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He pressed his lips together and nodded slowly. Since I wasn’t an expert at reading body language, I didn’t know if that meant he was interested in what I had said or bored. With the way the night was unfolding, I went with bored.
I sighed to myself and looked down at the bar. Attempting to strike up a conversation with the CEO of a billion-dollar company was beyond dumb. Not only was he my boss, but he was almost forty—eleven years older than me. In his eyes, I was an annoying employee who’d needed rescuing from a sleazy man.
Older guys weren’t my thing, or at least until now they weren’t. But everything about him screamed knowledge and confidence. In bed, he was probably magnificent and would put the past fumbles I’d had to shame.
I gave myself an inward eye roll. Jesus. I shouldn’t be sitting at a bar with my boss imagining him throwing me on the bar and burying his head between my thighs. Especially after what had happened with Simon. And yet, here I was imagining precisely that.
I couldn’t help it. Kane’s musky cologne alone left my nipples harder than concrete. The scent drifting from his neck wasn’t doing anything to stop tingles shooting up and down my spine. Before I did something stupid like begging him to take me to bed, I needed to get my rambunctious hormones under control.
I picked up my whiskey glass again and eyed the tawny liquid. By no means could I be called a liquor drinker. Ice cold beers were more my style, but I had to man up and act like drinking neat whiskey at art shows was something I did every day. As if! When not at work, my everyday life comprised of watching the Hallmark Channel for romance and porn videos for down and dirty sex scenes. I wanted to live in a world where both of those things were my reality. I wasn’t asking for too much, was I?
Lifting the glass to my lips, I took the teeniest sip I could and tried not to gag at the foul taste. How did people get any pleasure out of drinking this stuff?
Once I’d swallowed, I cleared my throat and ran my fingertips along the rim of the glass.
“Are you going to fire me?” I asked, still not daring to look at Kane.
He leaned forward in his chair and put his elbows on the bar. The move put his strong body closer to mine; I could practically feel the heat of his skin. “And why would I fire you, Ms. Peterson?” he asked, his voice only a murmur. “Efficient and experienced employees are hard to find.”
Heat filled my cheeks. Kane fucking McKenzie thought I was an efficient and experienced employee.
“You think you’re the first one Simon’s gone on a date with?” he asked. “You’re not the reason I fired him. I’ve been looking for a way to get rid of that fucker for a long time. I saw it, and I took it. I had to catch him in the act, and I did.”
Realization dawned on me. I was an idiot. There was nothing coincidental about Kane being here or him rescuing me. I was a honey trap. Annoyed, I swiveled in my chair to look at him. “You knew I’d be here with him? You’re not really a patron of this gallery, are you?”
Looking me full in the face, Kane nodded. “Yes, I am a patron. My niece owns this place. And, as I already said, I know everything that happens at McKenzie Technologies. There are cameras and microphones everywhere.”
I gasped at that piece of information and put a hand up to cover my mouth. “Everywhere? Is that even legal?” I asked, my voice a whisper.
Kane’s eyes fixed on mine. Something in him looked hungry. “Perfectly legal,” he assured me with a grin. “I see and know everything.”
Chapter Three
Reese
This time I picked up the whiskey and took a gulp not caring that the liquor stripped my throat. Did Kane know about my daily masturbation sessions in the restroom? No way would he have cameras in there. If he did, I was fucked.
When the stress of the day got too much, and I needed some release, I’d take ten minutes of me time. It was better than losing my shit in the office when incompetent people bugged me, or when Sloane, the office mean girl, took swipes at me with her overly-manicured claws.
I hugged the now half-empty glass to my chest. I could feel my cheeks turning red, as Kane’s gaze never left my face. “When you say you know everything that happens, what does that mean, exactly?” I asked, dreading the answer.
A one-sided grin stretched his lips, and for the first time, he looked playful. The lust filling his chocolate eyes was unmistakable.
