Violet forked up more pasta and shook her head again. “It doesn’t matter, Aiden.”

“It matters if they’re petty and emotional enough to waste time hazing another employee when they should be focused on their jobs.”

“Marisela egged them on,” she said, grudgingly. “It’s been fine since she’s been gone.”

“You’ll tell me if that changes,” I said.

“It doesn’t matter,” she repeated.

“Because you’re not staying?” I prompted. Violet lifted her eyes to mine and for a moment I imagined they looked a little bruised. Just a shade hesitant.

A second later the periwinkle turned cool, and she said, “Exactly.”

“And did you find what you’re looking for?”

Her impenetrable eyes locked on mine, she shook her head.

“Are you still looking?” I held my breath as if everything hinged on Violet’s answer.

Her lips pressed tightly together, she shook her head again. Her expression, her posture, everything about her was controlled, but her voice was thin and lost when she said, “I don’t think there’s anything to find. This was all a mistake.”

“All of it?” I pressed. I wouldn’t let her dismiss me so easily. Coming to work for the company under false pretenses had definitely been a mistake. But the rest, what was between us, that was something entirely different.

Violet dropped her eyes and turned her attention to her dinner. For someone who’d taken a job under a fake name with a secret agenda, she seemed to have an aversion to lying.

Interesting.

Everything about Violet was interesting.

I let it go. I had a plan and pushing Violet too hard about her reasons for being here was not part of it.

She finished her linguine and pushed the container away, rising up enough to sit on the couch, her wine glass in her hand. It didn’t escape my attention that she’d chosen a spot as far from me as she could get.

Violet was determined to resist me.

I was equally determined to convince her not to.

Finished with my own meal, I traded the empty container for a smaller one. I opened it to reveal a single, oversized cannoli, not missing the flash of interest in Violet’s eyes as she took in the dessert.

“You only ordered one?” I asked.

“It was noted on the menu that it was your favorite,” she explained.

“And you didn’t want one? You don’t like dessert?” I saw the way she looked at the cannoli. Violet liked dessert.

“I do,” she admitted. “I just don’t usually eat it.”

“Why not?”

“I also like fitting into my clothes.”

“Take a bite,” I offered, holding up the cannoli. The couch was deep and long. Sitting on opposite sides, she was too far away. I moved, closing the distance between us.

The scent of flaky pastry and creamy, sweet filling reached her nose and her lips parted. I’d been dreaming about those lips.

I ran the end of the pastry along her lip. Her eyes on mine, the periwinkle darkened to a dusky lavender. She stared at me, unblinking, and took a slow bite.

As the sugar exploded on her tongue, her eyelids drooped, her gold lashes fanned out against her cheeks. A tiny noise, almost a moan, escaped her and my cock, already half hard from watching her mouth, turned to stone.

Fucking fuck. Feeding this woman dessert would rate as one of the most erotic experiences of my life. Until I managed to feed her dessert naked. I almost moaned myself at the thought.

Mesmerized by the bliss on her face, her closed eyes, the smear of sweet ricotta on her lower lip, I nudged her mouth with the cannoli, suddenly desperate for her to take another bite.

Her eyelids fluttered as she did, this moan a little lower and louder. I’d planned to wait, to seduce her with wine and words before I touched her, but I was coming undone. I set the cannoli back in the container and pulled her wine glass from her fingers.

Taking her face in my hands, I drew her forward, licking that full lower lip, tasting sugar and Violet. She swallowed and her lips parted to speak. The barest sound escaped before I closed my mouth over hers.

Violet let out a whimper. I braced for her to pull away.

Her hands went to my shoulders, then slid up, her fingers diving into my hair, closing and pulling me closer. Despite its size and relative privacy, I’d never had a woman on my office couch.

I kept my life compartmentalized. Family was for home, work was for the office, and my personal life had little to do with either. Since the moment Violet had entered my life, everything had been upside down. I didn’t fucking care.

I’d been thinking about this all week. Having Violet alone again, laying her back, seeing her platinum and gold hair and creamy skin against the black leather as I touched her and tasted her. I eased her down, covering her body with mine completely, in a way I hadn’t been able to in the limo.

My office couch was almost as wide and deep as a twin bed. I hadn’t bought it with sex in mind, instead thinking of long nights in the office when I might need a quick nap. My forethought was paying off.

I settled over her, kissing her, deep, wet, lush kisses punctuated by sweet moans. Violet’s hands were fisted in my hair, her legs spread to make room for me between them, her dull navy skirt hiked up almost to her waist. The heat of her core rocked into my hard cock, only a few layers of wool and cotton and lace between us. I thought about getting all that fabric out of the way and just sinking inside her, filling her with me and fucking her hard, making her come on my cock over and over.

I let out a groan at the thought and kissed her harder.

