Candy watched strange things happen to Jared’s face. His eyes darkened, his breathing went shallow, and he looked like he was in pain.

One glance below his waist told her why. His erection was more than obvious. It had popped up like a Star Wars light saber.

A thrill raced through her that she had caused that. Jared was turned on by her. And whew, was she turned on by him.

“There’s another bonus romance tip after that question,” she told him, not bothering to wait for an answer since Jared looked beyond speech.

“Skip it,” he said, his voice harsh and raw.

“No, it could be fun.” She clicked on the screen. “It’s actually a video.”

Still a little giddy from the realization that Jared liked her smile, she stepped back away from the desk as the video clip loaded.

Her heel landed on Jared’s ankle, and she stumbled, fighting for balance. Shoot, she was going to fall down in an ungracious heap right in front of him.

Flailing her arms about like a misguided chicken, she felt Jared’s big hands land on her waist. Then down she went, landing on his lap with a solid thump. Right on his erection.

Lord, that thing was big. It was poking her square in the behind.

“Thanks,” she said breathlessly, knowing full well it wasn’t her graceless stumble that had her gasping for air.

An indistinguishable sound came from Jared’s mouth right behind her ear. Candy wiggled forward, intent on standing up, when the video caught her attention.

It was a couple naked in the bathtub, industriously lathering each other up. “Oh!” she said, as desire kicked her in the gut.

She went still on Jared’s lap, afraid to move, unsure what he wanted her to do. She knew what she wanted, and Jared’s lower half clearly wanted the same thing, but given the tension in his body, she wasn’t sure his brain agreed.

Her legs dangled between his, and she crossed her arms across her chest with painstakingly slow movements, determined not to wiggle. She could smell him, that heavy masculine scent of aftershave. She could hear him breathing. Feel the tight hardness of his muscles beneath her.

His chest brushed against her back.

“What the hell?” Jared said, his hands on her waist tightening.

Those fingers of his were right at her waistband. One shift and he would be touching her skin where her blouse had pulled out of her skirt.

Leaning forward a little, Candy read the caption alongside the image. “A great way to relax and rediscover romance is with a long sensual bubble bath. Take the time to explore each other’s bodies with the added aphrodisiac of warm water and satiny bath gels.”

The pair onscreen did look relaxed. The woman was facing the man, sitting on his lap, and they were kissing, tongues entwined, and her wet breasts pushed up against his chest. The bubbles of the bath covered the major body parts, but it still served its purpose.

Making her crazy, wishing she could be wet and slippery with Jared.

The woman rocked up and down, making bubbly waves around them while Harold’s office filled with the sound of their panting.

“They seem to be enjoying themselves,” she said, unable to drag her eyes away.

Jared’s hands convulsed on her waist. She could swear that his erection was actually throbbing against her, making her want to turn around and beg that he push inside her. She wanted what that woman was getting.

“Candy, stand up.”

“What?” Disappointment rushed through her, and her mouth was wet and heavy with desire. “Why?”

“Because this isn’t right.” He gave her a not-so-gentle shove. “It’s wrong. We’re in Harold’s office.”

Despite her disappointment, the panic in his voice amused her. And his words thrilled her. She had known Jared would be different. Instead of just taking what he could get, he was holding back for the sake of decency.

Office propriety.

Which she had been about to toss out the window.

Candy suspected that Jared was waiting for someone too, just the way that she was. He was waiting for the one woman who would see beyond the body and the clothes and show interest in the man.

That woman was her, she decided. Whether it was for one day, one night, or something more, she didn’t know. But she wanted Jared, needed to feel him inside her. If not today, then soon. Very soon.

With great reluctance, she let him shove her forward until she was back on her feet. She turned and rested her knees against his, pushing her hair back off her face.

She had to ask. Wanted him to say it. “Do you want me, Jared?”

He nodded without hesitation. “Yes. I do. Since the day I met you.”

She shuddered, her body pulsing with need. “That’s something else I like about you, you know. I like that you like me, but haven’t done anything about it.”

Pressing forward, she spread her legs until one was on either side of his. “I want you to do something about it. Now.”

He didn’t say anything. He didn’t do anything. He just sat there, clenching his hands tightly on the arm of the chair, his jaw taut, his eyes tortured.

“Unless you want to hear question eleven instead.”

Candy wanted another kiss from him, and plans for a date. Until she got one of the two, she’d stand here in front of him all day and read the random and vague questions on Harold’s couples counseling.

Glancing over her shoulder, she said, “Question eleven. What’s your favorite smell?”

She was about to go into the scent of freshly cut grass, baking apple pies, and the ocean, when Jared spoke first.

