Chapter Nine

 

MYRA

“Don’t look at me like that,” I say to Simon as I place the carafe full of coffee for the latest interview on a tray along with cream and sugar and a box of McVitie’s Chocolate Digestives I found in James’s pantry. He’s been a fan of them since I first introduced him to this small taste of home. Though he always says they have nothing on the cookies I bake. “You have no idea how hard this is.”

Kitty sticks her nose in the air and looks at me with disdain. I don’t know why she’s giving me attitude since I’m the one who fed her and let her stay in James’s house despite his insistence she be tossed out. Also, I put up those damn flyers on every light post and street sign in a three-block radius.

“Meow,” she responds.

Although the noise she makes is less meow and more conversation. Like she actually thinks she has the answer to my problem. If only that were true.

“Well, what do you think then? If you’re going to be so vocal about it.”

“Myra, are you coming?” James calls from the living room. I cringe. Yesterday morning, pussy wasn’t the only surprise. Now, I can’t make head nor tail of the situation. The brightest moment in my life, and all he could say is we shouldn’t have done that? I got down on my knees for my boss. Down. On. My. Knees.

“Meow.” Simon lifts one dainty paw and begins to lick, her gaze never deviating. Her tail curls up and swooshes behind her like a question mark.

“You were there.” I keep my voice low so that James and company won’t overhear. “He wanted it as much as I did, didn’t he? So why is it such a mistake to him?”

“Meow.”

“I should give up. Take that job in London. Forget any of this. I could start doing the things I’ve always wanted to.”

Simon blinks and then shifts her focus to the pink pads of her paw.

“I suppose you’re right.” I rip open the box of biscuits and bite into one. When I imagine traveling, I see sharing a hotel room with him. When I think about my to-do list, he’s always on it. With a mouthful of digestive biscuit, I point the rest of the treat at the cat. “It took five years to get to this point. I shouldn’t give up on him when he’s only starting to come around.”

Simon moves on to another paw.

“No, I need to up my game.” I put down the rest of the cookie and find a plate to pile the others onto. “Yesterday morning made it pretty clear that he’s not completely oblivious. That thing. What we did in the shower.”

“Meow,” she agrees.

I pick up the rest of my cookie and shake it in her direction. “Don’t meow me. We both know it’s too sensitive a matter for your pointed ears.”

“Myra?” James calls again. He’s probably not used to me making him wait while I talk to a cat. Even I’m finding it slightly unusual.

“Coming.”

“Meow.”

“Don’t be so devious.” I lower my voice. “And besides, how much I enjoyed what happened in the shower isn’t the debate, is it? It’s whether or not I was simply the closest person who could help him with his needs. He was pretty clear he didn’t plan on it happening again.”

I pop the rest of the cookie in my mouth and pick up the tray. I’d told him I’d been holding out for him. I told him I’ve wanted to kiss him for what seems like forever, and he pulled me into his arms. He kissed me. Sans Johnny. It was all of my fantasies coming true.

The cookie gets too chewy. I have to swallow hard to get it to go down. I was so darn happy in that shower as I climbed to my feet, my lust-soaked brain running through the positions that would make it easy for him to slide into me despite his injuries. Why can’t he see that we’d be great together?

“Meow.”

“Not another word.” I shake my head at Simon as I carry the coffee into James’s living room. Hopefully, this interviewee will be the one that fills my position when I’m gone.

James is set up on the couch, his bad ankle cradled by a pillow on the coffee table; the easiest way we found to make it possible to balance his laptop. His shirtsleeves are rolled up to the elbow, and the breeze from the air conditioner ruffles his dark locks. One finger disappears between his throat and the two buttons undone at his collar as he draws his attention from the screen to catch me entering the room. Those blue eyes watch me until I put the tray down on the coffee table in front of him. Damn my heart for skipping a beat when it sees him.

“You’re available to start this afternoon?” He shifts his focus to the man sitting on the edge of the chair across from us, and I busy myself with fixing the coffee.

“I came prepared to get straight to work,” Alexander replies, putting down his leather case and adjusting his tie for the twentieth time since he arrived.

