Page 13 of Stuck with the Hot Boss
‘Donotdiss Keith and Kev!’ Evie ordered. ‘They’ve grown Double K from nothing to a multi-million-pound business! They’re smart, brave andamazing! Iloveworking for them!’
So there!
Evie expected Leo to give her the silent treatment and had mentally picked out which book she was going to read next (You’re a Bad Man, Mr Gum!). She was therefore astonished when Leo laughed. A proper laugh, with actual amusement in it. He propped himself up on his elbow.
‘Evie,’ he said, smiling down at her. ‘You’re my worst nightmare. But I suspect you’re also the best thing that’s ever happened to me.’
And he bent his mouth to hers and kissed her.
Chapter Seven
It was only a quick kiss, a soft peck on her cheek. Until it wasn’t. Evie couldn’t say which one of them moved first. Only that their eyes had briefly locked, and then they’d begun kissing in earnest, hungrily exploring each other’s mouths, hands reaching for each other’s bodies, fighting to loosen the overalls in which they were both trapped.
Evie had one hand in Leo’s hair, loving its softness, loving messing up its perfect grooming. Her other hand was struggling with his overall fastenings, a seemingly endless line of heavy-duty press studs plus hidden zip. Health and safety gone mad. But then it was open, and Evie reached inside, slipping her hand immediately up under his shirt to touch bare skin. Leo still had ripped abs, not a surprise, and Evie traced her fingers around the silken firmness of his muscles until Leo groaned and broke the kiss, reaching down to still her hand with his.
‘Jesus, Evie,’ he said, breathlessly. ‘I’m not sure Dennis would appreciate me returning his overalls with you-know-what all over them.’
‘Are you not wearing trousers?’ She hadn’t explored that far.
‘I am, but they’re lightweight linen.’
Leo sounded so earnest that Evie had to bite her lip. Then she decided she’d much rather bite Leo’s lip, so she gently did that, while sneakily manoeuvring his hand that was meant to be keeping hers off his abs. Her own overall had been unsnapped, and Evie laid Leo’s hand on her loose cotton top, right where her skimpy bralette was failing to conceal the tautness of her nipples.
Leo took her mouth again in a hard kiss and skimmed his thumb lightly over her nipple and the curve of her breast, causing Evie to arch against him in lust. She could feel his erection through three layers of fabric – two if he was going commando – and it became a matter of urgency for her to free that glorious hardness and guide it inside her. So what if they barely knew each other? So what if they were doing it in a stranger’s house on a child’s pink plush bed? So what if they were likely to be interrupted at any moment–?
‘Shit.’
Evie and Leo locked eyes again, but now with mutual awareness that this was not the ideal time or place for stripping naked and doing the wild thing. Their hormones might yell in protest, but their brains were back in charge.
‘Um, I think we should–’ Leo began.
‘Absolutely,’ Evie agreed.
And with that, they disentangled and sat on either side of the bed, hastily re-fastening snaps and zips. Leo got up and checked his hair in the bedroom’s white-and-gold mirror. Evie thought his hair looked fine, but Leo made quite a few adjustments, frowning until he was happy with the result.
In the mirror, he caught Evie’s eye and gave her a self-deprecating grimace.
‘Speaking of habits,’ he said, turning round, ‘when you’ve spent most of your life being judged by your looks, it’s hard not to believe they’re still important.’
‘I get you,’ said Evie. ‘WhenIlook in the mirror, I see that scrawny, wonky-toothed kid. That image we form of ourselves in childhood really hangs around, doesn’t it? And not in a good way.’
‘Did you have to wear braces?’ Leo asked.
‘No, thank the lord,’ said Evie. ‘My adult teeth came in miraculously straight. Although I still have one wonky canine. See?’
She pulled up her top lip to show him.
‘Cute,’ he said, with a grin.
Then his expression sobered. ‘Evie, I–’ he began.
A slow creak of boots on stairs stopped him. The knob rattled, then clicked, and the bedroom door opened to reveal a wide-eyed Ash, toolbox by their feet and in their hand, a tray of takeaway coffees.
‘It was locked!’ they said, astonished. ‘Have you been stuck here all this time?’
‘Somuchtime, Ash!’ Evie scolded. ‘Where in tarnation have youbeen?’
‘I got a call from my workmate, who needed something from my van.’ Ash made an apologetic face. ‘Took a bit longer than I expected.’
