Step by Step Love: The Complete Collection (7 page)

Veronica was seated at her desk, humming quietly to herself as she worked. She was beginning to learn how to do her job well and she knew it was driving her coworkers insane. Gossiping about her had become one of their favorite pastimes, but as of late, she had given them no reason to say anything about her. She answered telephones, took messages, entered data, and even worked through her lunch breaks. She was the perfect employee.

The telephone on her desk rang and she seized it, earning an eye roll from Marge. She tried to ignore the redheaded woman as she nudged Carla and they mocked her in the background.

“Hello, you have reached Ryan Horowitz's office. This is his secretary. How may I help you?” she asked, preparing a pen and sticky note to take a message.

All that she heard on the other end of the line was breathing and the sound of someone chewing. She frowned.

“Who is this?”

Still, she received no reply. She furrowed her brow.

“Listen, pervert, this is a professional business. We have to get medical equipment to the sick and the elderly and you are tying up our phone lines. Have some respect!” she shouted before hanging up the phone.

She looked around the room and noticed half of the other staff members were staring at her, some chuckling and others shaking their heads. Scowling, she started entering data again. She was sick of being the entire office's personal joke.

Suddenly, an email notification popped up in the corner of her computer screen. Narrowing her eyes, she clicked on the envelope icon and impatiently waited for the page to load. After a few seconds, the message was displayed on the screen and Veronica noticed that the sender was from the office. It was nobody that she knew, but it still peaked her interest. She wondered what kind of office spam was being forwarded, so she read it anyway.

To: v
eronica.poole@horowitzhealth
.com

From:
claudette.mcdowell@horowitzhealth.
com

Subject: Blonde Joke

Hi Veronica,

Glad to see you opened the joke. Want to know the blonde joke? Spoiler alert! It's YOU!!

I saw you and Mr. Horowitz this morning. In fact, I have it on video. You can see it is attached here. If you don't want your secret out, see me in the security office on the ground floor before I am off at 6pm. Bring Mr. Horowitz if you please.

Claudette

Veronica's eyes widened. She looked around the office, paranoid that somebody may have somehow read the email behind her shoulder. It was a silly thought, considering her desk was next to the wall by Ryan's office, but she could not help but express some concern. She gulped as she saw the video file in the attachments section. She did not have to click on it to know what was there.

Immediately, she stood up from her desk and knocked on Ryan's office door. He had to know.

***

Several hours before Veronica had received the email from Claudette, she had entered Ryan's office with the key that he had given her. She locked the door behind her, smirking, and sauntered towards him. He was seated in his executive chair, smiling at her as she sat down on the edge of his desk. She chewed on her lip and gave him a seductive look.

“Today is going to be
so
long,” she murmured, unbuttoning her blazer.

Ryan began breathing heavily as his eyes traveled up and down her body. He was still tired from working overtime the night before, but she looked far too beautiful for him to say no. He gulped, anxiously, as her blazer fell to the floor and she unbuttoned her blouse. Loosening his tie, he hungrily watched her kick off her high heels.

Veronica grinned and slipped off her red pencil skirt, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder and eyeing her stepbrother. He was watching her intently as a bulge slowly grew in his trousers. She scooted towards him, knocking a stack of paper to the floor. The pieces floated down to the carpet and she spread her legs before him, exposing her small, burgundy, lace thong. Smirking, she wrapped his legs around his neck and pulled him towards her. His chair rolled closer to her and he buried his face in her lower abdomen, taking in her scent.

“God, I want you,” Ryan murmured against her bare skin.

She shivered and tugged at the sleeve of his blazer, which he then slipped off and over the back of the chair. Breathing heavily, he unbuttoned his pants, and kicked them off along with his boxers and loafers. Veronica raised an eyebrow before pulling him up to her by his tie. Taken by surprise, Ryan's eyes widened and he kicked the swivel chair behind him as Veronica crashed her lips into his. He moaned lightly against her lips, trying not to be too loud since they were still in the office.

He wrapped his arms behind her, running his fingertips up her spine and gently unhooking her bra. She smiled against his lips, pressing her body towards his so her thigh brushed his member. He stifled another moan and ran his hands down towards her hips. The only thing holding her bra in place was his chest. As he leaned back, her bra fell and his eyes traveled down to her full breasts. She smiled at him and he ran a hand up her body, rubbing one of them softly. She closed her eyes and pursed her lips, muffling a quiet moan. She ran a hand underneath his shirt and lightly brushed her fingers against his stomach.

“You have goose bumps,” she breathed, only centimeters from his lips.

His breathing hitched and he gulped, nodding. With a smirk, she lightly touched his throbbing member and gently stroked him. He let out a groan and averted his gaze to the door, nervous that somebody may hear them.