“Sex and Candy. That’s what I want to smell.”

Have mercy.

Shocked, she whirled around to face him again, sure she’d heard him wrong. She clearly hadn’t. The expression of lust raging on his face showed her that he knew exactly what he had said. And meant it.

She went wet, wishing she weren’t standing with her legs so far apart. The hot, thrilling ache was unbearable.

She took back that very wish a split second later when Jared reached forward and placed a wide warm hand on each of her knees. Then he shoved the skirt all the way up to her waist, leaving her naked but for her panties a foot in front of his face.

His breath tickled her, and she arched her back, gripping the desk so she wouldn’t fall down. Her legs shook a little, and the only sound in the room was their combined ragged breathing.

Leaning in to hover in front of her panties, Jared closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. “Mmmm. I can smell it already.”

Candy knew she should be mortified, blushing eight shades of purple and leaping away from him. But the only thing she felt was desire, rushing hot and strong through every inch of her. She felt intensely feminine, in control, and powerful in a way she’d never experienced before.

As his nose brushed across her panties, Candy’s fingers found their way to his shoulders. She gripped his shirt, digging in with greedy and desperate need, tossing her head back on a soft moan. Jared took his time, languidly studying her, his thumbs tracing patterns above her knees on her stockings. Once or twice his breath hitched, but otherwise he was perfectly in control.

She was about to lose hers and whimper. Or beg. Or press forward so that his mouth would bump her right where she wanted him the most.

Then he spoke again, eyes still roving over her, fingers light and in no hurry. “Can I taste you, too?”

Are there bears in the woods?

“Oh, yes. Please.”

Candy’s eagerness came close to undoing him. Instead, he took a deep breath and moved his hands up Candy’s thighs, past the line of her stocking onto her smooth bare flesh. She was hot to the touch, the way his own body felt, and he couldn’t muzzle a groan from jerking out.

Damn, she was beautiful. Curvy and pink and his for the taking. Right now. The peek up her skirt he’d had earlier hadn’t done her justice. Now, laid all out before him, she looked and smelled delicious.

The floral of her perfume had melted with the musky scent of her desire, leaving him dry-mouthed and hornier than hell.

With one finger, he dragged the loose black lace away from her and over to the side, holding it in place there against her inner thigh muscle. Little sounds of encouragement rained down on his head, and her fingers dug into his shoulders, pinching his skin.

With another finger and thumb, Jared gently spread her folds apart, brushing her blond curls aside.

This time, he was the one who moaned. Damn, she looked so good. And wet. She was more than ready.

He brushed the tip of his tongue across her, closing his eyes against the heat and tangy taste. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he had been imagining this for weeks. It was better than he could ever have dreamed.

As was the lurch Candy gave, and the high-pitched cry that flew out of her mouth. He didn’t look up, just gave another long slow lick. This time her pleasure was muffled, and he guessed she’d remembered exactly where they were, and how thin Harold’s wood door was.

He moved again, faster, rhythmically crossing over her, sliding his tongue inside her, and pulling back again. He felt surrounded by her, enclosed by her thighs and her breasts hovering over his head. Her fingers pulled his shirt so hard it had jerked out of his pants as he tasted her, smelled her, loved her.

His tongue went deeper, his fingers pulled her panties harder to the side and with his other hand he cupped her ass. Her panties had slid into the crevice between her cheeks, and he tugged them back out slowly. He allowed his finger to explore along the path where the underwear had been, sliding along from behind until his finger had met up with his tongue, both pressing into her.

Candy bucked and writhed, way too close to ripping off an orgasm without him.

Wrenching his mouth and hand away, he took a deep breath and laughed softly at her startled curse. Getting to his feet, he licked the moisture of Candy’s body off his lips and smiled at her.

“I just remembered something.”

“What?” She panted, her eyes glazed. Candy was holding onto the desk for support now that he had stood and taken his shoulders up out of her immediate reach.

“You said you like to be touched on your breasts. I should be doing that instead.”

Frustration was evident in the way she shook her head and said, “I liked what you were doing just fine.”

Jared put a hand on each breast and caressed her nipples through her blouse.

Candy’s eyes fluttered shut. “Or this is good too.”

He had to agree. Faster than he would have thought possible, he had the buttons on her white blouse undone and was reaching inside to cup her breasts.

She was wearing white lace, a startling contrast to the black panties. As he rolled her nipple beneath his finger, he said, “You rebel. Your bra and panties don’t match.”

Eyes half closed, she muttered, “I put the panties on first. Then realized I couldn’t wear a black bra with a white blouse.”

“So you’re not a rebel?” he teased, kicking her legs further apart so he could wedge his thigh in between hers.

