“Considering what I tipped him, we probably could fuck for a good solid hour and go out for breakfast afterwards, and he’d still be here waiting.”
“Oh my god.” Jay took a mutinous sip of coffee and headed for the door. Then she thought better of turning her back on him and reached behind her, catching his wrist before he could spank her again. “Smack my ass one more time,” she said threateningly, “and I’m breaking this off.”
Nicholas chuckled and twisted out of her grip. This close to him, she could read the writing on his cup, which appeared to be a quad-shot latte with at least six pumps of sugar. Just reading the label made her feel like she had high blood pressure. When she looked up at him, his eyes were alight with wicked mischief. “Next time, I’m booking a later flight.”
She didn’t fully get that until they were on the stairs, and then she missed a step.
The driver only seemed a little grouchy as he loaded their things into the back and it was a quick drive to the airport. The sun hadn’t even breached the horizon yet and the sky was a deep midnight blue. Jay watched the skyscrapers tumble past while Carbon napped at her feet in his carrier, marveling at how those big glass windows reflected the stars so clearly.
Nicholas scrolled through his phone, reclining against the seat with his legs spread. His thigh was resting against hers. Every time they hit a pothole, the feel of his wool trousers rubbing against her bare calf sent a troubling current pulsing through her legs. One of his arms was draped over the back of the seat, and she was aware of his hand, resting mere inchesabout her left shoulder. Toying with her hair. Making her skin feel too tight beneath her clothes.
“Do you do this often?” she asked desperately.
He lowered his phone, circling it to indicate the car. “What, this? Travel? No, not as often as I used to. Why?”
“I had no idea you were such a morning person.”
“It was all those morning swim meets in high school and college. I got used to being an early riser, burning off all that extra energy before dawn in cold,coldwater. It turned out to be the perfect boot camp for international travel.” He flicked her shoulder and goosebumps rippled down her arm. “Two years ago, I went to Asia and stayed at the fanciest hotel in Singapore. It had everything—laundry service, five-star restaurants, an infinity pool that looked out over the whole city. But the whole time I was there—I was wishing that you were with me. Especially at night, on those ridiculous silk sheets.”
“Nicholas.” A harsh breath escaped her. “God. The driver.”
“Don’t be such a prude, Jay. I’m sure people fuck in this backseat all the time.”
“Some of the drunk ones try,” the driver said, making Jay jump. “If see ‘em, I kick them out.”
“That’s the lesson.” Nicholas slid his hand up her thigh. “Don’t get caught.”
Jay took his hand and flung it back at him.I’m still mad at you, she reminded herself.Stop it.
“I should take you there,” he mused, looking at her thoughtfully.
They pulled up at the drop-off point and Jay looked away from Nicholas’s smirk, cheeks flaming. She gauged the traffic instead. There was plenty of movement but it was far from busy.Nobody was honking or jockeying for space. Although at this ungodly hour, who had the energy for a fight? Jay lugged her carry-on onto the curb and heard Carbon let out an angry yowl.
“Speaking of not getting caught,” Nicholas said, stepping onto the curb with the cat carrier, “one of our VPs left unexpectedly, so that role should be opening up soon. And when it does, I think you should apply for it.”
“At your company?”
“Yes, Jay,” he said, with a little laugh. “My company.”
“I don’t know,” she said dubiously. “I’m not sure I have the experience.”
“I happen to know that Arthur thinks you would be perfect for the position, too.”
“Really? He does?”
She must not have been fucking up as badly as she’d thought, if Arthur was talking her up like that to Nicholas—although how had the subject of her future with the company come up? After the dinner invitation? Before it? She glowed at the approval, but wasn’t sure about how to feel about Nicholas’s involvement.
She tightened her grip on her suitcase.With his penchant for overstepping, probably alarmed. “How would that work? Most people want decades of experience.”
“We promote based on merit, not tenure. Otherwise, people think they deserve a raise just for showing up.” A harsh edge snaked into his voice.
“Wouldn’t I be working directly under you then?”
Nicholas paused, and Jay cringed inwardly, her eyes instinctively scanning to see who was going to be around to hear the filthy joke he was undoubtedly about to make at her expense.But he just slung his backpack down on the counter and began to undo his belt and then his brogues. “Technically, no. You’d be workingunderArthur—”God, thought Jay “—but you would also continue to report to me. Because everyone eventually reports to me.”
Jay dropped her necklace in one of the bins with her shoes and purse. “That sounds like the sort of job where one of the implied prerequisites is ‘don’t sleep with the CEO.’”
“Secretaries also aren’t supposed to fuck their bosses,” Nicholas pointed out. “If you’re going to be fucking me either way, why not take the pay raise and fuck me as a vice-president? RSUs, equity, a six-figure base salary—Jay, I thought you were a feminist.”
