Catastrophe Queen

“What? Are you going to be quiet now so I can watch another episode of this show?” I grabbed the controller, but he was quicker than me, even making sure to mind my ankle.

He slipped back into place next to me, sliding one arm around me and tilting his body so that it mostly covered mine. His large hand framed my face, but it was his lips touching mine that proved his point.

My fingers loosened until the controller dropped, and I sank my fingers into his hair, letting him prove whatever point he was trying to make. It felt like it’d been forever since he’d kissed me in his office, and I guess it had. Almost an entire week.

Why did that feel like an eternity?

This was spontaneous, intense—utterly thrilling. Shivers covered my entire body, and each stroke of his tongue against mine set me on fire.

For a second, I almost forgot how much my ankle hurt, how frustrated I was to be lying here resting, how badly I wanted to eat the rest of the pizza in the box on the desk.

There was just Cameron. Just his fingers winding in my hair, his lips moving over mine, his body hot and hard beneath the t-shirt that covered his abs.

Just the steady, thumping beat of my heart as he took expert control of my body without barely touching me at all.

I fell into it. Let it happen. It was just a kiss, but it was a kiss that meant so much. It was the kiss that crossed the line, well and truly, between co-workers and lovers.

It was the one that made me realize… Maybe I didn’t care.

Maybe I didn’t actually give a crap that he was my boss. I knew that anyway, but now, as he kissed me, I realized that the maybe wasn’t such a maybe.

His kiss gave me life, and it felt so damn good that I didn’t care about anything. I just wanted to keep kissing him until I either couldn’t anymore or I passed out.

Slowly, much to my chagrin, he pulled away, keeping his hand curled around the back of my neck. “Still annoyed?”

I shook my head, releasing my hold of his hair. My fingers trailed down the side of his neck, and I curved them so they ran along the stubble that coated his jaw. It was coarse and rough, tickling across my fingertips.

His lips pulled to one side as I did it, and I found that mine did the same.

“I have an idea,” he said in a quiet voice. “How about we have another date when you’re able to walk? A proper one, with food, indoors, and serial killers?”

“Sounds like we’re having one right now,” I whispered back, leaning forward to kiss him again.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO – MALLORY

“Good afternoon, you’ve reached Cameron’s Reid’s office at Reid Real Estate. Mallory speaking, how can I help you?” I held the phone to my ear and typed at the computer.

It was two days since Cameron had kissed the hell out of me in my room. Two days in which he’d visited me after work, brought me food, watched serial killer documentaries with me, and kissed me breathless before he’d left.

Now, I was able to put a little weight back on my ankle, and I’d insisted on coming into the office because I was getting a severe case of cabin fever. Not to mention there was only so many more times I could hear Aunt Grace tell me about her days as an acrobat while complaining about mom’s “stupid little poofy dog.”

So, Cameron and I had compromised. Meaning I now had a footstool beneath my desk which, actually, wasn’t so bad.

Quite comfortable.

“All right, thank you very much, and we’ll see you next week, sir.” I hung up right as fingers brushed across the back of my neck. A shiver shot down my spine as Cameron kissed the side of my neck. “What are you doing?”

“Kissing your neck,” he murmured, doing it again. “Is there a problem?”

“Yes, I’m working.” I squirmed beneath his touch, even though I liked it. “I have to put this appointment on the calendar before I forget, and you miss it.”

He sighed and stood up. “Well, that ruins my hot way of asking you for a date tonight, doesn’t it?”

“Really? Sneaking up behind me when I’m on the phone is your way of asking me out?”

“I think we’ve made it past the part where I ask you and more where I tell you.”

“Tell me, huh?” I saved the entry into the calendar and spun in my chair so I could face him. “You don’t tell me a thing, mister.”

I got up and walked to the kitchen.

Walked was a vague term.

I hobbled.

“If you’re trying to get away from me, you really need to rest that foot for at least another day,” Cameron said, following me in there. “Otherwise, you’re hobbling around like a one-legged leprechaun looking for gold.”