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He’d also have to tell her about its existence. Eventually.
“Plenty of uses,” he said, nudging her aside so he could stand. “Take my seat. I’ll go grab my laptop from the car.”
“Oooh, the chair of command.” She plopped down and grinned. “I feel all official already.”
Smiling, he headed out to his car. The heat hadn’t lessened in the last half hour. If anything, it felt even hotter. By the time he returned, laptop under his arm, his linen shirt clung to him. He wouldn’t have been surprised if his face was beet-red.
He glanced at Kelly as he set his computer on the low table next to the loveseat. He hated the damn thing—who had living room furniture in their office?—but Marcia had insisted she needed it. He didn’t want to speculate why. “Doing okay?”
“Spectacular.” Kelly swiveled to face him. “Hot?”
“Yeah, you could say that.” He powered on his machine and took a long breath. Right now, he wanted a tall glass of something cold to rub against the back of his neck. Kelly’s plump lips encircling his dick would be nice too.
As she rose and walked over to him, he stared dumbly. Had he spoken aloud?
“Here, let me help.” She rested one knee on the cushion beside him and undid the first few buttons of his shirt. “Take a load off. Relax. You’re among friends.”
“Unlike some people, I don’t undress in the office,” he said when she kept going.
She narrowed her eyes, her fingers faltering. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.” He forced all thoughts of her video out of his head. The video that wasn’t supposed to exist. “Just that I imagine some people do more in their offices than work.”
She cocked her head, curiosity piqued. Maybe she thought he was referring to Marcia. He hoped. “Well, you undress in the office now.” Easing back, she admired her handiwork with a grin. “I like the view.”
“I feel like an idiot.”
“Yeah, but you look yummy.” She gave him a quick kiss and went back to his computer. “So what else do you have to take care of tonight?”
Bending you over that desk would be an excellent start.
He cleared his throat and opened his files. “A bunch of things. I’m behind.”
“You? Never.”
“I haven’t exactly been focused on work lately.”
“No?” He’d never heard so much pleasure contained in a single syllable, at least while the woman in question was fully clothed. “Well, allow me to help you get caught up. Spreadsheets rev me up in ways you can’t imagine.”
For about the twentieth time that evening, he smiled. “Is that so?”
“Oh yeah. Together, we’ll plow through whatever’s left on your To Do list.”
Together. What a fucking terrifying word. He was used to doing things solo, not with a partner who hummed along to the hip-hop music still pumping in the store.
Without allowing himself to dwell on the rightness of her presence, he briefly outlined what he wanted to accomplish and then they were off. Occasionally she asked questions or offered suggestions. Invariably her thoughts opened up a new line to pursue. Her advertising ideas were especially good. She had a cousin in graphic design who could get them excellent rates for ad layouts, and she also knew someone who worked at a small paper in Virginia. Best of all, that newspaper represented patrons of the arts, people who were more likely to visit a bookstore and coffee shop a little out of the ordinary.
When she finished one thing, she went right to the next without waiting for direction. She didn’t complain she was tired or ask to take breaks. Just watching her study the computer screen while her fingers flew over the keys pushed his buttons in all the right ways.
Hours passed in a companionable blur. Somewhere along the way he stopped being concerned whether what he was doing was skirting the line of boss and employee and started seeing the incredible asset she could be to the company if she were given room to grow. That wasn’t even taking into consideration his personal feelings, which seemed to be rearing their head more and more.
Working made him happy and he definitely derived pleasure from the company’s success. But since Diana, he didn’t ever truly relax while he was at the store. As much as his job gratified him, he still looked over his shoulder at every turn. He’d never managed to shake the feeling that his past would come back to bite his ass.
Until tonight. Bouncing ideas back and forth with Kelly was the closest thing to true enjoyment he’d ever had in his office.
So far. Rectifying that would be her reward for making the night so much…well, fun.
Good God. Fun. Now there was a word he didn’t use that often. Even sex wasn’t particularly fun to him. It was a way to release tension. He needed an escape valve or he’d blow. Literally and figuratively in this case. But Kelly made everything an adventure. He caught himself smiling more than once at her off-key humming and occasional wisecracks. Just at her.
