THREE
Lana
Mr. Russo stepped backinto his office with a white hand towel and a bag of ice. Two of our maintenance men followed him in. I frowned in confusion. I hadn’t made any maintenance requests.
“Remove this rug.” Mr. Russo ordered. My eyes widened in disbelief. “Put it in storage for now. I will figure out what to do with it later.”
I gaped at Mr. Russo. That had been the first time I had tripped over it in two years. Removing the rug was a bit much, wasn’t it?
“Mr. Russo, the rug is beautiful—”
“You tripped.” Mr. Russo said, cutting me off. I frowned. “It is a safety hazard, one I will not allow anymore.”
I was stunned speechless. “That’s a bit extreme.” I finally managed to utter.
The dark look he shot me quickly shut me up. Swallowing thickly, I watched as he wrapped the ice bag in the towel and placed it over my ankle. I hissed a breath through my teeth. It had been throbbing, and any weight on it hurt.
The ice quickly began to numb the pain, though.
“Are you allergic to NSAIDs?” Mr. Russo asked me as the two maintenance men left the room carrying Mr. Russo’s massive rug, the door falling shut behind them as they left, leaving me and Mr. Russo alone once again.
I shook my head at him. He got up and moved to the restroom connected to his office, coming back out with a bottle of ibuprofen and a glass of water. He handed both to me. “Take two.” He instructed. “It will help both the pain and the inflammation in your ankle.”
I silently did as he instructed, handing him back both items once I’d taken the medicine. He set them down on the table next to me. “I’m assuming your laptop is charged?” I nodded at him. “I’m going to forward some documents to your email.” He told me. “I want you to read through them for me and let me know any important details, understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
His eyes darkened, locking on mine. They were so intense that my nipples hardened, my breasts growing heavier. I flicked my tongue out over my bottom lip, my throat suddenly feeling extremely parched.
“Fuck it.” He growled.
He laced his fingers in my hair and yanked my head back, covering my lips with his. Everything ceased to exist but him. I moaned into the kiss, unable to help myself as I kissed him back. He quickly dominated the kiss, and I willingly submitted myself to him, my panties quickly becoming soaked.
This man knew how to kiss, and every part of my body was aching for his touch.
He slowly pulled back from me, biting my bottom lip and pulling on it before separating our lips completely.
My cheeks burned once I realized what exactly had just happened. My chest was heaving up and down, and I was finding it hard to catch my breath.
“S-sir.” I stuttered, completely lost and confused. What just happened? There was no fraternization between employees. Surely, the CEO wasn’t above his own company policy, was he? I sure as hell wasn’t. This could cost me my job.
My face paled a little.
My job.
He clenched his jaw and shook his head, stepping back from me. “We will talk at dinner tonight.” He told me before he turned and strode towards his desk, his entire body tensed.
I stared after him in confusion. “We will?” I squeaked.
He glanced over at me as he sat at his desk. “Yes, we will.” He told me. “So, if you had any plans this evening, cancel them.” He ordered. I swallowed thickly.
Mr. Russo knew how to take charge of everything – in every aspect of his life.
And apparently mine, as well.
With that, he turned towards his computer screen. My hands trembled, and I clasped them together. I didn’t have dinner plans, but I was extremely nervous to be having dinner with Mr. Russo – my boss that I had been secretly in love with for two years now, my boss that had just broken his own company policy and kissed me.
And not just any kiss either.
That had been the kind of kiss a man gave a woman he was claiming.
I squeezed my eyes shut, drawing in a deep, quiet breath.
God, help me because I was going to need every bit of help that I could get.
With Mr. Russo, I’d always felt like I’d been way over my head. But now?
I was pretty sure this was how it felt to drown.