Wild Embrace (Wilder Irish #11) - Mari Carr Page 0,36

twitched.

Jesus.

He was more than his penis. He was an adult, and he should be able to control these baser desires.

He closed his eyes, rubbing them wearily. He was about to make a huge mistake—and even though he recognized that, he didn’t bother to stop himself from making it.

Spinning his chair back toward his desk, he picked up his phone, dialing her extension.

“Darcy Young,” she said, obviously before glancing at the caller ID on her work phone. “Oh, Ryder. Hey. What’s up?”

“Can you come to my office for a few minutes?”

“Sure. Do you need me to bring anything?”

He’d never summoned her to his office once in the past three months she’d worked here, so she obviously thought this had something to do with the job.

He wished he could be that fucking professional right now.

“No.” He disconnected the call, then watched the door.

The marketing department was fairly close, so she was there within a minute or two.

“Shut the door,” he said the second she crossed the threshold. “And lock it.”

Darcy froze for a split second, her gaze locking with his. Then, she grinned and did exactly as he asked.

He rose from his chair and crooked his finger at her. “Come here.”

He’d resisted kissing her for two whole weeks. He was calling that a victory.

Of course, he was about to have to restart the clock.

Darcy crossed the office, stopping a few feet in front of him.

He shook his head. “Closer.”

She glanced over her shoulder at the locked door, then closed the distance between them.

Ryder wasted no time gripping her upper arms and pulling her the rest of the way toward him, lowering his head and kissing her hard. Darcy, as always, was an active, enthusiastic participant. She kissed like she lived—with exuberance and joy.

He felt the ends of her lips tip up in a smile as her tongue darted out to play with his. At one point, she even nipped his bottom lip, giggling when he narrowed his eyes at the brief pain.

She tucked her hands beneath his suit jacket, her fingers gripping his dress shirt at his midsection. Meanwhile, he couldn’t manage to touch her enough. He ran his fingers through her hair, then cupped the nape of her neck to deepen the kiss. After that, his hands drifted lower along her back, to her waist, to her hips. She gasped slightly when he dropped them even farther and gripped her ass.

Darcy was the first to pull away slightly, sucking in a deep breath of air. Ryder wasn’t ready to stop, so he placed kisses on her cheek, along her neck.

“Is this going to be our thing?” Darcy asked breathlessly. “Friday kisses? Because I’m totally cool with branching out and including a few more days of the week. Maybe Mondays? Wednesdays? Every day that ends in Y? You missed last Friday, by the way, so you owe me extra kisses.”

Ryder wasn’t ready to talk. Talking required thinking and thinking led to common sense and reality. He wasn’t willing to go there yet. He kissed her again, trying to understand what it was about this woman that had him acting like a horny teenager on his first date. He was a grown-ass, reasonable, responsible man, who’d never had trouble remaining in control.

“Darcy,” he whispered. “I think you’ve put a spell on me.”

“No. Not a spell. But I’m sort of hoping I’ve cursed you.”

He lifted his head, confused. “A curse? That would be worse than a spell.”

She shrugged casually. “Depends on who you ask, I guess.”

He squeezed her ass cheeks one last time, then forced himself to take a step away.

“Are we already to the part where you tell me why we shouldn’t do this?” she asked. “Because I’m aware you’re still the boss.” He could tell she was only half-teasing, which reminded him that it wasn’t just him he was fucking up with this kiss-and-run game.

“I’ve been thinking about you the past couple of weeks.”

“Ditto.”

“I’ve been thinking about our similar problems,” he began.

She laughed. “Okay.”

“I think it’s obvious that I’m attracted to you. That’s not something I’ve experienced with another woman in a long time. But, Darcy, you’ve never—”

“Stop. I know what you’re going to say, Ryder, and I don’t know how to convince you that I haven’t been saving myself. Honestly.”

“Regardless, a woman’s first time should be special, and it should be with someone she cares about.”

“I care about you.”

He wasn’t sure how to respond to that…because it had become very clear to him since that night in the elevator that he