maddox would like to see you. He has a giant bouquet,” Ellen repeated.

  Sarah practically put burn marks on the carpet as she skidded into my office from hers across the hallway. “He has burgundy and pink flowers, and they’re wildflowers,” she whispered so loudly that the act of whispering was pointless.

  “How do you know?”

  My pulse was racing, and I felt crazy nervous with my belly spinning flips.

  “Because I peeked, you dummy. I’m nosy. He’s going for a big romantic gesture,” Sarah shout-whispered.

  I was still trying to recover from my unannounced meeting with Mara, and now Zane was here. Cue the panic.

  Ellen and Sarah were standing in my doorway, looking at me very expectantly. “Um, tell him I’ll be a few minutes,” I finally said.

  Ellen, because she was calm and put together, simply nodded. “I’ll give you five minutes. Sound good?”

  “Sure.” As if five minutes would somehow help me pull my shit together.

  Ellen disappeared, but Sarah didn’t. She rested her hand on her hip and strolled from the doorway to stop in front of my desk. “Burgundy and pink.”

  “Right, I heard you the first time.”

  “You don’t get the point of that?” She threw her hands up in the air, clearly exasperated with me.

  “I don’t know what you mean.” I was clearly still not catching on.

  “You ha
ve burgundy and pink streaks in your hair. God, you’re so slow. The flowers would’ve been romantic all by themselves, but he actually matched them to your two favorite colors. He did that on purpose.”

  I stared at her blankly for a minute, and my heart felt as if it flipped over. Taking a deep breath, I asked, “Do you really think he meant to do that?”

  Sarah cocked her head to the side, shaking it slowly as she sighed. “Yes. I really think so.” Her eyes bounced up to the clock on my wall. “You only have three minutes now.”

  “Oh, my God.” My hands fluttered all over my desk. Why, I had no idea. I started randomly tidying it.

  Sarah lifted her head to stare at the ceiling. “Oh, my God, she’s straightening her desk.”

  “Is it necessary for you to narrate what I’m doing?” I muttered. I pressed my hands flat against my thighs, willing them to stop shaking.

  Sarah rounded my desk, stopping beside me. “You’re going to be fine. I think you should take Mara’s advice.”

  Of course, I had immediately gone to her office and filled her in after Mara’s unannounced and startling visit only a few minutes earlier. “Remind me what that was.”

  She pulled me into a quick and fierce hug. I clung to her as if she were a lifeboat in the ocean. She stepped back anyway.

  “You know you want him, so do something about it. I don’t know exactly what she said, but that was the gist of it, right?”

  I started giggling hysterically. Sarah was trying to repeat advice I’d repeated from Mara to her. “If this is the telephone game, at least we’re only three steps in.”

  She grinned. “Exactly. I’m going back to my office because you’re a big girl and you can totally handle this. You’re brilliant, you’re beautiful, you’re a fucking CEO, and you’re totally worth it.”

  With that, Sarah hurried out of my office. The door clicked shut behind her, and I sank into my desk chair. I felt ridiculous. My cell phone chimed on my desk.

  I reflexively reached for it and spun it to face me. A banner with Zane’s name flashed on the screen. The butterflies that had taken up residence did another turn in my belly, and my pulse managed to kick up yet another notch. Sliding my shaky thumb across the screen, I opened his text.

  Just checking in. I’m waiting, and there’s a whole minute left. I thought I could get the hard part out of the way first. I love you.

  My body felt as if I were a carbonated drink that had been shaken too hard. Joy fizzed in every cell of my body and threatened to overflow. Lifting my phone, I managed to type out the reply.

  You win. Because you got over yourself first. I love you too.

  I hit send, slowly setting my phone down so as not to drop it because my hands were still trembling. I looked up at the clock just as the minute hand finished its revolution, and Zane came into view through my glass door.

  I hurried over, swinging it open. He clasped a blown glass vase in his hands with an explosion of wildflowers spilling over its edges. His gaze met mine, somber and searching and intense. Oh, so intense.

  “Did you get my text?” we asked each other, our voices crossing over.

  I was nodding as he shook his head. “I think I was walking down the hallway. As soon as your receptionist let me go, I wasn’t waiting. I love you,” he said, repeating his text.

  Throwing my arms around him, I murmured, “I love you too,” squishing the gorgeous flowers between us.

  Zane managed to set the vase on the edge of my desk without letting me go. His arms folded around me, pulling me into a full-body clench.

  “I kind of freaked,” I mumbled into his chest. “Sorry I didn’t tell you what I was thinking when I saw you give Mara a ride home.”

  He smoothed my hair, his voice right beside my ear where his face was tucked into my neck. “It’s okay. I’m sorry too. It was just a ride, but I can imagine it didn’t look good. I hope she told you I didn’t put her up to coming to talk to you,” he said when he finally lifted his head.

  I took a deep breath because I simply needed to inhale Zane’s scent. He always smelled a little crisp, and his shirt smelled like clean laundry. Finally, I looked up at him. “She did tell me that. I’m ridiculous.”

