He brushed her question aside. “All your paperwork’s in order. The application materials for both are identical. I just added a check mark in the box for the environmental grant alongside the community one.”
Feeling a little cheap and a little dizzy, she nodded. “Okay. Is there fine print in the agreement that’s going to screw me over?”
He reached into his messenger bag, which he’d dropped next to her purse just inside the door, and pulled out a tablet. “No, but you’re welcome to have your lawyer look it over first.” He handed the device to her. “Here.”
She accepted the tablet but didn’t glance at the text as she considered how to ask the question that had been dogging her since she’d caught on to Leo’s grand plan to fund her program.
“Just to be clear, this isn’t special treatment for the girl who took your virginity, right?”
The look Leo gave her was molten, and when he answered, his voice was pure gravel. “I believe that was mutual virginity-taking.”
Mistake. What an utter mistake to bring it up. Yes, she wanted his assurance that she’d gotten this grant through the merits of her program, just like she wanted to know that he truly didn’t think she would’ve written about him in her personal statement for the grant. But that was the worst possible way to go about it. Talking about their history in his presence thickened her blood and turned her nerves into live wires.
Leo cleared his throat. “You’re getting this grant because you’re the best fit for what I need.” He cleared his throat again, louder this time. “The best fit for what Dig Greener needs.”
“Okay.” She tapped on the document and scanned it quickly, taking in the boilerplate she’d grown used to after working with other grant-writing agencies over the years. The dollar amount was, as he promised, almost twice what she’d originally applied for, every year for three years, after a six-month probationary period and a satisfactory foundation report on progress up to that point. It was the answer to her prayers.
“Sign here?” She was almost whispering as she pointed to the blank at the bottom of the screen. Leo grunted in affirmation, but she hesitated, risking a look at his face. His lids were heavy as he studied her, his chin elevated, and she was briefly tempted to shove the tablet back at him, walk out of that room, and never look back. Working with Leo was such a colossally bad idea.
And then she remembered that she was sleeping in a canopy bed with pink hearts printed on her sheets. She could do this.
With a flick of her index finger, she signed her name, but when she handed the tablet back to him, their fingers brushed, and she couldn’t help her sharp inhale.
He dashed his own signature next to hers and locked the tablet screen, letting it fall back into his bag. But he didn’t step away from her, and she was having a hard time breathing again.
“Did we just make the worst possible decision in the world?”
She didn’t explain what she meant, but she didn’t have to. His throat worked as he swallowed. “I don’t know.”
He shifted minutely closer to her, so close that she could feel the heat pouring off him.
“So it’s not just me? You feel it too?” She whispered the words, terrified that he’d laugh at her, tell her she was imagining the tension that was making her nipples tight and the flesh between her legs pulse.
He was crowding her now, and although she could’ve taken a step to the side, she didn’t. Instead, she held still while his body brushed against hers, grateful that the jacket sleeves hid her goose bumps.
“Do you think I want this?” His dark eyes bored into hers. “Believe me, I don’t. I just need my dick to get with the program because this is never going to work otherwise.”
Her knees wobbled, and she rested her hand on his abdomen to steady herself. In her defense, it wasright there, so she really didn’t have any other choice. But it probably would’ve been better if she’d just collapsed to the ground because what her fingers encountered was nothing but solid muscle and bone.
“I don’t think I can do this knowing how much you hate me.” She directed the words to his collarbones, not daring to meet his eyes.
“Is this hate?” The words sounded like he’d torn them from his throat, andnowshe looked at him. Heat lit his eyes as his gaze raked her face, and she curled her fingers into the smooth material of his suit coat, tugging him toward her until their chests were mashed together and her back was pressed against one of the iron tables. He was breathing as unevenly as she was, and triumph and horror tangled in her stomach at the knowledge that they were both experiencing the same helpless pull.
“I can’t stop thinking about you.” His face twisted almost as if he was in pain. “Ever since the restaurant, I can’t stop thinking about touching you.”
How could her body contain all these emotions? She was elated, furious, aroused. The arousal won out.
“Then touch me.”
She slid onto the table, letting her legs fall open as she popped the button on her jacket. He stepped in front of her and, without breaking eye contact, ran his hands over her knees and under the hem of her skirt until he reached her hips. His fingers tightened, and he jerked her forward so the fabric rucked up and her throbbing core pressed against his erection. He made a guttural noise in the back of his throat at the contact.
“We both want this.” It was a statement, not a question, and he punctuated it with a thrust of his cock against her clit that had her whimpering even though they were both still fully dressed.
“Yes,” she gasped as pleasure rocketed to her brain. “I want this. I—”
He didn’t let her finish, instead setting her on her feet and spinning her so her back was against his front. Then he pressed a hand between her shoulder blades and pushed her forward until she was bent over the table. The metal was cold against her cheek, and her fingers scrabbled for something to hold onto as he pushed her skirt all the way up to her waist and shoved his fingers past her underwear to stroke her.
His touch was impatient, possessive, and she got so wet, so quickly, she was almost embarrassed. “I’ve never… so fast…”
