Her assistant demanded, “Again…what the hell did I walk in on?”
“I’m not really sure,” she confessed now that Ryan was out of earshot. “It started with pastrami Reubens and morphed into When Harry Met Sally…—you know, that orgasm scene in the deli—”
“I love that scene.”
“I know, right? Who doesn’t? Then Ryan was just sort of going on and on about sexual components in relationships, and I couldn’t take another second of it. I snapped. I grabbed him. I kissed him. Then…he kissed me. Wow.” She pressed a hand over her rapidly beating heart. “Oh, shit, did he kiss me. Like he’s been saving up since junior high or something.”
“You corrupted him!”
Maxi laughed. “Hardly. That man knew exactly what he was doing. I’m telling you,” she continued as she stood and rounded her desk. “Our Einstein is a ticking time bomb full of passion. I’m talking full-on, raging, knock-you-off-your-high-heels passion.”
“Unbelievable.”
“No kidding,” Maxi said on a sharp breath. She had the still-hard nipples and damp panties to prove her point.
Avril shook her head. A total shame on you to Maxi.
Who ignored the silent admonishment.
She gathered up her notepad and pen, then headed toward the door. Yet her thoughts lingered on Ryan.
“There’s a volcano waiting to erupt there,” she announced.
“And you want to be the stick of dynamite that sets him off?”
Maxi pulled up short. “Um. No…?”
What did she want with Ryan? Because there was a little tickle in the back of her brain that made her think she was interested in a repeat performance of that unexpected kiss.
But that was way, way wrong.
Right?
He was so not her type. And they had a professional relationship. Talk about two negatives that would never equal a positive.
Ha! She laughed inwardly at her own little nerdy joke. Then got serious. “Does our employee handbook say anything about not dating coworkers?”
“Not that I’m aware of,” Avril told her. “But I’m pretty sure HR—and Staci—would frown upon you hooking up with your new director.”
“I kind of like the idea of him being beneath me.” She winked.
Avril grimaced. “Funny. But come on, Maxi. Really. Seriously. You’re his boss.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” She waved a dismissive hand in the air. “What was I thinking? He just temporarily scrambled my brain. No doubt because I haven’t had a decent date in like, forever.” Just a few mediocre ones after her third split from Kev.
Yes—three times the fool she was!
“I loathe to think of the last time a guy kissed me.”
“That long ago?” Avril asked with notable sympathy.
“No, I literally loathed it. Horrible. Wet and sloppy. Just…eww.” She shuddered. “Absolutely nothing like Ry—”
“Maxi.” Her assistant shook her head again. “No.”
“Right,” she repeated. “Totally off-limits. Einstein is here to help save our asses. Not grab them. But…Holy. Cow. Does he know how to palm a cheek and squeeze! Rough, demanding. Like there’s a hint of Dom in him just dying to come out and play.” Her shudder turned to a tremor of delight. A sizzling one, similar to all the tremors Ryan had sparked in her from the moment he’d crashed her meeting to the sizzling minutes before, when he’d held her so tightly, so possessively.
No man had ever embraced her like that. As though he couldn’t get close enough to her. Kind of along the lines of how he’d kissed her—like he couldn’t get enough of her.