AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“And building a proper ramp,” Jared pointed out.
Brian’s head hit his own chest. “And a proper ramp,” he agreed, sounding mournful. “I’m going to have to talk to Rita about funds and see what can be done.”
Her name made Jared’s ears perk up. “Has she been with the foundation long? Ms. Tucker?”
Brian shook his head. “Fourteen months,” he said. “She came in and saved us, honestly.”
“How so?”
Brian looked around, as if he were afraid to be overheard. “The nonprofit’s founder is great,” he said. “Altruistic and believes in the cause, but he’s not always the most realistic about how much things cost, and the organization was really struggling before Rita came along. Like, struggling so much that Travis was going to pull the plug.”
Jared crossed his arms. “But then Rita came along and did what?”
Brian laughed. “Whatdidn’tshe do?” he said. “She found us money; she found donations. When we don’t have enough volunteers, she brings that pink belt and picks up a hammer herself.”
He bit back a smile. “She sounds like quite a woman. She single?”
His boss had the decency to look a little ashamed. “I think so, but I get the impression that she’s a little gun shy.” Jared covered up a disbelieving laugh with a cough. “A few of the guys have sniffed around, you know? She’s never been rude to any of them, but Danny on the demo team said that she’s…firm in her no.”
Danny on demo better leave Rita alone if he knows what’s good for him, his thought savagely. “You never made a try for her?” Jared asked.
Brian’s face flushed. “Uh, no, not me,” he said.
Jared was a little surprised by that. Brian was well-dressed and pleasant, plus Jared guessed that the most women would consider the man to be reasonably handsome. “You have a policy about not dating coworkers?
His flush deepened. “I have a policy about dating women,” he said slowly.
“Oh,” Jared said, and when Brian looked at him, a touch of panic in his face, Jared raised his hands in an “unarmed” gesture. “That’s cool, man. One less guy to compete with, right?”
Brian relaxed and laughed. “You like Rita, then?”
Jared shrugged. “A little early to say that Ilikeher,” he said. “Liking” someone felt too middle school anyway, and what he felt when he thought about Rita could never qualify as a little boy’s feelings. “She’s a beautiful woman,” he said. “I wouldn’t mind getting to know her. See if anything’s there.” He didn’t add that he couldn’t stop fantasizing about what she tasted like. Brian didn’t need to hear that from his newest employee.
His boss clapped him on the shoulder. “I wish you luck, man. I get the sense that she’s not going to be easily won. Let me let you get back to your inspection. Drop the paperwork in the office, okay? Rita will go over it in the morning so we can start a schedule.” His boss headed back towards the mobile office.No worries about my chances, Brian, he thought a little smugly as he watched the man walk away.I’ve already got an advantage.
4
Rita sat in her car half a block from her destination. It was 6:50. She was early. There was still enough time to change her mind.I can’t believe that I’m actually here, she thought.I should just drive away and forget this whole thing. But she couldn’t get him out of her mind. The thought of Jared Michaels touching her turned her into a fumbling mess, but all she could think about was his hands and the mind-blowing orgasms that he could wrench out of her. Leg trembling, toe-curling orgasms that set her on fire.Maybe if I just have actual sex with him, the intensity will fade, and I can move on to someone safer,she thought. She should be with someone more stable. Maybe even someone a little boring. Rita sighed. God, it all sounded so depressing.
When Rita left Tuck, she had thought that she was done with men for a while. Tuck had been a difficult man; she’d known that from the very beginning. But what started as petty squabbles escalated after they were married to fist fights and her locking herself in their guest bedroom and hugging Casey as she prayed for the door to hold until the raging stopped. She shivered when she remembered the night that he practically destroyed the kitchen because she didn’t correctly guess what he wanted for dinner. Her joking reply of “Sorry, Tuck, but I failed telepathy class in college,” had resulted in her grandma’s cast iron pan being thrown across the room. The final damage was two broken floor tiles, and a split lip that she did her best not to look at for the next three days.
Rita shook her head. She was done walking around on eggshells. As far as she was concerned, there was nothing left to fight about. Until she met Jared Michaels, she had felt dry and empty. She had considered herself done. Then, she had more orgasms in a ten-minute span in a dressing room than she had had in the last five years, and the experience had reminded her how alive she still was in spite of everything…and how wanting.
She wanted to feel appreciated. She wanted to feel sexy. She wanted to feel cherished.In your dreams, girl, Rita told herself. If she met Jared like he’d all but commanded, it would be for a tryst. That’s all it would—or could—be. A night that they would both move on from.
There was a knock at her passenger window, and she jumped, shrieking. She looked out—and up—and saw Jared. She relaxed but only minutely. She rolled down the window. “You’re late,” he said.
Rita looked at her clock: 7:01. “Hardly,” she said. “You didn’t have to sneak up on me.”
His eyebrows knitted together. “I didn’t sneak up on you,” he said. “You looked like you were lost in your own head.” Jared glanced at his watch. “And you’re still late.” He opened the door and slid into the passenger seat.
Rita looked at him, attempting to look unimpressed. “What are you going to do? Spank me?”
Jared shrugged. “If you like,” he said. “A spanking can be good foreplay.”
The thought sent her blood running cold and hot all at once. It was intriguing to be sure, but her past with male aggression threw up a roadblock a mile wide. “I won’t be spanked,” she grit out. “I’m not some kind of a child.”
He pinned her to her seat with a look. “Then why are you acting like one?”