I check out my replacement from beneath my lashes as I wait for James to set his laptop down on the couch before handing him his coffee. I spent yesterday morning on the phone with temp agencies, begging them for the cream of the crop, and they sent me a pile of digital résumés to pick through. It didn’t take long to narrow his choices down to a bare handful. Okay, okay, it’s hardly ethical, but I couldn’t stand the idea of Mindy with her big boobs and her cashmere sweater sets being James’s right hand. And Anastasia’s short skirt and legs that belong to a Russian supermodel weren’t coming anywhere near my James either. I might have to help find my replacement, but I draw the line at finding his future trysts.

Alex is quite handsome, I suppose. Young though, and a little eager. Like a puppy that wants to lick your face and pee on your carpet at the same time, which will irritate James in short order if it’s anything more than first day jitters. I’ll have to make sure to have a word with the kid while I take him through keeping James happy.

James was happy for those few minutes yesterday. Not in the way an assistant might make him. I certainly can’t imagine him looking at Alex that way if Alex were to offer him a blowjob. Pleasure rippled over James’s face while I sucked his cock, and for a few moments after the fact, it really seemed like it was more than just getting off.

How do I get him to look at me like that again?

“Myra?” James’s fingers touch mine, and it’s like an electric shock, knocking me sideways out of my daydream. “Are you ready to show Alex the ropes?”

“Of course.” I’ve gone from covertly studying Alex to outright staring, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed by either party, and while our new recruit smiles at me as though he’s used to women staring at him, James’s expression is more calculating. His narrowed gaze shifts between us and his jaw moves from side to side. He sees most things…well, business related at least. But that was before we shared a shower. What does he see now? Would he tell me if I asked him? Would he still be stunned if I told him just how much more I want from him? But Alex is staring at us, so this definitely isn’t the time.

“On second thought, perhaps we should wait until Chloe gets back.” He flicks a glance between us. “Your schedule doesn’t really leave space to train my new assistant properly. You’ve got your hands full these next two weeks. And, Alex, you could start at the office with one of our secretaries. That way, you’ll only need Myra to train you on a few things. That would probably be for the best.”

“What? No, James, I’m quite happy to do it.”

“You don’t have time. Alex needs office experience, and I need you here.”

“I can go into the office with him. You have Garrett dropping by shortly and that conference call in an hour.”

“Fine.” He exhales, clenching his jaw and crossing his arms against his torso as he leans back into the sofa cushions. He’s more than a little frustrated. It can’t be Alex already, or he wouldn’t be talking about training him. It has to be something else. Perhaps his injuries are causing him pain, but I know he took his medication because I gave it to him.

“I’ll ring Barbara and tell her you’re coming in.” To Alex, he says, “She’s the head of our human resources division. She’ll have all your paperwork for you to fill out, and she’ll set you up in an office for the rest of the week.”

“Why not put him at my desk?” After all, Alex will be taking over for me in just a few short days.

“Could you give me a minute, Myra?” James leans forward and clasps his knees. “Would you mind heading over to the office now, Alex?”

Alex nods and pushes out of his chair. “I’ll drive straight over.”

“I’ll meet you there in twenty minutes,” I tell him before he departs, then I turn on James. “He should have my desk. Unless you have an issue with the new hire. Do you think he won’t last?”

“No issue with him,” he grudgingly admits. “But he doesn’t get your desk.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.” I fold my arms across my chest. “You’re being ridiculous. I’m leaving the company. He’s your new assistant.”

“You haven’t left,” he murmurs.

“What? I’ve resigned. I’ve told you I’m not interested in being a partner.”

“Yes, you have.”

He slides his hand around my knee, pulls me closer. “You have told me that. And yet you picked someone who will never be able to do your job.”

“What?”

“That kid’s an intern at best. There’s no way he can juggle your workload. And the other two I talked to were worse. What were you thinking when you shortlisted those three?”

That they wouldn’t make James fall in love with them. That I wouldn’t have to hear six months from now that he’s marrying my substitute because she has some quality I don’t. That I wouldn’t be replaced. Which is why I shouldn’t have put them on the list at all.

“Maybe I was distracted,” I admit. Sidetracked by the way his body responds to me physically though he tells me it’s wrong. Trying to work out what I’m supposed to do with that information.

“Like you were just now?” He raises an eyebrow as he glances in the direction Alex went before settling those deep blue pools on me. “You’ve been pretty distracted recently, and I think I’m starting to understand why.”

A weight lifts in my chest. I’m almost giddy. I can see myself reflected in his eyes, and I have to catch my breath. They make me dizzy. I feel like I’m falling. “You do?”

“I do.”

“James.”

