Scandalizing the CEO

“Invite me in,” he said at last.

She was going to, but why did he make everything he said sound like an order? “Why are you so bossy?”

“Because men who aren’t don’t get what they want.”

“What do you want?” she asked.

“You really don’t know?”

She did know what he wanted, but somehow saying it out loud would make it too real and she wasn’t sure she wanted to do that. “To come inside.”

“Indeed.”

“Would you like a drink?”

“Would you?”

She laughed. “I think I need one. You tie me up in knots.”

“Do I? I think that’s a good thing,” he said.

“Why?”

“You do the same thing to me,” he said, reaching over to caress her face.

“Oh.”

“Oh?” He leaned in. “You have the most kissable mouth.”

He rubbed his lips against hers gently. The kiss was nothing like the one he’d given her earlier—so demanding and bold. This was soft and seduced her by degrees. Slowly. He kissed her as if he had all the time in the world, which he probably did. They had all night.

He pulled back, opened his door and came around to open hers. She gave him her hand and then climbed out of the low-slung sports car. She led the way up her walk to her front door. This time she didn’t drop the keys. She wasn’t nervous at all.

A strange calm had settled over her when he’d kissed her so softly. Steven was more than her obsession; he was a man she had come to know a little better over the last week.

She unlocked her door and stepped over the threshold. The lights were on in the living room and cast a warm, inviting glow into the foyer. Steven stepped inside, closing the door behind him. She led the way, almost kicking off her shoes in the hallway, but she remembered at the last moment that she had company and according to her mother, men didn’t like messy women.

“What can I get you?”

“You,” he said.

As he pulled her into his arms, she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest. She suspected that he wanted the embrace to be something more than this, but right now this was all she could do. She took comfort from the feel of his chest under her cheek. From the feel of her arms around his waist. From the scent of his natural musk with each inhalation.

She was tired of denying herself everything she wanted. It was one thing to resist dessert but something altogether different to deny herself the chance to be with Steven. She had fantasized about him every night since their first date.

His hands stroked her back gently. The touch was comforting at first and then the timbre changed and it became seductive. His hands swept lower each time, his fingers caressing her back with each stroke.

She tipped her head to the left and he kissed her first on the forehead and then let his lips move down the side of her face. Small, nibbling kisses that felt light, almost as if she were imagining them.

Then he reached her ear. His tongue traced the shell of her ear and she shivered as darts of awareness shot down her neck and arms. Her nipples tightened and her breasts felt fuller.

“Remember when I kissed you by my car,” he said, his hot breath going directly into her ear. She shuddered with the memories of that kiss and how inflamed she’d felt.

“Yes,” she said.

“I’m going to kiss you like that again, but this time I’m not stopping until I’m buried hilt-deep inside of you.”

Her inner body clenched and she felt a humid warmth bloom between her legs. She shifted around until she could look him in the eyes. “Good. I want that, Steven. I want everything you have to give me.”

Ainsley realized that he couldn’t make promises. She might not believe him if he did. She trusted him because he didn’t make promises he wouldn’t keep. And she wouldn’t ask him to.

For this night, she wanted only to be in his arms. She didn’t need to think about the future. She’d never been one to think about forever. Losing weight and changing how she looked on the outside hadn’t changed her on the inside.

“Do you want that drink?” she asked, not sure how to proceed.

“No,” he said. “I don’t want anything but you. But if a drink will relax you, I’ll have one, too.”

She hesitated. She wished she could just take him by the hand and lead him to her bedroom, but she definitely needed a drink. She pulled away. “Wine okay?”

“Yes,” he said.

She left him in the living room and went into her kitchen to get the bottle she’d chilled earlier. She savored white wine. Hopefully, he liked the dry taste of pinot grigio.

He was moving around in the living room and then she heard the mellow sound of Otis Redding. She had a huge collection of old-time R&B. It was her favorite, and she was surprised that he’d chosen it. But the music relaxed her a bit more.