her.” Even though my poor dad was clueless about the hidden meaning behind Richard’s words, they rang loud and clear to me. And the flash of heat in his icy blue eyes could only mean one thing.
I was so screwed. And not in the good way.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I hissed once the door to Flora closed behind my father.
He got close to me, caging me against the counter once again. “The way I see it, the ball’s in my court now, friend.”
My belly flip-flopped, my thighs clenched involuntarily, and I was pretty sure I stopped breathing right then and there. I was no match for his seduction technique. He definitely had the advantage since my body refused to listen to my brain and all but begged me to reach out and touch him.
But before I could, he leaned in closer, placed a lingering kiss on my neck, just below my ear, and headed for the door. It wasn’t until he was gone that I was finally able to pull some much needed air into my lungs.
“Giiiiirl,” Toni hummed appreciatively from behind me. “You’re out of your league with that one. Might as well just strip naked and let him have your way with you now. It’s inevitable.”
Oh, if she only knew the half of it.
I RUBBED AT MY aching temples, wondering for the thousandth time today if I’d made a huge mistake.
It all started earlier this morning when I woke up to the sound of Eminem blasting through my bedroom wall. I lay there for a few seconds, hating myself for mouthing along to the words that were now seared into my memory, when the pounding started, followed by a shrill voice yelling, “Rise and shine, Boss Man! Time to start the day!”
I wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad thing that my newest assistant seemed to be a morning person, especially when there was a knock on my door not even five minutes after I’d gotten out of the shower.
“Sweet Christ, woman! I’m not even ready yet!” I shouted as I tucked a towel around my waist, made my way to the front door and jerked it open, ready to lay into Devon for already proving to be a pain in my ass.
Only it wasn’t Devon standing there. It was Delilah, looking adorably sleepy and just a tad bit confused. “Uh… Devon said to bring this over to you?” She held up a travel mug that smelled an awful lot like freshly-brewed coffee. “She said something about having to keep her new boss happy and that I should bring you coffee while she finished getting ready.”
I immediately took back all the bad things I thought of Devon earlier.
“Did you really hire her as your new assistant?” she asked as she stood in the doorway, shifting from foot to foot. I watched with amusement as she desperately tried — and failed — to keep her eyes off the certain part of my body currently covered by the towel. When I cleared my throat, catching her eyes once again, I smiled, letting her know she’d been busted. I couldn’t put into words just how turned on I got at the sight of her cheeks turning that deep pink every time she got embarrassed. Seeing that flush made me want to do whatever I could to push her buttons.
I took the travel mug from her hand and sucked down a long sip, letting the caffeine work its magic. “It’s on a probationary basis right now, but it’s safe to say that if she keeps sending her cute roommate to my door with coffee every morning, I’m liable to make it permanent.”
There was that flush again. Christ, I could feel my dick twitching behind the terrycloth.
She narrowed her eyes behind those glasses before pushing them back up her nose. “You’re really not going to take the friends thing seriously, are you?”
“On the contrary,” I told her, leaning against the doorframe and taking another sip. “I’m taking it very seriously.”
“Then why are you still all…” she waved her hand around in the air, “…flirty and stuff?”
I shrugged. “You call it flirting, I just call it being friendly.”
“That’s not how friends act!” she declared, propping her hands on her curvy hips and drawing my attention to her tiny silk sleep shorts. Jesus, is she wearing underwear under those things? The towel was no longer able to hide the effect of what staring at Delilah did to my body.