  He shook his head, his eyes scanning my face before he lifted a hand to brush a wayward lock of hair off my cheek and tuck it behind my ear. Just that subtle brush of his fingertips against the sensitive skin there sent goose bumps chasing over the surface of my skin.

  “You’re not ridiculous. You’re absolutely right about the possible rumors about us and how things might look. I can’t change that because the world sucks, and it’s really hard on women, especially in our field. But I still love you, and I’d rather face it with you.”

  My eyes stung with tears, and I had to swallow through the emotion clogging my throat.

  “Same here. I’m sorry I doubted you. Mara even told me you turned her down.”

  Zane leaned his head back, closing his eyes with a sigh. In another second, he leveled his gaze with mine with a look so intense, my breath seized in my lungs. “You need to understand that once I was with you, that was it for me.”

  Although I was crystal clear that nothing had passed between Zane and Mara, I couldn’t help but voice the tiny insecurities chasing their tails in my brain. “Just so you know, you haven’t mentioned it, but if you wanted to take me to Club—”

  Zane shook his head sharply as his hand slid down to cup my nape. “Eva, what you and I have isn’t about that. I mean, if you want to go, then by all means, let’s go. With you, I’m already pushing boundaries that don’t exist in any other way. I also don’t want to share you,” he murmured.

  His thumb was brushing lightly along my throat, sending licks of fire across my skin. I took a breath, feeling the press of my nipples against his chest. Although I was overcome with emotion, nothing could keep my body from its instinctive response to being close to Zane.

  Since I didn’t know what other words to use, I leaned up and pressed an open-mouthed kiss right over the divot at the base of his throat. His hand tightened in my hair, and then we were kissing and kissing and kissing. Zane’s hands were traveling roughly over my body as my own greedy touch mapped his chest and clutched at him.

  We were snapped out of our passionate kiss by a sharp knock on my door. “Unless you’re into putting on a show,” Sarah called through the glass as she walked by, “you might want to leave.”

  His chuckle rumbled against my ear when I tucked my face against his chest. When I peeked out from the shelter of his arms, the hallway was blessedly empty. With my office door all glass, there wasn’t much privacy to be had.

  “Can I steal you away?” he asked.

  “Of course.”

  “If you’re working on something, I can wait,” he added.

  “I don’t want to wait,” I said firmly. “I appreciate that you respect my work.” A smile tugged at my lips as I trailed my fingertips along the stubbled edge of his jaw. “Did you forget to shave today?” I asked as he stepped back.

  He cast me a sheepish grin. “I’ve been distracted. I missed you.”

  I felt a little bashful as I took a step back. Reaching over, I stroked my fingers down the side of the blown glass vase. When I looked up, I saw Zane was looking down at his phone, his lips curving into a smile. “What do I win?” he asked when he brought his eyes to mine.

  “What do you want to win?” I teased, that fizzy joy spinning through my veins.

  “Just you.”

  We stared at each other, smiling, until I heard footsteps in the hallway again. “Sarah thinks the flowers are to match my hair,” I commented as I glanced back at the bouquet of wildflowers.

  “Sarah happens to be right,” Zane said as he stepped closer, sliding his arm around my waist where his palm rested possessively on my hip.

  “That’s kind of romantic,” I murmured, feeling hot all over.

  “I was trying. Did you notice the other thing?”

  Puzzled, I loo
ked back at the flowers, searching until my eyes landed on the thin silk ribbon and the jump drive tied to it. Reaching for it, I asked, “What’s this?”

  “My new project. I could use your help.”

  “Zane, you don’t need my help.”

  “Yeah, I do, sweetheart. I might be good at figuring out details and logistics and difficulty levels, but you’re more creative. My thinking is a little dry and technical sometimes.”

  I opened my mouth to protest again, but he shook his head as he lifted a hand to trail his knuckles along my cheekbone. “It’s true, and I don’t mind admitting it. We can look at it together tonight. After dinner.”

  “Just dinner?”

  His gruff laugh sent fire chasing over my skin.

  Chapter 21

  Zane

  Eva’s eyes held mine, her lips curling in a saucy smile. “I told you I would win.”

  I almost laughed, but my release tightened in my balls as she rose up and down, sheathing me one more time in her silky, clenching core. She cried out right when everything in me sizzled to a crescendo.

  Moments later, I was still trying to catch my breath. Eva was a warm, luscious bundle in my arms, and I was still buried deep inside her. “I could live like this,” I murmured into her hair.

  She lifted her head and shook it. “I don’t think so.”

  “No?’ I teased as I lightly cupped her breast and rolled her still pebbled nipple between my thumb and forefinger, savoring her soft whimper.

  “You like to use your brain too much,” she said, trying to be serious.

  “I might like using your body more than my brain,” I mused as I let my hand slide over the soft curve of her belly and gave her generous hip a squeeze. Of course, her comment got the wheels in my brain turning. “You really think we should have two bosses?” I asked, referencing our conversation some indeterminate amount of time earlier about my latest project.