“Doesn’t sex in my boss’s office make me a rebel?”

Jared pressed against Candy, annoyed to find her skirt had fallen back down to cover her. Her words fascinated him. It seemed obvious that’s where they were heading, but to hear her say it out loud was a huge turn-on.

“Is that what we’re doing? Having sex?”

“Sort of.”

Dragging her bra down to expose her full breast, Jared pulled the pink nipple into his mouth and sucked softly. “Nice and sweet.”

Candy’s hands landed on his head and she tugged on his hair.

He pulled back half an inch. “What should we do to make it more than sort-of sex?”

Then he trailed his tongue along the side of her breast as it popped over the edge of the lace bra. He forced himself to go slow, to stay in control, to not just rip every inch of her clothing off like he wanted to and sink into her softness.

A hand slithered down and caressed him through his pants, sending a jolt reverberating through every cell in his body. “Candy?”

“This is where you wanted to be touched, right?”

He nodded dumbly.

“Then I’ll touch you. And when I’m finished we can make it full sex by having you inside me.”

Yes. Yes, yes, and hell yes.

“If that’s what you want…”

“To touch you? Or you inside me?” Her hand stilled.

Damn, she was killing him. He said, “Both.”

“Yes, that’s what I want. Here. Now.”

He was about to agree that was the best goddamn idea he’d ever heard in his life, when she grabbed his belt buckle and undid it before he could even open his mouth. Nimble fingers unbuttoned and unzipped him.

“Very efficient,” he murmured.

Candy grinned. “Efficiency in the workplace leads to greater productivity.”

He laughed. Then sputtered off into a moan when her hand went inside his pants and wrapped around him.

She squeezed.

He panted.

Caressing up the length of him, her eyes went wide. “Ooh, it’s so big.”

And he didn’t even pay her to say that.

From another woman, that would have sounded insincere, but not when Candy said it. No one could fake the kind of honest pleasure on her face, or the way her eyes struggled to stay open.

The idea that he could trust Candy flitted through his mind, before he lost all rational thought.

“Does this feel good?”

Her speed had increased, and she was rubbing up and down with light feathery strokes. Good was a hilarious understatement.

Any better than this and he was going to be done before he started. “Yes, but…”

Her hand slipped down to cup his testicles.

“Candy, I…”

Shit, now she had both hands on him.

“What, Jared?”

He forced himself to speak. “I have a condom in my wallet. Let me get it out.”

She stilled.

He panicked. If she said no, he was going to cry like a baby.

Her hands left his pants and pressed against his chest. Then she kissed his cheek, her full warm lips just brushing across his skin.

No woman but his mother had ever kissed his cheek.

A weird tenderness came over him, quieting his urgent desire and leaving him waiting for Candy to tell him his next move.

If she had changed her mind, he respected that.

“Which pocket is your wallet in?”

But her not changing her mind was better.

“Left.” He started to reach around for it, but she stopped him.

“No, I’ll get it.” Then she was rummaging around in his pocket, feeling here, feeling there, the teasing light touches making him nuts.

Finally she held the wallet up, smiling, looking confident and sure. “Which compartment?”

“I don’t know.” It was somewhere in there collecting dust.

He watched her rifle through the wallet, stopping to look at his driver’s license.

“Checking to make sure I’m who I say I am?” he asked, amused.

“I wanted to see how old you are. Thirty-one if my math’s right. And I couldn’t resist looking at your picture. You look perfect, like you always do.”

It should have been a compliment, but the wrinkling of her nose made it sound like a bad thing. “You don’t like that?”

“I do. I love the way you’re put together all the time, but Lord, Jared, it’s hard to stand next to you.” She found the condom and pulled it out. “I’m so scattered-looking all the time I can’t compete with you.”

Scattered-looking? Is that what she called it? He would have thought blond bombshell was a better way to phrase it.

“I love the way you look.” He smoothed her hair back from her face. “That curvy body and your brains, together they’re lethal. You’re gorgeous, Candy. Now give me the condom.”

Candy stared at Jared in disbelief and something that felt suspiciously like hope. She knew when men were lying, when they were feeding her what she wanted to hear. Half the conversations in her life were based on empty compliments meant to coax her into bed.

Jared was telling the truth. He thought she was smart.

If she weren’t already planning to have sex with him, she would have just for that alone.

Ripping the foil package open, she said, “I’ve got it.”

His eyes darkened. “Okay. But before you do that…”

Hands were suddenly up her skirt. Before she could blink her panties were down at her knees, then sinking to the floor. Jared’s hand lingered on her bare behind for a minute before retreating.

