Divine Assistant

But more than that, he missed his beautiful, smart and sexy assistant. He missed her so much he was sick with it. He didn’t know why they’d had that fight. He still didn’t quite understand why she’d been so angry. He’d expected her to be swept off her feet, overcome with love and lust, and to fall into his arms—as she should have.

She’d resigned and left instead.

Holden had tossed in his bed the whole night, damning every second because he spent them alone when he should have spent them next to her warm, pliant body. It then struck him how falling in love didn’t take all that much time. One minute you were fine, and the next you were not.

In the hopes of giving her something, something she’d like, something she’d treasure, he’d gone and blown it, giving her a handbag. What Lucy wanted, he now realized, was something else. Spirited, beautiful Lucy Divine wanted it all…and damn her, she didn’t seem inclined to settle for less. If he wanted her—and he did!—he was just going to have to give it his best shot.

The problem was he had no idea how to go about it. He was completely new to this being in love business. It was damned scary, to say the least. How was he supposed to know about romance anyway? All he knew were stocks and companies…

There was a tap on the door and he snapped, “I’m busy!”

Whoever had ignored and was still pushing the door open was fired. He was already setting his expression to “pissed” only to stop and promptly gape when Miss Lucy Divine appeared. Holden would have never imagined a woman could look so beautiful after putting a man through so much hell. It was simply not fair. He found not only his cock giving a little salute, but his heart rate accelerating tenfold just by looking at her.

She wore a simple black dress that reached her knees, sheer black stockings and high heels. Her blonde hair tumbled past her shoulders in a silken waterfall, and for a moment he ached to bury his face in it and smell its sweet, intoxicating scent. Her sexy face, which he now knew by memory, looked cleanly scrubbed and her skin glowed peachy. Her eyes shone golden as she looked at him from across the room—they had the biggest effect on him of all.

“Good morning Holden,” she said softly, closing the door behind her.

“I…er…didn’t expect to see you here,” he said in the most casual way possible—he gave himself a grade of ten for trying and a five in execution.

“I was just at Phelps’ office,” she explained as she slowly crossed his office and set a white box on his desk. He hadn’t even realized she’d been carrying it. “I thought you might like these.”

Holden stared down at the cardboard box, dumbstruck when he realized what it was. She’d brought him donuts. Holden had no idea why something so simple, so meaningless, could mean so much to him.

“Thank you,” he said, his voice sounding uncommonly strained.

“Holden,” she began as she took a step backward, her eyes steady on his. “I’m sorry about yesterday. I shouldn’t have acted that way. It was childish and…you didn’t deserve it.”

He sat there, all these emotions tumbling inside him, a thousand words he wished to say shuffling through his brain, and all he could do was stare at her as if he’d gone stupid.

At his silence, Lucy bit her lower lip. “I’d better go.”

That got him moving, and fast. He bounded after her, twirled her around when she reached the double doors and pinned her back against the sturdy wood. Pinioning her wrists to each side of her face, he bent forward so that his lips were only a breath from hers.

“You’re not leaving until you kiss me,” he said thickly.

It wasn’t a question. It was a fact. And to prove it, he dipped his head and took possession of her mouth, blending his lips with hers. Holden was a man of guts, a man of instinct and passion, and with all the fire that burned inside him, the fire that burned for her, he slid his tongue into her sweet, warm mouth and conquered it. Claimed it as his.

She met his strength and passion with equal thrusts of her tongue, and he groaned in pleasure at the unleashed fury of her kiss and how intoxicatingly sweet she tasted. He was getting painfully close to the part he most longed for, where he would be buried balls-deep inside her—he’d already wrapped his hands around her waist, pulling her curvy body against his and grinding his cock against that sweet little pussy—when she pulled away, short of breath.

“Holden, I can’t,” she said breathlessly.

Then she frowned, thinking better of it, and said, “Okay, just one more.”

Grabbing the collar of his shirt, she pulled him forward so that their lips fused together again. He was good at following orders—at least the precious few he agreed with one hundred percent, and this was damned well one of them. He immediately picked up where they’d left off. God, she was sweet. Sweeter than donuts. Her lips were soft and pliant under his, her tongue thirsty. He offered some release to his aching fingers and sank them into the warm haven of her lioness hair.

Her greedy little hands roamed his body, skimming past his shoulders until finally settling on his back. She splayed her fingers and pulled him closer to her. Wanting to taste and lick and kiss every inch of her skin, he moved his hungry lips to her chin and first licked and swirled, then kissed her there. Then he moved his mouth along her jaw and upward, having a sudden craving for her earlobe.

A sound of distress tore through her lips. “Holden, I really can’t…”

He grunted and continued his pursuit of her sweet, delectable little earlobe.

“Holden…it’s your mother,” she explained breathlessly, her palms gently pushing at his chest.

He groaned in protest, his mother being the last thing on his mind right now, and continued his onslaught, now trailing his tongue down the soft, ripe skin of her neck.

“Holden, your mother is waiting for me downstairs. In the car.”

Holden paused while her words sank in, and when they did he fought the despicable urge to curse his own mother. He pulled back with a scowl that said he did not appreciate this turn of events. “What the hell does she want now?” he demanded, not hiding his irritation.