“You said you’ve been holding out for the right guy,” he interrupts.

“I have,” I rush to agree. “I’ve been waiting such a long time for—”

“Is it biological?” He drops his gaze to my waist. His face is mere inches from my belly, and his hand is wrapped around my leg. “Are you ticking?”

“Excuse me?” My voice is slightly high pitched. We’re talking about babies. That’s what this conversation is, right? Babies?

“Is your biological clock ticking? Has all my mother’s talk about babies made you clucky, Myra? Are you holding out because you’re looking for someone to marry and have babies with?”

“How? I don’t understand how you could come to that conclusion.” I’m standing here, anticipating that he’ll tell me he finally realizes he has feelings for me, and he boils it down to “your womb is desperate”? I don’t know which disappoints me more: that he’s never going to love me or that he’s objectifying my ovaries.

“Easily.” He brushes his thumb along the inside of my knee. “We’re not getting any younger. And you’d make a great mother. It would make sense of why you don’t want to be my assistant, and why you don’t want to be a partner.”

“Would it? Does it?” James can be awkward at personal interaction, but this is beyond the pale. “Because the only thing it’s doing is making you seem like a complete tosser.”

And I can’t believe I just called my boss a tosser. Might as well have thrown wanker at him. Or twatwaffle.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to overstep. I wasn’t trying to insult you.”

“I know.” I sigh. This isn’t a business merger. It’s far more complex, and not in James’s wheelhouse. Dating isn’t something he has a knack for. “You’re wrong, though. I haven’t even thought about marriage and babies. I can barely juggle my own life.”

“Then why did you look at that poor kid like you wanted to devour him?”

“I did not,” I respond. The guy’s cute, but he’s not jaw-droppingly gorgeous or anything. I can’t believe James would think I would be so crass around a colleague. Unless it’s him. Can’t quite seem to help ogling the boss.

“You did,” he says, his voice low and serious. “Because yesterday morning, that’s how you looked at me.”

“Are you jealous?” I whisper. Not sure what happened to my voice. It vanished along with my ability to breathe, and any chance of my borrowed underwear staying dry. I would never have set out to make him jealous. It’s an unintentional side effect of my inability to focus on anything other than him. But gosh darn, if he’s getting green-eyed about this, it has to mean something.

My ovaries just about jump up and do the Hokey Pokey.

“No, I’m not jealous.” He pulls me closer so that I’m standing right between his legs, and I have to be mindful not to bump the injured one.

“Oh.”

“It would be wrong of me to be jealous of some kid. Especially one who works for me.” He skims his hand up the back of my thigh and under my skirt to squeeze my ass.

His possessiveness thrills me. “Well, if you were, I would tell you that you have nothing to be jealous about.”

“But I’m not jealous, so it’s a moot point.” His fingers leave my ass, trail along the inside crease of my thigh. I want them higher, want them to slide inside his cotton boxer briefs and touch me like I’ve fantasized about a million times before.

“If you say so.” I glance in the direction of the front door, though I have no intention of moving until he lets me go. “Perhaps I should go into the—”

“I was furious that I couldn’t take care of you yesterday, but I’m going to make up for that now.” He drops his hand to his lap, presses on the bulge in his pants as though it’s uncomfortable for him. His voice is husky, edged with an authority he doesn’t normally use with me. “Now, you’re going to have to take off those boxer briefs for me.”

I’ve watched interns scurry to do his bidding, I’ve seen deals fall into place because James commands a room, but I’ve never felt such an urgent need to do what he tells me to do. Perhaps the full effect has been lost on me because I’ve made my career out of pre-empting his needs. Hiking up my skirt, I bunch the white cotton in my hands and drag them down until I can step out of them. Somehow, I manage not to get tangled up. “I wasn’t having thoughts about Alex.”

“Come here.” He reaches out and takes my hand. “Step up on the couch.”

“Are you crazy?” I say on a breath. The desire in his gaze sucks all the air out of my lungs. I want this. I want this more than air.

“Just do it.”

I step out of my heels and climb onto the couch so that my feet are beside his knees. He tugs me forward, and I have to put a hand on the back of the couch to keep my balance.

“That’s it,” he says, his fingers tracing my bare seam.

I want to scream, the pleasure is so intense and so deliberate. He flicks his gaze to my face, his eyes hooded heavily. “Come closer. I need you right in front of my face.”

I could hyperventilate. His words are making it hard to keep from panting. I shift until I’m right in front of his face.

