People nodded and murmured greetings.
“Grab a seat and we’ll get started,” Tyler said motioning to some open chairs at the opposite side of the long table. Before Lauren even found a place to sit, Tyler was talking. “Team, we have terrific news. We have landed a chance to pitch to BG Clothing.”
There were whispers around the table. Lauren wasn’t sure why.
“I know we thought we couldn’t get heard on this campaign, but Matthew’s presence has opened doors. He pulled some strings, and the outcome is a win for Carlson. We have one shot and one shot only to prove we can handle their business line of clothing. Let’s make it a good one.”
The conference room door opened and a man appeared in the entrance. Tall and broad with raven hair, he stood there, taking in the room, dressed in a tailored suit, and an aura of power. His presence transformed the mood of the group, electricity suddenly darting around the table.
Lauren couldn’t breathe because there was no question this was her one-night stand. Her stranger. Her Matt was Matthew Monroe and her new boss. This couldn’t be happening. It was an absolute nightmare. She softly inhaled and then discreetly exhaled.
Even more potent than she remembered, his presence wrapped around her like a tight glove. A comparison came to mind… He reminded her of a tiger on the prowl, a businessman with money and purpose. His fluid movements were both confident and menacing. Everyone in the room seemed to sit up an inch higher in their chairs.
And she remembered their difference. Though she was a competent businessperson, they were from different worlds. If he was caviar, she was a sardine. Tyler greeted him with a smile. “We were just talking about this great opportunity you maneuvered for us.”
The room filled with cheers but Lauren couldn’t participate. She felt like melting into the ground or bolting. Yet, escape without recognition simply wasn’t possible. As if driving the point home, Tyler focused on Lauren. “Matt, let me introduce you to our new associate. This is Lauren Reynolds.”
The moment of truth had arrived.
For what felt like a lifetime, Matt stared at Lauren, yet, his face showed no emotion. Her chest tightened as a flash of memories played in her mind. Of him touching her. Pleasing her. Tasting her. His eyes darkened and she knew he was thinking the same things. Destiny had played a nasty trick on her. Really, on both of them. Her one night of pleasure had come back to haunt her. Like a punishment for living a little.
Then, abruptly he walked toward her, a predatory gleam in his eyes. Without any options, she turned in her chair to watch as he stopped beside her. And damn if her nipples didn’t tingle with the memory of him suckling and teasing. It made this her biggest test of composure to date. He held out the hand that had touched her so intimately. So hotly, and a smile played on those far-too-full and sensual lips.
Tentatively, preparing herself inwardly for the impact, she slid her palm against his. And just as expected a spark of electricity surged through her body, and then landed with a hard aftershock right between her legs. And as her eyes locked with his, the words he’d spoken that night played like a soft whisper in her mind…
I’m going to kiss every inch of you so perfectly you will never, ever forget me.
She hadn’t forgotten him. Lord help her, she thought about him far too often. And now, he was here. “Welcome, Lauren Reynolds,” he said in a soft, sultry voice that played on her nerve endings like a seductive harp.
She swallowed. His voice evoked even more memories. Hot, burning moments with naked bodies entwined. With effort, she managed a steady voice. “Thank you.”
He was still holding her hand, and she wondered if anyone thought he held it too long. It was as if he was telling her he remembered. Like a secret acknowledgement of the intimacy they’d shared. But, then he released her hand and abruptly turned away.
Lauren struggled to shake of the impact of his touch as he took his seat at the head of the table. Reality began to ooze into the thick blanket of arousal this man evoked. Her career had just taken a sudden, definitive nosedive. Her body was alive and pulsing over the man who was now her boss.
She needed this job.
She wanted her boss.
Could things get any worse?
Chapter Eight
Matt sat at the conference table amidst the people who considered him their boss. Their future. Their new leader. And his attention was on just one person. On Lauren. For her to be here, a new employee, in his conference room, seemed impossible. All his efforts to find her after that night she’d disappeared had come up empty-handed.
