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I was so completely lost in thoughts of Brendan—again—that I didn’t even notice when the man himself materialized at my side until his thumb stroked up and down the column of my spine at the base of my skull. Even though I hadn’t been expecting the touch, somehow my subconscious was aware it was him and rather than jump at the contact, I melted into it…and into the dark pools of his eyes when my gaze collided with his.
For the briefest of moments, a wave of concern washed over me, and I glanced at the window that gave a bird’s-eye view of our office from the rest of the floor. Brendan slid his hand down to grasp mine and brought me to my feet.
“Such a little workaholic.” He damn near purred the words as he collected me close to his chest. “You didn’t even notice that practically everyone has already left work for the day.” He nuzzled my ear. “I promise I wouldn’t do anything inappropriate while there was a chance we could be caught. But, damn, do you make me want to be inappropriate.”
I rested my palm on his chest. “Listen… My personal life has…not been the greatest. I’ve given everything to Lanza Broadcasting since I started, but for the past year? Work has been the thing that kept me sane.” I shook my head. “I can’t put that in jeopardy, no matter how much I want you.” I pressed my body more firmly to his. “And make no mistake, I definitely want you.”
He cupped my face and the tenderness of the action combined with the heated lust radiating from the depth of his molten hazel eyes made my knees threaten to give way. “Leah, you are a bigger asset to this company than I am.” I opened my mouth to disagree, but he intensified his stare in a way that made my jaw snap closed. “You are. You know it, I know it and my father sure as hell knows it. I would never risk your position here for your sake or, frankly, for ours.”
Every word he spoke methodically chipped away at the feeble resistance my still slightly bruised heart had tried to erect. I wasn’t really sure if enough time had passed since Aaron’s unceremonious departure from my life or if the reality was that I didn’t feel for him the way I should, but either way I could barely recall the other man’s name when I was held so firmly in Brendan’s embrace.
“I promise I will protect you and your career here above everything else.” The earnest tone of his voice underlined every syllable, reinforcing the statement.
I may have given Brendan shit since day one about being the boss’s kid, but never once had I seen him lie or manipulate. In the months we’d been colleagues, he’d proven himself as his own person away from the privilege his father afforded him in both his work ethic and his authenticity.
Dammit all to hell, I believed him. And trusting him was far easier than it should have been.
“I need you to feel good about this, Leah.” Several beats of my pounding heart separated his declaration from the broad, wolfish grin that took up residence on his face. “And once you’re certain of that? Sweetheart, I promise I am going to make you feel so,sogood in so many other ways.”
Desire pooled between my legs and my mind swam through a flood of wanton need almost wholly incited by his words. I choked back a whimper as he pushed his thigh forward, grinding against the inferno raging at my core.
I ran my tongue along my parched lips and looked up into his eyes. “Your place or mine?”
* * * *
I spent far more of the drive to my house glancing in my rearview mirror at Brendan’s luxury SUV following my much more practical sedan. I pulled my car into the driveway far enough to allow Brendan to park behind me. A weird mixture of disappointment and relief swept through me as I noticed my bare stoop. Getting random gifts from a mysterious stranger was not likely something Brendan would want to be confronted with.
But I hadn’t realized how quickly I had come to expect them until they suddenly seemed to stop.
Brendan followed me through the front door, and as I hung our coats on the hooks inside, I was struck with the oddity of the two hanging side-by-side. Although it had only been a year, it seemed like an eternity since my jacket had a partner.
His heavy hand rested on my hip as he stood behind me, and I turned to face him. “I wasn’t exactly expecting company, so our choices are cereal, peanut butter and jelly or calling out.”
The corners of his eyes crinkled with his wide smile. “Good thing I already put an order in on the way here.”
Good heavens, how did the man manage to amuse me when he took over? It was normally something I hated, but damn it looked sexy as hell on him. “You are a pushy one, aren’t you?”
He backed me against the door we’d just entered, one hand resting on my waist and the other curled around the back of my neck. “Not pushy…decisive.” He leaned down and nipped at my earlobe, sending an uncontrollable shiver through my entire being. “Kinda like when I decided I wanted to get to know you more.” He peppered kisses along my jawline. “And when I decided I wanted to find out how you felt beneath me.” His mouth hovered a breath above mine. “And most definitely when I decided that I wanted to know every part of that beautiful mind in addition to that wickedly hot body.”
I gripped his biceps and held him back from me just enough to get some semblance of control of my brain. “We need to be really clear on this before we go any further. Exactly what are you looking for here, Golden Boy?”
Mischief sparkled in his irises, and he offered a dangerous smirk. “How detailed do ya want, Chief? You want me to tell you how I plan on spending hours exploring every single inch of your flesh to find out exactly what makes your toes curl and the neighbors report you for a noise violation?”
My heart was pounding so hard it nearly broke through my ribcage, and my knees threatened to drop me to the floor. I sucked a deep breath in my suddenly empty lungs and tried to ignore the shit-eating grin lighting up his face as he took in my response. “I mean, are you looking for a one-night stand? Friends with benefits or—”
He stole my next words—and nearly every conscious thought I had—as he sealed his mouth over mine. His hold on me tightened dramatically and would nearly be suffocating if I weren’t just as desperate as him to be as close as possible. I dug my fingers in his back and sighed as his tongue claimed mine. As passionate as I thought the few clandestine kisses we’d exchanged in our office had been, they weren’t even in the same solar system as the wholly consuming melding of our lips.
After what seemed to be both an eternity and not nearly long enough, he broke away and rested his forehead on mine. “How about friends, lovers and every damn thing else?”
Saved by the bell was a long-used saying, but at that moment I was cursing the ding-dong heralding what I could only assume was the arrival of our food. Something as wholly unnecessary as the concept of having a chaste dinner with Brendan was so far out of my line of thinking that I couldn’t possibly fathom it.
I reluctantly pushed him away and adjusted my oh-so-obviously disheveled clothing. “Good thing the delivery person arrived now. I was about zero point two seconds from ripping off both our clothes.”
He groaned as I turned the knob. “On what planet is that a good thing?”
Chapter Eight
Brendan
