Fuck, that woman had a knack for aggravating me too. “What’s not to get?”
“I can’t be in any sort of relationship with my boss, Cade. And quite frankly, we don’t like each other enough to be in one.” She always said that like it was some mutual thing.
“I like you just fine. I especially enjoy your pussy—”
“No.” She cut me off with a hand in the air and then stood up from the ground. “Aside from sleeping together, this isn’t a match made in heaven. And we don’t need the drama right now.”
I stood up too and dusted off my pants before pulling her close and starting the walk back to our cabin. “I’d argue that it’s less drama to fuck you silent when you’re bickering with me about something ridiculous.”
“I really don’t bicker. You haven’t been around me long enough to say that I do.”
I chuckled at the fact that she couldn’t see she was doing exactly that. “So, what? You want us to stay on our sides and work real nice without me bending you over the counter to fuck you while you’re walking around in your baggy Tshirts?”
“I can get a pencil skirt out if that helps,” she offered.
“I’ll take fucking you in either.”
She slid a hand over her face as she tried to act unaffected. Yet I felt her body heat against mine and noted how her breathing had picked up. Izzy Hardy was just as obsessed with screwing me as I was with screwing her. “If we sleep together again—and that’s a big if—we don’t tell anyone and it ends after the freaking retreat. And we need to get JUNIPER squared away first, which means you need to team build with us.”
“I don’t need to team build—”
“Team build or no cabin fucking, Cade,” she ground out.
I mumbled, “Like you make all the rules . . .”
I was starting to think she did.
15
Izzy
The next day flew by because Cade and I actually worked together in unison. He wanted JUNIPER to be a freaking breeze, same as I did, and he seemed to want it done ASAP. I wasn’t sure if it was because I said no screwing around until then or if it was because we were getting closer to this retreat being over.
Still, I texted Lucas that I had to work, then sat down across from Cade. Of course Lucas asked for a pic of our boss in the morning, and I smirked as I silently tried to sneak one. Even if my whole work team was spending the day out in a wilderness paradise, frolicking around while I worked, I really had nothing to complain about. My view was just as good.
Or bad if I was trying to keep my hands to myself. Which I was.
I chanted in my head that I really was. But Cade wore those damn glasses as he worked, and every now and then, he’d push them up the bridge of his nose like a drop-dead gorgeous geek I wanted to lick for the rest of the day.
Not only that, he’d had breakfast delivered before I woke up, and because he wasn’t sure of what I wanted, he had them bring waffles and pancakes and doughnuts and eggs and freaking fruit.
When I sent off my picture to Lucas, Cade immediately said, “If you get to take pictures of me, don’t be mad when I take some of you.”
My face heated. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You hold your phone at a very different angle when you’re taking pictures, dollface.”
“Whatever,” I grumbled and eyed the feast between us on the table. “I don’t need to eat any of this.” I normally drank coffee and counted calories for breakfast.
“Eat some of it, or I’ll force-feed it to you,” he replied without looking up from his laptop.
I chose some fruit and a waffle, so as not to appear ungrateful. Then, as I started to cut a doughnut in half, he grabbed the whole thing, put it on my plate, and firmly placed it right by my laptop.
“Eat your food,” he repeated.
I rolled my eyes, but complied, because it wasn’t worth the argument. Plus, I wanted the food anyway. The chefs at this retreat were outstanding, but I had no idea where they were even making the food. “Where do you think they get this food? Is someone cooking in a cabin around the corner?”
“Probably.” Cade shrugged, completely bored with the topic of conversation. “Coffee is on the counter for you.”
“Oh! Thank you.” I hopped up to grab it and search for the sugar.
“Already added the sugar, Izzy. I bet it’ll taste as good as Rodney’s.”
So, he’d been listening to everything I said the night before. I took a sip and let him have this one. “Tastes even better.”
He couldn’t hide the way the corners of his mouth lifted a bit as I sat back down. Then, he sent me a file to work on, and we typed away for the next hour in silence. At some point, my back started to hurt from sitting on the wooden bench, so I grabbed my laptop to go work in bed.
First, I changed into some jean shorts and a blouse for team building later. I wasn’t sure if they’d have me talk about JUNIPER, and I wanted to appear semi-professional.
After a minute or two of diving into more emails, I got a message on my computer screen.
Cade: Why did you leave the table?
Me: I had to change, and it’s more comfortable in bed.
Cade: You’re going to fall asleep instead of work.
Me: I’m not. I work in bed sometimes. I feel like it gives me a different perspective.
Cade: Seems like a dangerous place to be.
Me: Why?
Cade: Because it only takes a second for your cabin partner to slide between your legs or for your hand to wander where it shouldn’t.
Me: Don’t start. We have work to do.
Cade: I stopped working the moment you told me you were in our bed.
Me: Technically, one half of the bed is yours. The other half is mine. It’s very clear from the spray-painted line.
Cade: Line seems a bit blurry to me.
Me: Leave me alone.
Cade: Why did you change?
Me: Because we have a team-building event in ONE hour.
Cade: What are you wearing?
Me: Just a blouse and shorts.
Cade: Can your hand slip into those shorts easily?
Cade: If it can, be sure to let me know how wet that pussy is for me.
Sexting and digital play was something I thought would never turn me on but having Cade message me from the other room had me pretty much soaked. Especially when I pictured him sitting at that table with those strong fingers typing away, black ink under his rolled-up sleeves, and the veins protruding from his forearms.
I pressed the ignore button on my messenger app and tried to stay on task. But I couldn’t help myself once he’d put the idea there. My hand roved over my jean shorts, and I pushed the seam of the fabric back and forth between my legs.
He caught me like that, my eyes closed and a soft gasp escaping my lips. I jumped, and my laptop almost went flying. Cade had padded quietly down the hallway and leaned on the doorframe with those fucking glasses. “No need to stay quiet, Izzy. I like the sound you make when your pussy is being played with.”
“Jesus, I was not doing that!” When I chanced a look at him, he was smiling at me like we were breaking all the rules and he was going to bask in every second of it.
“Did you check your daily tasks yet?”
I chewed on my cheek and went to the daily tasks. There were a few left—one of which was to call Stonewood Enterprises and update the owner on our progress, and the last was what he wanted me to see.
Task: Unbutton your shorts.
“Hand in the shorts is going to feel better anyway, right?” He lifted a brow, not letting go of the fact that he’d caught me in the act.
“Unfortunately, I have to call the freaking owner of Stonewood Enterprises to tell him we are minutes away from finishing up JUNIPER for testing with the team. So I guess I won’t be doing that.”
“Izzy, the call can wait. Your orgasm can’t. Play with yourself for me,” he commanded, the last words low, an unspoken threat.
I waited, like I was going to defy him. I wanted to know my punishment.
“You wait another minute, and I’ll corrupt your whole computer, dollface. Then you won’t be able to work at all.”
Shit, he was good. It was the only thing I didn’t want. I would have taken him smacking my ass or getting his belt. It meant he wanted this; he was practically begging for it by actually threatening me with something.
That had my heart galloping with the rush of pleasing him, of seeing his desire for me, of him at my mercy.
Taking my time, I closed my laptop and set it aside. “Fine. You want this so bad, Mr. Armanelli. Let’s give you what you came for. Tell me what you want.”