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She narrowed her eyes. “Sammie Benson. She was in Eugene with Mr. Layne. At least, I thought she was.”
She must have been the woman sitting next to him at breakfast. Yeah, there was something weird about that whole situation. She got upset and rushed from the restaurant. Asher had chosen to follow her when a whole lot of money was on the table. They’d returned fifteen or so minutes later, ready to make a deal.
I’d bet big money that something was going on between the two of them.
“Well, until Sammie comes in, why don’t you show me around?” I asked.
The suggestion seemed to throw her. She looked around again—nothing to see but two unmanned desks and a gigantic Christmas tree—then nodded.
“Can I grab a cup of coffee first?” she asked.
I couldn’t help but notice she still wore a long, green dress coat with a black fur collar. There was something very retro about it. Classy. Her purse also draped from her left shoulder.
“I’ll tell you what.” I gestured toward her desk and took my coffee cup from her. “Why don’t you get settled in, and I’ll grab you a cup of coffee? Just point me in the direction.”
As I headed toward a hallway at the rear of the office suite, I prayed the coffeemaker was something from this century. I’d never been very good with those carafe-style coffeemakers, but if it was any variation of a single-cup machine, I’d be set.
I almost passed the doorway, I was so busy gaping at the tiny bathroom with one toilet. Just past it was a closed door withAsher Layneprinted on a nameplate on it. The break room was across from that, and it was tiny as well. Just one table and a counter with a sink in a room about half the size of my walk-in closet.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I turned and saw a small stand with a single-cup coffeemaker and some pods. After setting my belongings on one of the four chairs at the table, I headed over. I was already trying to guess how Janelle might like her coffee. Extra sweet, I would assume. Maybe even with flavored creamer.
I smiled to myself as I pressed the power button and waited for the machine to heat up. I could clearly imagine bringing her coffee in bed, the sheets barely concealing her breasts as she sat up, smiling at me. I might even let her start sipping before I climbed beneath the sheets and began kissing my way down her body. An orgasm was a far better wake-up call than some caffeine, after all.
“I can do that.”
Her voice had me nearly jumping out of my skin. I turned to see her standing in the doorway. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she was staring at the coffeemaker, not me. I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
“Which is it?” I asked, deliberately dropping my gaze to her chest.
When I lifted that gaze back to her face again, confusion marred her delicate features. Her eyes had narrowed slightly, and a deep crease was between her eyebrows.
My gaze might be on her face now, but the words on her shirt,Naughty or Nicewere imprinted on my brain. Especially since they followed the generous curve of her breasts.
“Your shirt,” I said, forcing myself to stay focused on her face. “It gives a question but not an answer.”
Janelle looked down at her shirt, as though having forgotten she was wearing it. This was where she could give me a giant verbal smackdown and I’d probably deserve it. I might be a dick, but one thing I’d never done was sexually harass an employee.
But when her mouth eased into a smile, I knew she’d taken the comment exactly as it had been intended. As a flirtation. Flirting might be inappropriate, considering I was her boss now, but all she’d have to do was give one sign and I’d back off for good.
Instead, she pushed away from the doorjamb and started toward me. My body took over from there. My pulse quickened and I held my breath in anticipation of whatever would come next.
Closer. Closer. Now she was within inches. Her sweet vanilla smell seemed to wrap itself around me, inviting me to step in, to pull her against me and kiss her like she’d never been kissed before.
At the last minute, she turned and grabbed a pod, slid it into the coffeemaker, and said, “Excuse me.”
It took me a second to realize she wanted me to move to the left. I was surprised at how fully my body resisted. The air between us seemed charged, like a magnetic force was drawing me toward her.
She leaned to the left, putting her close to me again. But if she noticed the electricity between us, she didn’t show it. She seemed fully focused on settling a disposable coffee cup into place.
“Reusable cups!” I blurted as the machine sputtered and whirred in front of us.
My outburst seemed to startle her. She stepped even farther away and looked at me.
“Every employee should have one,” I said. “We could even hand them out to clients. What do you think?”
I liked that Janelle was staring at me, but her neutral expression felt oddly disappointing. I felt rejected, which was ridiculous. But the heart wanted what it wanted, and right now my heart wanted the stunning brunette standing next to me.
“Clients love swag,” she said. “Just one problem. These days, a lot of our presentations are done virtually. We’d have to ship them.”
