Page 43 of Handle Me

“No,” we both said again.

“Well, you two are on the same page, at least.” Her lips pursed, and somehow, I realized she knew that we were lying.

God, the only thing worse than staying in London was going to be staying here while avoiding Lola’s nosey mother. Hopefully, a new grandbaby would distract her.

“We’ll get you a coffee.” Lola patted her mother’s arm and then pointed toward the lift. “Ready?”

Before either of us could object, Lola grabbed me and dragged me toward it. She stayed a careful distance from me while we waited for it to arrive. When it did, she stepped casually inside and pressed the button for the lobby. But when the doors closed, she whirled around and shoved me against the wall.

“What the—” I started, but she kept her palm pressed to my chest, pinning me to the spot. “I thought there were rules in London, boss.”

“There are. Now, tell me what the hell is going on, Your Highness.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

LOLA

Anders was determined to push all my buttons. I pushed my own: the stop button. The lift shrieked to a stop somewhere between the second and third floors.

“Should you do that? People need to use lifts in the hospital,” he said.

“Then you better get to the point and tell me what’s going on,” I demanded. “What did Alexander want to talk to you about?”

A slow grin—the kind that made my stomach do somersaults—spread across his face. “Are you curious, boss? I’m not sure if it’s against the rules to tell you.”

“It’s not,” I said flatly. “The rules exist to keep us out of trouble and on task.” At least, that’s what I kept telling myself. The truth was that being stuck in an elevator with him was putting all sorts of ideas in my head. Ideas that were definitely against the rules.

“But I might get in trouble for telling you.”

“Fine. I’ll just ask Alexander myself.” Not that I would convince him to tell me anything. I rarely spoke to him directly. Messages were generally relayed through Clara, but she was in no position to help me right now.

“Go ahead.” He reached out and brushed a strand of hair out of my eyes. “Or you could try asking me nicely.”

“Seriously.” I planted a hand on my hips, edging away so he couldn’t touch me. But I only shuffled a few inches. “Will you please tell me what’s going on?”

“You don’t sound like you mean that please.” He crossed his arms across his broad chest, and instantly, a memory of running my fingers down the hard muscles I knew lay beneath his shirt flashed to mind.

I forced myself to get focused. “You want me to beg?”

“I wouldn’t dare ask that,” he said, taking another step toward me. I tried to back away, only to be met with the lift’s metal wall. “Unless it involves you on your knees, boss.”

I gasped, doing my best to scrounge up an appropriate level of disgust at what he was suggesting. The trouble was that his words sent my imagination into overdrive, and my soaked knickers proved it. I couldn’t be offended because all I could think about was doing exactly what he was suggesting. Did he know that? Judging from the smirk he wore, he did.

“You look scandalized,” he murmured, leaning down so that his face was well within kissing range. I caught my breath as he studied my face for a minute. “Would it help if I got on my knees first?”

Oh my…

I shook my head feebly. “We can’t. The rules…”

“Fuck the rules,” he growled. “Except rule number 5. I like that rule.”

“Do you know what will happen if we get caught? You won’t be able to sneeze without being on a tabloid,” I told him, but Anders’s hands found my waist. My eyes closed as he kneaded my hips through the fabric of my dress.

“Then we don’t get caught. Easy,” he whispered, bringing his lips to my neck. He kissed it softly, and I felt goosebumps ripple across my skin. “Why don’t you let me take this off so that I can enact rule number 5?”

“Let me be clear there is no way I’m letting you get me naked in this lift, just so we can shag,” I said as firmly as I could between gasps of pleasure.

Anders continued to explore my neck. “I can work with that. Since you’re always changing the rules, maybe we need to make number 5 simpler,” he murmured into my ear. A second later, his hands slipped entirely under my skirt. His palms slid over my ass, coming to rest on the waistband of my thong. And then, without warning, he snapped the elastic and yanked the ruined underwear off me. “How about I’m in charge when this is naked?”