Chapter 16

~~ MICHAEL ~~

Shit. I really need to guard my attraction to Lily.  Smiling at her like an idiot in front of Dale wasn’t the brightest thing to do.  It really pissed me off when I’d walked out of my office to see Ruben flirting with her, and then, to walk out again only to catch Dale at it as well.  Christ, he was old enough to be her grandfather.

I followed Lily back into my office and steered her towards the conference table this time.  I took a seat opposite her, so there was no chance of me touching her.  “Lily, about last night….”

“Michael, it’s okay.  Let’s just forget it,” she said nervously.

I hoped she didn’t really expect me to forget having her in my arms.  “No. I won’t forget it.”  She met my eyes.  “I won’t forget it, Lily, but I’ll respect your obvious wish to carry on as normal.  But I won’t forget having you in my arms or how you felt in them.”

“I won’t either,” she whispered.  “Can we just concentrate on work, at least for now?”  She looked at me and I knew, I would give her the world if she asked.

“All right.”  I cleared my throat.  “We need to finalize the arrangements for the staff picnic, which takes place in two weeks, at my parents ranch house.  Which by the way, you’re invited to.”

Her face lit up.  “It sounds like fun.  Does everyone from your company receive an invitation?”

“Only head office.  The other divisions have their own around the country and either myself or one of my brothers attend.  The picnic’s are family orientated and always have a children’s entertainer to free up the adults,” I explained to her, silently wishing I had a child to share the day with.

“It sounds like you really do look after your employees.”  She smiled.

She was breathtaking.  Just watching her made me lose my train of thought.

“Michael?”

I was sitting and gazing at her, again!  “Sorry, where were we?  Oh, yes.  Yes we do take care of our employees.  After all, we wouldn’t be where we are without them.”  I could see approval flash in her eyes, which made me feel so damn tall.

“That’s great.  Is everything already arranged?” she asked as she wrapped a piece of hair around her finger.

“Who will you bring?” I asked before I could stop myself.

She looked uncertain.  “I don’t know, David, maybe.”

I really wanted her to be there with me, as my partner.

I stood up and walked around the table to offer her the piece of paper in my hand.  “This is a list of companies along with contact numbers and a list of their commitments on the day.  They need to be chased up to make sure there are no last minute problems.”

“Okay, I’ll get on that right away.”  She pushed away slightly from the table and stood up.

“Just one more thing.  Tomorrow, can you dress casual? I’m taking you to my parents place.  You’ll get more of a feel for how everything will be laid out on the day.”

She whipped her head around to look at me. The movement sent the clip that was holding the hair on top of her head, flying.  All I saw was the dark curls cascading down her back.  Without thinking, I reached out and watched my fingers run through the length.  I heard her gasp, which dragged my eyes back to her face.  She looked flushed and her eyes filled with desire.

I held her gaze and slipped my hands underneath the hair at the nape of her neck.  I brought her head against my chest.  She placed her hands on my hips and held me tight.  I shivered from the contact.

“Lily,” I breathed heavily, wanting so much to kiss her. But I couldn’t, not until she was free from David.

“Michael.”  She rested her cheek against my chest.  “Why does this feel so right?” she whispered.

I ran one of my hands down her back to her bottom and pressed her in to me, so she knew exactly how I reacted to her.  My cock was throbbing in my trousers and as I pulled her in even tighter against me, it jumped for joy.

I took some deep breaths while I rested my chin on the top of her head.  We stayed like that for the longest time.  “I don’t want to let you go.”

She moved her head to look at me and lifted one of her hands and placed it on my face in a caress.  “You’re my boss, Michael.”

After about a minute, I leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead, before I stepped back.  I walked to the end of the conference table to retrieve her clip, then handed it to her.  “That isn’t the reason I didn’t kiss you and you know that.”

She started to walk towards the door with the papers in her hand.  “I know,” she whispered.

I heard the door click back into place as Lily exited.  Sitting back down at my desk, I just gazed into space.  She was driving me totally crazy, and it wasn’t going to be long before I gave in to my craving and tasted her.  I hoped to hell she got rid of the bastard she called a boyfriend soon.  I’d never been obsessed with a woman like I was with Lily, and knowing she was still with him made me a jealous idiot.

Tomorrow we would be together for most of the day at my parent’s ranch.  The trip didn’t have to take place, it was just an excuse to spend more time with her. I figured if my mother was around I’d have no choice, but to keep my hands to myself, at least that was the plan.  My only hope was that Ruben and Ramon had other plans so I didn’t have to punch them for flirting with her.  Well, at least Ruben.  Ramon’s the quiet one of the family, and if I thought my life was private, then Ramon’s was top secret.  Trying to get any information out of him was like trying to get blood from a stone.