I thought of him, and I couldn’t stop. It was the mixture of emotions I’d been trying to avoid. I knew I shouldn’t have any sort of feelings for him. He was supposed to just be my boss after all, but they were growing in me all the same. I pushedmyself closer and closer to the edge, not able to think of anything but his piercing, blue-eyed stare.
I lost myself in the tornado of pleasure that was laced with a fear that I’d fallen too far with him already. But the white-hot euphoria that came with thinking his fingers were curling into me instead of my own caused an orgasm to lash through me so fast that I nearly blacked out.
With my breath coming much too fast and the water running cold over my body, I heard someone pound on my door.
Mia
“ONE SECOND.” ISCRAMBLEDout of the shower, grabbing a towel to wrap it around me. Only the briefest of moments had passed when I barreled out of the bathroom, but nothing could have shocked me more than watching as my bedroom door crashed open.
“Jameson! What on earth are you doing?”
“Who the fuck is in here with you?” He stormed in and immediately went to my bathroom to search it before he looked under my bed, then in my closet, and then strode over to my open window to look out it.
“What are you talking about?” I walked over to look out the window with him, clutching my towel. Did he think there was an intruder? Was someone really out in the forest like I’d thought days before? “Did someone break in?”
“Darling devil …” He turned to me, and his eyes were brimming with anger so dark that I couldn’t even see where his pupils began. “Do not lie to me when I ask again. Who was with you? Archer? You had dinner with him. I’m going to fucking kill him.”
“Why would he be in my bedroom?”
My confusion must have pushed him over the edge, becauseone of those calloused hands went to my neck to shove me up against the wall. His grip was firm as he leaned in close. “I heard you through the fucking walls.”
He must have heard me moaning in the shower through the vents.
“Oh God. I moaned that loud?” I said mostly to myself, but his grip on my neck tightened, and he leaned closer.
“And now I see your cheeks are flushed. You look like you’ve been properly fucked. And your lower lip is swollen like you’ve been biting it. So, where the fuck is Archer? Did you sleep with him?”
“Jameson, seriously? You have some audacity to mention him when you were down there with Valerie! I should be asking you if you slept with her … Again!”
“What?”
“I smell her perfume all over you, Jameson,” I whispered, trying to explain away the fact that I’d heard them down there. How could I admit the rest? But then I knew I had to be honest, knew that if there was going to be something real between us, I didn’t want it based on lies. He needed to know. I sighed and closed my eyes. “And I can hear most everything in this room if I’m listening. The vents connect, which is how you must have heard me.”
Recognition registered in his eyes, and they hardened as he asked, “And exactly why were you listening?”
I looked away as shame burned on my cheeks. “Because you said Valerie was going to be here, and I wanted to know if you’d do the same as you’ve always done.” I shrugged.
“Darling Mia. You’ve listened to us before.” He sighed out as if he pitied me. I just nodded, not wanting to speak it out loud. A wave of emotions flickered over his face. “Most people would die before they admitted that to me.”
“And do you think that’s because you wouldn’t let them live after eavesdropping?”
He hummed. “You aren’t the least bit scared of me now, are you, Darling?”
At one point, I had been. Now, I trusted him with my life more than I did any other person. So I just whispered, “Should I be?”
“No.” He pulled at his hair. “And it’s fucking bad that I don’t want you to be. You should realize I’m not a good man, realize that I’m asking you if you fucked Archer because I’m going to beat him within an inch of his life if you did.”
“He’s a friend of yours, Jameson. We’ve been over this,” I reminded him.
He didn’t even blink as he continued to stare at me. His icy blue eyes told me all I needed to know.
“Andhe takes care of Franny and this house when you’re away. He’s irreplaceable.”
Jameson shook his head slowly. “No, Mia.You’reirreplaceable. And it’s a problem because normally I operate under the belief that any one of my staff can be replaced at any time.”
“You need people that you care about and respect as your employees.”
“No. I need hard workers. Not people who cause weakness.”
