Bedded by the Boss (3 page)

She bit her lip and wondered if she should even try.

****

Later that afternoon she got her chance when he came prowling out of his office, looking for the file she was working on. She started out the enticement well enough, but chickened out halfway through.

Handing the file to him, she pushed her chair away from her desk just enough to draw his eyes down to her legs where she slowly crossed them. With a subtle movement, she reached down to her thigh with a hand that trembled and smoothed away an imaginary wrinkle. As his eyes followed her, she lowered her hand to her ankle and slid it back up toward her thigh again, this time going underneath her skirt and dragging it a bare inch above her knee before making a small production of trying to cover her legs.

She lifted her face back to his and froze. His eyes were riveted on her, his nostrils flaring and slashes of red marking his cheekbones.

Robert felt the kick to the guts exactly where she aimed it. The impact of her movements hit him. Her eyes held his for two seconds and then dropped away.

But not fast enough.

The game had just changed.

Lust slammed through him. He reached out and took the pen she held from her fingers. He saw the small gasp she tried to hide. "You think you can possibly win against me, baby?"

Renee felt a quiver of fear slide through her veins. She hadn't expected him to call her out. She wasn't ready for this yet. She gritted her teeth and tried to bluff. "I don't know what you mean."

"Don't you? You're a hot little package, but don't for one minute think you can take me on." He reached out and grabbed her chin between his fingers and lifted her face. "Trust me. You couldn't handle the results."

He turned and slammed back into his office.

Chapter Four

Saturday night, Robert sat in the bar at the Ninth Street Wine Grotto and nursed his second beer. He refused to question himself on his choice of location. Running into her here two weeks ago had been a coincidence. It wouldn't be repeated. Frustration gripped him. This wait was intolerable. He had to push her into quitting. He needed her naked. Under him. Over him.
Down on him.

The picture of her face when his bitch of an ex-wife had called was emblazoned on his brain. Her eyes when she realized he wasn't married. The fear. The relief. The confusion.

She wasn't immune to him. Far from it.

What had pushed her into the sexy little charade of seduction she had tried on him yesterday? What was in that gorgeous head of hers? Something had changed with her. He was going to find out what it was.

He knew she wanted him. Maybe not as much as he wanted her, but she was curious about him. Curious about how it would be with him. He could smell it on her. The curiosity. It was that curiosity that would give him the opening he needed. He just had to make it happen. It was a sad fact that she couldn't keep her job. He knew he was a ruthless bastard, but he would get his way. And soon, he would set the pieces into motion.

****

Monday afternoon, Renee was in the archive room looking through dusty blueprints when she heard the door slam.

Her body jolted and twin feelings of panic and excitement slid down her spine when she saw him leaning against the closed door. "What are you doing in here?" His voice lacerated her.

"Mrs. Argenot needs the prints from the Belle Chase project." Her nerves were stretched but luckily her voice didn't shake.

He stood, arms crossed, staring at her. Dear God, he was handsome. Renee cataloged his features one by one. He had dark hair with snippets of gray running through it. Gorgeous brown eyes with slashing brows. His lips were full and his skin was a dark, swarthy color. His nose was too large and slightly off-center, where it looked like it had been broken at one time. It turned what would have been true beauty into a masculine, blatantly male countenance.

Her heart started beating faster.

"I want you to quit. This isn't working out." It was an order.

Shock slid through her and caught her off guard. She played for time. "Why?" Her voice was soft.

"Why? Are you kidding?" He pushed off the door and took a predatory step toward her.

Renee dropped the papers in her hands and backed up a step. She held out one slim hand to ward him off.

It was enough to stall him a moment.

"So you'll hand in your resignation?"

Disappointment and an arrow of pain slid through her. "Are you firing me?"

"No. I want you to quit." The lines of his mouth flattened.

"I don't want to quit." More than anything she was beginning to need to know where this would lead.

"
Goddammnit
, Renee. Quit being so bull headed. You know this is going to end bad for you." His voice became biting.

She lifted her chin and hit back, challenging him. "Maybe it's going to end bad for you. Maybe you're scared of me."

He laughed. "Kudos for trying, baby. It
ain't
going to happen. This is going to end one place and one place only."

She shook her head back and forth. Her hair moved in a shimmering display around her shoulders. "I'm not going to quit. Are you going to fire me?"

"No. You're going to quit." His words were adamant, irrefutable.

She continued to shake her head.

His eyes narrowed on her. "Maybe you'd like a sample? A demonstration of what you can expect if you don't give up?" He started coming toward her again.

Renee watched him as if in a trance. She backed up until she hit the wall. He followed. Her eyes were huge when he stopped in front of her. He reached out and took a lock of her hair and wrapped it around his fist. Her heart pounded in her chest and her breathing became palpable.

"You've put up a good fight. You're a worthy opponent. But guess what, baby? Check and
mate
."

His mouth covered hers.

A heated jolt hit her system. Even though she had expected it, she was still shocked by the intensity. He plastered himself against her and all she could do was hang against the wall as his tongue delved deep at the same time he pushed his lower torso into her. He was blatant in his domination, as his tongue pushed in and pulled out, mimicking the motions of sex. His fist tightened in her hair, his body inundating hers completely.

