Initiate Me (8 page)

I wanted to rip that shirt off and reveal his inked skin to my starving eyes. God, what I wouldn’t do to see his tattoos up close. I dreamed of being able to run my hands over his naked skin and study every last one of them. To kiss and lick each one so they were forever embedded in my mind.

“Max and Jada are in love,” I told him in a sharp voice. I was so angry with myself for letting his presence rattle me. "Not that I expect you to understand what
that
means.”

“Excuse me for a minute, Brandon. I need to have quick chat with Mia about work tomorrow,” Zane said as he grabbed me by the arm and dragged me inside to a quiet corner of the front bar.

Once we were inside, I snatched my arm back from his touch. I could still feel the imprint of his fingers on my arm.

“What the hell? Everyone is staring at us, even my brothers! Why did you drag me in here? We have nothing to say to one another,” I said to him in a sulky voice. I could feel my lip trembling.
Shit, I better not crumble in front of him. I feel like such an idiot to let him affect me like this.

“Nothing to talk about? Are you for real, angel? We have plenty to talk about.”

“No. We. Don’t.” I moved to try and get past him but I couldn’t; he was too strong.

“Please, angel, we need to talk about last night. We’re going to have to work together closely as of tomorrow, so give me a chance.”

“A chance? You had your chance, and you blew it!”

“Fine, if that’s the way you want to play this then I’ll let it go. For now. I‘ll see you eight am sharp, Monday morning, angel. And remember: don't be late on your first day," he whispered in my ear. "I may have to punish you for tardiness."

MIA

I
t had been only three weeks since I’d started working with Zane and I honestly could not do it anymore. He took every opportunity to tease me and antagonise me. I tried to remain calm and professional, but enough was enough. Max and Jada had been back for a week and I could not wait any longer to talk to Max about Zane.

I stormed into my brother’s office, walked straight past his PA without even glancing at the poor girl and flung Max’s door open. “He’s driving me insane. I can’t work with him anymore. You have to do something.”

“Calm down, and tell me what the problem is.” I counted to ten and tried to concentrate on not losing my cool. It wasn’t easy.

“He’s a Neanderthal,” I stated. “I want to work under you or Marco. Not him.”

“Come on, Mia; you know you’d love to be
under
me. Just admit it, angel, and stop tattle-telling to your brother.”

Every muscle in my body went rigid at that deep baritone. I turned around and had to brace myself when I saw Zane lounging against the doorjamb to Max's office. “Don’t you ever knock?” He winked, which only infuriated me more.

“The door wasn’t closed, and your voice tends to carry. I was curious as to what bee was in your bonnet this time.”

I stepped toward him and gritted out, “Stop telling me what to do, Zane! I’m fed up with—”

“Enough!” Max shouted. “Both of you, get the hell in here and close the damn door.” He turned to his PA and growled, “Winter, hold all my calls for the next fifteen minutes.” I recognised my brother’s tone. Max rarely got angry, but when he did, it was wise not to push him. I stepped closer to his desk and sat in the chair facing him. I refused to look at Zane, even though I could hear the door closing behind me.

“Sit down, Zane,” Max said, his voice accepting no argument. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Zane take the chair next to me. “Mia, I asked you to work with Zane because that’s where you’re needed right now. I need a marketing representative for the hotels and that’s what you’re good at. You need to learn the ropes of the business first before going out to the wineries. Also, with Jada and myself going through the IVF programme in Adelaide this month, I need Marco and Zane to pick up some of my slack. That means you need to pick up some of
their
slack. You knew this when you took the job; you knew it wasn’t going to all be in the agricultural field.”

I was so pissed but I knew what Max said was all true. Even though my degree was in Agricultural Science, I knew what I was getting myself into when Max offered me my internship. I was desperate to work in my family company so badly, I’d purposely squashed my concerns about working alongside his sexy and way-too-attractive best friend.

Ever since I’d known him, he put me on edge, and since Max and Jada’s wedding, our relationship was never the same. He took every opportunity to rub me up the wrong way. Or maybe the real problem was he rubbed me just exactly the right way, which scared the hell out of me. I admit I
was
tipsy at the wedding and threw myself at him. Since then, I was more than embarrassed and a bit intimidated by him and it pissed me off.

