Knight 01 Knight And Play (3 page)

“Say clitoris, Sophie.”

Sophie’s mouth fell open in shock. Hearing Lucien Knight unexpectedly say the word clitoris made the bottom drop out of her stomach. No way was she going to say it back just to amuse him.

“Well, that’s certainly a question that didn’t feature on any of the job websites I studied,” she quipped to cover her embarrassment.

“You’re right.” He nodded in acceptance and worked the knot on his tie open.
Was he hot?
She was definitely feeling the heat in here. He tapped his pen on the desk. “Fair enough, don’t say clitoris.” She sighed with relief.  “Say masturbation instead.”

Sophie couldn’t take anymore. Lucien Knight was too much. Too sexual, too arrogant, too male. Even though he was fully clothed, sex oozed from every pore of the man in a way Sophie had never encountered before. He made her think of Viking warriors, and right now she felt like a damsel in serious distress. Lucien Knight was right. She
wasn’t
equipped for the candid conversations he required. She
couldn’t
be as brazen as he needed her to be. She got to her feet.

“You know what, Mr. Knight? You’re probably right. I’m not cut out for this.” She swung her bag over her shoulder and ignored the spark of amusement in his eyes. “I’m sorry to have wasted your time.”

Lucien got to his feet
too
and crossed to open the door. “On the contrary, Sophie. It’s been my pleasure.”

He’d placed himself between Sophie and the exit, leaving her no choice but to brush close to him as she left. He was a good head and shoulders taller than she was even in her high heels, and she caught the scent of him as she drew level.
Delicious.
He smelled of warm spice and citrus, and something else. Something dark and sexy, so uniquely Lucien Knight that it kicked her senses into overdrive. She wanted to leave, and yet at the same time she wanted him to say something to stop her.

She turned to him, and found him leaning on the doorjamb with a lazy smile on his face.

“Goodbye, Mr. Knight.”

“Ms. Black.” He inclined his head, but made no further move, leaving her no option but to walk away.

Except for one.

Sophie turned away, and then swung back around and said something that she never imagined she’d say as part of a job interview.

“Clitoris.” She took pleasure in watching the predatory spark re-ignite in his cool blue eyes, and she licked her lips before she spoke again. “Masturbation.”

Sophie met his gaze head on, dizzy with exhilaration.

“Cock rings. Anal beads. Vibrators, dildos and…” she cast around desperately in her limited imagination for a big finish, “and blow up dolls!”

The amused heat in Lucien eyes scorched her. In that moment she wasn’t ordinary Sophie Black, builder’s PA and invisible wife. She was sexy and sophisticated Ms. Black, able to stop Viking sex-gods in their tracks with just a few little words. She noticed the way Lucien’s throat worked as he swallowed before he spoke.

“You start in the morning. Nine o’ clock sharp. Don’t be late, Ms. Black.”

Later that evening, curled up on the sofa eating Chinese from plates balanced on their knees, Kara stared at Sophie, agog. “You aren’t actually going to take the job though, right?”

Sophie tucked her feet underneath her and nodded. “Kara, I am. I have to.” She took a sip of her wine and searched for the words to explain her feelings. “If I don’t, then I’m accepting that this is as exciting as my life is ever going to get.” She gestured round her lou
nge.
“A dead-end job, a husband who’s barely here and doesn’t notice me when he is…”

“Soph, if you’ve got problems with Dan, this job is only going to make them a million times worse, you know?”

“It won’t. Maybe I’ll learn stuff to spice things up for us.”

“Can’t you just talk to him?”

“Kara, I’m not taking this job because of what’s going on with me and Dan. I’m taking it because for a while back there today I glimpsed a different version of myself, and I liked her better.”

Kara shook her head and laughed in resignation. “You’d better hang onto those other clothes then. Something tells me you’re going to need them.”

Sophie locked all the doors and went to bed with her mobile in her hand to call Dan. She listened to the clicks as it made the long distance connection, and it rang out once or twice before it diverted to his answer phone. She glanced at her watch. It was just after ten thirty for her, so a little after midnight for him. Who was he with that he should need to reject her call at that time? He wasn’t due to start his meetings until tomorrow. Sophie sighed and slid into bed, her mobile still clutched in her hand in case he called back.

He didn’t.

At eight fifty the next morning, Sophie passed through the black, gleaming doors of Knight Inc. with her heart in her mouth.

Poor old Derek had never sounded so lost for words as when she’d called him last night out of the blue to resign, and thankfully he’d been too flustered to argue with her request to use holiday days owed in lieu of the company’s one week notice policy.

Her old boss was a letch of the highest order; Sophie pitied the next girl who would have to put up with his wandering hands.

Was her new boss a letch?
Lucien Knight loomed large in her mind, a bronzed, muscled warrior with sparkling blue eyes and a killer way with words.
No.
He wasn’t a letch. His job just demanded that the usual veil of decency be removed. Even though Sophie had only met Lucien once, she already sensed she could trust him not to cross the line. Derek hadn’t been able to keep his grubby old hands off her, but Sophie felt pretty certain that Lucien Knight wouldn’t lay an untoward finger on her.

Unless he thought she wanted him to.

Sophie shook her head to dislodge the unbidden thought, and stepped out of the elevator onto the plush carpet of the top floor.

The same immaculate woman as yesterday inhabited reception, but her smile was a fraction warmer today as Sophie approached the desk.

“Mr. Knight is expecting you, Sophie. Welcome aboard.”

Sophie smiled, disconcerted that the woman knew her name already. “Thank you.” The receptionist tapped the keyboard and made no move to get up. “Shall I just go on through?”

In answer the woman nodded and extended an arm behind her towards the corridor.

That was that, then.
She was now officially an employee at Knight Inc.