“I don't know if—oh God,” he moaned.

He was not entirely convinced that having intercourse in his office was a good idea, but he justified it by reminding himself how many other corporate executives did it. Veronica pressed her soft lips to his neck. She slid off the edge of his desk and kissed her way all the way down his muscular form before reaching his sweet spot. Ryan bit his lip as hard as he possibly could, but a small noise still came out of the corner of his mouth. She wrapped her lips around him and gently ran her tongue up and down his shaft, causing another soft moan to fall from his lips. He ran a hand through her thick, blonde hair, tugging on it lightly.

She looked up at him, taking all of him in her mouth. His manhood stiffened against her moist tongue and he jerked a little. Understanding his hint, she pulled her lips away and got to her feet before lunging for him. Her tongue pushed past his slightly parted lips and tangled with his. Moaning, Ryan ran his hands down her body, looping his finger around her thong. Veronica pulled away from him, only to smirk and nod. After her consent, Ryan desperately pushed her panties off her hips. She stepped out of them and hungrily pressed her lips against his once more.

Ryan seized her waist and ran his hands down to her buttocks, squeezing them before hoisting her onto the desktop. His manhood was still wet from her mouth and he took full advantage of it. Without pulling away from their passionate kiss, he pushed himself inside of her. She bit his lower lip hard, trying her best not to scream as he slowly began to thrust.

“Oh baby, that's feels so good,” she murmured against his lips.

“Good,” he whispered back, speeding up with each thrust.

Veronica arched her back, slightly lying down and using her elbows for support. More papers flew to the floor, followed by a canister full of pens. The lovers ignored the mess. They were only focused on each other, which was what made it easy to forget that there was a security camera that was watching their every move.

“Right there,” Veronica breathed, trying her best not to be too loud.

Ryan swallowed down a moan and nodded, rotating his hips towards hers and watching her large breasts jiggle with every movement he made. She tossed her head back in ecstasy as he found her innermost pleasure spot and kept prodding it with his throbbing member. He became harder and sweat fell from his brow as he penetrated her warmth. With each thrust, they both bit their lower lips harder, trying their best not to alarm anyone working nearby that could possibly hear them.

Droplets of sweat were forming on Veronica's body as she gripped onto the edge of the desk and lifted herself towards Ryan. Her breaths became closer and closer together as her muscles flexed around him and she felt the curvature of his member graze her inner walls. Suddenly, Ryan's movements became less precise and she looked up at him with her sapphire eyes, silently begging him not to stop. She jerked her hips towards his as fast as she could, squeaking as she held back a scream. He swallowed down a loud groan and made a throaty noise as he penetrated her one last time.

Veronica's muscles squeezed him tightly and she felt him release inside of her. Exhausted, she lay back on the desk, her hair clinging to the sweat on her face. She closed her eyes and wiped her brow, trying to catch her breath. When she finally had the energy to open her eyes again, she saw Ryan hurriedly pulling on his pants. She sighed.

“I wish we could just lock ourselves in here and take the day off,” she murmured. “That would be nice.”

Ryan sat on his executive chair as he pulled on his loafers, nodding.

“I wish we could too, doll. You have to get dressed, though,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone, running his fingers through his hair to fix it. “We can't bring any attention to ourselves. People are already probably wondering why you've been in here for so long.”

Veronica sighed again and slowly pulled herself back up to a sitting position, her feet dangling off the desk's ledge. Pouting, she lightly pushed her foot against her stepbrother's shoulder as he fixed his blazer cuffs. He looked up at her and raised his brow.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she replied with a smile. “I'm just happy.”

He smiled at her, his dark eyes twinkling.

“I'm happy too, love. Really though, you need to get dressed,” he said, quickly, frowning. “I have just a quick hour long meeting soon and if I'm late people are going to talk.”

Veronica sighed, exasperatedly, before hopping off the desk and sliding on her thong. Slowly, she put her bra on and looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

“Could you hook me?”

He smiled and nodded, latching the hooks on her bra and snapping it playfully against her skin. She glared at him and he chuckled, shaking his head.

“Sorry, couldn't help myself,” he said with a laugh.

“Yeah, yeah, hand me my skirt, would you?” she replied in an annoyed tone.

Still laughing, Ryan picked up her pencil skirt and handed it to her. She pulled it on and reached for her blouse. Ryan watched her intently as she buttoned up the shirt and primped her hair. She began to walk towards the door until he stopped her.

“Ah! Wait, you forgot your shoes,” he hissed.

She turned back around to see him holding up her heels. Scowling, she trotted back towards him and seized them, slipping them onto her feet.

“Thanks,” she murmured.

She started to leave again and he made another noise.

