Page 49 of About Last Night
Getting up from his chair he moved to where she was sitting and knelt down between her legs, pushing them apart to make room for his body and running his hands up the insides of her thighs.
‘Are you challenging the boss, Lula?’ he growled in his most down and dirty tone, hoping to raise a smile from her. Things had got all too serious here suddenly and he wanted to bring back the levity they’d enjoyed between them for the last week. Even though he’d been aware occasionally that she was struggling with their affair, he’d brushed his concerns to one side, congratulating himself on the fact she couldn’t bring herself to stop it.
Just as he couldn’t. Despite the voice in his head warning him she needed more from this fling than he was able to give her, he couldn’t stop it now. She was like a drug. A very sexy, life-altering drug.
The look in her eyes flickered between annoyance and lust and he took this as a cue and leant forwards, pressing his lipsagainst hers and lifting one hand to cup the back of her head and stop her from pulling away, until he felt her give in to him.
He didn’t register that someone had come into the office until he heard a high, female voice behind him.
‘Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t realise you werebusyin here.’
Breaking away from Lula, he looked round to see Darla looking at them with an expression of pure disgust on her face.
Something hard and heavy fell in his chest.
He backed away from Lula quickly, standing up and running a hand through his hair, as if neatening himself up would take away the image Darla had just seen.
Idiot.
‘What can I do for you, Darla?’ he said, trying to force authority into his voice, but she clearly wasn’t impressed.
‘There’s a salary issue I need to discuss with you,’ she said coldly, her harsh gaze flicking between him and Lula.
‘Okay.’ He nodded stiffly. ‘I’m just discussing something with Lula, I’ll come and find you when we’re finished here.’
Darla snorted and inclined her head a fraction, her eyebrows shooting up, suggesting she knew exactly what they were going tofinish. ‘Fine.’ She turned on her heel and stomped out, banging the door closed behind her.
He turned to find Lula had stood up and was clutching her hands together in front of her, her eyes wild.
‘Dammit!’ she said quietly, not meeting his eye.
‘Lula, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have done that without checking the door was locked first.’
She shook her head. ‘We shouldn’t have done it at all. So unprofessional.’ Her voice was low with self-disgust.
‘It was my fault. I’ll smooth things over with Darla. Offer her a wage hike or something.’
Lula gave him an incredulous look. ‘You think you can buy your way out of this?’
He tensed in annoyance. ‘I don’t know, maybe?’
She looked so offended he had to fold his arms against the power of her glare.
‘I’m such an idiot. This is never going to work between us. Not if you think money is going to solve everything andcertainlynot if you think it’s okay to try and get your own way by seducing me into retracting my professional opinion.’
He took a deep, sudden breath in response, the force of it burning his throat. ‘That’s not what I was trying to do.’
‘Isn’t it? Really? You weren’t trying to shut me up by kissing me?’
He didn’t reply.
Because she was right.
She gave him one last, hard look before straightening her clothes and leaving the room.
He stared after her, feeling like the lowest of all lowlifes.
She was absolutely correct, of course; he did have a problem with relinquishing his control over things – over everything. He was so used to stepping in and taking over, like he had with his family’s business – using money or charm to get his way – that he’d acted that way towards Lula without thinking.
