ProvokeMe (9 page)

At least he knew if she’d taken his car, she couldn’t be
warming up his sheets.
Those long arms stretched above her head, leaving her
breasts on display.
Long legs spread wide, offering an unfettered view of her
smooth pink pussy.

And did he really need to torture himself with images like
that while he was already hard and ready and pissed?

It was his own fault.
What had he expected her to do?
Those
sex stilts she’d been wearing last night weren’t exactly conducive to long
walks.
He’d just wanted her out of his house and didn’t care how she made that
happen.

Suave, he was not.
He also wasn’t thinking straight.
Kelly
wouldn’t ever be the type of woman he could dismiss, even if it was for her own
damn good.
She didn’t know what kind of man he was.
He’d be doing her a favor
if he kept his distance.

He expelled a long breath and headed up the drive to the
back door, which she’d very considerately left unlocked at his suggestion.
This
must be what it was like to live with someone.
Sharing control wasn’t something
he relished.
Probably why his lovers rarely spent the night.
Even negotiating
what to have for breakfast seemed like too much trouble.

He liked his life just as it was.
Was that so wrong?
And
true, Kelly had “borrowed” his car, but at least she hadn’t hung around with
mopey eyes waiting for him to say he’d call though they both knew it was a lie.

Small favors.

He went into the kitchen and grabbed a paper towel to mop up
the sweat dripping down his chest.
It was already heading past 75 and it wasn’t
even six.
Today promised to be one of the hottest days of the year.

His thoughts shuddered to a stop as he saw the note on the
table.
She’d crossed out his pithy message and written one of her own.

Didn’t want to be late.
I’ll be sure to return your car
in the same condition I borrowed it, with one exception.
I’m not wearing
panties.
And the leather in your Acura is so soft and supple…

Spencer groaned aloud.
God, she had to be kidding.
She
wouldn’t grind her juicy pussy against his seats.

Even if she had left a lipstick kiss at the bottom of the
note.

He rubbed at the headache brewing between his eyes.
Didn’t
matter what she ground where.
He’d have the seats professionally cleaned if necessary
but he wasn’t getting involved with her.
She’d proven to be a bit more dogged
in her pursuit than he’d expected—while also remaining oddly, seductively
aloof—but he’d dealt with worse.
If he knew anything, it was how to handle
women.

Smiling, he pitched the towel in the garbage, the same place
he ditched her note.
He felt better already.

Car or no car, Kelly Crossman wasn’t going to get the better
of him.

* * * * *

“Meeting in the conference room in ten.”

Kelly didn’t look up from where she’d stationed herself on
the floor in the romance section.
As Spencer had requested, she’d begun
reorganizing the space to be more eye-catching, though she’d had to bargain
with Marcia for ten minutes to be given an hour off the register.
Now she’d
barely started and they were summoning her to a meeting.

A grin curved her mouth as she stared at the bodice ripper
in her lap.
Maybe Spencer wanted to show off his preference for public
performances by taking her on the conference table in front of the staff.
Nah,
not likely.
That was what the club was for.

If she went back to Kink again tonight and he didn’t show,
she was going to be very disappointed.
She hadn’t been entirely lying in her
note about how arousing she found the leather in his car.
Imagining him
fingering her had turned up the wetness factor until she’d been squirming.
Pity
she hadn’t worn panties or else she would’ve left them tucked discreetly in his
glove box.

With a sigh, she stacked books in alphabetical order and
tried to calm her racing heart as the hordes mobilized around her.
Lots of
moving feet meant this was a full staff meeting, which didn’t happen often.
That fact was confirmed when she walked past the checkout counter and saw a
long line in front of the lone cashier—her nemesis Leigh.
Even Marcia had been
summoned.

This couldn’t be good.

“So you don’t have to head back for the big meeting, huh?”
she asked Leigh as she passed.

“Somebody has to help the customers.” Leigh’s smile dripped
insincerity.
“Unlike some of you, I don’t have problems doing my job.” Before
Kelly could reply, she turned one thousand watts on the next customer.
“Cash or
charge?
The Book Nook credit card, perhaps?”

Okay, what was the deal with
that
?
Was she getting
special perks from the boss?
Special perks that went part and parcel with
embraces in his office?

Gritting her teeth, Kelly headed down the hallway to the
last door before Spencer’s office.
She probably deserved the bitch treatment.
God knows she wasn’t exactly warm toward Leigh on most occasions.
But it was
just patently unfair that Leigh’s hair shone coppery red and her eyes were a
mossy green rarely found in nature.
She was tiny and adorable and completely
together at all times.

It really pissed her off.

She stepped into the conference room.
Voices buzzed, though
few members of the staff were seated.

A niggle of alarm brewed in Kelly’s stomach when Marcia,
Cale and Tony’s gazes zeroed in on her.
This couldn’t be about her, could it?
What could she have done?
Other than bone the boss, but she was pretty sure
Spencer wouldn’t have a staff meeting to announce that fact.

She dropped into a chair at one end of the table.
Normally
one of the cashiers would lean over and whisper some inconsequential gossip,
but today both women beside her remained stone-faced and silent.

Out of habit, she started to reach for her PDA, which she
normally carried in her pocket.
God, she missed her electronic security
blanket.

