The Satin Sash

“He’s been on the phone all morning, and it drives me insane. The man doesn’t know how to unwind.Why can’t he just disconnect?” She studied him with narrowed eyes. “You don’t seem to have that vice.”

“I’ve got plenty of others.” At her inquisitive gaze, he offered, “The only thing I like about phones is smashing them.”

She smiled fleetingly.

“Maybe Grey wouldn’t need to be on the phone so much if your friend were a better assistant,” he told her.

She sighed. “She’s just new to it, that’s all. She’s eager to please, and she needs that job.” Then, face brightening, “Would you like to meet her? My friend? She’s very pretty, and Grey and I were discussing the possibility of setting you up on a—”

“I’ve already met Grey’s secretary,” he said, frowning over the fact that Grey and Toni had been discussing Heath’s future like they were lords of it.“And I don’t do dates. But thank you.To know you both thought of me last night in your love nest makes my heart flutter.”

Her eyebrows pulled low over her nose. “For your information, she’s his assistant, not his secretary,” she corrected. “And this wouldn’t be just a date. She’s very beautiful and dedicated and—”

“And she wants Grey to fold her over his office desk with her ass up in the air,” Heath bluntly finished, propping his feet up and crossing his ankles atop the coffee table.

Toni met his gaze with a blank expression.

Heath quirked an eyebrow.“She wants to fuck your man,Toni.”

She seemed incredulous at first, then shot him a furious scowl that made him smile. He could tell she didn’t believe him, but he knew what he’d seen. Whatever-her-name-was wanted Grey to ram her against the wall and spill his guts into her. She’d been panting all over the place that time Heath had been at the office, looking down at her boobs to see if she had enough cleavage going on, swinging her butt when she walked away.

“You think everyone wants to have sex,” Toni grumbled, slapping the magazine shut. “You have a dirty mind.”

He folded his legs and straightened. “And in this case, I’m correct as usual.”

Impatiently, she pushed back a strand of her hair.This particular way she wore it—loose and artfully framing her face—was by far his favorite. She just made his dick itch so bad.

“Grey and I . . . ,” she began, lowering the magazine to her lap. “We have a good thing going.”

Her eyes flicked up to his and away, and her shyness endeared her to him. Her skin was flawless. He could almost feel it on his finger tips. Silk. Like that red sash he’d stroked along his cock, down his balls—the sash that still smelled of her.

He set the magazine back on the table. “I’m not taking you from Grey.”

He just wanted to rip that tube thing off her body and fuck her until she screamed, and he wanted to cup her softly and fuck her slowly, too.

The breath shuddered out of her with a heave of her breasts. “I love him.”

“Grey’s crazy about you.” And so am I, crazy with wanting you. “He loves you,” he added.

She couldn’t have stiffened faster if he’d slapped her. “What do you mean?”

“He hasn’t told you.” Grey was such an idiot.

She squirmed and pushed her hair behind one shoulder, looking unsure whether or not to admit it. “What makes you think he hasn’t?”

“I know my people.”When she continued to stare in quiet expectancy, he sensed a tangible anxiety in her; she wanted to hear it. She hadn’t heard it.“I know he’d do anything for you,Toni,” he said truthfully. “I’ve never seen a man so devoted to his woman.”

Grey was a good, solid, fair, dependable man.Which, of course, was why he had himself a Toni.

And her eyes were so pretty. So green. So very, very shiny.There was hunger there. Lust for him. For Grey.

She held her breath as he rose to approach. He caged her in with his arms, planting one hand on the back of the couch. His free hand ventured along a creamy, rounded bare shoulder.The tip of his middle finger traced the gentle curve, and as he caressed her, their noses almost touched. “Do you think of me?”

Her breathing gave her away; she had. Of course she had. She was getting wet just having him like this. And his cock was pushing into his jeans, throbbing to get into her.

“Is there a reason I should?” she asked.

Sassy. He liked that. “Oh yes, plenty. Do you want me to be specific?”