by M. S. Parker
That made me want to punch him.
“You’re a liar, and you know what? I think you’ve made that…mistake before. I knew there was something going on with you and Terri, you asshole. I knew it.”
Movement from the corner of my eye caught my attention, and I looked up to see Breanna standing in the doorway with a bottle of wine and two glasses. She wagged it back and forth questioningly, and I mouthed, Yes, please.
A moment later, I had a glass of wine as Aaron said, “For fuck’s sake, Stella! We’ve been living apart ever since I got this job. What did you think I was going to do, turn into a monk?”
Anger fired in me and any lingering guilt I might have felt for sleeping with Lukas before I’d ended things with Aaron burned a hot, quick death. “Wow, I wish I’d known we were having an open relationship, Aaron. I would have been having so much fun that last year of school. I might have done the whole damn football team,” I said in a sugary sweet voice. Before he could respond, I finished up. “In case you haven’t figured it out, we’re over. I’m so, so done with you.”
I ended the call, dropped the phone in my lap and guzzled half the wine in the glass.
“Wow. That felt…good.” Looking over at Breanna, I said, “That felt really good.”
She smiled, but it faded quickly. “Think you’ll end up quitting the firm?”
“I…” Huffing out a breath, I took another, slower, small sip of the wine. It was sweet and fruity, nothing like the dry varieties that Aaron usually bought. I loved it. “I don’t know yet. I think part of that might depend on how the next few days go…what Mark says when we talk to him.”
“You were serious about that,” Breanna mused, shaking her head. “I wasn’t sure.”
“Ohhhh…yes. I’m serious. I don’t think it was really Terri who stole my design, you see. I think it was Aaron.” Biting my lip, I deliberated a moment, then confessed, “And I think he’s been doing it for a while.”
* * *
I didn’t know what to do or say when I walked past Lukas Monday morning. He was standing near the doorway, greeting everybody by name, although when I walked past, he simply nodded at me.
Heat shivered along my spine, my body prickling in awareness at the nearness of him. Down, girl, I thought wearily.
I took the seat Breanna had been saving for me and leaned back, wishing I had about five more cups of coffee than I’d already had. Not that my nerves needed it. Just coming into the office today had taken the last of my courage, and now, sitting with Lukas so close but so far away was about to push me to the brink.
I’d slept with him.
I’d had sex…hot, torrid, dirty sex with him.
He’d made me come quicker than I thought was possible, like I was primed to take him.
And now he was standing in front of the entire employee body, looking at us with eyes that were somehow jaded, professional, cool…bored, I thought. He’s bored by all of this.
He hid it well, but somehow, I knew.
“I’ve chosen the winner.” He held a small device in his hand, and with an economic gesture, he swept his arm back and clicked a button, bringing to life the screen on the wall.
My team’s project was there.
“Stella and Breanna’s team wins the competition.” He glanced at each member, giving us a nod. “You’ve shown a great deal of understanding in how giving back to the community strengthens the company as a whole. We’ll continue with the campaign – Stella, Breanna, it’s your baby, so you’ll continue to head it. You can decide if you want to work it with the rest of the team or choose a few select people. It’s your call. As your prize…” He reached into his suit pocket and withdrew a thin stack of envelopes. “Each of you have a week at the lodge, to be used at any time you choose, all expenses paid.”
He walked around the room, passing them out as he spoke. When he reached me, I took it in numb fingers, not exactly overjoyed at the thought of spending a week in the mountains. I needed to get over that, and I knew it, but I decided I’d take a bit more time first.
Once the congrats died down, he started to speak again. “I plan on talking to everybody over the next week or so. I want to know more about your strengths, your weaknesses, what your plans are. This is already the best advertising firm in Denver. We’re going to make it into one of the best in the country.”
His eyes then slanted toward me. “Stella, if you’ll come with me, we’ll start with you.”
My heart jumped into my throat. “Me?” The word came out as a squeak.
But he’d already turned to go.
Aw, hell.
* * *
“You didn’t win the competition because we fucked,” Lukas said the moment I closed the door behind me.
I didn’t even see him at first.
Stepping farther into the room, I found him standing in the corner where two panes of solid glass formed a 180-degree view of the city. It was an elegant office, but it was dated, clearly designed by somebody with a stuffier style than Lukas.
Still, he didn’t look uncomfortable.
Even as he delivered those blunt words, he didn’t look uncomfortable.
Me?
My face flamed a hot red and indignation burned inside. He’d delivered that comment so calmly, so bluntly, and he watched even now, waiting for a reaction, and I had no idea what sort of reaction he expected…but I was pissed. “I’d sure as hell hope not considering our team had the better project,” I snapped at him.
“How would you know?” he asked, cocking his head. “How much of their work did you see?”
“I saw enough to know that Aaron and Terri swiped the logo I’ve been using for the non-profit we took on last week. That’s my design,” I said without thinking. Crossing my arms over my breasts, I met his gaze.
He lifted a brow. To my surprise, he shrugged. “I know. I’ve monitored the online whiteboard – I noticed it the day you finished it. It’s good work. And that’s another reason why they didn’t win.”