I wasn’t fucking her on the couch in my office. That was not the plan, no matter how good it would feel. No matter how badly I wanted it. Resisting the urge to slide my hand between her legs and rip away her underwear as I had in the limo, I slowly, deliberately, unbuttoned her blazer, then her white cotton blouse.

Beneath the crisp fabric, my fingers found warm silky skin and soft lace.

I pulled my mouth from hers for just a moment. Long enough to appreciate the sight of her full breasts restrained by delicate white lace, her pink nipples hard and straining against the almost sheer fabric.

Lowering my head, I closed my lips over the tip of one breast, cupping her in my hand, squeezing and plumping her flesh, feeding her to me, sucking hard on her nipple through the lace. The sound of her moan, her breath catching in her chest pushed me to the edge.

Fingers fumbling with desire, I pulled the cups of her bra down, filling my hands with her breasts, pressing them together, my mouth moving from one nipple to the other, feasting on her.

The scent of sweet peas wreathed her damp skin, going straight to my head and I almost forgot why I had her here. I was lost in her lush body, and her moans, and the rock of her hips against me. She wanted more and she was too overwhelmed to know how to ask.

Reluctant, I pulled my mouth away and slid down the couch, turning her so she half reclined in the corner, her upper body supported by the cushions, her legs splayed wide.

Dropping to my knees, I reached up to hook my fingers in her white lace panties. I was going to have to take her lingerie shopping because this pair had to go. It was in my way. The fragile lace didn’t put up much resistance as I tore the side and pushed it down the other leg.

Finally.

Fucking finally, I had what I wanted.

Violet’s sweet, wet pussy only inches from my mouth. At the sound of tearing fabric, Violet’s head cleared enough for her to realize where she was, and where I was.

As I’d guessed she would, as soon as she understood what I was about to do, her body went stiff. Her hands went to my head, ready to push me away. I didn’t give her the chance. I’d tease her later. I didn’t have time now. Her clit was swollen, peeking out from beneath its hood, begging for my attention.

I closed my lips around it and sucked.

She tasted of salt and woman. At the hard pull of my mouth, she half-shrieked, half-moaned, the stiffness draining from her body. Her fingers sank into my hair, not pushing me away, not pulling me deeper, just holding on. Anchoring herself as the unexpected pleasure pulled her under.

I feasted on her, as I had at her breasts, but more. I wanted her taste on my tongue forever. I sucked and kissed and licked. I drove my tongue into the heart of her, scalded by her heat, filling her with one finger, then two.

I fucked her with my hand and my mouth, sucking her clit hard and deep until she went stiff again, every muscle pulled tight as I drove her to the peak and pushed her over.

Once wasn’t enough. She shuddered through her orgasm, her body shaking with fine trembles as she whispered my name in halting sounds and tried to pull herself back together. I rested my cheek on her thigh and watched.

The jerking rise and fall of her ribs, the way her rough breaths shook her round breasts. The goosebumps that rose on her skin, the flex of her gently rounded stomach, the ease that took her as the orgasm faded.

She was just coming back around when my wet fingers stroked down her pussy in a light, teasing touch. If she hadn’t been so aroused, so sensitive, she would have barely felt it. As it was, she shivered and whispered, “Aiden, what are you—you can’t—”

“Shhh,” I said, my face so close the rush of air blew across her clit, and she shivered again.

“I haven’t—for you and—I can’t again. I’ve never—”

“You can,” I promised. “And you’re going to.”

I lifted my head from her thigh, catching her eyes with mine. Disbelief and arousal and a hint of greedy desire swirled in her twilight gaze. I stroked my fingers lightly down her pussy again and she strained into them.

I couldn’t tear my eyes from hers as I dipped my fingers inside until they were slick and slid them up to circle her clit. She gasped and rocked up into the teasing pressure.

“How? How can you—?” she begged, her breath ragged.

One long lick that ended with my tongue pressed hard into her clit and she fell silent. I teased her entrance with my fingertips, almost losing it as she rocked into them, drawing me inside.

Fuck.

I was going to fucking come in my boxers like a teenager.

Getting my mouth on Violet was better than the best wet dream I’d ever imagined back then. And she thought she was bad at sex? I’d never had a woman I wanted as much as I wanted Violet. I wanted to make her come all day. I wanted to come with her, fucking her so hard and deep she’d feel me for weeks.

Not yet. Not fucking yet. I poured all of that need and desire into eating her pussy, reveling in every gasp and moan. Her head rolled back into the leather, eyes squeezed shut. Working her with my fingers and my mouth, I pushed her higher, harder, until she shattered, her legs closing around me, fingers knotted in my hair.

She was fierce in her pleasure, like a goddess demanding worship, and I gave it willingly. I gave it fucking happily. I’d worship her pussy all day and all night if she let me.