Her mouth was hot and thick with saliva and she reached for him impatiently, rolling on the condom with trembling fingers. She hadn’t been kidding about the big thing. Jared was no slouch in the size department and she distracted herself by running her hands across him again, giving his hot skin a squeeze.

The condom stuck, and it took her three times to unroll it, but she finally got it on and flipped her hair back out of her eyes.

Jared surprised her with a kiss, a long, wet, lingering kiss that robbed her of the last of her reserve. As his hands held her head, and he rocked against her with his erection, she moaned, “Now. Please.”

He pushed her skirt out of the way and without warning his finger sunk inside her. A shudder ripped through her.

“You’re still nice and wet. Ready for me?”

Since the minute they’d walked into this office. “Oh, yes.”

Jared backed her up a foot until she was leaning against Harold’s desk, the surface cool on her backside. Then nudging her legs apart, he entered her with one quick thrust.

He filled every inch of her, stretching her, and Candy repeated, “Oh, yes!”

They stood there for long seconds, Jared’s head bent down and Candy’s nails digging into his arms. She could feel the length of him pulsing inside her, making her want more than this tight teasing.

Jared must have had the same idea. He moved. Slow. In and out until Candy’s arms dropped to her sides and she let her head loll back. She didn’t thrust her hips to meet him, but just settled back and let him rock into her. It was languid and deep, and Jared leaned forward and dashed his tongue across her nipple.

She barely felt the cold hard surface of the desk pressing into her backside, and hooked a leg around Jared’s knee so she wouldn’t fall as he started to move faster.

Relaxed went to gripping in a split second as his hands snaked around to grab her ass and push harder, rough urgent mating. She bit her lip to hold back the violent cries she wanted to scream, and their labored pants mixed together as Jared moved them closer to fulfillment.

It seemed like she should tell him to slow down, that they should savor this first time together, but her body wasn’t having any of it. Her hips started driving forward, meeting Jared’s thrusts with a little slapping sound of skin and zippers.

It was that sound that made her come. Along with the look on Jared’s face as his own orgasm overcame him. Candy clung to the desk and felt Jared’s shudders mingle with hers as they rode out their pleasure.

The orgasm was tight and hard, pulling at her almost painfully and she let out a cry as it slowed and passed, shivers racing up her spine.

Candy couldn’t move, stunned by her explosive reaction to Jared. The man was good.

He leaned against her, breathing hard, nearly toppling her backwards onto the desk with his weight.

“I’m falling!” she cried out, scrambling for a grip, her hand knocking the computer hard.

Strong arms prevented her fall.

“Sorry.”

Jared stepped back, pulling out of her, and Candy closed her eyes for a second at the loss. She liked him against her, big and strong, in pursuit of her, and was sorry to be past that. But he continued to lean towards her, placing a soft kiss on her jaw. This was a good look on him too, this triumphant relaxed expression he was wearing.

He smoothed her skirt back down into place, a smile twitching at the corner of his mouth. “Damn, I can’t believe we just had sex in Harold’s office.”

She grinned back. “Oh, I can believe it. The dent in my butt proves it.”

Alarm crossed his face, making Candy feel like gooey chocolate. “Are you okay, babe?”

She nodded, trying to decide if babe could be classified as a term of endearment or not. “I’m fine.”

“We must be crazy.” Jared placed another soft kiss on her forehead and gestured to his pants. “And what the hell am I supposed to do with this condom now? Toss it in Harold’s wastebasket?”

Good question. She eyed the condom dubiously as he pried it off. “You’ll have to put it in your pocket, I guess.”

The horror that crossed his face made her giggle.

“And carry it around all day?”

“No, just until you get to your office, then you can throw it in the wastebasket there.”

“The cleaning lady will think I’m a pervert.”

“If the shoe fits…” Candy began doing the buttons on her blouse back up and grinned when he glared at her. “Well, then just wrap it in tissues so no one knows. They don’t inspect the trash for goodness sake.” She plucked six tissues out of the box on the edge of Harold’s desk. “Here you go.”

Jared took them and wrapped up the condom, grimacing the whole time. “The price of spontaneity, I guess.”

He still had her pinned against the desk, so she tried to slide around him as he tucked the mummified condom into his pocket.

Before she could get by him, Jared grabbed her arm and trapped her leg with his. “Where are you going?”

“To get my panties off the floor.”

She expected him to grin, but he didn’t. Holding her tight, he said, “Can I see you outside of work?”

Candy smiled, unable to contain herself. Not only had he asked her out, he actually looked like he cared what her answer was.

“Yes. Now let me get my panties before we manage to get ourselves caught.”

Then a knock rattled the door and they heard Harold call out, “How’s it going in there?”