He licks his lips and slides his hand up the side of my leg and around to my ass. “Wider.”

I step out. “Better?”

“Better.” He brushes his lips against my mound, a feather-soft touch.

I squeeze the pillowed top of the sofa in my trembling hand. Please, legs don’t give way. Oh! That first kiss turns into another as his mouth wanders lower and lower. I suck my bottom lip between my teeth, try to remember to breathe. Concentrate on each rise of my chest as his fingers move between my legs, leisurely, gently, seeking out my wetness and spreading it, massaging it into my swollen flesh.

I swallow roughly and whimper. This isn’t real. Can’t be real. One of my calves shakes. I swear any second it will cramp, but I’m not missing a moment of this. My eyes slip shut as pleasure wiggles up my spine; my insides tighten.

James grips my ass harder when he finds my clit. Thank goodness, because I almost fall from this unwise perch above him. The last thing I want to do is hurt him while he uses small ,sweet circles to toy with me. I find the top of his head and brace myself by threading my fingers through his hair while I balance my weight against the couch instead. Staples. The Burdack files. Still have to reschedule that meeting. Can’t make this last. Feels too good.

“Going to make you come, Supergirl.” James groans, his breath scorching my sensitive bits. Then he sticks out his tongue and licks the length of my slit, and I know he’s right. No amount of stationery or scheduling is going to save me while he eats me up. That tongue that normally gives me orders is giving me something else instead. I lift my face to the ceiling, panting through dry lips while he licks and sucks and pushes me to climax right there on the couch in his living room. It’s better than every fantasy I’ve ever had about our doing it on my desk, or his office, or in the photocopier room, or even in his bed. It rips through me, tearing apart any chance I have of pretending I don’t have it bad for my boss. I can’t hide it now, even if I wanted to.

“Myra, we should—”

“Everyone decent in here?” Garrett hollers and the front door bangs closed.

“Oh bollocks.” I scramble to climb down from the couch.

“Christ,” James says under his breath. “Damn it, Garrett.”

I manage to scoop my…er, James’s panties from the floor before Simon prowls into the living room. I search for somewhere to hide them.

“Here.” James holds out a hand for me to drop them into, which he then shoves into his pocket.

Phew.

Garrett strolls into the room on the heels of the cat.

“You’re early,” James snaps.

“And you’re grumpy. Myra, he’s not being too much of a pain, is he?” Garrett glances around the room. “You might want to open a window. There’s a smell. I can’t pick it.” His brows draw down in that concentrated manner of someone who can’t fathom why the answer eludes them, and then he slaps his thigh and snorts. “Never mind. I’m probably imagining it.”

“I have a conference call in half an hour,” James says.

“That’s fine. I won’t stay too long.” Garrett sits in one of the armchairs.

James’s cell rings. “It’s the office. Give me a second.”

“Sure.” Garrett nods, and then looks at me with a curious expression while James answers the phone. Can he tell what just happened in here? Oh, I suppose that’s not entirely farfetched when James is still bulging out the zip of his slacks. Crap.

James mutes the call. “Alex made record time apparently. How long until you’ll be ready to go in?”

“N-now.” I slip into my heels, and run my hands over my skirt. Nothing will get the creases out now. Although I best run upstairs and find another pair of his briefs to wear.

“Thanks.” His gaze lingers on me for a moment before he relays the information to Barb.

“I’ll see you later.” I pick up my bag. What was he going to say before Garrett interrupted us? That we should talk about what’s happening between us? Or that, again, it shouldn’t have happened? “If you need me for anything...”

“How about I worry about me for this afternoon. You worry about that intern.”

“Okay. If you’re sure.” I’m going to worry about James anyway. About what he was going to say.

“I’ll call if I need you.”

“I’ll just...” I take a few steps out of the room. “James, about before. Um, thanks.”

His eyes widen and he goes entirely still.

Garrett makes a weird sound in his throat.

“Thanks for, uh, helping me solve that issue. The one with the new assistant.”

James drops his gaze to his phone. He jabs the screen in an uncoordinated manner and coughs. “Yep. No problem.”

“I better...” I glance in the direction of the front door. I can’t believe I just thanked my boss for giving me head. It’s just so awkward with Garrett sitting there. Maybe I should move to London anyway since I will never live this down.

“Yep. I’ll see you when you get back.”

I hurry for the door.