“You’re here.”

Katie pulled the strap of her bag over her head and let it fall to the floor as she looked at Nadira in confusion. “It’s Monday. I’m supposed to be here. I’m even thirty minutes early so that Khalid can’t bitch that I’m late again.”

The receptionist immediately widened her eyes in panic as she glanced at the open door to the inner office.

Katie didn’t even care. All weekend long, all she could obsess about was how Khalid had ignored her from the moment he’d hired her. She knew that she wasn’t allowed to curate any collections or talk to any donors, but he wasn’t even listening to her ideas. She was nothing more than a glorified secretary and hostess.

No more.

Tucking her hair behind her ear, she leaned down and pulled out her portfolio. Today he was going to hear her ideas if she had to shove them down his throat.

“Katie, what are you doing?” Nadira hissed as Katie strolled purposefully toward the inner office. “He’s in a horrible mood. Katie!”

“Good morning, boss,” Katie announced cheerfully as she breezed into the inner office. “I’m glad to see that you’ve recovered from Saturday’s exciting events. You certainly were drinking a lot. No lingering hangover?”

He glared at her from the desk, phone to his ear.

She sat down in the chair and crossed her legs.

He grumbled an apology for the interruption to whoever was on the other end of the line.

Unperturbed, Katie pulled out a piece of paper and scrawled out a message before holding it up.

I have something to say.

His eyes narrowed and he held up a finger.

She ignored it. You hired me because of my experience. I’m here for you to use me, so use me.

Khalid’s expression became openly angry.

Katie quickly wrote out another message. Just because I look amazing in a skirt doesn’t mean that my head is empty. I’m good at this. Let me prove it to you.

“I have to go. I’ll call you when I’m on my way to the airport,” Khalid growled suddenly and hung up. “Katie, if you want to keep your job, you need to leave my office.”

Disappointed, she stood and tossed the portfolio on his desk. “You claim that you want your gallery to be different. To take it away from the stifling rich aristocrats and into the hands of the public. But you’re doing nothing to change things, Khalid. You’re all talk and no action.”

Standing, Khalid reached for his jacket. “I’ll be gone for a few days while I appraise a collection. Have Nadira call me if there are any problems in my absence. You do not have the authority or my permission to make any changes while I’m gone.”

“That’s fine. I don’t think this place is worth my ideas anyway,” Katie said coldly.

At that, Khalid froze. “You will still be here when I return,” he said softly.

“What makes you say that?”

“You have too much integrity to slink away while I’m gone.” He gathered some of the papers on his desk and slipped the stack into his briefcase. Tucking his phone into his pocket, he walked toward her, stopping only inches away. “In regard to your little messages, be very careful what you wish for, Katie. If you want to be used, I’ll be more than happy to oblige you.”

A little thrill trailed down her spine, and her breath caught in her throat.

He walked out of the office like he wasn’t even the least bit affected, and it wasn’t until he was out of the building that she realized he’d taken her portfolio with him.

A slow smile crossed her face. Maybe things really were about to change.

The gallery was closed, and Katie was alone. She liked the quiet. Even as the light flickered overhead, she was able to focus as she finished typing up the reports for the previous week’s ticket sales, which were abysmal as always. She was so absorbed in the computer screen that she didn’t even realize that she wasn’t alone.

“Are you charging me overtime?”

“Holy crap!” Gasping, she jumped and knocked the empty coffee mug off the desk. It crashed to the ground and shattered, and she swore. “Khalid, you scared the crap out of me! When did you get back?”

“A couple of hours ago. We need to talk. When you finish up the paperwork, join me in my office.”

Her heart fluttered. Was this it? He’d read her presentation and loved it? She was finally going to get the chance to prove herself to him?

She tried to remain calm as she picked up the broken pieces of the coffee mug and then finished updating the data files on the computer. Finally, she stood and tugged on her skirt to make sure that there were no wrinkles.

Feeling confident, she strode casually into his office. “How was your trip?”

As always, his expression was enigmatic. She could read nothing on his face as he looked up. “Uneventful. There were no unpleasant surprises, and everything went to plan.” His next words confused her with the sudden change in topic. “Are you unhappy working for me?”

“Unhappy?”

“Yes. Unhappy. You haven’t been here long enough to warrant a raise, let alone a different position in this gallery. I thought I made myself clear when I hired you.” He threw her portfolio down on the desk.

Katie pressed her lips into a thin line. “Nothing in that portfolio should surprise you. I’ve been trying to get you to see my ideas for days.”

Flipping open the portfolio, he turned to a certain page and tapped his finger on it. “I thought your ideas were passable until I found what I assume is a rough draft of this write-up. Shall I read it for you? ‘If my boss wasn’t so cold, if he wasn’t letting his senseless pride stand in the way, if he could forgive that I’m a woman, then maybe he could own a gallery that was actually worth visiting.’ Care to explain that, Katie?”

Embarrassed, she stood her ground. “I’m fairly certain that it’s self-explanatory.”

“I did not hire a curator, and I’m under no obligation to listen to anything that you have to say. If you can’t handle that, then I’ll accept your letter of resignation.”

“Khalid . . .”

“Well? Are you quitting tonight, or do you think that you can remember your place in this office?”

Everything that she wanted to say to him burned at the back of her throat, but she needed the job. She couldn’t just quit.

“Then I guess I’ll see you in the morning. You may leave.”

Katie narrowed her eyes. “No.”

“No?” His head snapped up in surprise. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me! You just admitted that my ideas were passable, which probably means that you thought they were fantastic, but you didn’t want to admit it, and my personal opinions of you shouldn’t get in the way of that!”

Feeling braver, she walked around his desk and flipped the pages of the portfolio. “I’m not saying that you have to hire me as a curator, but it wouldn’t kill you to put some of these ideas into practice!”

