He plunged in, and I gasped as my orgasm slammed into me. My pussy quivered. My blood ran like a hot stream of molten lava.
I gasped and levered up. Not a field in Italy. I was in my bed. In San Diego. I just had an erotic dream about my boss.
“Oh crap.” I fell back in bed. God, I’d orgasmed in my sleep dreaming of my boss. I was embarrassed even though no one was there to witness it. I’d never thought of him as an object of desire, and now I wasn’t sure how I could look at him and not want to jump him. Would he be able to tell?
I moaned at my predicament. How could I possibly pretend to be his fiancé now? I suppose lusting after him would make the relationship seem real, but good golly, he was my boss. I could only imagine what he’d do if he realized I found him sexy. He’d probably laugh. No, not laugh. He was too nice for that. But he’d probably reassign me somewhere else in the company. God, what a doofus I was.
I rubbed my hands over my face, and then willed sleep, a dreamless sleep, to come again.
5
Ryan
So far this morning, I hadn’t seen any legal paperwork that Ms. Nichols was going to sue me. Then again, it was early in the day. All night last night, I was sure she was going to realize the opportunity placed before her by my ridiculous proposal. Why take a bonus from me, when she could sue me for millions? Not that she was the litigious or opportunistic type, but I had crossed the line.
My grandmother would be so disappointed. That burned in my gut. I’d worked so hard to fill the spot my father abandoned after my mother died. Not that I blamed him. I was ten when she died. Noah was only five. My father, who was never big into business anyway, chose to stay home and raise me and my brothers. My grandmother supported him emotionally and financially to make that happen. But as I grew up, I could see that my father never recovered from losing my mother. And I could tell that my grandmother had hoped he’d one day take his place in the business. Because he couldn’t, I made it my job to fill the spot he vacated. I would make sure the family business would continue. I’d take care of the family. While my father had been able to provide attention and affection we needed as children, I was the one who provided guidance and financial security we needed as adults.
Along with the burn in my gut that my grandmother would be disappointed about getting sued for sexual misconduct, there was the guilt over putting Ms. Nichols in the position that I had. Not only did I risk a lawsuit, but she was an honest person, and I’d asked her to lie. I was the last person I ever thought would end up in a position like this, and yet, here I was.
A knock on my door interrupted my mental self-flagellation.
“Come in,” I called.
Ms. Nichols stepped inside and my stomach turned over. Was she bringing me legal papers? Was she going to quit?
“Did you have a nice evening?” I managed to ask.
“Yes.” Her cheeks turned pink like she was blushing. Jesus, did I embarrass her too?
I was getting ready to apologize again and back out of the deal thinking I’d come up with some other solution. Maybe I’d even give up on the expansion in the Fall and move it back to winter and find a new distributor. But she started talking before I could.
“I’ve decided that I’d help you and the company.”
Relief whooshed through me, followed by a new set of concerns, mostly having to do with what my family was going to think.
“Thank you, Ms. Nichols.”
“Kellie,” she said. “It will be weird if you call me Ms. Nichols when we’re supposed to be engaged.”
“Right. Call me Ryan.”
“Okay.” She looked down and her fingers knotted together.
“Is something wrong?”
“I don’t want to seem greedy but you talked about a bonus—”
“Yes, of course.” What the hell type of bonus did I give for having my assistant fake marry me?
She continued to speak tentatively. “I…ah…have some student loans—”
“Get me the payoff information. I’ll take care of it.”
Her gray eyes rounded. “I didn’t mean all—”
“I’ll pay all.”
“You don’t even know how much it is.”