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Brendan’s eyes flashed a dark warning and his smile spoke of all the wicked things I was desperate for him to do to me. I bit my lower lip and stepped away, hooking my thumbs beneath the waist of my underwear and letting them pool around my feet. I moved over to the couch and leaned over the arm.
“What are you waiting for?”
“Oh holy hell.” He half growled the words and took his place behind me, reaching into the drawer of the side table. “You are lucky I thought ahead and stashed condoms in every room of your house.”
I flipped my hair and looked over my shoulder at him as he sheathed himself and positioned the tip at my entrance. “Even the kitchen?”
He rocked his hips forward and stole my breath as he thrust into me with more force than I was expecting. “Especially the kitchen.” He moved his hand up and down my spine, caressing me with a tenderness at odds with his fast, powerful movements. “Do you really think I forgot the first place we made love?”
The words were an arrow to my open, vulnerable heart.Make love. Shit. I was falling in love with the man. He reached around the front of me to pinch and roll my nipples and the thought fled as quickly as it had formed as the passion and desire consumed my body, soul and consciousness. I was so close to falling apart so quickly. The man had learned every little trick to send me tumbling off the cliff into a sea of blissful euphoria and somehow discovered new ways to unravel me every time.
I reached back and gripped his forearm with one hand. “Don’t stop. Please, Brendan, please don’t stop.”
He slid his arm around my shoulders, lifting me as he leaned down to give his lips access to mine. “It’s nice to see you finally learned manners there, sweetheart, but you ought to know by now that there isn’t a chance in hell I could stop now or ever. You’re the addiction I’m never going to quit.”
With that, he claimed my mouth, silently reiterating his words and swallowing my screams of ecstasy.
Much faster than he should have been able to after his own orgasm that sent his body shuddering against mine, he discarded the condom and lay on the couch, holding me close to his chest. He tugged the blanket off the back and draped it over both of us.
As I floated back to earth, the stark truth slammed into my consciousness. I wasn’t falling in love with Brendan. I was already there.
Chapter Fourteen
Brendan
I checked the list I’d made on my phone for the third time. The remaining packages were all scheduled for delivery over the following three days, and the final one that I’d custom ordered had just arrived at the jewelers. Leah had piqued my interest and tempted both my mind and my libido since the day we’d met, but over the past few days since I’d started my little crusade, she’d become the center of my world. And no matter how much I tried to reason it out, it didn’t make sense to me. I clicked off the device as Leah walked back into our office, not willing to risk ruining the plan that had, so far, been perfect.
Leah coughed and sniffled as she took her seat, cradling her mug in her hands, and my focus immediately shifted. I sat a little straighter in my office chair and rested my arms across the desk.
“Are you okay?” She’d still been sleeping when I’d left her house that morning, needing a quick trip to the gym and to confirm a pickup time with the jeweler who, fortunately, had been willing to come in a bit earlier than normal to accommodate my schedule—for an added fee, naturally.
She sipped the steaming brew and finally lifted her eyes to meet my gaze. They were bloodshot and shadows darkened her lower lids. Her normally fair complexion was nearly white with a sallow tinge to it. Before she could respond, she sneezed three times into a tissue and made my decision for me.
I stood and grabbed her coat from the tree beside the door. “Come on. You are going straight back to bed.”
She waved me off with one hand and opened her laptop. “It’s a little cold. I took enough vitamins this morning to kill off anything trying to grow. I’ll be fine by lunchtime.”
“Yes, you will,” I agreed, “because you’ll be at home, in bed,resting.”
Leah finally rose, but rather than taking the proffered jacket, she planted her fists on either hip and offered a defiant glare. “Just because your father owns the company doesn’t mean you’re in charge of me, Golden Boy. I have a lot of details to finalize and—”
I draped her coat around her shoulders and cupped her face. “Trust me, sweetheart. I know damn well who the boss is both in the office and out.” I smiled and stroked my thumb along her cheekbone. “But I also know that I care about you, and your health and wellbeing are at the top of my priority list, so I’m going to take my own advice for once and ask nicely. Please let me take you home and help you get better.”
I could feel her surrender before she actually spoke. She all but melted into me. Despite the fact there was an easy view into our office from anyone in the open working space, she wrapped her arms around me and laid her cheek on my chest.
“I would love to argue with you, but I don’t have the energy,” she mumbled against my shirt. “And nothing in this world sounds as good as a fluffy blanket and a soft pillow.”
Kissing the crown of her head, I helped her right the jacket and buttoned up the front. “Good, because those were my exact plans.” I hooked a finger under her chin. “I’m driving you home. I don’t care who sees or gossips or questions. I don’t want you behind the wheel when you look like you’re going to fall asleep any second.”
Leah sneezed four more times then waved me toward the door. “I told you, I don’t have the strength to fight.”
I turned the knob and stood back as she exited. “And that is really the most concerning part. I love it when you argue with me.”
At the elevator I gave her my keys so that she could wait in my car while I put one of the senior members of the team in charge and let them know that Leah was taking a sick day and I was going to help her. Any other time I would have worded things more carefully or made up some sort of cover story, but I didn’t want to waste the time.
And I honestly couldn’t bring myself to care other than about how Leah would feel at the obvious implication that we were more than mere colleagues. If it were me, I would have made it abundantly clear what our relationship was, but I still respected her enough not to go quite that far.
By the time I had everything delegated out to various staff members and reached my SUV, Leah’s eyes were closed, and she was snoring just slightly louder than normal, thanks to her head congestion. I shut the door as quietly as I could while still making sure it was latched tight, but it was enough to rouse her.