She felt dazed and disoriented as she hung in his grasp while he took from her mouth, his hands gripping her, molding her to him. His hands moved to her neck, wrapped around and briefly held her, then slid to her waist and gripped her in an uncompromising clasp.

All at once the shock left her and intense excitement screamed through her veins. This was it. This was really it. He was kissing her. Finally.
God
, finally. She reached up and wrapped her hands around his shoulders, moving up to thread her fingers through his hair. He smelled so good. Sexual heat emanated from him. She grasped him more tightly.

Was her job really worth it?
No, it wasn't
. She didn't want to give this up. She needed to know how it would be between them.

He lifted his head and looked deep into her eyes. "Say it. Say
I quit, Robert,
" he demanded, his voice like gravel.

She shook her head slightly in a negative motion while her fingers caressed his skull. He slid his hands from the indentation of her waist up to her face. He grasped her cheekbones with his strong hands. "I can't sleep with you while you work for me." His words were low and deep, the demand in them absolute.

Renee sucked in a breath and watched him in silence. Okay. It was out in the open.

He continued, "If we had met anywhere else, it would already be a done deal. You know it. I know it." His words softened. "You're fighting against the inevitable." His fingers encapsulated her wrists and braced them against the wall as his lips moved to her cheek and trailed to her ear.

A jolt of lightning shot through her system when she felt him breathe in the scent of her hair. He transferred both of her wrists to one strong hand and moved the other down and wrapped it around her neck.

Renee's mind splintered. Oh, God, this was a seduction she couldn't fight against. She felt like putty in his hands. She had been in serious lust and halfway infatuated since the moment she met him.

Robert felt her heartbeat accelerate. Her body trembled against his. He watched her eyes flare as he pressed against her neck while he restrained her in a more dominating grasp. He measured his strength against her softness.
Jesus Christ
, she was fine. He needed to get it in her, and soon. He was becoming obsessed with her, g
oddamnit!

The acknowledgment hit him hard. He loosened his grip and trailed his hands back down to her waist. He squeezed possessively and said, "Think about it."

He walked out the door and Renee leaned against the wall and tried desperately to get her fractured mind to function again.

****

"Jenny, he's not married." Renee kicked back on her bed, cell phone to her ear, and lifted her legs all the way into the air and examined the new polish on her toes. She felt amazingly good considering all the angst at work.

She twisted her foot one way, then the other, inspecting the new color while she waited for the reaction from her friend she knew was coming.

"What?" Jenny screeched loudly. Renee lifted the phone away from her ear as her friend continued. "Not married? WTF? Are you kidding me? How did that happen? Is he lying?"

Renee smiled at the abbreviated slang. Oh, it was good having teenagers. They really did keep you young. The newest music, up-to-date slang, and of course, gorgeous black cherry toenail polish. She focused back on the conversation. "No, he's not lying. I just assumed the woman that calls all the time and says she's his wife really was his wife, and not his ex. He's divorced." She paused. "And he wants me to quit my job." Another pause. "So he can have sex with me."

She hurried to move the phone away from her ear again.

"What? You've got to be kidding, right?" Jenny questioned. "Did he say that? Has he heard the term
sexual harassment
? The guy must think he's God's gift. What are you going to do?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure that's why he wants me to quit. I guess he has it in his mind that it's not harassment. He's kind of right, Jen. You can't really harass the willing, you know? You of all people know how long I've had the hots for him. I guess he knows it."

"Yeah, but Renee, your job? You have to have your job. What the hell? Does he think you're independently wealthy, or what?" Her friend's voice was irate.

"I know, Jen. I don't think he's thinking with the
big head
. It's kind of captivating to watch him, one second he's so controlled, and the next he just loses it. When he kissed me today--"

"Whhhaaattt? He kissed you? At work? Oh my God. What'd you do? Was it good?"

"Yeah, it was good. Really good. Just like I thought it would be."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. Play it by ear, I guess. You know I can get my old job back if I need to. I just don't want to be too easy. He's so arrogant. He expects to get his way about everything. I don't know." She sighed. "Enough about him. How are things going with you? How's Richard?"

"Controlling as hell. Possessive. Jealous. Spoiled. Awesome in bed.
Hot
. Unlike anything I've ever experienced. I'm freakin' addicted." Jenny laughed.

Renee smiled. "Cool. You deserve to go a little wild. Still think he's a mobster?"

Jenny answered, "I have no clue. He's so damn rich and I can't figure out where the money's coming from."

"Well, I guess we've both got stuff to work out."

****

The next day was dark and rainy and Renee was sitting at her desk when the internal phone rang. She picked it up and Robert's voice barked down the line. "Get in here. I want to talk to you."

He disconnected and she was left hanging onto the phone.

Robert watched her slip into his office after a slight knock. She stood back and he looked his fill. Yeah, the game had definitely changed. Miles and miles of leg hit him. Short skirt. Tiny waist. Long hair.

It was time. Fuck.
It was past time
.

"Shut the door."

Chapter Five

Robert leaned back in his chair and crossed his hands behind his head. She closed the door and turned back toward him, but didn't move any closer. She didn't say anything. She stood there, quietly waiting. Quietly driving him out of his fucking mind.

Renee watched in fascination as his expression grew more menacing. His voice bit out at her. "I want you to quit your job."