I wake up a wreck after spending a sleepless night. All I did was toss, turn and finally, out of desperation, jerk off, but the yearning for her body is so intense not even that would relieve the ache. Now that I’ve had a taste of her sweetness, I want more. She lit a fire in me that I can’t extinguish.

I’m irritable by the time we arrive at the office.

Maddie knows the drill, setting herself up in a corner of my office and settling in to play with her tablet and coloring books. The building is virtually empty, thanks to it being the Fourth tomorrow. Most of my staff people have turned it into a four-day weekend. If I had to take a guess, I’d say Sam didn’t.

The need to chase her is incredible. Like some prehistoric caveman hunter, I feel my body hum, as if I am near prey or a source of water. The tension is nearly unbearable. I want to go to her. Right this minute. I want to throw her down on that metal table in the lab and slam into her. Hard. All day long.

“Daddy?”

“Yeah, honey.”

“Do you think Sam came to work today?”

“Maybe,” I mutter distractedly. Truth is, I know shit about her. I’m her boss. It’s perfectly within my rights as the company CEO to access the HR files and take a look.

It’s shocking how truly un-disappointed in myself I am for stooping this low. Her picture pops up on my screen. I enlarge it. Even in this photo, her hair is tightly held back and there is only a ghost of a smile on her face. My eyes scan her bio. So she lives in a rather modest part of town. As a senior engineer, she could easily afford something better. She could be supporting a relative or paying off some massive debt. College maybe?

Unmarried. I knew that already. But her file doesn’t provide much more insight into her private life. No mention of a significant other. She wouldn’t have fucked me if she had a boyfriend, would she? Doesn’t seem the type, but women are a mysterious bunch. I can’t make the same mistakes I did before. I can’t fool myself into believing she’s someone she isn’t.

Maybe she’s with him right now. Maybe he’s touching her, kissing her. Just the mere thought of her being with another man makes my heart pound fast and my temper flare. My head feels hot and tight. I can’t think straight with the blood rushing in my ears. She’s mine. I have to make her mine.

“Can you entertain yourself up here for a little while?” I ask, turning to Maddie.

She nods.

“If you need anything just pick up that phone and call Erica or me, okay?”

“Okay, Daddy.” Maddie agrees with a nod.

I head straight out to the elevator. I have to see her. I need to be with her. To touch her skin. I need to know she knows what Friday night meant to me. And how much I hate the awkward way we left things.

When I open the door, swinging it to the side, I find that she’s not alone.

“What do you mean, you don’t have any plans?” Ryland teases.

Is he fucking flirting with her? My blood pressure shoots up.

“You’re too young and pretty not to have something to do during the holiday,” he adds.

Yes, he is definitely flirting with her.

“I’m a workaholic. Sue me,” she says, grinning…until she spots me filling up the doorway, and glowering down at the two of them. “Oh. Good morning.” There’s nothing on her face, in her eyes, or tone of voice, to give the impression that anything ever happened between us.

What transpired three nights ago, may as well have been a dream. Something I imagined.

“Hey, Big Boss. Good morning. How was your weekend?” Ryland asks, completely oblivious.

“It was fine,” I reply, never looking away from her.

She’s blank-faced. Polite, professional, but nothing more.

I can’t talk to her with him around. I can’t very well kick him out of the room when the prototype which was used in testing, is sitting alongside the one we plan to use during the demonstration. They clearly plan to apply her solution to the new prototype and run a test.

Ryland gives me a strange look. “Everything okay?”

How can I possibly feel like an outsider in my own lab? It’s all too ridiculous. I won’t let her make a fool out of me. “Yeah, everything is just fine. I’ll leave the two of you to your work,” I say casually, backing out of the room.

“Don’t you want to hear what Sam came up with?” Ryland asks, his eyes glowing with excitement.

I shake my head and before anybody realizes I’m a jealous lunatic, I step out into the corridor. “No. Surprise me when it’s done.”