‘Well, then…’
‘But I’m your boss. There’s a power dynamic.’
‘A power dynamic!’ Lou fumed, her anger escalating. ‘So, what, you think just because you’re my boss I can’t say no toyou? I’m not in awe of you, Aidan. I’m perfectly capable of telling you to get fudged.’
‘I don’t doubt you are.’ His tone was gentle, placatory, reasonable where hers was belligerent. ‘But that’s not how the world would see it.’
‘The world!’ she scoffed. ‘What do they know about our dynamic?’ She could scream with frustration. This was ridiculous. He wanted her too and they were consenting adults. There was no reason on earth they couldn’t do whatever the hell they wanted with each other. Unless he was just using that as an excuse.
‘What if you weren’t?’ she asked quietly.
‘What?’
‘If you weren’t my boss?’
He sighed. ‘Then I could do this.’ He leaned across the counter and kissed her, his lips sticky and tasting deliciously of burned sugar and vanilla.
‘What else?’ she breathed, barely able to speak she was so turned on. She shivered as his mouth moved to her neck and he tugged at the collar of her stiff white jacket to expose more skin, his breath hot in her ear as he nuzzled the lobe. She buried her fingers in his hair, holding him to her.
Then abruptly he pulled away and sat back in his chair. ‘But unfortunately, I am.’
‘Is that the real reason? You’re not just saying that to let me down easy?’
‘No!’
‘So what can we do?’
‘Nothing. We just ignore it and hope it goes away.’
‘I could quit?’
‘No, you can’t quit. We’ll just behave ourselves like two adults in control of our actions.’ He slid off his stool. ‘Do you want to call a cab? Or I can drop you home?’
‘OrIcould seduceyou. There are no rules against that, are there?’
A slow smile spread across Aidan’s face, his eyes darkening. ‘Not as far as I know. But I’m not some little Victorian milkman you can have your wicked way with whenever the mood takes you, you know.’
Lou laughed. ‘I think it’s the farm boy that the lady of the manor traditionally chooses to slum it with.’
‘Well, I have no problem with it either way.’
Lou stood and walked around the counter to him. She stood frozen to the spot for what felt like an age, suddenly shy about making the next move, his eyes burning into hers.
‘Just so you know, I won’t put up any resistance,’ he said as if sensing her dilemma and wanting to make it easier for her. ‘I’ve had the hots for the lady of the manor for the longest time.’
‘So,’ she said, stepping closer, ‘this is on?’
‘This is so on.’
She flew at him then and he caught her in his arms, groaning low in his throat as she took his face in her hands and kissed him. Then he took her hand and Lou’s heart raced as he led her to the stairs.