And then, she just showed up.
Women didn’t get under his skin. Until Lauren. That’s why he looked for her. He couldn’t stop thinking about her. Her transformation from sexy casual to business professional did nothing to hide her amazing curves or downplay her lovely skin. It also did nothing to diminish how she affected his senses.
He wanted to touch her again. To taste her. To tease her. To feel her wet body hugging his cock as she called his name. Their night together had stayed with him on constant replay. At the oddest of times, she would appear in his thoughts. At first, he’d thought it was about pride. After all, she’d run off without a word. It had smarted. But after several days, he knew it was more. Though he’d wanted to see her again, and was immensely pleased to see her, having her work for him created complications.
How to handle such things weighed heavily on his mind.
As the meeting drew to an end, Matt forced his attention back to the room, instead of one woman.
“We are throwing a birthday party for Bret Weaver, the key decision-maker at BG clothing,” Tyler announced. “Mark your calendars for Friday the 18th at the New Yorker Hotel.”
Matt’s eyes went to Lauren and their gazes locked. The New Yorker housed the bar where they’d met. It was like a walk back in time to that hot night when passion burned between them. Lauren blushed and averted her gaze.
“Now,” Tyler said, “here is where the pressure starts. We got in on this bid late. Matt leaves in a week for the Los Angeles corporate offices of BG. He needs ideas by then. Now, I know I don’t need to say this, but I expect all of you to be present and accounted for at this party. And I expect great ideas for this campaign. Unique and original. I realize this is short notice but I have to expect you to step up to the plate and give me a home run. You’ll be paired up in teams to prepare your ideas. And I stress, this is for the professional line only. We get a shot at the rest only if we do this right.”
Matt pushed to his feet, ready to get out of the room and think. Lauren was here now, and she couldn’t run away. But he needed to make his move a good one. That meant he needed to give it some consideration.
“You have very little time here, team,” Matt said to the room. “I need good, innovative ideas. I’ll let you get busy.” Then with a quick nod of his head, he turned toward the door.
Lauren was here now, but she was also his employee.
Where the hell did that leave him?
* * * * *
Lauren walked into her office and pushed the door shut, and then let out a huge breath. She crossed the room, and tossed her pad of paper and pen on her desk. Then, the pacing started, because she didn’t know what else to do. Wrapped tight like a rubber band she didn’t know where to put her tension.
It was four-thirty and the first time since coming face-to-face with her one-time lover, she hadn’t managed a moment alone. Somehow, she’d contained her stress, and offered a calm façade to those around her.
But she was anything but. In truth, she was completely, utterly freaked out.
What in the hell was she supposed to do now?
She’d slept with her boss! Well…he wasn’t her boss then, but he was now, so it really played out with the same results. She was screwed.
The worse part was, she still wanted him. Damn the man for pushing whatever buttons he pushed.
She stopped pacing, a sudden thought darting through her min
d. What if Matt thought she planned this? Oh, no, not good. She definitely had to talk to him. Not giving herself any more time to think, she marched out of her office and toward the executive suites. Backing out wasn’t an option.
Approaching Matt’s office, Lauren found it closely guarded by a secretary, a woman appearing to be in her mid-thirties who smelled of snobbery. She didn’t even acknowledge Lauren’s presence though Lauren had seen her glance up. Lauren cleared her throat.
With a look of irritation the secretary’s gaze lifted. “I’m here to see Matt,” Lauren said, and then inwardly cringed realizing she’d forgotten to use his last name. She tried to play it off by ignoring the slip. “I’m Lauren Reynolds.”
“Do you have an appointment with Mr. Monroe?”
Lauren forced a sticky sweet smile and kept her voice accommodating. “No, but if he would see me, I would greatly appreciate it.”
