Professional Liaison (4 page)

“This is nothing. Wait until the Fourth of July. We usually have about two hundred people here.”

“Thanks for inviting me. I’m still new with the company and all, so I didn’t expect this kind of welcome.”

“Everyone who works for me is welcome to these. It helps boost morale.” Brad smile and slapped him on the back.

“Well, I appreciate it.”

“Hey, honey,” Mandy said approaching her husband’s side and sliding her arm around his waist. He pulled her close and kissed her on the forehead. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Mandy, Brad’s wife.” She held out her hand and he grasped it with his own.

“This is one of new guys, babe.”

“I’m Andrew Novak. It’s nice to meet you, Mandy.”

“You aren’t from around here,” she replied with a grin.

Drew smiled and said, “How’d you guess?”

“Southern accent. Not thick but there none-the-less. So, where’s home, Andrew?”

“Tennessee actually and call me Drew.”

Her eyebrows pulled down between her eyes and the smile left her lips.

“Something wrong?”

“Uh, no.” She pulled away from Brad’s side. “I’m going to check on the stuff in the house.”

“Okay,” Brad answered, before he kissed her quickly on the mouth. “The meat will be done pretty soon.”

Drew watched as Mandy headed for the house before he turned back toward Brad with a grin. “I bet she’s a handful.”

“With all that red hair and green eyes? You bet she is.” Brad chuckled. “And a temper to go along with it if she so chooses.”

“How long have you two been married?”

“Five years and it’s been heaven on earth.” Brad tipped the beer in his hand to his lips and swallowed several gulps. “You need to find you a nice girl.”

Drew almost choked on his beer. “Nah.”

“How old are you, Drew?”

“Twenty-eight.”

“That’s plenty old enough to settle down.”

He laughed and shook his head. Brad sounded like his parents. Even if his sisters and brothers weren’t already popping out kids and getting married, as the baby of the family, they expected him to find a girl soon, too. Thoughts drifted back to a few nights ago and he frowned.

Melissa Gordon.

He wiped the drop of beer lingering on his lip with the back of his hand and he felt his cock fill behind the fly of his jeans.

Damn it!

He hadn’t been able to get her out of his thoughts since he’d taken her to bed. No woman had ever taken up his every waking moment, the way she had. Even his visit to Leathers hadn’t cooled his ardor after he’d fucked Liss. The Dom in him screamed to get her under him again and curtail her willful behavior with a good spanking. A slow smile drifted across his mouth and his hand itched to slide along her nice, rounded ass.

“I’m sure I’ll find someone soon enough. I’m in no hurry even if my parents are.”

“Your parents?”

“Yeah. All of my siblings are married so they’ve decided it’s my turn.” He chuckled dryly. “I haven’t found a woman who can hold my interest more than a few days.”

“I’m sure she’s out there somewhere.”

Shivers rolled down his back and the hairs on his arms rose when a sultry voice reached his ears from several feet away.
I can’t be.
He slowly turned around to see none other than Melissa Gordon or better known to him as Liss.

* * * *

“Good grief, Mandy. You’ve got some crowd here,” Melissa said when she waltzed into the kitchen.

“Hey, cuz.” Mandy kissed her on the cheek and went back to slicing the tomato under her hand. “Yeah. You know Brad, he loves bringing all the guys from the company out here, feeding them, getting them drunk and trying to hook them up with some of my unsuspecting, single friends.”

A dry laugh left her mouth. “I know. He wants to see all his guys happy like you two are.” She grabbed a plate and arranged the tomato slices on it while Mandy continued to cut.

“Come on. We need to take these out to the table.” Mandy pulled open the sliding glass door and said over her shoulder, “Hey. Did you ever figure out who that guy is?”

“No. I can’t seem to find out anything. No one I know has any idea who he is. Why?”

“Well, you know it’s funny because Brad introduced me to a new guy he hired a few months ago.”

Mandy’s voice trailed off to her ears when Melissa’s startled gaze met that of none other than her mystery man. “Drew,” she whispered.

“What did you say?” Mandy asked when Melissa whipped around.

“Oh my God, Mandy, that’s him.”

