- Landon -
escorted the Fujama folks to the elevator and confirmed a time to follow up, doing my best to act casual about how well the presentation had gone.
Not only was I pleased with my own pitch, having performed even better with Margot in attendance than I normally would, but she was fantastic.
I expected her to be a little nervous. Anyone would be after being ambushed like that. But she crushed it. She kept a smile on her face, didn’t overseason her presentation with ums and likes the way most recent grads might, and her enthusiasm was contagious.
There’s no way it even occurred to the client that it was her first time pitching. Best of all, there was no doubt in my mind that they’d take the deal and maybe even become regular clients if we could execute our vision as well as we’d sold it.
As soon as the elevator doors closed, I turned towards her, expecting to be met with a big sigh of relief and a smile.
Instead, her mouth formed a straight line and her eyes grew icy. “Could I have a word?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Maybe in your office,” she said, heading for it straightaway.
I had to walk quickly to keep pace with her as she marched down the hall, and I couldn’t help but notice that her hands were balled into tight fists.
She acknowledged my assistant on her way by, and I did the same, forcing a smile even though I was beginning to suspect it wasn’t rainbows and gumdrops Margot wanted to talk about.
I closed the door behind me as she spun around and threw her outstretched hands in the air. “What the fuck, Landon?!”
“What?”
“How could you do that to me?!” She flattened a palm against her forehead and then gestured towards the door. “After I opened up to you about how I wasn’t ready?!”
I stepped towards her. “But you were ready. You nailed it.”
“No, I didn’t. All I did was crap myself in front of a room full of people!”
“Your enthusiasm is going to land us that deal.”
“You don’t know that,” she said. “You threw me under the bus for no reason. Why would you risk both our jobs over something so totally unnecessary?!”
I set my briefcase down and took another step forward, my hands on display as if I were approaching a wild cat. “It wasn’t a risk. If you’d panicked or refused, I would’ve taken over.”
“That’s not fair.”
“The only thing that seems unfair to me is the fact that you can’t admit how well you did.”
She took a step sideways. “Don’t come any closer. I seriously want to kill you right now.”
“You should be thanking me. As far as I’m concerned, your performance in there is going to seal the deal on you getting a permanent position.”
Her eyebrows lifted for a moment. “Yeah?”
I took another step. “I don’t see why not. If—”
Her face fell again. “Don’t change the subject. That’s not the point.”
“What’s the point?” I asked, stepping forward and forcing her back against the wall.
“The point is that you stabbed me in the back when I told you I wasn’t willing to—”
“You don’t get it, do you?”
“Get what?”
“How brilliant you are,” I said. “Do you have any idea how badly I want to keep that to myself? How easy it would be for me to take credit for your work, to help you hide how talented you are?”
She swallowed.
“But that wouldn’t be fair to you.”
Her chest rose and fell in front of me as I dragged a finger down the open V of her collared shirt, my eyes traveling farther than her buttons would let me go.
“You’re not my boss,” she breathed. “You don’t know what’s good for me.”
“Bullshit,” I said, fixing my eyes on hers. “I am what’s good for you.”
She grabbed my face and kissed me, opening her mouth to mine so she could breathe me in.
I yanked her wrists down and pressed them against the wall, pinning her against it as she cocked her hips towards me. A moment later, I pushed her jacket off her shoulders, and it fell to the floor in a heap as my fingers returned to her buttons.
My heart raced as I kissed her, and when I paused for breath, I glanced down at the top of her bra, my eyes tracing along the edge that cut across her gorgeous breasts, breasts I’d only ever imagined catching a glimpse of.
She threw her arms around my neck and pressed her hips against my dick so hard she could’ve taken my pulse.
I pulled her skirt up around her thighs and forced a hand between them, my mouth watering as I found the place where her underwear was burning up. It soaked through the moment I applied pressure.
“Shit,” I growled against her lips. “Do you always get this wet?”
“Only for you,” she panted, moving against my hand.
I wanted to tease her more, but I was too starved for her, unable to pace myself when my mind and body were already several steps ahead.
“Don’t stop,” she whimpered, her warm breath against my lips.
I pulled the light fabric of her thong down and moved my hand back to the silk between her legs, sliding my fingers along her slit.
She shuddered when I grazed her clit, and I increased the pressure on it until she moaned in my mouth.
It turned me on like crazy to hear her make that new sound, that sound only a woman can make. I spread her open with my fingers, kissing her harder when I felt her clench around me.
The weight of her body sank against my hand, her legs growing weak as I fucked her with my fingers, curling them inside her as I reached as deep as I could.
I leaned my head back and watched her eyelids flutter as a glassy bliss passed over her face.
“Landon,” she mouthed, but no sound came out.
“Come for me,” I said, working her until my wrist ached.
She let her head fall against the wall, exposing her delicate neck. “I’m close,” she whispered.
As soon as I saw her make that face, that face that let me know she was about to come at my touch, I was addicted to her, and I knew there was nothing I wouldn’t do to see her make that face again.
And then she came with one strong jerk followed by a series of shudders, her beautiful mouth falling open in front of me as she gasped for breath.
I kept the pressure on, my finger pulsing with her clit as she came in bursts, soaking my greedy wrist.
She squeezed my shoulders and lifted her head, her hazy eyes finding mine as I pulled my hand from her hot body. Then she closed her parted lips and pressed them together, speechless for the first time since she’d come in my office.
A few seconds later, a knock at the door interrupted our erotic staring contest.
Not again.
“Your two o’clock is on the phone, Landon,” my assistant said through the door.
I blinked the fog from my mind.
“It’s Mr. Delany about the September budget,” she added.
“Can you tell him I’ll call him right back?” I asked, struggling to hide my breathlessness. “Two minutes.”
“Sure thing,” she said as I refocused on Margot.
She pushed her skirt down. “You better take that.”
I dropped my forehead against hers. “And you better wipe that smile off your face before you leave this office.”
She nodded, as if the obvious fact had already crossed her mind.
I stepped back, watching intently as she refastened her buttons until her eyes dropped to the aching bulge in my pants. “Don’t even look at it,” I said. “You’ll only make it worse.”
She blushed, took a deep breath, and pointed a finger at me. “Don’t ever throw me under the bus again.”
“Don’t change a thing about the way you deliver a pitch and you won’t feel thrown.”
She shook her head, unable to muster a mean look as she fixed her hair and headed for the door.
I shifted my weight, suddenly conscious that I was on the other side of a line I swore I would never cross. “Oh, and Margot—”
She looked over her shoulder and raised her brows.
“You definitely kissed me first that time.”