“No, it’s because he dumped me. He thought I was spending way too much time with my overly demanding boss.”
“Oh?” He closed the gap between us, locking his green eyes on mine. “Well, in that case, your overly demanding boss is quite sorry for your loss.”
“No, he isn’t.”
“He definitely isn’t,” he said, smirking. “He is, however, quite upset that his assistant thinks she can talk to him any type of way in front of his executive staff.”
“Maybe if he stopped treating her any type of way, she’d consider changing.”
“I don’t appreciate my employees making me look bad.”
“You do most of that yourself.”
“Don’t interrupt me,” he hissed. “I wasn’t done talking.”
“You never are.”
Silence.
He stared at me for several seconds—looking as if he was torn between firing or fucking me. And before I could manage a half-hearted apology, his lips crashed against mine, and he pushed me against the button panel.
His tongue slid against mine, demanding me to let him lead and I willingly submitted to his tempo.
Holding back a moan, I wrapped my arms around his neck as he kissed me even harder.
“Wrap your leg around my waist,” he whispered harshly. “Now.”
I couldn’t. I was too lost in the feel of his mouth against mine. Too stunned by how long and deep he was stretching our kiss. I shut my eyes instead, feeling the buttons from the panel press into my back.
Softly biting my bottom lip, he pushed my dress up and slipped a hand between my thighs. He stalled when his hands found the lace trim of my panties, and he let out a low laugh before yanking them off in one pull.
He swirled his thumb against my soaking wet clit, and my eyes fluttered open.
“Ahhh …” A moan escaped my lips, and my nails dug into his skin. My clit began to throb with pleasure.
Still kissing me deeply, he slid his fingers deep inside of me, making me moan even louder.
“So goddamn wet.” He groaned, pushing his fingers in and out of me in a slow, sensuous rhythm that made my knees weak.
“Tell me you haven’t thought about fucking me since you started here …” he whispered against my lips.
“I haven’t,” I lied and arched my back, feeling the elevator move again. As if he didn’t care, he continued kissing and controlling me, owning my body in a way I’d never felt before.
The elevator came to a sudden stop, and we immediately tore away from one another.
I pulled my dress down, and he stuffed my panties into his pocket before the doors opened on the meeting floor.
“Like I was saying,” he said, stepping off first. “This meeting isn’t optional.”
Nine
Preston
I need to figure out a better way to handle this.
After getting a taste of Tara’s mouth in the elevator and feeling how tight her pussy felt against my fingers, I knew that wouldn’t be enough. We needed to take things further, and we needed to do it soon, since thoughts of her were infiltrating every moment of my day.
Her breathy moans were all I could think about during yesterday’s meeting, and last night, all I’d done was envision her on all fours, taking every inch of my cock until she begged me to let her come.
Shaking away those thoughts, I looked at today’s short list and read through her handwritten notes. I sipped my coffee and highlighted the parts I needed more details about, and as I was sending her an email, she stepped into my office, looking stunning as usual.
“Yes, Miss Lauren?”
“The Von Strums just called,” she said. “They would like you to know that due to your ruthlessness, you are the last person on earth that they want to sell their hotel chain to.”
“Seeing as though I’m the last person who’s interested in buying it, you can tell them that I find their logic quite accurate.”
A slight smile crossed her lips, but she didn’t let it stay. She tapped her phone’s screen a few times and looked at me again. “George won’t be able to attend your expansion meeting in London next month.”
“What about Wilder?”
“He’s getting married to his third cousin, twice removed.” She stepped closer and swiped the extra pepper packets from my breakfast plate. Then she motioned for me to switch my tie. “I sent him a gift on your behalf.”
“I’m not the type of man who would send another man a gift. I’d send a bottle of champagne at most.”
“I did send champagne.”
“Did you pick a good year?”
“I picked a great year.”
“1996?”
“1995.” She set a folder on my desk. “Here’s the free breakfast report from the budget hotel chains that you claim you don’t want to read.”
“I don’t.” I took it from her. “Which budget chain is number one this month?”
“The W Hotels, again.”
“Interesting.” I shook away a memory from my past before it could play. “Anything else?”
“Yes, I would like to discuss what happened in the elevator yesterday.”
“What about it?”
“I was faking it.”
“Come again?” I leaned forward.
“I want you to know that I was thinking about someone else the entire time.” She shrugged. “And I’d like for us to keep our relationship—or lack thereof, one hundred percent professional so I can keep my personal life separate.”
I blinked, completely stunned by her bullshit. “Just so I’m understanding this correctly,” I said, looking right into her eyes, “your mind was elsewhere while my fingers were deep in your pussy yesterday?”
“Yes, Mr. Parker.” She was lying like hell. “Would you like me to do anything else for you this afternoon?”
“Yes, Miss Lauren.” I leaned back in my chair, seething. “There’s plenty I’d like you to do this afternoon …”
Ten
Tara
“I would ask how your day was, but I can see the answer written all over your face.” Ava signaled for the bartender later that night. “Can my friend have a few shots of your hardest vodka?”
“Thank you.” I shook my head, silently cursing myself for lying to Preston about faking it in the elevator. For even bringing it up in the first place, all while knowing he was petty as hell and would retaliate by asking me to do a lot of “emergency” work.
I knew he didn’t really need twenty copies of the same report every hour, nor did he need me to reconstruct his in-office wardrobe closet. He definitely didn’t need his desk files re-organized, but since I’d done it, I’d found a hidden panel with more pictures of him and his twin brother. There were a few time stamped letters between them, but the most recent one was from more than ten years ago.
I was going to confront him about it, but that was before he insisted that I stay an extra four hours and help him with a speech that he wasn’t due to give for another six months. It was also before he asked me to help him pick out the perfect set of cufflinks from his collection of over five hundred pairs.