“I need to know if this is going to work,” Max said, his gaze bouncing from me to Zane then back again. “You two have been going at it for weeks now, and it’s driving me fucking nuts. With all the IVF schedules, I can’t afford to be any crazier than I already am. I need to focus on that and Jada; both of you know how important this is to her.”

“Max, I don’t have a problem with Mia working with me,” Zane said, his voice full of confidence. “She’s efficient, clever and pretty easy on the eye, as well.”

I bit my lip at his
easy on the eye
comment, clasped my hands in my lap and barely kept myself from saying something I’d surely regret. “The only problem I have is you can’t take no for an answer.”

Zane chuckled. “Really, angel? Because I can’t recall ever asking you to do anything you didn’t want to do.”

Oh, my God, if he so much as mentions what happened at the wedding, I’m going to die of embarrassment!
He constantly tortured me with little hints and flashbacks to our little ‘interlude’ the night of the wedding. God, he’d never let me forget it. It seemed like he took great pleasure in pushing me and getting me to fantasise about things I had no business imagining. Having sexual fantasies about Zane created havoc in my mind. I looked over at him from under my lashes and caught him leering at me. I gave it back to him and stared back.

The heat in his gaze couldn’t be missed. He wanted me; I could feel it, sense it. Yet I tried to evade any signals he sent my way because I had no idea what to do with a man as potent as Zane – unless I was inebriated with alcohol, of course. But having to see him and work with him
every day
was going to make me snap. I needed to talk to someone about it, but Jada was too preoccupied with her baby-making process and Milan...well, Milan’s advice was what made me throw myself at Zane in the first place anyway. And that didn’t turn out too flash, did it?

I sure as hell didn’t want be another notch on his belt. I knew Zane was hurt by someone because he didn’t try to hide the fact he wasn’t into long-term relationships. And I was most definitely not interested in being one of his conquests.

Why can’t Max move me to another department?
I just didn’t get it. It was as if he liked seeing me squirm. The thought of not completing my internship at the Brunetti Hotel Resort and Spas was, however, unfathomable.

“I want to talk to Zane alone for a minute, Mia. Go take a break, okay” I saw something in Max’s expression that worried me. He’d had the same look in his eye when I was teased in the fifth grade by the class bully and I came home and cried it all out to my big brother Max. I had no idea what Max did, but the next day, the so-called bully gave me a public apology in front of the whole class.

Oh, shit!
I didn’t want to get Zane in any trouble; that was never my intention. I simply wanted to ask Max if it was possible to transfer me elsewhere,
anywhere
as long as I wasn’t in such close proximity to the infernal man. A sense of incredible guilt rushed through my body.

“Oh, no, Max, that’s not necessary, honestly,” I said, unable to hide the worry in my voice.

Max looked down at his watch then back at me. “Mia, I said I need to talk to Zane alone, now go!” Max wasn’t letting up; I’d get nowhere with him. I sighed and stood, but as I took one last look at Zane, I was surprised to notice he didn’t seem at all concerned. What the hell? Did the man have no shame or self-respect?

Zane winked at me and perused my entire body. Even though I was modestly dressed in my black pencil skirt, blouse and jacket, I felt naked under his scrutiny. I wanted to throttle him. “See what I mean.” I threw my hands in the air. “I give up!”

I yanked the office door open, wondering why I thought I could handle working with Zane. Surely I had been under some sort of spell when I’d accepted Max’s job offer.

There simply wasn’t any other explanation.

***

ZANE

H
ot damn, that woman’s got me going.
I tried my hardest not to laugh as I watched Mia stalk out of Max’s office. I’d gotten to her, and she was running scared. It was only a matter of time before I made good on my promise to her. I’d been lusting after Mia for far too long; she’d had me hot and bothered from the very first time I met her at one of Max’s family barbeques.

I’d tried to stay away from her for years out of respect to Max, but after she propositioned me at the wedding, she started a fire inside me. Damn, I regretted letting her go that night. For three weeks, my charm and flirtatious ways had gotten me nowhere. She’d shot me down every single time. The more I worked with her, the more I’d come to realise Mia used sarcasm to keep me at arm’s length. She’d never done that in the past. I‘d made her wary of me and she was damned good at holding me off.