“Drew. The guy from the other night.”

“You’re kidding me, where?”

“Standing next to Brad.”

“Andrew?” Mandy giggled. “You’re serious! Damn! You did good, girl. He’s hot!”

“I’m sorry, Lissa, but if that’s the guy you went to bed with, you’re one lucky girl.”

“Shit. I can’t believe this,” Melissa whispered and ran her hands across her eyes. He can’t be here. How the hell does he know Brad and Mandy? “How do you know him? Why is he here? Wait! I thought you said you didn’t know who I was talking about when we had lunch.”

“He’s the new guy Brad hired a couple of months back. I hadn’t met him until about thirty minutes ago.”

“I’ve got to go.”

“Oh, no you don’t. Besides, he’s coming over here.”

“Yep.” Mandy grabbed her arm and pulled her around. “Hey, Drew. I’d like you to meet someone. This is my cousin, Melissa Gordon. This is Andrew Novak.”

The wicked smile she remembered flashed across his lips and he said, “We’ve met.”

She grabbed his arm and pulled him away from Mandy’s side. “What are you doing here?”

His penetrating brown eyes fixed on her face before he glanced down at the hand gripping his arm. When his eyes met hers again, one eyebrow cocked in question. Capturing her lip between her teeth, she chewed it for a moment before she dropped her hand.

“I work for Brad,” he said. “From what I understand, he always invites his employees over.”

“This has nothing to do with what happened the other night, Liss.”

The shortening of her nickname on his tempting lips, sent shivers down her arms. Memories of how he’d said it the other night flashed across her mind and her stomach quivered. He slid his arm around her waist and his lips pressed to her ear. “Are you remembering my lips—my tongue?”

She pressed her palm against his chest and pushed him away. “Stop.”

“What’s wrong? I know you’re hot just thinking about it. Your nipples are hard little nubs under your tank top.”

Inhaling on a rush, she crossed her arms over her breasts. “You made me believe Mandy sent you when I now know that isn’t true. Who sent you?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes, it matters. Tell me who sent you this minute.” Her foot tapped impatiently while she waited for him to answer, but he grasped her arm and pulled her toward the sliding glass door leading inside. Fear rushed through her for a moment and she tried to dig her heels in to stop his forward progress, but it didn’t work.

He stopped and spun around. “Do you want answers?”

“Then stop fighting me.” He pulled her along until they were inside and he looked around.

“Brad’s office is the first door on the left.”

They were on the move again. Once he reached the doorway, he pushed her inside and followed close behind, shutting the door and locking it.

She moved away from his disturbing presence.

Distance is good.

Her hands moved over the flesh on her arms to calm the goose bumps. “Now. Tell me what this is all about.”

He raked his fingers through his hair before his gaze met hers. “No, Mandy didn’t send me.”

“I got that much from her. I said something at lunch the other day and she had no idea what I was talking about.”

“You told her?”

“Of course I told her. I wanted to thank her for sending you, but she had no idea what I meant.”

“Fuck!” His fingers cut a path through his hair and hers itched to comb it back into place.

“What the hell is going on? You show up at my office, pretending to know me and that Mandy had set up the little scene at my house. Take me home. Fuck my brains out and then walk away.” She stopped directly in front of him and pressed her finger into his chest. “Don’t play me, Drew. You won’t like the outcome.”

Lightning fast, he grabbed her wrist and pinned it behind her. Fear raced down her spine until she looked into his eyes and raw desire staring back as his lips hovered over hers.

“Don’t threaten me. There are forces at play here that are way over your head.” His mouth came crashing down on hers and she whimpered under the onslaught. She’d done nothing but crave his touch since he’d left her bed several days before. His tongue slipped along the crease of her lips and she could do nothing but open for him. Their tongues entwined and she moaned into his mouth while one hand slipped into the hair at the nape of his neck.

A knock one the door brought her out of the passion-filled fog and she pushed against his chest until he pulled his mouth from hers.

“Lissa? Are you in there?”

“Let go. It’s Mandy.”

“We’ll continue this another time when I can punish you properly.” He released her and she almost stumbled back against the desk.