Every muscle in her body went limp as bliss faded into contentment. Drying my slick mouth against her leg, I moved up the couch and resettled her, pulling her into my arms, cradling her head against my shoulder. Her hand rested on my chest, fingers absently stroking as she breathed slowly, in and out, every so often letting out a deep sigh.

Her hand moved down, lower, and lower. When her fingers grazed my belt buckle, I caught them, drawing them back up to my chest. She shifted. I tightened my arm, holding her in place.

“Not now,” I said. “Not this time.”

“You don’t want me to—?” Her question faded away in uncertainty.

I hated seeing Violet uncertain. Even when she had no idea what the fuck she was doing, she always held together her façade of unerring confidence. I wouldn’t be the one to pull it apart.

Pressing a kiss to the top of her head I said, “I do. I really fucking do. But not now. This was for you. And for me. You have no idea how long I’ve been thinking about getting my mouth between your legs.”

Her body hitched, and I wasn’t sure if I’d shocked her or she was choking back a laugh. Maybe both.

“When I get you naked and alone, when I have you all to myself in a nice big bed, I want you to do everything you want to me,” I promised. “But we’re going to need more room, more time, and more privacy than we have right here.”

Violet melted into me, letting out another of those deep sighs. She toyed with the buttons of my shirt, the silk of my tie, winding the fabric around her fingers and tugging it straight, over and over.

Her hair had come loose, and I worked my fingers through the long strands, stroking and petting, not ready to let her go. I was half-asleep, and Violet’s eyelids had long since slid closed, when the faint murmur of voices filtered through my office door.

The office door I’d closed, but not locked.

Fuck.

Just as I was convincing myself it was only a security check, I heard Gage’s voice, followed by Sophie’s softer tones.

Fucking, fucking, fuck.

Violet heard them a second after I did. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone move that fast. She sat bolt upright, eyes flying wide in shocked panic. They flashed across the room at the door, then scanned wildly for some escape. She was off the couch and scrambling for her shoes a second later.

“Bathroom,” I said, nodding in the direction of my private washroom. With a jolt, she was gone, her bared breasts half covered by her jacket, shoes in her hand. Her torn underwear taunted me from the carpet and I shoved them in my pocket, standing as if I was in no rush and packing up the containers from dinner. Only the faintest of rustling sounds reached me from behind the closed bathroom door.

I was behind my desk, tie straightened, pulling on my suit jacket, when the door to my office swung open.

“You almost done?” Gage asked.

“Just about. What are you two doing here?” I knew Gage had been home because he wore a T-shirt and jeans instead of a suit.

“We’re on our way out to dinner, but I realized I forgot my wallet in my desk. I took it out to look for a business card and then shoved it in a drawer and forgot about it.”

“It’s a little late for dinner,” I commented.

Sophie, tucked into Gage’s side, bit her lower lip and stared at the carpet with an expression so guilty I had to stop myself from laughing. I’d walked in on them often enough to guess why they were running late.

In a grave voice, I said, “I see.”

She bit her lip harder and Gage gave her a tight squeeze. “We’ll walk you out.”

Fuck. I couldn’t think of a good reason to say no. I’d been putting my jacket on, so they knew I’d been about to leave, and Violet was trapped unless I could get Gage and Sophie out of my office.

“Sure,” I agreed as if I didn’t have a woman stashed in my washroom. “Go ahead and grab your wallet, I just need to take a last look at these papers and then I’ll be ready. One minute.”

Gage gave me a suspicious look, but let Sophie pull him from my office. The moment they were gone I crossed the room and rapped softly at the washroom door. Violet had managed to restore herself to order. Under her breath she said, “My purse is in my desk drawer. Keep an eye out while I get it and I’ll go down the stairs.”

I didn’t like the idea of Violet creeping away like we had something to hide, but I said, “I’ve got you.”

She had her purse in her hands and was disappearing through the stairwell door before Gage and Sophie got back to the elevators. We’d beat her down to the garage, but that wouldn’t matter since her car was two levels below the executive spaces. She might technically have been part of the executive team, but that didn’t rate a parking space near the CEO and owner.

I caught the scent of sweet peas and Violet and leaned against the opposite wall of the elevator from Gage and Sophie. Gage eyed my rumpled shirt and messy hair and said, “You look like you slept at your desk.”

I wasn’t going to admit I didn’t have bed head—I had sex hair. “I’m tired.”

With the gentle look that was vintage Sophie, Gage’s wife said, “You need to get more sleep. You can’t run on all cylinders all the time. Eventually, the stress will catch up to you.”

“She’s not wrong,” Gage said.

“Of course, I’m not,” Sophie agreed, “I’m a nurse. I know what I’m talking about.”

“I know you do,” I said. “And you’re right. This weekend should be relaxing once I get business out of the way.”

Gage gave me another of those suspicious looks. “And you’re going by yourself, right?”

Shooting him a grin I said, “No, I’m not.”