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Laura wasn’t anything at all like Barb.
“Happy Monday morning, Jim.” I waved at the guard as I walked through the lobby.
“Morning, Miss Bloom.” He grinned and waved back with his knobby, arthritic hand.
The disapproving stares from my snooty co-workers didn’t faze me. Was I the only one with manners in this place?
Elvis’s “Blue Christmas” played over the loudspeakers as I made my way up in the elevator. By the time I got to the top floor, Elvis had finished his song, and the festive “Feliz Navidad” played merrily. My visions of Elvis’s rockin’ hips were replaced with mariachi snowmen wearing sombreros.
I trotted to my office, following the beat of the song, imagining myself in a snow globe, dancing around a Christmas tree on a Mexican beach.
I stopped at Mr. Cox’s door to say hello, but he was on the phone. I waved. He waved back and smiled. His smile reached my heart, making heat scorch through my whole body.
Must. Stop. Fantasizing. About. My. Boss.
This was getting out of hand. I had spent the entire weekend replaying the moments we shared at Rockefeller Center in my mind. I couldn’t stop thinking about him. The way he had put his arm around my shoulder for the picture. The weight of his arm was a soothing comfort I didn’t know I had been craving. But then it quickly sent tingles between my thighs as I imagined more of his body touching mine.
Then, in the parking lot, I stupidly thought he was going to kiss me, and I was hoping for it. Wanted it. Was desperate for it.
I shook the thoughts away and hurried to my office and kicked off my boots. Settling into my chair, I put on the only nice pair of shoes I owned. Black, of course, to match the various colors of all my secondhand suits. I couldn’t afford to buy more than one pair of shoes for the office.
Yet.
I focused on work for the next couple of hours, cooling the incessant heat between my thighs.
“Ms. Bloom, please come to my office,” said my boss. “I want to discuss the Miller project.” His deep, husky voice was like a magnet, propelling my entire being into a universe of lust and desire.
Naughty thoughts flooded my mind, and a grin spread slowly across my face, grinch style. “Yes, Mr. Cox.” My voice rose in an embarrassing range of octaves.
I gave my short black curls a quick touch-up with my fingers, and instead of reaching for a notebook, I shoved my hand into my purse, rummaging for the compact mirror.
Wait. Had I just done that? What a girly thing to do. I was not a girly girl. I didn’t wear makeup.
The song “Stupid Girl” by Pink played in my head. I would not let some man turn me into a swooning sissy. Even if he was the hunkiest, sexiest, most brilliant man I had ever met.
Men were not part of the plan. This prestigious internship would catapult my career, which was all part of my ten-year career strategy. Nothing would make me veer off that path.
Screw the coif, Laura. You are a young, brilliant, professional career woman.
I marched into his office. All silliness gone. I was myself again. Focused and determined.
Sunlight shimmered in the oversized office, creating a sparkling halo around him in his sleek Armani suit. In contrast, his square jaw already showed a five o’clock shadow, and it wasn’t even noon yet, his inner ruggedness in conflict with his clean-cut executive ensemble. I pushed the fantasy scene away and focused on his nameplate to bring me back to reality.
“Let’s begin, Ms. Bloom.”
I glanced up. Steven’s commanding jade eyes met mine. A smile gradually formed on his lips. So full of affection and warmth.
Why did he always do that? It was a smile that reflected blissful thoughts. As if all was right in the world. A smile reserved only for me.
I froze. Professional career woman gone. Instead, a pile of goo lost in a daze created by the warmest of smiles. I wasn’t exactly sure, but I thought my mouth was hanging open.
Stupid Girl…
I snapped my head down and put pen to notebook.
With a slight hint of amusement in his voice, he said, “We need to prepare the documentation for the Miller project and schedule a meeting with…”
His words became a melody of bliss and ecstasy. A heatwave radiated between my thighs, and my entire body got hotter and hotter by the second.