I wanted her and I was getting desperate. If I didn’t get her to submit to me soon, I’d explode.

“Quit thinking about her.”

Max’s voice dragged me back to reality. “I wasn’t,” I lied.

Max rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair. “What the hell is it with you two? I can’t figure it. It’s as if you like fighting with her.”

“The truth?”

“No, I’d rather you lied to me,” Max ground out. “Yes, I want the fucking truth.”

“Just remember, you asked,” I warned him. “Fighting with your sister Mia is like foreplay. It turns me on. Actually, I think it turns us both on. She wants me as much as I want her.

Max shook his head. “You
do
remember I am
her
brother and
your
boss, right?” I recognised Max’s overprotective mode.

But I had no intention of staying away from Mia.
Not now, not ever.
After working so closely with her the last few weeks, I wanted her more than ever. I didn’t care what Max thought. I didn’t want to risk my friendship with him after all these years, so I thought it would be best to be honest and upfront.

“Is this the part where you warn me away?”

“Look, not only is Mia my sister, she is my employee, and I protect my employees. You’re in dangerous territory, flirting with her. Sexual harassment isn’t something I take lightly.”

I went rigid. “Did she say I sexually harassed her?”

“That’s not the point. The point is I protect what’s mine.”

“Fuck, Max, you know me, I would never hurt Mia.”

“But you
are
making her uncomfortable. She seems stressed and upset, and I can’t have that. Either back off, or I’ll move her to a different department.”

Max had just tossed down the gauntlet at me. I knew I could be an arsehole, but if I pushed the issue, I could lose her and probably my job, not to mention my friendship with Max. Still, I wasn’t about to make a promise I knew damn well I wouldn’t be able to keep. I rubbed my jaw and decided to lay it all on the line.

“This isn’t a game to me. I care about your sister. You can fire me. You can pull Mia under your wing or whatever, but I won’t stop pursuing her until she tells me to stop.”

Max slammed his fist on the desk. “What the hell is up with you? I’ve never seen you act like this. After all these years, you’ve never shown any interest in my sister before, so why now? Why Mia?”

I had wondered that myself. Ever since the wedding and especially the after-party, I was experiencing a realm of feelings and emotions toward her that I had kept hidden for years. All I could think of was how her tight, virgin pussy contracted on my fingers in an orgasm when I had her against the tree in the park. Hell, she was responsive. Her final words of ‘
Let me know when you’re ready’
challenged me to act on my attraction to her.

It had been almost four weeks since the wedding and I wanted her to give in to me, to regret she had been giving me the cold shoulder since the after-party. She was starting to lose it and about to crumble. From the day she started working with me at the resort, I had deliberately teased her and tempted her at every opportunity. She tried to avoid her attraction to me. It was as if she was a completely different woman to the one who had come on to me at the wedding. This made me question if she
was
tipsy on Sinclair wine. Did she even remember she propositioned me?

“Man, your sister is the most infuriating woman I’ve ever met. What the hell happened to the sweet, young girl I knew? She argues with me at every opportunity, and fuck me if I don’t get a hard-on when she tells me to go to Hell,” I admitted, almost regretting my words at the anger on Max’s face.

“Jesus Christ, Zane, this is my baby sister you’re talking about. I do not want to hear that you are pitching a tent for my sister,” Max said through gritted teeth.

“I’m being honest here. You asked me why, so I’m fucking telling you. I’ve never seen this side of her before, this feisty side. She threatens to castrate me and I start drooling. Damn, she’s getting under my skin, and I can’t figure it out. But until I do, I won’t let up. She wants me; she’s just fighting it. I scare her.” I rubbed my jaw and thought for a second. “Or maybe now she’s thought about it, the idea of being with me scares her.”

“What do you mean,
‘now that she has thought about it’?
My sister doesn’t scare easily. Did something happen I should know about, ‘cause if you’ve touched my sister, especially the way I know you touch women, I’m going to be fucking pissed,” Max said angrily. “But you’re right. She’s been watching you like a caged lioness and she can be damned mean when put in an uncomfortable situation. Be careful, or she’ll have you for dinner.”