The knock came again. “Lissa?”

She felt her eyes widen at his words.
Punish?
“I’ll be out in a second, Mandy. Drew and I are talking.” Her gaze never left his.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Mandy asked from the other side of the door.

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“All right then. I’ll see you in a bit.”

Melissa heard the footsteps fade as Mandy moved down the hall.

“Who sent you?”

She exhaled with a rush of air and tipped her head back on her shoulders, looking at the ceiling before she met his gaze. “Damn it! Do you expect me to let you walk into my life and turn it upside down without any explanations as to how this all happened? I want answers, Drew and I want them now.”

“Listen. What happened between us at your place wasn’t planned. It just happened. I wanted you and you wanted me. There isn’t anything more to it than that.”

“Bullshit! I sure as hell wasn’t looking for a fuck-buddy that night although you fit the bill pretty well. That is definitely not the way I had planned to spend my evening.”

“I can’t tell you anything more than to say, I did what I had to do. Someone I love is in trouble and what I did, I did for her.”

Melissa felt her heart clench at his words.
He loves someone.
She shook her head to clear her thoughts. “Her?”

“Do you really expect me to leave it at that? Things aren’t adding up here.”

“You don’t have a choice here, Liss. Neither of us do.”

“How do you fit into all this? Why did you show up at my office to take me home? What about the flowers?”

“You sent a huge bouquet to my office the next day. Something about ‘I enjoyed last night more than you’ll ever know.’”

“I didn’t send you flowers.”

“Then who did?”

“Damn it! This is getting nuts. Now they’re dragging my fucking personal life into this.”

“What is going on? Obviously there is more to this and I can’t help if I don’t know.” She touched his arm and he flinched slightly.

“I’ll tell you what I can.” He took her hand and tugged her down onto the leather couch with him. “I found out Mandy had set up your little bath party because I was in the office with Brad when he was talking to her on speaker phone. I heard her plans so I used it to get to you.”

“I needed something from you.”

“Sex with you wasn’t in the plans.” He chuckled and shook his head. “Not that I’m complaining.” Running his fingers across her arm, he smiled when goose bumps rose in the wake of his hand. “We were pretty hot together and you slipped into the roll of sub pretty easily.”

“Sub?” Her heart tripped over itself.

Standing quickly, she moved to the other side of the room as a snort left her mouth. “I’m not submissive, Drew.”

He shifted on the couch and threw his arm over the back. “No?”

“Not even close. I’m always in control.”

Within a heartbeat, he stood in front of her and pulled her tight against him. His full lips hovered over hers and she felt her pussy clench.

His eyes darkened while his pupils dilated. “Shall we test that theory?”

She swallowed hard. “I don’t know what you mean.”

The tip of his tongue ran across her lips and she fought the moan rising in her throat.

“I think you want someone to take control, Liss. That someone is me, babe.”

“Yes, you do. You’re hot just thinking about my hand on your ass, spanking you until your cheeks are red and stinging.”

One palm found her breast before his fingers pinched her nipple through her tank top.

“Bent over my lap, your bare ass high in the air as my hand comes down firmly on your rounded butt cheeks.” She sucked in a ragged breath. “You’re so hot.” His hand slipped down between them and cupped her mound. “You’re burning my hand through your clothes.”

With a soft moan, she opened her thighs and tipped her head back. He nipped at the soft skin of her neck then licked where her heart beat rapidly. The warm tongue ran up her neck to her ear. “Oh yes, you are submissive, Liss, to the right Dom. I can’t wait to get you under me again.”

His words were like a cold shower, tamping down her sexual excitement in a matter of seconds. She pushed against his chest until he stepped back.

“Keep your hands off me,” she hissed and stepped around him to quickly whip open the door.

He chuckled softly behind her and leaned against the desk when she peeked back over her shoulder. “Not a chance, baby.” The confidence he exhibited with his arms crossed over his broad chest and the smirk on his lips, sent her anger souring almost out of control.

How dare he!

“I’m going to love taming you, teaching you and curtailing your controlling personality with a firm hand.”

Her mouth opened and closed for several moments as the grin on his lips widened.