The hum of voices lifted as the minutes crawled by.
Then
Spencer strode in and shut the door, his presence immediately quieting the
group.

That was a power all its own.

She watched him head to the front of the room at his normal
fast clip.
He didn’t do anything slowly.
Not talking, not walking, and
especially not fucking.
Had he rammed into her any faster or harder, she would’ve
ended up in a back brace.

Spencer’s gaze roamed the table and met hers for one charged
second.
Deliberately, she rubbed the tip of her tongue over the shallow dent in
her lower lip and then she dragged her teeth over the fullness.
His chest
expanded and he turned away, his jaw clenched.

She grinned.
Direct hit.

“We’re here today to discuss some things going on within the
company.
We’re rolling out some new promotions…”

Again, she reached for her PDA as Spencer droned on.
Shit.
How was she supposed to take notes now?
She glanced at the woman next to her
and whispered, “Can I bum a pen and paper?”

“Ms.
Crossman, do you need clarification on something?”

For a minute, she couldn’t believe he’d actually interrupted
his monologue to snap at her.
The cold edge to his voice peeved her a little
but turned her on more.

You are one twisted puppy.

“Just needed pencil and paper, sir.” Accepting both from the
woman beside her, she wet the pencil’s tip and smiled.
“So sorry to interrupt.”

Spencer’s eyes narrowed and for a second, she actually
thought he’d say something else.
He must’ve reconsidered, because he resumed
gesturing at the map he’d tacked up of their new stores in Virginia and South
Carolina.

She worried her lip as she took notes, alternating between
thoughts about The Book Nook and Spencer.
He was so sexy when he was bossy and
demanding.
She’d never thought she’d enjoy having someone as controlled as she
was as a lover, but the constant push-and-pull between them was almost as
arousing as his well-toned body.

He tapped the conference table before he again began
prowling the room.
Since he’d started the meeting, he hadn’t stopped moving.
Spencer wasn’t one to remain rooted in any spot for long but today he seemed
positively wound up.

Hmm, wonder why?

Without being fully conscious of the move, she sucked her
lower lip between her teeth again, only realizing what she was doing when his
gaze fastened on her mouth.

Oh yeah, this fascination wasn’t only one-sided.
She’d bet
her salary on it.

“Now that we’ve covered progress on the new Virginia stores,
I’d like to discuss new business.
Specifically, what we can do to keep The Book
Nook not only profitable but continually moving forward.
In an era of bookstore
closures, we’ve flourished because we refuse to stick to the tried and true.
We’ve also moved into areas where the big box stores have failed to satisfy
their customers’ needs.
That means we have to do better.
We can’t slack, not
even for a moment.” He tapped his fingers on the conference table, probably to
make sure all eyes were on him.
“We value our employees’ ideas.
To that end,
we’ve instituted an incentive program for those who offer suggestions we
implement.”

“I don’t want another damn watch,” Marcia muttered.

“Duly noted, Marcia.
We’ll discuss mutually agreeable
rewards once we have a few ideas on the table.”

Kelly crossed her legs and suppressed a smile.
She had a
very
agreeable reward in mind.

She jerked in her seat when she realized Spencer had paused
beside her chair.
She glanced up at him and something about their positions—her
seated and him towering over her—jolted pure lust through her system.
She
imagined kneeling in front of him, her hand encircling his cock as she brought
the thick length to her lips.
He’d be hard and hot and unrestrained as he fucked
her mouth.

God, she wanted to hear him groan and know she’d caused it.
She ached for him to let go with her in a way she suspected he rarely did
otherwise.

Her gaze traveled up his chest, finally meeting his.
For an
instant, something burned in his eyes, as if he knew what she was thinking.
As
if he were thinking it too.
Then he went back to his journey around the room
and the moment was gone.

“There will be a comment box outside my office.
I’ll be
available for private meetings if you prefer to arrange one or leave your
thoughts in the box.”

“E-readers.”

“Kelly?”

Startled he’d used her first name, Kelly flattened her palms
on her thighs.
“Nothing, sorry.
I’m just thinking out loud.”

“Good.
That’s the point of this discussion.
What about
e-readers?”

She inclined her chin.
“I’ve talked to several of our
regulars who’ve admitted they’re considering buying them.
Some others have
already and aren’t coming into the store like they used to.
Even Leigh’s
orgasmic peanut butter cookies aren’t luring them in anymore.”

He cleared his throat and she struggled to hold back her
grin.
“Agreed, digital books are taking a larger cut of the market.
But
statistics show—”

She cut him off.
“The statistics don’t correspond with what
I’m hearing.
People like the idea of sitting on their couch and downloading a
book on release day.
There are still diehards who won’t consider an e-reader,
but those numbers are shrinking.
For them we’re a great option.
But for those
eager to embrace the future, we’re nothing but a pretty dinosaur starting to
shiver in the cold.”

Silence spread around the room like a virus.
Terse exchanges
between her and Spencer weren’t unusual.
But her frank comment went way beyond
their usual pissing contests.

“I’m telling it how I think it is,” she said, risking another
glance at him.
She didn’t know what she expected to find but it wasn’t him
studying her thoughtfully.