"What if I don't want to?” she asked, taking another step down. She expected him to take a step back, but he didn’t.
Instead, his large, warm palm circled her neck. His fingers slid into her hair and tugged her head back, his thumb settling in the hollow of her neck. He stroked his thumb lightly against the pulse there. Her breath was coming in faster pants now, her body hot and aching in all the places she wanted his hands.
“This is a terrible idea,” he murmured. His hands were rougher than she expected and warm on her neck as he stroked the indent at the base of her throat. She closed her eyes and swallowed hard, imagining all the other places he would take his time stroking. She opened them to find his, dark and intense, looking at her.
“Those are my favorite kind,” she whispered back, and felt the response in his body. She wanted him like she wanted her next sugar fix, and just as she knew too much sugar made her sick, she still wanted every last bite of him.
Slowly, watching her eyes until the last second, he dipped his head, and replaced his thumb with the soft, hot press of his mouth, a kiss where her heartbeat fluttered. She tilted her head back to give him access to the underside of her jaw and closed her eyes at the feel of his lips playing over her throat. “Mmm,” she moaned, and was rewarded with the stroke of his tongue.
Puddin’s indignant howl pierced the air.
Amber looked down and laughed shakily. “Sorry, girl. Are we ignoring you?” Puddin’ laid her head on Theo’s shin andglared balefully up at her. She looked up to laugh with Theo only to find his face serious.
“Stop looking at me like that. Nothing happened,” she said.
“I’m your boss, Amber.” Theo said tightly. “We just came very close to crossing a line.”
“I know,” she mused playfully, despite the flutter of anxiety in her stomach. “I’ve had a lot of really dirty fantasies around that dynamic.” She laughed genuinely when she saw Theo’s face. She would never get tired of teasing him. “Relax, boss. It was consensual and fun.” She wiggled her eyebrows exaggeratedly to hide her unease. “Want to hit first base before your date?”
Theo scowled. "It's not a date."
"I don't care if it is,” she said, and even to her ears she sounded like a liar.
“Amber,” he said quietly, watching her with those cool blue eyes that pierced right through her. “I’m not dating anyone.”
"Oh," she said, the significance not lost on her. With the heat of playful lust cooling, unease took its place. She was never good in the aftermath of desire. The intimacy of it had every instinct in her screaming to back away, at least, or to leave in a blaze of glory. She settled for backing up. "I better let you get ready. I already fed Puddin’, and her crate is all made up." Flippant. Cheerful. Evasive.
"Thank you," he said, more formal than a man who had just had a half-naked woman ready to wrap around his body should be. He looked at her in that way of his that made her want to pull her T-shirt over her face for some measure of protection. Only, it wasn’t her body that was in danger.
“Okay if I borrow your shirt?" she asked. Down two more steps, far enough that she couldn’t see the knowing look in his eyes.
Chapter Thirteen
Amber calledVal as soon as she got home. “I’ve got a carton of Rocky Road and Red Hots.” It was time for the big guns. It was almost embarrassing how turned on she still was from that brief, electrified moment with Theo on the stairs tonight. The man had only touched her neck of all places, and she was still shivery and tingling, her nipples hard points that she wanted to rub against him.
Desire wasn’t new to her. She had a healthy sexual appetite and no shame when it came to indulging in it, although finding the right man proved harder. Living in a small town meant that she had to be judicious with whom she slept with because if it went south, she’d most likely be serving him beers at the pub. Well, she would have before she was fired.
Over the years, she’d had casual hookups, mostly men from surrounding towns looking for something casual and fun, but inevitably things got deeper than she was comfortable with and she always, always bailed.
Relationships were not her thing. She had accepted that a long time ago, but it had left some ornery men in her wake that hadn’t always been as understanding. All the more reason tokeep things casual, but even so it had been a long time and she had pent up desire lighting up her body until she felt like it would only take one tiny fuse to set her off.
Which was why she had to stay firmly on the professional side with her boss. It wouldn’t do at all to have to face Theo at their Monday morning meetings after doing all of the dirty, debauched things she wanted to do to him.
It just wasn’t smart to sleep with your boss, even she knew that, and she wasn’t known for making great life choices. But the attraction was hard to ignore, and even harder to cover up her response to him walking around in his immaculate suit and tie, looking like a present she could unwrap and savor.
She needed a distraction.
“Be right there,” Val said, and twenty seconds later, Val padded across the hall in her bare feet. Now, they were nestled on Amber’s couch, a box fan humming on the coffee table in front of them, eating ice cream and candy on a Friday night. In other words, pure bliss.
“No Holly tonight?” Amber asked.
“Nah,” Val said, dumping a handful of candy in her palm. “My mom’s got the night off. They’re having a Twilight marathon.” She looked over. “Stop eating all the marshmallows.”
“Make me,” Amber mumbled with her mouth full. “You didn’t want to join them?” It was rare that Sandy had a night off from her serving job.
Val snorted. “Twilight? Please. Bella’s an emotional wreck who can’t live without a man. I told my mom not to let Holly watch it, but no one listens to me. ”
Amber dug around in the carton for another marshmallow and handed it to Val. “Speaking of messy romance, how’s it going with Dylan? Did you decide about the ball?”
