Page 69 of Business Casual

“I can’t be close to you right now, Imani.” There was a desperation in his tone that I’d never heard before.

My heart thumped in my chest as I took another step. “Why?”

“Why did you wear that dress?”

“You don’t like it?”

“I want to rip it off of you and bend you over this table.” His hand moved over his bulge. “So yeah, I like it. A lot. And as much as I’ve thought about it”—his eyes swept over me— “that isn’t why I called you in here. But every time I look at you, I just…”

Thinking about him thinking about sex with me was starting to have an effect on me. Clearing my throat lightly, I crossed my arms across my chest in hopes he didn’t notice how hard my nipples had become.

“You just what?” I asked breathily.

I wanted him to say it. I wanted him to act on it.

He exhaled roughly. “I’m not thinking with the right head.”

Pushing himself off the table, he walked around to the other side of it. “I have to change the subject.”

I cocked my head to the side. “We can talk about anything you want to talk about. But if we’re quick and quiet, we can circle back around to that table idea,” I flirted jokingly.

“Imani,” he groaned, shaking his head. “Tell me about your day. What did my father want earlier?”

“Today has been a really good day for the most part. The work is going well on all accounts. And your dad told me about an opportunity I should check out and I’m really excited about it!” My exhilaration caused my sentence to end with a little squeal.

“I like seeing you like this,” he remarked with a huge grin on his face.

“Like what?”

“This.” He gestured to me with both hands before grabbing the back of the chair again. “Happy. Proud.”

The way he looked at me made me feel exposed. “You’ve seen me happy before.”

His eyes darkened. “Yes.” He licked his lips slowly. “But that’s not what I’m talking about.”

“Oh,” I breathed, still staring at his lips.

“You work hard. You deserve everything.”

I didn’t know if we were talking about the same thing anymore. But the thing I felt like I deserved in that moment was trapped in his pants.

Get it together and calm down,I admonished myself.Change the subject before it’s too late.

“Speaking of hard work, I know you have a lot on your plate”—I shifted my eyes to the papers on the table between us— “but I sent you the fact sheet outline last week.”

“Oh, no.” He shook his head. “I just said that because Susan was all in my face when I was asking you to stop by.”

“I don’t think it’s suspicious for a supervisor to ask a contracted employee to stop by.”

“Yeah, well, I would agree with you if Susan didn’t catch me staring at you in the meeting.”

I didn’t even try to conceal my grin. “What?”

“Yeah, she caught me staring.”

“I didn’t see you staring. And I spent half the meeting looking at you,” I admitted with a laugh.

He smiled. “Well after Susan caught me the second time, I made a point not to look your way again. If it happens once or twice, I can say it was a coincidence. If she caught me a third time, she would know and then everyone would know.”

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