He tightened his arms around her waist and tugged her close to him so she couldn’t get away. The closet was filled with any number of dangerous things she’d likely hurt herself with if she took a step back from him. She needed to stay right where she was. They were going to talk about what was going on whether she liked it or not.
So far, he was pleased enough with the situation. She was very still and quiet in his arms, albeit a touch stiff. He could hear the soft sound of her breathing, the rise and fall of her chest as she pressed futilely against him with her palms. He liked the feel of her in his arms more than he expected to. It felt natural and familiar somehow.
As his eyes adjusted to the dim light coming under the door, he was able to make out her silhouette and the soft contours of her face. What he could see of her was fighting this tooth and nail. Her eyes were squeezed shut, her lips tightly pressed together. Emma’s shoulders were drawn up around her ears. She was strung tight as a drum, the comfortable woman from minutes ago completely forgotten.
“Relax, Emma. I’m not going to bite.”
“I need to get back to work,” she said, but there was half-heartedness in her voice that betrayed her. There was a part of her that was open to him. He didn’t know why she was fighting it so hard. It could be quite an enjoyable experience for them both.
“I want to talk to you first. You’ve continued to avoid me and have left me with no choice but to abduct you and make you listen to what I have to say.”
“I’m not talking to you in a closet with the lights off. It’s inappropriate.” Emma struggled against him in earnest, gaining little traction and succeeding in doing nothing but rubbing her belly back and forth against his rapidly hardening desire.
Jonah had to swallow a groan as her movements sent a wave of pleasure radiating from his groin. “Stop. Wiggling,” he managed through gritted teeth. “I just want to talk. I have no intention of taking advantage of you in here, but if you keep grinding your hips against mine like that, we may have to make some impromptu changes to the agenda.” The thought had undeniably crossed his mind, but even he had boundaries in the workplace. “I can tell you don’t think that highly of me and my reputation with women, but I can assure you that I much prefer the king-size bed in my loft for that kind of thing.”
“I don’t want to talk. Or to see your king-size bed.”
“I hadn’t asked you to.”
Emma stopped struggling and looked up at him. He could see the dim light reflecting in her eyes as they searched his face for something. Sincerity, maybe. She must’ve found it because eventually her body relaxed in his arms.
“Then what is it you want, Jonah?”
He couldn’t very well tell her that he wanted to distract her until he could clean up his brother’s mess. And in that moment, that wasn’t his biggest motivation. There was something about the way she said his name that sent a fire raging through his veins and made him want to pull her close and kiss her. It was different from the run-of-the-mill lust most attractive women lured from him. It was more powerful. Potent. And it demanded he take action.
“I just want to get to know you. There’s something happening here... I can’t explain it, but I want to see where it goes.” Jonah released her waist with one hand to reach up and caress her face. He just had to touch her, even if it earned him a slap.
Instead, he heard Emma’s sharp intake of breath and decided he wasn’t the only one whose plans were crumbling under the strain of their attraction to one another. “Tell me I’m crazy, but I know you feel it, too. You’re just determined to fight it. Stop fighting.”
“I...” Emma began to protest, but words seemed to escape her in that moment.
They escaped him, too. And words wouldn’t fill the need building inside him. Jonah leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. He expected resistance, but he found none. There was only a slight hesitation, then surrender. Maybe it was the safety of the dark, but his uptight auditor melted into him instead, matching the enthusiasm of his touch.
He’d been correct in his assessment of her. Under that straitlaced veneer was a sensual female looking for an outlet. Jonah would gladly provide it.
Deepening the kiss, he let his tongue slide across hers, drinking in the taste of spicy cinnamon. The flavor was sharp, biting him unexpectedly. He liked the surprise contrast. Emma was full of them.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, tugging her body closer to him. The darkness and the familiar feel of her in his arms roused thoughts of his butterfly again. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear he was with her, in his laundry room. Without thinking, he let his right hand drift to her chest, stopping short of groping her breast, but aligning his hand where his butterfly’s tattoo would be.
She must have misinterpreted his intentio
ns because Emma instantly stiffened in his arms and jerked away from his kiss. “What the hell are we doing?” she whispered.
“Wait,” he protested, the distance between them suddenly painful. Jonah let go of her to fumble for the light switch, but the instant he did, he felt her pull away and scramble for the doorknob. The door flew open, flooding the small room with light so he could see her dash away from him and down the hallway to the ladies’ room.
Flopping back against the wall, Jonah ran his hand through his hair and wished away his erection. That hadn’t exactly gone to plan.
So pulling her into a dark room and pinning her against him might’ve been the wrong tactic if he’d really just wanted to talk. And he had, at first. His body just had other plans. So had hers, but he went too far, as always. Damn.
He shook his head. Something about her just wasn’t quite right. She was nervous around him. Avoided him at all costs. Refused to accept gifts or dinner dates. He’d watched her interact with other employees, and the stiff, overly polite veil dropped. She was still professional, just not militantly so.
Emma was just insistent on keeping the wall up between them. A wall that in the dark, crumbled in an instant. She’d let him in for a brief moment, then regained her senses and ran as fast as she could in the opposite direction.
For some reason, he absolutely repelled her and had since the first moment they met. He didn’t understand at all. Yes, he was a force of nature when he wanted something, but he was also friendly, laid-back and fairly easy to get along with. Why would she fight something her body so clearly wanted?
Unless...
Jonah swallowed hard and looked out the door to watch Emma peek out, then dash down the hallway back to her office. Maybe his plan was too little, too late. Perhaps his enterprising accountant had already found the discrepancies in the books. If that was the case, it would explain a lot.