The secretary sniffed, and gave Lauren a look that said I doubt it. Clenching her teeth together, Lauren bit back a retort. The woman actually looked as if she might refuse to buzz Matt before she reached for the phone. Lauren listened as she was announced, and witnessed the moment of surprise as it registered on the woman’s face.
The secretary set the receiver to the phone down. In a tight voice, she said, “Go right in.”
A tiny part of Lauren felt adolescent. She wanted to gloat, but she figured it wouldn’t serve any purpose. Besides, what real victory had she won besides an opportunity to go into the lion’s den?
* * * * *
With a heavy sigh, Matt digested his secretary’s words. Lauren was here to see him. He leaned back in his oversized executive chair, a hand on the back of his neck where the tension seemed to sit like a heavy rock. After his morning meeting with the past, he’d been slammed with appointments. He had hoped for some time to think things through before he came face-to-face with Lauren again.
It appeared he wouldn’t get that opportunity.
But his ultimate goal wouldn’t change with time or thought. He wanted Lauren. Period. No question about it. Not just in his bed, but in his life. It was crazy, yes, probably. But he wasn’t fighting it. She was special. For the first time in years, he was thinking about something other than work.
Lauren made him want more.
* * * * *
Lauren wiped her clammy hands on her skirt before reaching for Matt’s doorknob. How had the past become the present and even the future? She eased the knob to the left, and slipped inside the room. With a definitive need for privacy, she clicked the door back into place.
For a moment, she simply took in the elegantly decorated office complete with spectacular ceiling to floor windows covering two out of four walls. Her eyes didn’t linger on the surrounding. They went to the man who dominated the room.
He sat behind a massive desk, looking powerful, confident, and extremely sexy. Talking on the phone, his attention was on what appeared to be an intense dialogue. Busy. He was very busy. Maybe visiting him was a bad idea. She started to turn, to bolt, and duck her head and hide. But, then he looked up and she was trapped.
He smiled and waved her forward.
No escape.
She swallowed as she forced her feet to take steps. By the time she claimed a visitor’s chair, her pulse was beating like a drum and she was questioning her logic for visiting. Matt hung up the phone, and studied her, his gaze far too probing. In a soft voice, he said, “I won’t bite.”
Not entirely true. He’d like to be nipping at her neck, arm…and then, her nipple. She shoved the thought away and decided to ignore the comment all together. “I had no idea who you were.”
“That thought hadn’t even crossed my mind.”
She studied him a moment. “This is a bit unusual.”
“Unexpected,” he said as he leaned back in his chair, and smiled. “But not unpleasant.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Please don’t tease me. I’m having a hard enough time with this.”
His brow inched up. “I assure you, I was quite serious.”
Her brows dipped. She didn’t understand him. Didn’t want to. She just wanted this to all go away. “I’ll resign if you want me to.” She paused a beat. “If you think that’s best.”
* * * * *
Matt studied Lauren for a long, intense moment. She had the most amazing skin and he remembered every damn inch of it. Feeling the throb of his cock come to life, he pushed to his feet, wanting to get closer. To make sure she was all he remembered. He walked around the desk, and stopped directly in front of her, perching on the edge of the wooden top to bring them almost eye level. Their legs were only inches apart and he remembered them entwined. Intimate. Naked.
For long moments, neither of them spoke. The air crackled with their connection. With an attraction that existed both past and present. “I don’t want you to resign,” he said softly.
She wet her lips. A nervous action not meant to be seductive but it was. It made him want to taste her as he had in the past. To soak in that sweet flavor so unique to her.
“I really feel like I should resign,” she half whispered.
He raised a questioning brow. “Why?” His eyes held her brown ones. He loved the color. So warm and alluring. So honest. Maybe that was part of what drew him to her. In business, he saw so many agendas. Lauren didn’t have one beyond survival. He sensed it. He saw it in the depths of those rich eyes.
“Resigning would make things less…awkward.” Her voice held a slight quiver.