Nerves swirled low in Sophie’s stomach as she approached Lucien’s door at the end of the swathe of carpet. Yesterday already felt as if she’d dreamed it – things like that didn’t happen in real life, did they? In books maybe, or films, but not to ordinary girls leading ordinary lives. Except it
had
happened, and as Sophie tapped twice on Lucien’s door, she felt like anything but an ordinary girl.

“Come in.” His quiet command filtered through the door, and she turned the handle and stepped inside.

“Sophie.” A lazy smile crossed his mouth when he looked up. “You came.”

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Did you expect me not to?”

He shrugged. “How could you resist?”

Sophie smiled despite her nerves. She couldn’t help it. Lucien Knight was just about the most self-assured - no, in fact, cocky - man she’d ever met.

“This way.” Lucien stood and opened a door to a second room to one side of his desk. Sophie hadn’t noticed the doorway until now, and she crossed behind his desk to stand alongside him. The adjoining office was smaller, with the same lush decoration and picture window views of London as Lucien enjoyed.

“You should find everything you need in here. Claire has left detailed guidance notes.”

“Claire?” Sophie’s interest was piqued.

“My previous PA. She had to leave a couple of weeks earlier than planned, but you should find everything in order.”

Sophie wasn’t brave enough to ask why Claire had needed to make a speedy exit. Maybe she’d fallen for her boss…

“Why don’t you take a little time to get acquainted with things? And I’ll call you if I need anything.”

Lucien left Sophie’s door open and sat down at his desk. Despite what he’d just said to the contrary, he’d have put down good money that Sophie Black wouldn’t turn up this morning. She’d surprised him again, just as she had when she’d turned back yesterday and said things that clearly made her uncomfortable. He sensed the spunky girl lurking beneath her good girl demeanour, and he was looking forward to helping her find her way out. He looked up as she appeared in the doorway.

“Coffee, Mr. Knight?” There was a gleam in her eye that could almost be deemed mischievous.

“Why, thank you, Sophie. I’d like that very much. Espresso, if you can work that infernal machine out.”

She disappeared again, and he could hear the clank of the high-tech coffee machine in her office that he’d never bothered to get to grips with. A few minutes later she placed a steaming cup down on the desk next to him.

“I wasn’t sure if you took sugar,” she said, a sachet in her hand in readiness.

“No, thank you. That’s perfect.”

She inclined her head, and sunlight bounced off the clip that held her hair up. Lucien’s fingers itched to reach out and remove it, to let her blonde hair fall around her face. How long was it, he wondered? Shoulder length? Long enough to cover her breasts? He shifted in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable.

He picked up the cup and watched her retreat into her office. He had much to learn about Sophie Black, but two things were already apparent. The girl had a fabulous backside, and she could indeed make a mean cup of coffee.

Sophie sat down at the large, unfamiliar desk and touched a key on the computer keyboard. The screen instantly lit up, the Knight Inc. logo emblazoned across it.

Claire had indeed been very thorough with her handover notes, Sophie found everything listed from computer passwords to intricate details of how to manage Lucien’s diary. The thought of being in charge of the movements of the six foot sex god sitting outside her door set off the nerves in her stomach again, so she entered the computer passwords and opened up the email programme. It seemed as good a place to start as any.

The next couple of hours passed in a blur, and almost to her surprise, Sophie found that the job actually held some similarities to her old one. She still had to clear emails, manage the post, type memos. She drew strength from those familiarities.
I can do this
.

She was about to get to grips with the filing systems when an instant message box popped up in the corner of the screen.

“You’re very industrious in there, Ms. Black. I’m impressed.”

A smile touched the corners of her mouth. How very Lucien Knight to choose to do something other than just lean back far enough to put his head around the door and speak to her. She was fast learning that he was a man who avoided the predictable. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard as she tried to decide how to respond. First and foremost, this man was her boss. She should just be screamingly professional, but he’d somehow managed to show her that that wasn’t what he was looking for from her.

She rather thought that he wanted the other Sophie. Even so, there was something inherently intimate about messaging him that made her feel weird. But turned on weird, rather than run for the hills weird.

She racked her brain. What would the other Sophie say?

“I aim to please, Mr. Knight.”

She pressed send.

A few seconds later, his reply flashed in.

“Then I hope you’re a good shot, Sophie.”

Sophie laughed softly under her breath.

“I never miss. Is there anything particular you’d like me to do next, Mr. Knight?”

“Yes. I want you to call me Lucien.”

Sophie blushed. She’d already attempted to call him Lucien a few times that morning, but his name felt wrong in her mouth. Why couldn’t he have a run of the mill name? Something normal, like Tom, or Jack…
or Dan
. Something that could have been anyone’s, rather than a name that was so personally, completely his? He seemed to fill every corner of the word.

He chose that moment to roll his chair back and come through into the office with a sheaf of papers in his hand.

“Sophie, could you work on these after lunch, please?” He handed the papers over. “It’s customer feedback reports from our product testing group. I need the results collating, please.”

She put the papers aside with a professional smile.
Say his name. Say his name.
“Of course… Lucien.” There. She’d said it, and no one had died.

His eyes glittered with approval. “Much better.”

He glanced at his watch. “I have to go out for an hour or two. Don’t forget to take a lunch break.”

He left a few minutes later, and Sophie breathed out properly for the first time since she’d arrived that morning. She’d been tense, too tense in his presence. An unbidden image of Lucien Knight massaging the tension out of her shoulders popped into her mind, and she pushed it aside hurriedly. What was happening to her? Her last boss had never unsettled her like this, but then Derek was a man whose attentions she had actively avoided, rather than daydreamed about like a star struck fan-girl. The fact was that being around Lucien Knight had her on edge.