“You’re my brother’s best friend.”
“I know that too.”
“This arrangement is supposed to be professional.”
Her hands grip the edge of her desk behind her, knuckles white. I brace my arms on either side of her, caging her in without touching her. Yet.
“Tell me to leave,” I say quietly. “Tell me this is just business, and I’ll walk out that door right now.”
She is breathing hard. Her eyes drop to my mouth, then back up. “I can’t tell you that.”
I lean in closer, my lips almost brushing her ear. “Then what do you want, Bailey?”
She shudders. “You know what I want.”
“Say it.”
Her fingers release the desk and fist in my shirt instead, pulling me the last inch closer. “You. I want you.“
God damn it. I reach out, my hands finding her waist. She gasps softly but doesn’t pull away from my touch.
The kiss starts slowly, tentatively, like we’re both testing whether this is real or a big mistake. Then she makes a sound low in her throat and pulls me closer. The kiss turns hungry as everything we’ve been holding back for days crashes together at once. I back her against the desk as she reaches behind her and sweeps her arm across the surface. Everything on it scatters to the floor.
“Are you sure?” I pull back just enough to ask her.
“Shut up and kiss me.”
So I do exactly that.
I lift her onto the desk in one smooth motion. She wraps her legs around my waist and pulls me between them. The position is intimate and deliberate, and precisely what we both need.
My hands slide up her thighs slowly. She arches into me with a gasp. The dress rides up, and I help it along with trembling fingers.
“We shouldn’t do this here,” Bailey gasps against my mouth.
“We shouldn’t do this anywhere.”
“That’s not helping.”
“Do you want me to stop?”
“God, no.”
I work the zipper at her back and the dress loosens and falls away from her shoulders. She’s wearing black lace underneath that makes my brain short-circuit completely.
“Jesus, Bailey.”
“What?”
“You’re going to kill me.”
“Good. Then we’re even.”
She tugs at my shirt impatiently. Buttons scatter across the floor but I don’t care about any of them. My hands are on her skin. Her mouth is on my neck. Nothing else matters.
I kiss down her throat slowly, then across her collarbone with deliberate attention. Lower still. She gasps my name and digs her fingers into my shoulders hard enough to leave marks.
I reach for my wallet with shaking hands, finding the condom. Bailey helps me with my belt and my pants. Her hands are shaking slightly.
