Her mouth dropped open. “He did?”
Andrew laughed. “Well, maybe he just agreed when I said those things.” She gave a squeak of protest, but he barreled through. “And he also agreed when I suggested that we ask you to be the executive director.”
“I don’t—”
“You don’t have to answer right away. In fact, I’d prefer that you didn’t. Just think about it for a bit, and if it’s something that you want, the job is yours as soon as we can wrap up your work at Harbor. But only if you want it for yourself. Not because you think I do, or Jon does, or anything like that.”
“Oh, gosh,” she sighed. “Did you mean that?”
He gave her a confused look. “Absolutely. You’re more than qualified to run an entire organization. Despite this unexpected problem with the Christmas Bonus Fund—which wasn’t your fault to begin with—you’ve proven yourself to be an excellent CFO. I think you could make the transition pretty smoothly.”
She smiled and blushed. “Actually, I meant—that part where you said—”
Ah. That’s what she’d been talking about. “Where I said you were smart, charming, and breathtakingly beautiful?”
They were standing in the foyer of her apartment, crowded close to each other in the small space. The dim glow from the single sconce on the wall behind him illuminated only her face, but he could feel the heat of her body, like a living thing all of its own. Everything beyond this narrow stretch of hallway disappeared when she leaned closer, and desire flooded through him stronger than he’d ever felt before.
“Yes,” she whispered, green eyes glinting up at him. There was no hesitation as he closed the distance between them in a heartbeat, his arms wrapping around her back and his lips pressing against hers.
She yielded immediately, hands sliding up to his shoulders, gripping at him through the layers of clothing. Her mouth opened under his, and he stroked inside, licking at her, letting her suck his tongue and hum in appreciation before she slid her hands up to his neck, threading her fingers into his hair.
He groaned at the feel of her touch against his skin. And that was just her fingers on his neck. What would it feel like to have those hands on his body, stroking down his chest, gripping his cock—
He tore his mouth away. “Meredith, is this okay? I didn’t mean to do this without asking. I don’t want you to feel—”
Whatever he was about to say fled his thoughts, because she slipped off her glasses and slid them into the pocket of her coat before putting her hands to his coat, slipping the top button open, then working her way downward. This wasn’t a polite Let me take your things.
She was undressing him.
“You don’t want me to feel what? Turned on? Hot? Needy? I haven’t felt this way, ever,” she admitted, breathless, her fingers working so fast that his coat was already hanging off his shoulders. She yanked his bow tie loose, the two ends draped down his chest by the time his brain finally managed to catch up. He pulled her back to him for another kiss.
By the time he lifted his lips from hers again, both of their coats were crumpled on the floor at their feet, the pins had fallen completely out of her hair, and both of them were gasping for breath.
And they hadn’t even left the foyer. He put one hand on the small of her back as he stroked her from neck to navel with the other. She arched against his touch.
“You look amazing in this dress. God, Meredith,” he groaned. “Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?”
She looked at him, eyes hazy and unfocused. “You make me feel beautiful,” she murmured, then took his hand and led him into her bedroom.
Chapter Nine
Meredith’s hand trembled as she switched on the lamp on her nightstand. Oh, my God. This is actually happening.
She turned back to Andrew for another kiss, trying not to think about what they were about to do. Instead, she poured her focus into the way his mouth felt on hers, the way he nibbled at her chin and stroked her breasts, dipping his fingers inside the neckline of her dress to lightly rub over her nipples, making her moan into his mouth.
Their clothes seemed to fall away by degrees, shirt pushed back and pulled off of muscled shoulders, black silk and feathers falling to the floor, lace and cotton and clasps and hooks undone. Until the moment that he pulled her against his body, his erection pressing into the soft flesh of her belly, and she gasped at the feel of his skin against hers.