“What if you pick what happens instead?” she said on a surge of bravery. “I would’ve never been brave enough to plan out what happened Friday night. The fun was in the, I don’t know . . .”
“In the lack of control,” he said simply. “You liked that I took over.”
She smoothed her lipstick, considering his theory and realizing he was dead-on right. As soon as he’d stopped her in the hallway, the barrage of worries and what ifs had fallen away and she’d been happy to let the tide that was Kade Vandergriff sweep her onto a new beach. And once they’d gotten upstairs, she hadn’t had to think or worry about who would make a move or if it would be awkward or if she did something wrong. He’d taken care of it all, taken care of her. She’d just followed his lead and instructions and enjoyed.
The realization niggled at her. She’d spent too much of her life letting someone “take care of her.” She didn’t want to be that girl always looking to let some guy handle things. But when it came to sex, she was out of her depth. Having him guide her was a big part of the appeal. She just had to be sure that control didn’t bleed into anything else.
“I guess that was a big part of it,” she admitted. “It felt more comfortable to let you take the lead.”
A pleased smile replaced his serious expression and as if no longer able to keep from touching her, he took her hands and pulled her to her feet, caging her between his knees. “Well, lucky for both of us, my favorite thing of all is taking charge, so I’m more than happy to oblige that wish. You give me the okay, and you won’t have to worry about another thing. All you’ll have to do is show up and be mine for the night.”
That last part sent her mind racing down bunny trails she hadn’t even known were there in her psyche, images of what being his for the night would mean. “Are you going to make me wear a Princess Leia costume and chain me in your garage or something?”
He slid his hands onto her waist. “Wicked girl, now you’re just talking dirty to turn me on.”
She rolled her eyes, but the way he was looking at her had her body waking up in all the important places.
“I need to hear you say yes, Tessa. I want you. Once wasn’t enough. And I know you feel the same way.” When she opened her mouth to respond, he tugged her even closer, lowering his voice. “In fact, I’d bet the net worth of this company that you’re wet beneath this prim skirt right now, imagining all the things I could do to you. It’s taking all my self-control not to slide it up and feel for myself.”
Heat washed over her skin, like opening an oven and feeling the blast of it. Instinctively, she pressed her thighs together and averted her eyes, knowing he was right and hating that she was so freaking transparent.
He captured her jaw with gentle fingers and turned her head to face him. “Don’t be ashamed of that, own it. We’re two grown people who are attracted to each other. That’s something to celebrate and enjoy, not feel guilt over. Fuck being a ‘proper lady’—whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean—and be a woman who takes what she needs and deserves without apology.”
The fervor of his words hit her on some level deep beneath the layers of the person she put out into the world. That permission to grab onto what she really wanted or needed had never been presented to her like that before. Her life was full of how she could accommodate others, fit into the proper cardboard cutouts of their lives so she’d have a place, each foster home a new script to follow. And even when she’d become an adult, she’d simply signed onto another role with Doug—a paper doll with pretty costumes.
“I’m not sure I even know how to do that.”
“Then let me show you. One more night, Tessa. That’s all I’m asking.”
She took a deep, spine-straightening breath, resolve crystallizing inside her. On the exhale, calmness bled through her. Good or bad, her decision was made. “How do you want to do this?”
The satisfaction that illuminated his smile was almost reward enough. He leaned in and touched his lips to hers, a soft, cajoling kiss that had slow, rolling awareness building in her. “Can you trust me?”
She closed her eyes, her entire being melting from the simple contact of his lips against hers. Trust? Ha. She didn’t have any of that to give. But she’d asked him to take control so she found herself nodding anyway. “Okay.”
“Good. Give me your address and phone number.” He handed her a stack of sticky notes. “Let’s get together tomorrow night. If I keep you in here much longer, my assistant will be wondering why this interview is taking so long.”
“Where are we going to go?” she asked as she jotted down her information on the paper. “I’d prefer to keep this private since I’ll be working here now.”
He smiled and molded her body flush against his, her hands and the stack of sticky notes caught between them. God, he was so solid, so . . . guh. Her knees wanted to buckle beneath her just so he could hold her up. “That’s where the trust part comes in, beautiful.”
“Oh.” It was all she could manage to say with him pressed so close, his hardening erection imprinting on her hip.
“Now, go tell Maile that you’re hired and need to fill out a new employee packet.”
She grimaced and pressed her forehead to his, his instructions reminding her of just how screwed up of a situation this was. “This is so very, very wrong.”
He grinned, the boyish expression changing his face into something much less intimidating but no less attractive. “Ah, but that’s part of what makes it so damn fun.”
“You’re bad.”
“You have no idea.” He released her and grabbed the stamp again. Before she could figure out what he was doing, he hiked up her skirt, exposing her black underwear.
“Kade!”
“Hush.” He crouched down and traced a line along the edge of her panties, pulling them down ever so slightly. Electric pulses of warmth shot through her, every ounce of her being zeroing in on that single touch. But instead of dipping his hand lower and relieving the tension building there, he pressed the stamp to the spot right below her navel. “There we go. All mine for now.”
Her mouth fell open as she saw his name in blue on her skin. “You did not just stamp my girl parts, Kade Vandergriff.”