She gave me a thumb’s up. “Deal.”
I was glad that my relationship with Brit was on the mend because it made me feel less alone at work. But my guard was still up. I was very careful with some of the things I said around her, and I sure as hell would never address JoJo by his name in front of her. I voted to take the elevator, even though it was only one floor up. And as I stood in front of his office door, his growling voice hit my ear.
“Get in here and close it, Miss Loren.”
I eased my way inside and did as he asked. “Everything okay, Mr. Ryker?”
He stood from his desk. “Why are you wearing sunglasses?”
I sighed heavily. “Just have a headache. Are you sure everything is--?”
“Why the hell have you been slacking off lately?”
I paused. “Sorry, slacking off?”
“Do I need to define it for you?”
I clicked my tongue. “I’ve done everything you’ve asked ever since I started here. So, I’m unsure as to how I’m slacking off.”
He walked out from around his desk. “For the past three days you’ve completely blown off your assignments. I only get half of the work by the end of the day, and if I’m lucky I’ll see the other half in the morning. You know that isn’t how we operate.”
I slid my sunglasses off my face. “Well, I figured I’d be a little more proactive with my personal schedule.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Are you hung over?”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek as my mind raced. His all-black suit reminded me of the leather-strapped outfits the men wore last night. My head spun with all sorts of nasty thoughts that I had no right to, like him tying me up before bending me over his desk again. I chewed on my lower lip as I thought about him blindfolding me. I imagined him chaining my wrists above my head before kicking my legs open and teasing my clit with a toy while I begged for his fingertips.
And it wasn’t until I felt his body heat radiating toward me that my mind focused.
“You better answer me right now,” he growled.
I gazed up into his eyes. “It’s your job to be proactive about my work schedule, but it’s my responsibility to draw lines with my personal one. I’ll take a certain amount of work home with me if it doesn’t require me to take home sensitive accounting documents, because the last time I did that I got my ass handed to me. Remember?”
His eyes searched mine. “Seems to me like you’re having some trouble focusing.”
“Why? Because I’m no longer inundating my life with things that remind me of you?”
He lifted his head. “No. Because I pay you a great deal of money to do the work you do, and I expect it to get done.”
I shrugged. “So, you don’t pay me overtime. That saves you money, if I’m not mistaken. Aren’t all businessmen trying to figure out how to cut corners with money nowadays?”
“Enough!” he bellowed.
His hand slammed against the closed door right beside my head, but for once I didn’t flinch. I held my ground with my back flush to the door, watching and waiting for him to make the first move. This was what I wanted. Him, hovering over me, making me feel small while he shrouded me away from the rest of the world. Our own little bubble of effervescent tension.
I never wanted it to end.
“Go. Sit,” he commanded through his teeth.
I smiled before I reached up and patted his cheek. I slipped beneath his arm and made my way to the chair in front of his desk. I perched myself on the edge of it, shivering as his eyes bored holes into the back of my head. I watched his reflection in the window behind his desk as he stalked toward me before wrapping around and making his way for those exact windows.
And after he pulled the blinds, a shiver rushed down my spine.
“Where were you last night?” he asked.
Oh, shit. The phone call.“Out.”
He turned and faced me with his hands clasped behind his back. “Out… where?”
