Endless Obsession (3 page)

“I-I don’t…”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes—” I clear the frog from my throat before I try again. “Yes. I must have had a rough night last night. I didn’t hear my alarm go off. I promise it won’t happen again.”

He doesn’t say anything for several seconds. He just sits there, watching me with his head now cocked to the side, like he’s contemplating something. I start to fidget where I stand, uncomfortable with his eyes so focused on me. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t physically attracted to him. Hell, a woman would have to be dead to not be attracted to Mr. Knight. With that being said, it’s hard not to show that attraction. I know my body feels it from the way my stomach clenches, my thighs tighten, and my nipples turn to hard little peaks, but I refuse to allow him to see the desire I feel. He’s way out of my league. Not to mention, he’s my boss, and I shouldn’t be having these unwanted sexual feelings toward him. But when he looks at me the way he is now, it’s hard not to. He’s never shown any interest in me, and he isn’t right now, but that doesn’t mean his stare isn’t intense and… seductive? There’s something there, I just don’t know what, and I’m not sure I want to know.

“Is there something going on I should know about that will cause you to be late in the future?” he asks, jolting me out of my thoughts.

In the almost year I’ve been here, Mr. Knight has never asked me a personal question, so for him to hint at one now surprises me.

“Uh, no?”

He raises his brow at my answer that I unconsciously voiced as a question. I force my legs forward and set his coffee down on his desk. I try once again to answer his question.

“No, nothing’s happened. I just didn’t sleep well. Today was the first and last time it will happen.”

I slept restlessly last night and then woke up slightly off. I can’t put my finger on it, but… my body felt weird, uncomfortable even. I pushed the feeling aside, thinking I was being ridiculous.

He seems satisfied with my answer because after several seconds, he reaches for his glasses again, perches them on his nose and pulls a folder in front of him. I haven’t mentioned the fact that he looks really hot wearing those glasses, something I notice every time he has them on.

“Sit. There’s a few things we need to go over.”

Glad to be back on more neutral ground, I sit in the leather chair across from his desk with my notepad and pen in my lap. I click my pen, waiting on instructions.

Ten minutes later, I have several things jotted down that Mr. Knight wants me to take care of today. It’s basic stuff that shouldn’t take me long. That’s one thing I like about working here; it’s challenging, especially for me because prior to this job, the only other job I’d had was working in my family’s hardware store. Eventually, I had to quit because my mom got sick, and I had to stay at home and care for her. Dad passed away from an unexplained aneurism five years ago, so it was just me and my mom. She died a year and a half ago from cancer. It hit me hard and for months after, I wanted nothing to do with life.

Working for Mr. Knight, though, has so far been pretty easy. He’s not overly demanding and seems to treat his employees fairly. He knew from the get-go I had no experience and didn’t seem surprised about it, something else I found strange, and had the woman I was replacing stay a couple extra weeks to train me. He’s been patient and understanding when I needed it, something you don’t find every day, especially in this type of work and lifestyle.

Thinking we are done, I get up from my seat to leave, but his voice stops me.

“I need you to make sure both our schedules are free three weeks from today, from Friday to that following Monday. Furthermore, book the privacy wing at the Ritz-Carlton in Dallas. Call Phil and tell him to put a flight on the roster, leaving out at nine that Friday morning. Make sure you pack for warmer weather. I’m sure you’re aware of how hot it can get in Texas.”

I watch him while he talks, and each word that comes out of his mouth catches me off guard. He’s no longer talking, but I’m still standing there like an idiot, staring at him.

“Poppy, did you get—”

“You want me to go with you?” I blurt out.

I’ve never been on business trips with him; he’s never asked. He’s been on plenty, sometimes weeks at a time, but always called me at the office to give instructions on what he needed done. Those times he seemed off, tired, and worn-out. Even over the phone I could hear the stress in his voice. And when he returned after those trips, it took several days for the stress and tiredness to leave his face.

However, the last couple months he’s been in the office more. Actually, now that I think about it, it’s been months since he’s been out of the office on one of his trips for more than a day.

“Yes. Is that a problem?” He again raises a brow at me.

“No, no problem. It’s just… you’ve never asked me to come on business trips with you before.”

“Well, I am now, and will continue to do so in the future.” He drops the pen on his desk and steeples his fingers again. “There’s been a lot of things I haven’t asked of you, Poppy, because I know this is all new for you. It’s time you take on the full roll of my personal assistant, and that includes coming with me on trips. The meeting I have set up in Dallas is important, so I’ll need you there with me to help keep things on my end straight and iron out the small details for me.”

Nerves take over at the thought of being with him for four days straight. It’s already tough enough having to deal with flutters in my stomach every time I come into contact with him, but now I’ll be with him all day, for four whole days. Can my stomach handle that many flaps from the butterflies that will likely overtake it? Eventually, it’ll make me sick, right?

But then I think about the trip to Texas. I’ve never been there, but I’ve always wanted to go. I wonder if there will be time to explore. The thought of seeing a real life cowboy has my lips tipping up into a smile. My thoughts are immature, I know, but to hell if I care. Cowboys are hot, and I’d love to hear that southern drawl of theirs say words like
darlin’.
I’ve always been a sucker for western movies.

My eyes flicker back to Mr. Knight to see him watching me as a goofy grin forms on my face, making my fantasies of sexy cowboys turn to tattooed CEOs with unruly dark hair and glasses.

