One Night with her Boss (4 page)

“Anne.” Just the one word. Not even loud
or authoritative. It was almost gentle.

But it stopped her completely.

She straightened up again and tilted her
head to look him in the eye.

She was already breathless, but she
stopped breathing completely when she saw the look in his eyes.

Understanding. Hunger. Need. Desire. Passion.
All of it. Palpable in his eyes.

She reached out for him without
thinking, responding only to what she saw in his expression.

Then he was kissing her. And she was
kissing him back.

He pushed her backward against the car,
protecting her with a hand spanning the curve of her head. His mouth devoured
her—nothing gentle or mild about the passion with which his lips and tongue
moved against hers.

All of her trembling confusion
transformed into heated excitement. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling
him closer, opening her mouth to the advance of his tongue.

And she wanted him so much. All of him.
Exactly like this.

This was the Jake she’d always wanted.

His body was hard and hot as it pressed
against hers, and then his free hand slid down until it was cupping the curve
of her ass.

His hand in such an intimate place fired
up even more of her senses, and her whole body started to throb with growing
arousal.

He was getting turned on too. She could
feel a hardness building where his groin was pressed against her middle.

He tasted faintly of the lemonade slush,
exactly as she did. And he smelled just like Jake. He filled all of her senses.

She moaned low in her throat as pleasure
and desire flooded her body, and she dug her fingers into his back, trying
desperately to feel as much of him as she could.

Then suddenly he was releasing her,
jerking away, stepping back awkwardly.

Leaving her limp against the car,
shaking and bewildered.

“Oh, damn,” he muttered, turning away
from her abruptly and bracing himself with one hand against the front of his
SUV. “Oh, fuck. What am I doing?”

She’d known what she was doing. She’d
been finally taking what she wanted.

And now she couldn’t even speak after
how jarringly it had been ripped away from her.

They both just panted loudly for a
minute. She stared at his tense back, and he stared at the pavement.

There was a spot of perspiration on his
shirt, just between his shoulder blades. She wasn’t sure why she kept noticing
it.

She really should have known better.

Miraculously, it seemed like he might be
attracted to her. At least a little. Surely he wouldn’t have kissed her like
that otherwise.

But attraction was never the strongest
thing.

It was more than clear—it had always
been more than clear—that, even if he wanted her, Jake was never going to take
what he wanted.

“I’m sorry,” he said at last.

“It’s fine.” Her voice was soft,
slightly resigned. Exactly as she felt. “Sometimes things like that just
happen.”

“It shouldn’t have happened. I know it
was…entirely inappropriate.” He still wasn’t looking at her. “It won’t happen
again.”

Well, that made it even clearer.

She only had two more weeks to work for
him, and she was at least going to hold onto her dignity. She wasn’t about to
let him know she’d been so foolish as to fall for him. She would protect
herself at least that much. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll just pretend it never
happened. I’m not going to be working for you much longer anyway.”

His body jerked visibly, and he shot her
a quick look.

“It was just a kiss,” she said, trying
desperately to sound casual. “It’s not the end of the world.”

It felt kind of like the end of the
world to her, but that was because she was still being foolish.

Her stupid, stupid heart was still
hoping for something that she knew would never happen.

The
rest of the drive was quiet. Jake didn’t even make any more calls.

Anne desperately wanted things to return
to normal between them—since she couldn’t stand the thought that he’d realized
her feelings and was somehow feeling sorry for her—but there was nothing she
could think of to say to clear the air.

She noticed Jake shooting discreet looks
over at her occasionally, as if he were checking to see how she was feeling.
She tried not to show any of her inner turmoil in her expression, but she
didn’t know how successful she was.

If only there was work to do, she was
sure they could get back to normal again. But there was no work left for them
on the remainder of the drive. Just tension and a lot of silent questions that
had no answers.

They finally made it to their hotel in
San Diego. It was later than they’d planned, because of the heavy traffic, and
Anne just wanted to hide in her room and pretend the day had never happened.

It had been better when all she’d had
were vague daydreams. At least then she could enjoy the fantasy. Now, however,
she had the intense memory of what it felt like to kiss Jake for real. She also
had the bleak knowledge that he would never do it again.

When she accepted the key card for her
room, he gave her a close look. “Are you okay?” he asked softly.

She smiled at him, as bright as she
could manage. “Of course. It was just a kiss. Did you think it would leave me
sobbing in a corner or something?”

“Of course not.” His face twisted
slightly. He obviously felt as terrible about this mess as she did. “But it
should never have happened.”

“It did. It’s fine. It’s forgotten.” She
smiled again. “It’s not like I’ve never been kissed before, you know.”

