Page 36 of The Master

“Both of us didn’t need to lose sleep.” The two of us headed for the kitchen. “What time is it? I’ll find something quick for breakfast if it’s late.”

“We’re going to be working from here,” he said as he released my hand and headed to the coffee machine.

I almost scowled but reminded myself that jumping to conclusions had gotten us into trouble in the past. Before I reacted as if he’d made a unilateral decision, I needed to make sure that was what had happened. “We are?”

He glanced over his shoulder at me before turning his attention back to his coffee. “That’s what I went to see Jailene about yesterday.”

It took me a moment to place the name. “The label’s lawyer?”

“Yes. I wanted to know recommendations regarding whether you and I came into work or worked from home. Since I told her that I wasn’t going to stay away from you until this was all figured out, she thought it was a better idea for us to stay away from the office.”

I raised an eyebrow. “And what did she have to say when you told her we’d be staying away from the office in the same place?”

He looked at me again, a grin curving his lips. “I didn’t offer that particular piece of information, and she didn’t ask.”

“So, it’s one of those ‘better to ask forgiveness than permission’ sort of things?”

“Exactly.”

He started pulling food out of the fridge, and I took a few seconds to decide how I felt about this turn of events. I still didn’t like it, but with it coming from the legal department, at least I knew it wasn’t Nate trying to be protective. I could get behind doing what was best for the company, no matter how much it annoyed me.

Twenty-Five

Nate

I’d likedthe idea of working at home with Ashlee at my side, so I hadn’t given Jailene a chance to second-guess her recommendation. That meant I hadn’t really thought about what it would mean to have Ashlee with me all day while we both tried to work. Then again, I wasn’t sure I would’ve done things any differently if, at the time, I’d realized how much of a distraction she would be.

Case in point, she was working from the chair in my office, her feet on the footstool so her legs were on display. All I could think about was how much I wanted those legs wrapped around my waist. At least she was wearing dress slacks instead of a skirt or dress. If I’d had to stare at her bare legs, the tenuous grasp I had on my control would’ve snapped hours ago.

As it was, I kept glancing at her every few minutes, which meant I then had to try to find my place again in the policy pdf HR had sent to me for first approval. I couldn’t send it to Jailene until I finished my pass, and it couldn’t be distributed to Manhattan Records employees until she verified everything from a legal standpoint.

Basically, if I didn’t get my ass in gear, something that should’ve been finished already might not get done until tomorrow…or later if we stayed in tomorrow too. I wondered how much of Ashlee’s work I’d distracted her from. I’d caught her looking at me a couple times, but I didn’t know if that was because she’d felt me watching her or because she couldn’t stop thinking about me either. It wasn’t a lack of confidence in what she felt for me, but rather not knowing if she was simply better at focusing on a mundane task no matter her surroundings.

Or at least that was what I’d been telling myself.

I could’ve asked her to move, to work in the library or at the table. Or I could’ve offered her my desk and gone elsewhere to work, even though it was my house. None of those options would’ve made a difference, though. It wasn’t just the sight of her that had me off my game. The simple knowledge of her presence was enough.

“Do you want a refill?” she asked suddenly.

I tried to pretend I hadn’t been thinking about fucking her against the wall, her ankles crossed as she held on for dear life. “What was that?”

She smiled, a glint in her eyes that made me wonder if she’d either guessed what I’d been thinking or had been thinking something similar herself. “Do you want a coffee refill?”

“You’re not my secretary,” I said. “I don’t expect you to fetch coffee for me.”

She stood up and stretched, a sensual movement that drew attention to the sliver of pale skin at her waist and the way her breasts moved when she arched her back.

Fuck me.

“I wasn’t offering to fetch coffee.” She smirked. “I’m going to get some for myself and figured I’d be nice and ask if you wanted some while I was up.”

Right. That made sense. “Sure. Thanks.”

I watched her walk from the office, positive that she was putting an extra swing into her hips just so I would watch her ass as she left. I shook my head, unable to stop myself from smiling. Sex distracting me was expected. I wasn’t accustomed to humor and a smile doing the same thing. Well, it was thatandher ass.

It’d felt so good, easing into that tight passage. Pleasure with an edge of pain even for me. Her body an instrument that only I was allowed to play. My cock thickened as the memories ran through my head.

I closed my eyes. Dammit. I needed to stop thinking about Ashlee’s ass. Or any other part of her that made me hard. Which was pretty much every part of her, now that I thought about it.

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