Page 493 of Manhattan Bossholes

That kiss. That fucking kiss. It took everything in my power to keep from letting my hands trace the curves of her body. I’d dreamed about them enough, fantasized about exploring every inch of her. But we were still in uncharted waters, so I’d remained on my best behavior.

That night in my dreams was another story. I’d woken up rock hard, and the only solution was to rub one out while I thought about all the things I wanted to do with her.

My day took off the moment I sat down at my desk, which made it easy to push thoughts of Natalie from my head. But as the afternoon wore on, I found my thoughts drifting to the role I was about to play as Natalie’s boyfriend. It wasn’t like it would be difficult. I was more concerned about how far we were going to take it.

Actually, I was excited to see how far.

Natalie had told me how to find the room in the building and as always, I’d arrived early. I waited outside the door, listening to the droning voice that had to be her instructor. I stepped to the door to glance in the window and immediately caught Natalie’s eye. The soft smile she gave me sent my pulse racing. Did she blush at the sight of me?

Once she looked away, I stole a few seconds to study her. She kept her bare legs tucked beneath her desk, no doubt hiding them from her creepy instructor, and nibbled adorably on the end of her drafting pencil when she wasn’t using it. I felt like I was in one of her stupid romance novels, because even the sight of her collarbone was enough to make my mind wander.

A few minutes later, people came piling out of the room, and I stood back and watched as Natalie rushed to load up her bag. Not quickly enough, because a squat man with messy long hair approached her. I stood in the doorway, making sure that he was our target, and Natalie’s eyes shifted to me. When she widened them at me, I knew I was up.

“Hey, babe,” I said in an overloud voice as I strode into the room. “All set?”

“Baby!” she squealed in a high-pitched voice I’d never heard before. “There’s my handsome man!”

I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. She was really laying it on thick. I walked over to her and slid my arm around her shoulders possessively, tempted to give her a quick kiss but unsure if it would be welcome. Before I could give it any more thought, Natalie placed her hand on my cheek and pulled my face to hers, planting a kiss on me that sent my dick tingling, despite the mixed company. I took advantage of the unexpected PDA and pulled her to me, wrapping my arms all the way around her and kissing her back with even more intensity.

“Well,” a peevish voice said from behind us. “I guess I’m not needed here.”

Natalie laughed against my mouth, and we pulled apart slowly.

“Sorry.” She giggled. “Any time I’m away from my man longer than a couple of hours, I just miss him, you know?”

“Hmph,” MG replied.

“Sorry, I’m being rude,” Natalie said, pressing her fingertips to her lips like she was trying to hold on to the kiss. “MG, this is my boyfriend, James. James, this is my instructor, Mark Gleeson. Everyone calls him MG.”

I screwed up my face like I was trying to remember something. “MG… MG… Oh yes, of course! You recently did a line for Kmart, right?

“No.” He frowned. “It was a capsule collection for Marshall’s. Very successful.”

I nodded. “I’m sure it was, how nice for you. I remember when you did a line for Bergdorf Goodman. Long time ago, huh?”

There was absolutely no shame in designing for discount stores. It could be big money with the right sort of partnership. But I had a feeling that mentioning how things used to be for him would sting. Based on what I knew about male designers, I had a feeling that MG had an ego and wasn’t happy that his star had been falling for years.

“I’m so lucky because MG keeps telling me that he wants to give me extra tutoring,” Natalie added.

The man took a half step away from me. “I, uh, I always offer extra help to students who show promise.”

“Oh, is that it?” I exaggerated my response, like I was pretending to buy what he was saying. “Okay.”

“Your girlfriend is very talented,” MG said, shuffling a few more steps away, no doubt taking note of the size difference between us.

“Don’t I know it.” I grinned, squeezing Natalie against my side. I winked at MG. “In a bunch of different ways. Have you ever heard this woman sing?”

Natalie full-on snort laughed.

“No, I haven’t,” MG replied. “Is she good?”

“She’s something else, that’s for sure.” I brushed a stray hair off her cheek and kissed her. “Lucky me, huh?”

“If you say so.”

He rushed back to his desk, and I took advantage of the show we’d choreographed by wrapping Natalie in my arms again.

I stroked her cheek with my thumb. “Too much?” I whispered in her ear.