“You’re in my personal space,” he said in a low voice.

“What’s the issue, Khalid? Is it that I’m American? Is it because I’m a woman? Or is it that you don’t actually give a damn about this gallery?”

“You need to leave, Katie.”

She heard the warning in his voice, but she ignored it. “I’m not leaving until I figure out what the hell your problem is!”

“My problem, apparently, is that my employees don’t respect me enough to listen to me,” he said icily. She never even saw his arm shoot out, but suddenly, he pulled her forward and bent her over his lap.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Khalid?” she yelled.

“Reminding you who is in charge.” His hand cracked down solidly on her ass, and she yelped.

Struggling against his iron grip, she hissed between her teeth. “You try that again, and you’ll be walking away from here with a limp!”

“See how uncomfortable it can be when someone else oversteps their bounds?” he murmured. He didn’t smack her again, but he did rest his hand on her ass. Her skirt had hiked up, and she was embarrassingly aware of how close his hand was to the bare skin of her thigh.

The air grew thick around them. “Are you going to let me up?” she asked hoarsely. She needed to get away from him before he realized just how wet she was.

What the hell was wrong with her? She wasn’t into the power play, but being splayed across his lap had turned her practically wanton. She wanted to wiggle her ass and entice him to take things a step farther.

He is your boss. Get a grip, Katie.

His hand continued its gentle caresses, and his fingers moved dangerously lower. “Are you going to leave if I let you go?”

As soon as she got off his lap, she was going to run at full-speed out the building. “Yes.”

“What a shame.” Suddenly, his hand was gone, and she fell off his lap and hit her knees. When she looked up, she saw that his face was, for once, open and honest.

And filled with lust.

Aware of the erotic image she must present, on her knees in front of him, she climbed quickly to her feet. “Excuse me,” she said in a shaky voice, turned, and hurried out of the office.

There was really nowhere for her to go. She couldn’t go to Sahaar’s. The woman would look right through her and know that something was wrong.

She needed to collect her thoughts first. Hurrying up the stairs, she slipped into the current contemporary art exhibit and stopped before the illuminated reflection wall. Water cascaded down the mirrored background and reflected the shattered image of her red face. Aroused. Horrified. Something had changed in that office, and she had no idea what it was.

She had no idea how much time had passed before Khalid joined her.

“I should apologize.”

Turning her head to meet his gaze, she tucked her hair behind her ear. Her whole body quivered, but she wasn’t going to run. That would be giving him too much satisfaction. She looked back to the mirror. “Saying that you should apologize is not the same as actually apologizing.”

“It wouldn’t be sincere.”

“It was over the line.”

“It was. So were you. The things that you said about my character were personal. I was just returning the favor.”

She met his gaze in the refracted mirror. “You don’t get to touch me without permission.”

“Then give me permission.”

“Excuse me?”

He walked closer until he was standing just behind her. His breath was hot on her neck, but he didn’t touch her. “You liked having my hands on you. I could tell. The scent of a woman changes when she’s aroused. You shivered when I touched you. You moaned.”

“I did not,” she argued, but he might have been right. She had been so focused on the way that his touch felt, she couldn’t even remember how she’d reacted.

“Yes, you did.” She could feel his eyes boring into the back of her neck, and as he spoke, the words made puffs of air against her skin. “I want to hear you moan again.”

“It’s not a good idea. You’re my boss. My friends are your family.”

“So we compartmentalize.” In the mirror, she could see his hands moving up either side of her body, but once again, he didn’t touch her.

Licking her lips, she took a deep breath. “Maybe—just once.”

Immediately, his hands were on her, gripping her, controlling her. His lips were on her neck, and her head rolled to give him more access. “Khalid,” she whispered.

“Yes. I like hearing my name on your lips.” He turned her around roughly and kissed her.

There was no mistaking his desire. His kiss was hot and rough. At first, she was surprised by the heat and intensity bubbling under his icy surface, but then she could barely think at all. His hands were hiking up her skirt, and he was walking her backward until she was pressed against something hard and smooth.

“You drive me insane, you know that?” he growled.

His fingers caressed her panties, and she gasped. “You’ve made that very clear. Ah, yes,” she moaned as his fingers pulled the fabric aside and skimmed along her wet slit.

“Oh, I don’t think you have any idea how you dance through my head. Every time I see you, I want you spread out in front of me, begging for me.”

“I don’t beg.” As he thrust two fingers inside her, she wrapped her arms around his neck and arched against him. Pleasure shot through her body, and tension built.

A wicked smile spread across his face. “So if I removed my hands right now, you wouldn’t beg for me to return them.”

“You don’t seem like the kind of man who would leave a job unfinished,” she murmured, and then she cried out when his fingers grazed along her clit.

Groaning, he unzipped his pants and lifted her. As she wrapped her legs around his waist, he entered her in one deep thrust. It had been a long time since she’d felt a man inside her, and the invasion stretched her, but her body softened and accepted him.

“Katie,” he hissed as he thrust hard inside her. “Fuck, you feel good.”

“Don’t stop. Don’t stop.” Digging her nails into his skin, she buried her face in the crook of his neck and let herself be swept away by his intensity. The first orgasm hit her hard and fast, but he never once seemed to lose an ounce of his control. His grip never wavered, the power behind his body never waned, and her second orgasm ripped a scream from her throat. As it echoed off the walls, he joined her as his body shuddered against her.

Her legs shook as he lowered her back to the floor, and only then did she look up and realize that he’d just fucked her senseless against the statue of a racehorse.

“Just once?” he whispered in her ear as he pulled her skirt down.

“Yes. Just once.” Even as she said it, she knew that it was a lie.