“What about your ‘roommate’?” She gives air quotes and I roll my eyes.
“I’ll worry about Erica.”
Her body relaxes a bit, but I can tell she’s still apprehensive.
“Let’s try this again, I’m going to kiss you now. Then I’m going to try my best to keep my hands off you as we work through the day. Tonight, we’ll go out for a nice dinner and I’ll show you why we’ll be good together. It will end a lot differently than last night if I have my way.”
She grins slightly and her gaze goes to my mouth. I lean in slightly teasing her and whisper against her lips.
“I want to be clear here, when I kiss you again, you’re going to kiss me back. Do you understand?”
She nods slightly and our mouths brush together. I try to wait for a verbal response, but my body reacts on its own. I pull her to me and lick the seam of her lips. She parts them and I slip in, my tongue finds hers instantly. She tilts her head for a better angle and I devour her. Sucking, nipping, and tasting her. My hands thread through her long hair pulling her as close as possible as she clutches my shirt. I deepen the kiss, trying to convey my apology and my hunger. Nothing in my life has ever felt this good. Her moans make me hard again and I find myself breathing only the air she gives me. I lose myself in this kiss and think about what else is to come. Moving her back to lie on the sofa, she allows me to cover her body with mine. I break away to kiss her jawline to her ear until a knock bangs on my door.
She jumps underneath me, but I hold her tight, wondering who the hell needs me right now. The doorknob jiggles and I’m thankful Dana can lock my door from the outside with her key. Stella starts to wiggle which makes my cock harder and I reluctantly move off her.
“McCoy! Let me in now! We need to talk!” Edward Hurst yells and I groan.
“Stella, this is the asshole of supreme assholes. He’s not happy and he’ll probably say something inappropriate. He’s going to try and throw his shit my way, and I can take it. But if he starts on you, remain unaffected. Don’t let him get to you. You understand?” I whisper in her ear.
She nods and reaches for her bag, making the coffee table in my office look like a workstation in seconds. We both adjust our clothing and a sense of pride surges through me when I see her lips are swollen and face flushed. She tosses her hair over her shoulder, shielding her face slightly and signals for me to let him in.
When I open the door, Edward barges in with heat in his eyes. He doesn’t notice Stella sitting on the couch working.
“What the fuck! I just heard from Brian you hired a no name, woman owned firm, to take care of this JOS shit! How dare you? We have major power players in this RFP that could not only bring us out of this mess, but also give us fucking perks. I thought you were supposed to be smart? Not run our business decisions on a pair of tits and loose pussy.”
Stella does her best to control her temper, but the binder she was balancing drops and Edward looks over. His face softens a bit when he sees her, then his eyes narrow. It’s clear what he’s thinking.
“Edward, this is Stella Sullivan, with Sullivan PR,” I say through clinched teeth wanting to punch the shit out of him for the crude remarks.
Edward regains his composure a little and shakes her hand then looks back at me. “Why was your door locked?”
“It wasn’t,” I answer coolly.
“The hell it wasn’t!”
“Well, I guess Dana did that by accident.” I give him a look that is both icy and resolute.
“Tell me what you’re working on,” he demands.
“You already know.”
“Surely if you hired her firm, she doesn’t need you to hold her hand. We
need to be looking at acquisitions and you are working on a PR strategy? What the fuck, McCoy? Is Brian right?”
Stella audibly hisses. She gives me a questioning look.
“Edward, you should be very careful here. Choose the next words out of your mouth delicately. Your position on the board is in jeopardy. Do not make me call HR to give a complaint about your inappropriate actions to a third party vendor. If you want a meeting, talk to Dana and we’ll schedule a time. But I’ll remind you, I make the decisions at a company level. Brian was uneducated, biased, and looking for gifts. He was not looking out for the interest of Hurst & McCoy, nor our JOS brand. I’ve taken over. So you will hear the plans to re-build with the rest of the board. Is there anything else?” He looks at me with disgust and then plasters on a fake smile. He knows I will take care of this mess and make him a few million dollars—or more.
“No, boy, nothing else.” He looks between Stella and me and decides to drive a point across. “I’ll see you and Erica at dinner Sunday night.” Then he walks out smirking at Stella.
Her face drops and she looks at me with hurt.
I close the door, nodding to Dana to lock it again. When I get to the sofa, I lift her and put her in my lap. Holding her close. The smell of a floral fragrance fills the air around us and I inhale deeply, trying to tame down my anger.
“So he really is a jackass, huh?”
“Yeah, babe, the king of jackasses.”