“I didn’t mean—”  He broke off when she
took the handle of her case and started wheeling it after her as she walked
toward the elevator.

He reached for his bag and followed her.
“Did you want to grab dinner?”

“Nah. I’m not very hungry. I think I’m
just going to turn in.”

“Okay.” He looked worried but didn’t
object. Just rode up the elevator with her in silence.

When they reached their floor, they
headed for their rooms, which were next to each other. “I’ll see you in the
morning,” she said with another smile that felt like it might rip her face
apart.

“Okay. Have a good night.”

Then finally she was able to step into
her room and close the door behind her. She turned the deadbolt and leaned
against the door, shaking slightly as emotion ripped through her.

It was fine. It was fine. She would be
okay. She had a new job. A great job. The kind of job she’d always wanted.

She didn’t need Jake. For anything.

And he was a grown man. He would be okay
without her.

She kept telling herself this as she
pulled out the outfit she was going to wear tomorrow and hung it up. Then she
called Raney and Meg and told them what happened.

Raney was convinced this was proof that
Jake was desperately in love with her, and Meg told her not to do anything
stupid. Anne felt a little better when she hung up, so she drew herself a hot
bath, since it was a nice room with a great tub.

She was telling herself again that
everything was fine as she got in to soak and try to relax.

Every time the thought of Jake flickered
into her mind, she pushed it away intentionally. She ended up thinking about
crazy things—like what would have happened if Mr. Darcy and Mr. Knightly got
into a fight—but it was better than thinking about Jake.

She stayed in the bath too long, until
the water was lukewarm and her fingers had pruned. Then she finally made
herself get out.

She was drying off with one of the thick
hotel towels when she heard a knock on her door.

It startled her so much she actually
jumped.

She pulled on the little pink robe she
always brought with her when she traveled and hurried to the door. When she
looked out the peephole, she saw Jake standing in the hall, still wearing a
suit and his hair more rumpled than ever.

She froze for a moment, torn between the
need to open the door to discover what he wanted and the realization that her
hair was piled unattractively on her head and she was just wearing a short,
thin robe.

“Anne, please open the door,” he said
from the hall.

He must have known she was standing on
the other side. She swung the door open without thinking.

He stared at her, his eyes moving from
her messy hair clipped up haphazardly to her slightly damp robe to her bare
legs and feet.

“I was in the bath,” she said, by way of
(obvious) explanation.

He didn’t say anything. Just stared at
her. There was a tension in his body she just wasn’t used to seeing.

“What did you want?” she asked at last,
shifting from foot to foot.

“I wanted to see if you were all right.”

She gave an exasperated sigh. “I’m fine.
For God’s sake, Jake, why do you think I’m going to fall apart? Why would you
assume I think a kiss is the end of the world?”

“Because I do.” His eyes were suddenly
nakedly urgent. He took step toward her. “Because I do.”

“Because you what?”

“Feel like it’s the end of the world.”

She leaned against the doorframe, her
heart overflowing again in that way that was so incredibly dangerous. “It’s
not. It doesn’t matter.”

“It really didn’t matter to you?”

“Why would it matter?”

“Because I can’t stop thinking about
it.” His voice was hoarse in a way that made her shiver. “Because I keep
wanting to do it again. Even though I know I shouldn’t. Even though I know it’s
wrong.”

“Oh.”

“So you don’t?”

She was overwhelmed with the rush of
feeling that she couldn’t even see straight, much less think straight. She
asked stupidly, “I don’t what?”

“You don’t want to kiss me again?”

“Of course, I do.”

His face broke with transparent relief.
Then again, with a breathtaking hunger, as he reached to take her face in both
of his hands. “Thank God.”

Before she knew what was happening, he
was kissing her again.

It was just as wild and hungry as
earlier that day beside the car, like some sort of unstoppable force had taken
control of her body. She groaned helplessly into his mouth as he stepped her
backwards until they were both inside the room. Then he pushed her back against
the wall as he let the door close behind them.

His mouth claimed hers, hard and urgent,
as he cupped her head with one hand and stroked from her side down to her thigh
with the other.

Her vision blurred over with pleasure
and need as she tried to meet and match his tongue with hers, as she clutched
desperately at his strong shoulders.

“Damn, Anne,” he murmured against her
mouth, pressing his body against hers so she was trapped between him and the
wall. “I want you so much. I’ve wanted you for so long.”

She gasped helplessly as his mouth trailed
along her jaw and then down her throat. “Me too.”

He lifted her thigh so she was wrapping
one leg around his hips, and he found her mouth again in another deep kiss.
Soon, she was throbbing with intense arousal and trying to rub herself against
his thigh as she surrendered to the embrace.