“Blazer,” he added, picking up her blazer from the floor.

Rolling her eyes, Veronica walked back towards him and snatched the garment from his clutches. She put it on and buttoned it before planting a quick kiss on his lips.

“I'll see you later, okay?” she murmured. “Good luck at your meeting.”

Ryan smiled and nodded.

“Thanks, dear. I'll probably do much better now that I'm not as stressed out.”

He chuckled and she left the room, closing the door behind her.

Little did they both know, everything that they had been so careful to hide from the office employees had just been witnessed by a security guard on the ground floor. Despite the desperate measures that they had taken to conceal their relationship, they would later know the repercussions of their actions.

***

Ryan opened his office door and smiled at his stepsister, clearly unaware of the bad news that she was about to tell him. He closed the door behind her and his mood quickly changed when he saw the distraught look on her face as she sat down in the chair opposite his desk. Some of the papers from earlier in the day were still strewn across the floor and Veronica looked at them, making a face.

“You should've cleaned those up,” she grumbled, wrapping her arms around her legs.

Ryan frowned and furrowed his brow, approaching her with his hands in his pockets.

“What is it, dear?” he asked, squatting down to look into her bright blue eyes. “What's the matter?”

Veronica shook her head and averted her gaze.

“I got an email from a woman named Claudette McDowell,” she said, swallowing nervously.

Ryan raised an eyebrow and circled around his desk, sitting down in his executive chair. He cuffed his hands on his desk, twiddling his thumbs and looking at her, expectantly.

“And?” he urged.

Veronica sighed and closed her eyes, rubbing her temples.

“She is a security guard here,” she muttered, “and she saw everything on the monitors. She has us on
tape
, Ryan. How could you not tell me there was a camera in here?”

Ryan furrowed his brow and he tilted his head, confusedly.

“There isn't,” he replied, carefully. “There is no camera installed in here. I wouldn't put a camera in my own office, Veronica. You have to know that.”

Veronica opened her eyes and shot him an infuriated glance.

“Well somehow one got in here, because she has us on video. Hell, she's probably watching us right now. She said we have to meet her before six o' clock when she ends her shift,” she said. “God, this is a nightmare. How could you not have known?”

Ryan's heart began to race and he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

“Trower,” he murmured under his breath.

“What?”

“Trower!” he exclaimed, getting to his feet and angrily kicking his swivel chair. “He's one of my partners. He has a forty-five share. He must have had one put in here when he was investigating all the embezzlement fraud going on in here last month. God! Stupid, stupid me! I should never have let him be in charge of that!”

Exasperated, he kicked the side of his desk and winced. Although it hurt, he was more focused on the bigger problem at hand. Veronica blinked in a patronizing manner and sucked on her teeth.

“You done having your temper tantrum so we can take care of this?” she asked.

Ryan gave her a dark look.

“If you hadn't come in here and seduced me, this never even would have happened!” he shouted.

Veronica leered at him and held her index finger to lips.

“Shhh!” she hissed. “Does this really need to be everyone else's business? The entire bloody office is going to hear you! Let's just go and see her and pay her off. Anything she wants. We'll just make it go away. You can do that, right?”

Ryan sighed and hung his head for a moment before looking back up at her and nodding, frustrated.

“Yes, I can do that,” he breathed. “You're right. We have to get it over with. Pointing fingers isn't going to help anyone.”

Veronica nodded.

“You're right. It won't. We're going to go and say that we are going to lunch,” she explained. “If anyone asks, you're taking me to lunch because of all my hard work. That's entirely believable since you took Marge last week—”

Ryan shook his head.

“No, we're going to go down there separately,” he argued, sitting on the arm of the chair in which Veronica was seated. “We're already looking pretty suspicious. You're going to get back to work for the next hour. If anyone asks what I was shouting about, I was angry because you messed up some numbers while I was on my London trip and I just caught it. They'll all believe that since they think you're a horrible employee.”

Veronica scowled.

“I'm
not
a horrible employee!”

“Well you aren't
now
,” he hissed, “but as far as
they're
concerned, you still suck. Wouldn't you rather they're poking fun of you for that than sleeping with your stepbrother?”

She rolled her eyes.

“I guess,” she muttered.

“Exactly,” he said, clutching her shoulders. “So anyway, I'm going to send you on a fifteen minute break and you're going to go meet her. I'm going to come out of my office about twenty-five minutes later and act like I'm looking for you. Again, they'll buy into the whole terrible employee thing. Then we'll figure this whole thing out, okay?”

Veronica took a deep breath and nodded, chewing on her lip.

“I'm nervous,” she confessed.

Empathy was etched into Ryan's expression as he nodded.

“Me too, love.”

***