“I…you…” Huffing out a breath, I let my hands fall to my sides, only to cross them over my chest again because I felt oddly naked, vulnerable in front of him despite the fact that I was wearing a cardigan and blouse, along with a slim-fitting skirt that made the most of my ass. Yes, I’d dressed to the nines today – I’d wanted Aaron to see what he was no longer going to have. Besides, it had made me feel better.
And maybe I’d wanted to see if Lukas noticed.
If he had, I couldn’t tell.
“Do you have anything else to say?” He still had that arrogant expression on his face, watching me with that cocked brow and this almost-smirk that made me want to punch him. Or bite him.
Sadly, the biting had more to do with sensual pursuits than punishing ones, and the prospect of biting him was a lot higher on the list than punching him too.
“Was there a particular reason you felt the need to call me in here about this?” I asked.
“I thought you’d want to know.”
Gaping at him, I echoed those words. “You thought I’d want to know? Do you have any idea how insulting you sound? The thought that you’d chosen my team because we had sex never crossed my mind until you went and threw it out there, thank you very much. I’m good at my job.” Sneering, I added, “And I don’t have to steal somebody else’s work to be good at it, either.”
“You’re fresh out of college and young. I assumed you’d be…less confident.” His lashes dipped low over his eyes.
“You know what they say about assuming,” I replied sweetly.
Irritation flashed across his face. “You’re being difficult. How in the hell did I insult you anyway?” he asked, cracks showing in that cool façade. “I just wanted you to know that you got the job based on the good work your team did. It had nothing to do with the fact that we fucked.”
“You know what?” I said, pointing at him. “You need to work on your people skills. For the record, this isn’t exactly how you talk to an employee – ev
en somebody you had a personal relationship with.”
“We don’t have a personal relationship,” he bit out.
I wanted to scream and was getting hard-pressed not to do it. “Again, you really need to work on your people skills,” I said, pointing at him. “But then again, I could have told you that back at the cabin.”
“That wasn’t the impression you gave me Friday night,” he said, his voice silky.
I gave him a deliberately insulting look. “I said people skills. Your bedroom skills are just fine. But unless you plan on sleeping with everybody in the firm, that’s not exactly going to motivate people.”
I don’t know when it happened, but at some point, he had come around the desk, and we were now standing less than two feet apart. I felt the need to close the rest of the distance.
“Are you always this difficult?” he asked. “After the crash, I thought it was because you had a concussion. But I’m starting to suspect you really are just difficult.”
“You think I’m being difficult?” I jabbed him in the chest with my index finger. Ouch. It felt like I’d just jabbed my finger into a wall of pure steel. “You’re the one who’s being difficult. All you had to do is say something like…oh, hi, Stella, your team did good work. Just wanted you to know that. That would have let me know that you appreciated the job. I didn’t need to hear you point out it had nothing to do with what happened between us.”
I went to poke him again.
He caught my wrist. I jerked back. He jerked me forward. I half-stumbled, my weight crashing into him. We stared at each other for a long, taut moment and then, despite my best intentions, my gaze flicked to his mouth. I tore my eyes away and tried to ignore the flicker of heat that had started in my belly.
But that flicker quickly fanned into an Inferno. How did one ignore an inferno?
“Let me go,” I said.
Instead of doing that, he rubbed his thumb over the inside of my wrist. “Maybe you’re right,” he said agreeably. “Maybe I should have said, Stella, your team did a great job.”
I swallowed hard. “Okay, thank you.”
“I haven’t said it…yet.” And he didn’t let me go.
“This isn’t how you motivate people either.” The words came out of my tight throat in a rough whisper.
“I’m not trying to motivate an employee.”
And when I met his eyes, I saw a raging want there.
With a moan, I swayed toward him.
He leaned forward and met my mouth hungrily. Tongue sweeping in, he tasted me like it had been ages since he had touched a woman. I understood that need because my skin, my body, my mouth, all of me had been clamoring for just this ever since I had woken to an empty bed back at his cabin at the lodge.
He plunged one hand into my hair and twisted the strands around his fingers, cranking my head back. That hunger was enough to devastate me. How did one deal with that kind of hunger? I had no idea, and before I could figure it out, the kiss was over, and Lukas was on the far side of the room. “This is a bad idea,” he said, voice hoarse. “You need to stay away from me. You don’t want what will happen if we keep this up.”
“Says who?” I asked, my voice shaking.
“You need to go.” And he deliberately turned his back and stared out the window.
I had been dismissed, just like that.
15
My lips were still buzzing, and it had been hours since he’d kissed me.
It wasn’t a surprise.
I’d felt like mini aftershocks had rocked my body for hours after I left his bed.
Maybe he’d meant to scare me away with that cryptic comment about how I wouldn’t like where things would go, but I wasn’t scared. More, I was starting to think I wouldn’t just like it – I wanted it like I wanted my next breath.
Lukas had been rough with me, but not careless. I suspected he could get rougher, but he’d done something that Aaron had rarely bothered to do – he’d put me first, making sure I came each time.
And he’d wanted me.
Half the time with Aaron, I felt like I was just an available body.
And he definitely wanted one of those, I thought bitterly.