“I take it you’re agreeable to going with me?” he asks.

“Do I have a choice?”

“No.”

His blunt answer doesn’t surprise me. Mr. Knight may be easy to work for, but he’s also the typical businessman when it comes to getting what he wants.

“I’ve never been to Texas. I know this is business, and I won’t be able to sightsee, but I’ve always wanted to go.”

“I shouldn’t need you with me the entire time. You should be able to fit in some time to explore a bit.”

My eyes snap to his to see he’s serious. Exhilaration has my smile turning bigger.

“Really?”

Amusement lights his eyes at my undisguised excitement, causing the flutters in my stomach to multiply.

“Yes.” He smiles quickly before wiping it from his face. “Now, I really need those reports from you.”

My lips tip back down and I get back to business. “Yes… of course, Mr. Knight. I’ll get them to you right away.”

“That would be great, Poppy.”

He slides his glasses back on and drops his eyes back down to the laptop he pulled toward him while we were talking, dismissing me. I leave his office, quietly closing the door behind me.

A look over to my left shows Liv watching me. I give her a small smile and she returns it. She knows how Mr. Knight affects me.

I throw the notepad and pen on my desk and take a seat. I get right to work on the reports Mr. Knight needs. Once I’ve found them and make the changes he requested, I email them over. For good measure, I buzz him to let him know I sent them. Next, I call and make the necessary arrangements for our trip to Texas, then lastly, I call and schedule two appointments for him. I notice one is with Mr. Maverick, the man I spoke with at Maverick Holdings. He’s due to come in Friday of next week.

My eyes flicker over to the flowers still sitting on my desk, and think about the ones I have on my end table at home. Do they need to be replaced yet? They are the ones I got last week. It generally takes longer than a week for flowers to wilt and die. If the ones at home are still fresh, I either give them to Liv or someone else in the office. They are too gorgeous to just toss away, and if I kept them, all my counters would be filled with them. At least if I give them away, someone else will enjoy them as well.

I decide to take them home with me and put them on my nightstand. Liv was right, they do smell sweet. It’ll be nice to wake up to the flowery smell.

Before I know it, it’s lunchtime. I knock and peek my head into Mr. Knight’s office and ask if he wants me to pick anything up from the deli down the street that Liv and I frequent often for lunch.

“Pastrami on rye, with their special spicy mustard,” he mutters, keeping his eyes focused on the computer in front of him. I pull the door closed and meet Liv at the elevator.

“So, how did it go with Mr. Dreamy?” Liv asks before taking a bite of her BLT.

She dubbed Mr. Knight with the name after I told her of a dream I had of him several weeks after I started working for him. We were in his office, and I was sitting on his desk with my legs spread wide while he went to town on my pussy. I woke from the dream shivering and on the verge of a climax-induced meltdown. I told her about the dream the next day at lunch.

“Fine. The usual jitteriness.” I take a sip of my lemonade and set it back down on the table. “I’m going with him to Texas in three weeks.”

“Say what?” she shrieks, making me wince.

“Damn. Tone it down, will ya?”

She drops her sandwich and leans across the table.

“Why are you going to Texas with him?”

I roll my eyes at her eagerness. The girl is crazy. For some reason, she has this notion I should try to seduce our boss. That is
not
happening. For many reasons. Number one being he is our
boss
.

“Geez, Liv, it’s just a business trip. He needs me with him for some big deal he’s working on. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“But it could be something more if you want it to be,” she puts in excitedly, her eyes dancing mischievously.

“First, he’s our boss. There’s no way I can afford to screw this job up. Second, I’m not his type.” She tries to object, but I hold my hand in her face, which she swipes away. “Third, he’s shown no interest in me. Fourth,
he’s our boss
.” I stress the last, just so she really gets what I’m saying.

“But Pop, just think how good it can be. Can you imagine what he could do with those hands? And his tongue? Not to mention other certain parts of his body?”

She’s practically bouncing in her seat as she talks. I
have
imagined what he could do, but that’s all it will ever be—
fantasies
. Even if I was interested in pursuing something with him, he’s so far out my league, you couldn’t even see me with a pair of high-tech binoculars.

“Liv, stop. It’s not happening,” I tell her firmly. She pouts at me, and I can’t help but laugh at the pathetic look. I count my blessings every day that I met Liv. She came along when I needed someone the most. Still grieving the loss of my mom and finding out my fiancé, Grant, was cheating on me, I was on a serious downward spiral. On top of that, I found out my parents’ business was actually in the hole, and I wouldn’t be able to keep it. The last straw was losing my childhood home. That’s what had me so desperate to find a job. Luckily, with finding my position at Silver Technologies, I was able to at least keep the wolves away from my home. The business, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do anything about. I hated seeing it go. It broke my heart. My parents practically built that hardware store from the ground up, but there was no way I was letting the bank take my home. So I made a choice and kept the house instead of the hardware store.

To get Liv off the subject of her ridiculous hopes of me and Mr. Knight hooking up, I change the subject.

“Have you figured out where Tony is taking you this weekend?”

“Hell no,” she mumbles through a bite of her sandwich. “He’s not giving anything up, no matter how I try to convince him to tell me. He’s locked up tight. I even let him come in my mouth, and you know I gag at the taste of jiz.”