He could tell she meant what she said, but that it would cost her professionally and maybe financially. “No,” he said, “That’s not the answer.”
“I, well, I guess if you can pretend it didn’t happen, then—”
His desire to be discreet and ease into this might be sending the wrong message. He wanted her to know how he felt. If she shut him down, he’d back off.
Matt cut off her words. “I remember every intimate detail of our time together but does that mean you should resign? Absolutely not.” He let his words linger in the air a moment. “What about you? Do you remember?”
The soft, floral scent she wore floated in the air like a sweet enticement. Memories of touching her wrapped around him like a fine mist. She surprised him by squeezing her eyes shut as if she was hiding from his words.
“Lauren?” he prodded gently.
After several seconds, her lashes fluttered open. “Look,” she said a bit hoarsely, and then paused to delicately clear her throat. “What happened between us… I don’t make a habit of that sort of thing.”
He didn’t blink. His response was immediate. “I know,” Matt assured her. “What I don’t know is why you ran out on me that night.”
Abruptly pushing to her feet, she moved as if to retreat. No way, he thought. He wasn’t about to let her run. He followed her to his feet, his hand snaking out to grab her shoulders. After this, he’d leave her alone if that was what she wanted. But here, now, he deserved answers.
She glared at him. “Please let me go. I came here to make things better, not worse. I do need this job. If you let me stay, I won’t say a word to anyone about that…night. Professional and personal belong in two different places. I know that.”
His eyes narrowed. “Do I not deserve answers Lauren? That’s all I ask for. Just answers. Really, one. Why did you leave without saying a word?”
She shook her head doggedly. “It’s the past.”
He eyed her keenly. “What are you afraid of Lauren?” She swallowed but didn’t respond, in fact, he could have sworn she swayed toward him. He pushed a bit harder. “Why did you leave without saying goodbye?”
Her chin tilted up in defiance, their eyes locking. “Why does it matter?” She tugged at her arms. He held her easily. “Let me go, Matt.”
He shook his head. “Please answer, Lauren.”
Eyes locked, they stood there, staring at one another, the potency of their attraction raw and alive. And then suddenly they were kissing. Lauren’s
soft curves pressed against his, their tongues sliding together in red, hot passion. Her hands settled on his chest even as his flattened on her back. With each second that passed, he confirmed what he’d known was true. This woman made him crazy. Made him want and want and want beyond explanation.
He didn’t want to ever let her go again. “Lauren,” he murmured against her mouth. “You shouldn’t have left me.”
“I had to,” Lauren whispered against his lips.
Before she could say more, he claimed her mouth yet again. He needed just one more rush of that flavor so uniquely her, yet, he forced himself to draw back after only a few strokes of his tongue. He tilted her chin up with his finger, making her meet his gaze. “Why? Why did you have to leave like you did?”
Her voice held a tiny little quiver. “It’s hard to explain.”
“Try.”
Her response was silence. After several long moments, he brushed his lips over hers. “I want you,” he told her huskily. “Tell me you want me, too.”
She stiffened, her hands moving to his waist. “It’s not a question of want, and you know it. I don’t think you would believe me if I told you I didn’t want you.” She swallowed hard before continuing. “I can’t.” Lauren paused. “No. I won’t sleep with my boss.”
Matt opened his mouth to protest. Understanding how she felt, he wanted to reassure her there was no pressure. Yet, he hated for their unique circumstances to shut down something special. He opened his mouth to say as much when a knock sounded on the door. He cursed under his breath. Where in the hell was his secretary? She wasn’t supposed to let anyone by without announcing them first.
Staring down at Lauren, he said, “We’ll finish this conversation later.” Then he released her because he had no choice.
Lauren ran a hand through her hair, clearly trying to compose herself. “I’ll let whoever it is in as I go.”
Matt watched her leave because, again, he had no option. They were at work and this thing between them was abnormal. Professionalism had to dictate their actions.