“Are you ready?” Breanna lingered at the entrance to my cubicle, and I glanced up, surprised to realize the day had slipped away.
I checked the progress of my work and discovered I’d gotten more done than I’d expected. Most of the day had passed in a weird fog of want and frustration. I was still frustrated too.
That was what decided the matter for me.
“You go on,” I told Breanna. “I want to wrap up what I’m doing. I’ll grab an Uber or something. I might do some shopping on the way home too.”
She hesitated. “Are you sure? You’ve been really quiet today. I thought we could go out for dinner, maybe get ice cream and bad mouth guys.”
“No.” I grinned at her. “Rain check?” Especially if the next few minutes didn’t go as planned.
“Sure.” She waggled her fingers at me and left. It wasn’t long before I was the only one left downstairs, and I eased back from the desk, eyeing the steps that led to the upper level with more than a little trepidation.
Was I really going to do this?
I didn’t know if it was panic or anticipation that had my belly fluttering, but I’d made up my mind, so I slid out from behind my desk, lingering just long enough to make sure my purse was locked up.
The stairs looked like they went on for a mile, and I found myself breathing hard after just a few of them, although it was all from nerves, not exertion.
Most of the lights upstairs were off although I saw a door open at the far end of the hall, the opposite direction from Lukas’s office. I resisted the urge to plunge back down the stairs and hurry after Breanna.
Screw that.
The door to Lukas’s office was closed.
But I knew he was in there.
Knocking, I held my breath as I waited for an answer.
It didn’t take long.
“Yes?” The word came through the door muffled but curt.
I turned the knob and slid inside, shutting the door at my back. For good measure, I turned the lock.
Lukas stood beside his desk, and he had his tie in one hand.
The top button of his shirt was undone, and I could see the skin bared there. Recalling him in the heavy flannels he’d worn on the mountain, then the bare skin that had rubbed against mine back at the lodge, I realized I hadn’t really had the chance to appreciate that wide, muscled tattooed chest without anything barring my view.
He’d taken his shirt off when we had sex, but I’d been…distracted.
I wanted to strip him bare and study him, from the top of his head straight on down.
And he just might laugh if I said it.
So, instead, I asked, “What exactly would happen if we kept it up, Lukas? What is it that I wouldn’t want?”
His lids flickered. A muscle pulsed in his jaw. But he looked away instead of responding. “I’m not in the mood to play games with curious girls, Stella. Just remember what I said.”
“I’m not in the mood to play either.” Inclining my chin, I challenged him. “What did you mean?”
I had a feeling I knew.
Sex with him had taken on an edge that was wild and erotic, almost dark, and it had thrilled me. I might not have thought much of it, but I remembered those few, brief seconds where I’d seen him in the shed back at his cabin on the mountain, and I had speculations now.
Did he mean what I thought he might mean?
“You need to be careful,” he said, finally sliding his gaze back my way. “I’m not your safe little boyfriend, sweetheart.”
“I thought I told you?” I asked mildly. “He’s not my boyfriend anymore. Not after I interrupted him and Terri in the sauna. I moved out as soon as I got back to town yesterday.”
His lids did that mad little flicker again like he wanted desperately to shield his gaze from me, but a
t the same time, he didn’t want to not look at me.
“So…what is this thing I won’t like, Lukas?” I pushed away from the door, pacing closer.
He met me halfway. “There are some things that once you start them, there’s no going back. You should leave…now. Go on home, have a glass of wine and come back in to work tomorrow. We’ll forget all about today.”
“I don’t want to.”
Seconds ticked by.
Ice flashed in his gaze.
I didn’t look away.
Abruptly, he moved, hauling me to him. His brow pressed to mine, but he didn’t kiss me. “You really want to know, sweetheart?”
“Yes.” It came out on a ragged sigh.
One big hard hand came up, cupped my ass, and I braced myself, but he held still, rigidly so. “You dressed up so fucking sexy today. Was it all for me?” His eyes bore into mine. “Or was it because of the dickhead?”
I flushed. “What does that matter?”
“Answer the question or leave.”
It was such an arrogant demand, I almost did leave. I didn’t know what compelled me to stay, but something did, and I found myself opening my mouth to speak before I’d even made a conscious decision to do so. “Both.” Inclining my chin, I met his gaze levelly. “If Aaron would rather have that bitch, then fine. But I’m not above rubbing his face in what he missed out on. And…yes, some part of me wondered if you’d notice.”
“I noticed.” The hand on my ass tightened. “But you wasted your time on the dick. He doesn’t even know what he’s throwing away.” He traced one finger along the line of my panties as he murmured, “But I noticed. Every time I saw you bent over your desk…and you bent over it a lot…I noticed. You’ve got one last chance to walk out of here, Stella.”
Heat flooded me, staining my cheeks red at his confession. “I don’t want to walk.”
“You may well change your mind.” He spun me around, and in an instant, I found myself bent over his desk, and the rasping sound of my zipper sounded in the room. Was it always that loud? My heart thudded in my ears, in my throat as he dragged the skirt down. It pooled around my ankles. I could feel the fabric. I was almost painfully aware of everything in that moment.
