Chapter Five
Cierra
Itook adeep breath, lifted my knuckles, and then dropped them again. Was there any way I could get out of this and not have it be blindingly obvious? Any way I could avoid walking into that office and being alone with Trace Prescott?
It wasn’t that I didn’t trust him; if anything, that meeting I had just come out of a few hours before had underlined the fact that he was committed to making this company even better than it had been under his grandfather. Yet I cringed at the thought of being alone with him. My head told me he was off-limits for dozens of reasons, but my body betrayed me time and time again. I couldn’t jeopardize my career by having a fling with my boss. And then there was Kelsey and all the guilt I had rattling around in my mind whenever my heart fluttered when I thought about him, which happened more times than I cared to admit.
You’re being childish. You didn’t even act this way in high school.It was true. I didn’t date much, and when I finally had a boyfriend, it hadn’t seemed like such a big deal. I’d see the way the other girls went on about their guys, but I’d never felt that way about Brendan. He’d been more like a good friend I hung out with and kissed. I guess he finally caught on because he dumped me a week before our senior prom. He’d ended up taking Jules, his new girlfriend of a week, and I’d stayed home, sorry that I’d blown my babysitting money on a new dress. My parents had been more upset about what Brendan had done to me than I had.
“I thought Mr. Prescott was in his office,” his secretary said to me.
I smiled weakly.This is ridiculous. I forced my hand back up and rapped on the thick wood door. I had to stop this nonsense and get back to being the professional woman I was. He was just another boss. I had to keep reminding myself that.
“Come in!” he called from inside the office, and I opened the door. He glanced up as I entered.
“Cierra, hi,” he greeted me, then nodded to the chair opposite his desk. “Take a seat.”
I perched on the edge of the chair, glancing around the enormous office. I’d always wondered what it looked like. When Mr. Linder ran the show, I’d never made it up there, so it was a little intimidating to be in the office surrounded by a gorgeous view of the cityscape on one side and the sparkling bay on the other. I sank into the buttery-soft leather chair.
“I’ll just be a sec,” he said as he tapped the keyboard.
I watched him, cursing the fact that Lindsey was out on sick leave and I had to go over everything with him. It would’ve been a damn sight easier to keep him at arm’s length if I didn’t have to be alone in his office with him like this, looking at the way his hands danced over the keyboard and wondering if they’d be just as deft on me. Damn the fact that Kelsey had been crude enough to tell me a little about their sex life when they’d been together—specifically how good he’d been and how many times he’d made her come in a single session. Maybe she was exaggerating. Or maybe she wasn’t.
“What’s on your mind?” he asked.
His voice pulled my thoughts from the gutter at once. I shifted in my seat and cleared my throat. “What do you mean?”
A genuine smile spread over his face, warming me in places it had no business going to. “You had such a faraway look in your eyes.”
Ignoring his comment, I asked, “So, what do you want to know about the launch?” I knew I should’ve gone over all the details, but I’d let my nerves get the better of me. And the fact that I couldn’t take my eyes off the way his stubble played in the light pouring in through the window next to me didn’t help.
“We need to go over the specific timeline and strategy for the launch,” he said as he pulled out the folder my department had sent up the day before. “This is good, but I want to go more for a social media route than a traditional publishing one. I get where you’re coming from with that approach, but I just think we’re going to reach more people if we incorporate social media in a bigger way.”
“Okay.” I grabbed the pen that I had tucked into my bun, flipped open the file, and made a couple of notes. He laughed, and I lifted my head to see what he had found so amusing.
“What is it?”
He gestured to the pen. “I don’t think I’ve seen anyone do that before.” There was a flash of amusement in his look that I couldn’t help but meet with a smile. “It’s handy. I should get me one of those.”
“What, a pen or a bun?”
“Both,” he replied, cocking an eyebrow. “Though I might need a little guidance on getting it right.”
I stared at him. He was gorgeous when he smiled. Fluttering tingles shivered through me.
Leaning forward, he clasped his hands on the desk in front of him and my gaze drifted down to his long fingers. There was a moment of silence as I tried to think of something to say, something that wouldn’t overstep the line between boss and employee, but something to keep this flirtatious vibe going. I should’ve stepped back from it and kept it neutral and professional, but damn, he was far too tempting and my body was sizzling all over. And in my defense, he started the flirting. That’s what I kept telling myself, anyway.
I finished making the notes, pretending that was why I had fallen silent, and then turned my attention back to him.
“Okay, so what do you want to add to the strategy?” I asked, hoping if I kept things business-focused we could pretend that little moment hadn’t just happened.
He launched into his ideas for the marketing campaign for the new cell phone and I had to admit, I was impressed. And on top of that, there was just somethinggoodabout him. Charming wasn’t a word I used very often—when I did, it was usually a coded term to describe the sleazy dudes who wouldn’t leave me and my girlfriends alone at clubs—but it fit him so well.He was an asshole to Kels. He’s your boss. No fraternization, remember?“I know,” I muttered under my breath.
“Excuse me?” he asked.
With heated cheeks, I waved my hand. “Nothing.”Good going. Great comeback.“Go on with what you were saying.”
For the next couple of hours, we spoke about social media launch strategy versus traditional publications in a way that stimulated my intellect. As I watched his eyes light up and his head bob in agreement with the things I was saying, I could understand why women were crazy about him. I know that sounded a bit insane, but so many guys were in the habit of zoning out when women talked, as though they were just waiting for them to get to the part where they sucked their dicks. Trace seemed genuinely interested.
