“Positive. Once more, not that it’s any of your business,” I added again for good measure.
“I’m glad to hear that. Sit down.” He motioned to one of the seats in front of him, and I took my place carefully, smoothing my skirt beneath me as I sat.
“You’ve been drinking,” he asked, though it wasn’t a question.
“As I said, yes.” I pointed to the glass on his lacquered desk. “Apparently, I’m not the only one.”
“No. I’ve had two myself.” He folded his hands on his desk and regarded me with a thoughtful look. “But I want to make sure you have your wits about you.”
“Why is that?” I asked.
“Because I have an important proposition for you.” His gaze seared my skin, and I crossed my legs, once again feeling like he could see straight through my thin layer of clothing.
“Go on,” I asked, nerves skittering through me like lightning.
“Before I tell you, you need to promise me you’re sober enough to listen.”
I gave him a single nod, not just because I was curious but because the second I’d laid eyes on him, I’d felt sober, though slightly drunk on him. He had that effect on me—of draining away all other outside forces and commanding all my attention in a way only he could.
“Good,” he said. “Now, your performance here this week has been outstanding.”
“Thank you,” I murmured.
“No, thank you. I’m very impressed with your work. So much so that I am not willing to lose you as an assistant, so please keep that in mind as you consider what I’m offering you.”
I frowned slightly. “Okay.”
“I can’t go on like this,” he said simply.
“Like what?” I asked, blinking back at him.
“I can’t work side by side with you while I have a constant erection.”
I drew back, both surprised and sort of turned on by his forthrightness. “Oh.”
“Every time I look at you, I imagine stripping off your clothes and fucking you right here on my desk. And now that I see you in that tiny red skirt…you have no idea how much I want to cross this desk and spread your legs apart so I can lick the space between your thighs.”
I swallowed hard. “Mr. Dane—”
“Jackson,” he corrected. “Ever since the first time I had you, I haven’t stopped thinking about you, and I have to think there’s a reason you’re here now. I’m not interested in relationships, Piper. I don’t have the time or the inclination. But I want you more than any other woman I’ve ever had. And the way your body fits with mine?” He shook his head. “It’s no accident you’re here, that’s all I know.”
“What are you trying to say?” I pressed, struggling to breathe as I imagined him sinking to his knees in front of me, pushing my legs apart, and having his way with me. Teasing my already aching bud again the way he did that night. Tasting him the way he’d tasted me.
“I’m trying to say that I want you. I want you as my assistant, and I want you in my bed.”
“That’s not possible.” I shook my head, trying to fight back the primal urges willing me to straddle him then and there. To forget about what was smart and do what my body was begging me to do.
“And why not? I don’t see why we can’t keep it professional during the day and enjoy ourselves at night. I’ve put a lot of thought into this, and I know we can handle it, if you’re willing.”
“We’ll be caught,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. If he only knew how willing I was. But God, would this be stupid. Foolhardy. Reckless.
“By whom? I’m the boss here.” He shrugged. “I don’t have shareholders I need to keep up appearances for. All I need to do is follow my own instincts, and all my instincts tell me this is something I can’t ignore. I’ve spent all day thinking about you, even though you’ve been wearing those awful clothes to hide yourself from me. Tell me the truth. You’ve been thinking about me too.”
I let out a shallow breath, nodding despite my better judgment.
Because, really, there was no denying it. I was sure he knew, could feel every time I’d come into his office and imagined splaying myself out in front of him. Every time I’d envisioned bending over the desk in front of me and staring out at the city skyline while he pushed into me over and over until I broke apart at his touch.
“See? So we’re in agreement. We’ll be casual sexual partners during non-work hours, and you will retain your position as my assistant during the day.”
“We can’t,” I tried again, straining to hear the voice of dissent that was growing weaker and weaker in my mind. “What happens when one of us gets tired of the other?”
What I really meant was What happens when you get tired of me? Because I couldn’t imagine ever tiring of him…
“Nothing. I think we’re both smart and mature enough to look at what happened fondly and continue working together. You’re an amazing assistant. Nothing has to change there. But this thing between us? It needs to run its course. It’s meant to be, Piper. Do you need me to prove that to you?” He stood, his height dwarfing even the dark skyline behind him.
I shivered. “I don’t know. I can’t choose right here and now.”
“Then let me give you something to help you weigh your options.”
I should have stood right then and there. Should have gotten up and marched out the door without a second thought. But instead, I uncrossed my legs and stood, waiting as he circled the corner of his desk and crowded me until all I could feel was him—the smell of him, the heat of him, his overwhelming presence.
He was everything.
And I could do nothing to deny him.
Chapter Eight
Jackson
As I stepped toward her, my pulse hammered in my wrists and my shaft ached with the memory of the last time we were together—just like it did every time I was around her. I approached, the familiar scent of her lavender and chamomile shampoo filling the air, and it was all I could do not to tell her to get on her knees in front of me right then and there.
But no, right now I had to convince her that we were meant to be lovers. It was my one and only mission. And I never failed a job.
Slowly, I pushed an errant strand of silken hair behind her ear and then twisted it around my finger.
“Don’t you remember how good it was, Piper?” I asked, my voice deep and low. “When I sank between your thighs and licked you?”
She swallowed hard, and I cupped her cheek, stroking the pad of my thumb against her tight jaw.
“You tasted so good, you know that? Every time I see you, I think of that. How good you tasted. My tongue on your pretty pink clit.”
She shivered, and my hand dropped lower, tracing the column of her throat and then the hollow of her collarbone.
“And then, when I’m thinking about you? I think about how good it would be to taste the rest of you. To kiss my way down your neck…” I trailed my thumb up and down her throat again. “And your breasts…” I rested my palm just above the swell of her chest. “And your perfect little nipples.”
She shivered again, her pupils dilating as she met my gaze. Her breath was coming faster now, and I knew I had her under my spell just as much as I was under hers.
“Do you know what I thought when I first saw you in this tiny red skirt?”
She shook her head, eyes wide, her gaze still trained on mine.
“I thought of how nice it would be to undress you until you weren’t wearing anything but this skirt. And then you know what I’d do?”
She swallowed before shaking her head again.
“I’d grip the hem.” I did exactly that, and she made no move to stop me, which only made my heart pound harder and my blood run hotter. “And I’d hike it all the way up to your waist so that I could see all of you. You know what I’d do next?”
She took a deep breath, her warm exhale fanning against my chest.
“I’d bend you over my desk and use your skirt to pull you into me while I slid my cock into you. Long and deep, over and over again.”