She could tell he was just as turned on
as she was. She found the bulge in the front of his pants and rubbed herself
against it until he grunted.

“Please,” she panted, when he broke off
the kiss at last. “Oh God, please, Jake. I can’t wait anymore.”

She’d never in her life been so
shameless, so eager, so desperately aroused.

He made a low, throaty sound and moved
them further into the room. The bed was too far away, so he propped her on the
low dresser and untied her robe. The fabric fell away, revealing her naked
breasts, abdomen, groin.

“Fuck, you’re so gorgeous.” He bent over
to take one breast in his mouth, suckling until she was crying out from the
sensual torment of it.

The edge of the dresser was poking into
her ass uncomfortably, but she didn’t even care. She clung to his neck to stay
balanced, trying to wrap her legs around him.

Soon, she couldn’t take it anymore, so she
squeezed one hand down until she could find his erection, massaging him through
his trousers until his whole body jerked and he released her breast.

“Damn, baby, you’re going to kill me,”
he muttered, his eyes raking over her mostly naked body with a hot entitlement
that thrilled her.

“You’re killing me. So please hurry up.”

Something flickered briefly on his face.
“Damn it. We need a condom.”

“I’ve got one.” She couldn’t move very
well, since she was trapped between his body and the dresser, but she managed
to reach over for her purse, and she fumbled through it with one hand until she
found a couple of condom packets in a zipper pocket.

He took one of them out of her trembling
hand and quickly unwrapped it, undid his trousers, and rolled the condom on. Then
he was parting her thighs, positioning himself at her entrance, starting to
sink inside her.

She moaned uninhibitedly as she felt the
hard substance of him enter her slowly. His body was big and hot against hers,
and it felt like he was touching the deepest parts of her. But she needed more.
So much more of him.

“Please,” she gasped, shifting to
stabilize her balance and adjust to the penetration. “Jake, please.”

“Fuck, you feel so good.” He was holding
one of her thighs. “Wrap your legs around me, baby.”

She moved her legs so they were around
him more securely, and they both groaned as he sank into her more deeply.

Through the hot haze in her mind, she
suddenly remembered something. “Is this hurting your knee?”

“Damn it, Anne, my knee is fine,” he replied
in almost a growl. He gave a few little thrusts that made her cry out in
pleasure. “I’m not an old man, you know.”

“I know.” She cried out again as he gave
another hard pump, the friction generating intense pleasure inside her. “God, I
know. I just don’t want—” She broke off with a gasp when he thrust again.

He established a steady rhythm then,
bracing one arm on the dresser and moving his hips. He held her in position
with his other hand on her bottom as he took her fast and hard.

Anne had no idea what was happening to
her, but she was completely out of control. She squeezed him with her legs as
tightly as she could and clawed at his back as the sensations rose inside her.
She made little grunts every time he pushed into her, and they kept getting louder
and louder as she lost all inhibitions.

Jake was grunting too, loud and low in
his throat. And he’d occasionally mutter out a word like “baby” or “so good.”

Her climax was building quickly, and she
dug her fingernails into Jake’s shirt with a loud sob of pleasure when the
pressure finally broke.

He was right after her, letting out a
long groan as his body tightened hard and then released in lingering shudders.

She’d barely come down enough to see his
expression as he came, but through the blur she recognized the pleasure and
relief twisting on his face. It did something powerful to her heart. As
powerful as what had just happened to her body.

“Oh God,” she gasped, slightly hoarse.
She couldn’t believe she’d let go so much.

She never let go that way.

A wave of both pleasure and
embarrassment washed over her as she buried her face in his shoulder.

What the hell had just happened here?

Jake was even hotter than ever, and he
was just as breathless as she was. He held her tightly with both arms for a
moment before he released her.

“I’ve got to get the condom, baby,” he
murmured into her hair.

She pulled herself together enough to
unwrap her legs and arms from him, although it left her feeling limp and shaky.
He gently extracted himself from her body, and then he limped to the bathroom
to dispose of the condom.

She knew his knee had been bothering
him.

She felt awkward, confused, and
terrified at the same time. She didn’t know what was going on. It had all
happened so fast. And it had inevitably changed things between them.

She didn’t trust her legs to support
her, so she went to sit on the edge of the bed. She was tying her robe closed
again when Jake returned from the bathroom.

He still wore his clothes—wrinkled dress
shirt and the trousers from his suit. His dark hair was hopelessly tousled, and
he had a heavy five-o’clock shadow that made him look even sexier than normal.

He also had a deliciously warm and
relaxed look about him that she really liked.