Page 6 of Bossy Trouble

Inearly jumped out of my skin when I heard the door open, the sound jolting the last bit of common sense back into me.

Good thing, too, because if this had gone on any longer, you would have ended up sprawled over his desk, doing the one thing you swore to yourself you’d never do again.

“Sorry, sir,” the intruder, a small dark-haired woman, said. Her eyes flashed to me briefly, and I could hear the scorn dripping from her voice. “I saw Ms. Ahmed leave, and I didn’t know you had…othercompany.”

Heat rose in my cheeks as humiliation poured through me.

It wasn’t even totally because of the woman’s stare, although that was a significant part of it. She looked suitably disgruntled to see me there, and there was judgment in her eyes. I knew what she thought, but I refused to let myself be too ashamed.

I didn’t know her, and she didn’t know me, so her opinion of me didn’t matter.

But when she mentioned Donovan’s girlfriend, the full magnitude of what had just happened hit me.

He had a girlfriend, one that just left his office less than an hour ago. I’d nearly made out with a taken man. What the hell was wrong with me? I was not a homewrecker type of woman, so why the hell did this guy succeed at turning off every moral fiber of my being and making my body his slave?

I was so angry and disappointed in myself because I’d let this happen again.

I truly thought I was over him.

I came here today, confident that I could resist Donovan’s charms, this unholy power he had over me.

Back in the day, Donovan could turn me on with a single look and make my body sing with a single touch.

It had been five years since that, so I thought I was now immune.

But I was wrong, and I had only egg on my face to show for it.

“What is it, Ellen?” Donovan didn’t sound pleased at the interruption, and I did not doubt that the woman, who I surmised was his secretary, could hear it in his voice. She immediately lost her haughty look, converting back into a demure professional.

“You have a phone call. And I just wanted to remind you of the meeting you have later today. With Ms. Ahmed.”

The pointed mention of Donovan’s girlfriend was like a fresh pot of hell being poured on me. It was like a confirmation that not only was I a weak woman, but I was also a floozy too. The other woman.

No.

I denied it to my core. I would not accept that title, not let myself become someone I couldn’t stand.

This was the last time I would do this.

“Tell them I’ll be there in a moment, Ellen.”

“Yes, sir.”

After the door shut, I pushed from the desk in a hurry, backing away from him instantly. It didn’t help. Somehow, I could still feel him around me, his large hands on my back. I was still surrounded by the spicy scent of his cologne, and it was all so intoxicating.

I shook my head several times to clear it, but it didn’t help either. Because he was still standing there, observing me with that half-amused, half-perplexed expression of his.

“Feeling better?” The curl around his words added a distinctly sexual layer to his concerned tone. It told me that he wasn’t asking the question because he particularly cared whether or not I felt okay. Like a snake-charmer, the words were meant to disarm me so he could lure me into his trap until I was dancing to his tune and following him down the gates to my own destruction.

I should never have come.

“Um…” I stuttered over the words as my brain rebooted. “I have to go.”

“I thought you wanted my help with something.”

Oh right.I couldn’t leave yet, not without fulfilling my objective.At least, let me have come for something,I thought stubbornly, even though logic demanded that I flee from here as fast as possible.

I finally felt steady enough to speak and couldn’t keep the hope out of my voice when I asked, “So you’ll loan me the money?”

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