Seduce (7 page)
My brothers and
I had worked damn hard over the past ten years to build what we had today. Our father had loaned us the startup capital and, thanks to a gamble, which Lucien took, we became McKenzie Holdings. We then moved into one of the new buildings we were commissioned to build, taking over four floors of prime office space.
For the first time in six years
, I was hopeful that I would have someone who could share all this with me and stand by my side. Someone I could trust.
With a sigh, I walked down the corridor and noticed a light on in the office. I pushed open the door and my heart stopped. Lily. God, she was beautiful. She was wearing a red suit, which looked to be fitted just as perfect as the one she’d worn yesterday. I wondered what she had on her feet and whether her shoes were red, or black to match her blouse.
She lift
ed her head and looked at me, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. Something was wrong.
“Give me two minutes
, Lily.” I dashed into my office and deposited my belongings onto my desk, took my jacket off and placed it over my chair.
As I walked
back out again, I glanced over at Lily, who was pretending to be busy on the computer, and walked over to the coffee machine to pour us both a cup. “Would you like cream and sugar?”
She looked
startled. “Yes, please.” She stood and walked towards me.
I ha
d to count to ten to stop myself from wrapping her in my arms. She was sexy as hell in her outfit and red stilts.
Holy hell!
“Lily, come in
here please.” She took her coffee from me and followed me into my office. Once we were both inside, I took hold of her elbow and guided her to the sofa.
I sat down next to her and turned
to face her. “What’s wrong?” She frowned. “Lily, something’s happened. The spark has gone from your eyes. Please talk to me. Did David see us together last night?”
S
he looked at me for a minute, and then sat back in the chair. “If he saw us, he hasn’t said anything.” She took a deep breath, then looked at me again. “David apologized last night for being an ass earlier in the day. He said he was shocked I hadn’t told him I was working here. I guess I should’ve told him.” She sighed. “He made me dinner and said he didn’t want…. to lose me.” She took a deep breath and tried to smile. “You look tired,” she said and lifted her hand to caress my face, rubbing under my right eye with her thumb.
We both froze. My cock jumped
to attention and my heart pounded. I took hold of Lily’s hand and brought it to my mouth then placed a kiss in her palm. She shivered.
With my eyes still focused on her
, I watched her swallow and found I couldn’t take my eyes from her mouth. Just as I started to lean in to sample those lips, there was heavy knocking on my door. We jumped apart just as Ruben came barging in. He opened his mouth to say something then shut it abruptly and looked between the two of us.
I foun
d my voice. “Lily, you remember my brother, Ruben, from last night. Ruben, you remember Lily, she’s my new assistant.”
He walked
over to us and took the hand Lily offered him and, instead of shaking it like she expected, he placed a kiss to her knuckles.
“That’s enough,”
I said, which stunned them both. “Lily, why don’t you finish what you were doing when I arrived?”
“Okay. It’s ni
ce to meet you again, Ruben,” Lily said, on her way out of my office.
“
Oh, the pleasure is all mine.”
Ruben wa
s dead!
As she shut my office door behind her, I turn
ed to my brother, who had the biggest grin that I’d ever seen on his face. “Don’t you start flirting with her,” I warned.
He start
ed to laugh and sat in the chair as I collapsed back onto the sofa. “Wow, brother. You’re so fucked.” I frowned at Ruben’s choice of words. “I can’t wait to tell the boys.” Meaning our three brothers.
Shit.
“There is nothing to tell. I have a new assistant
whose boyfriend is a jackass and cheating on her with his boss’s daughter. Which she doesn’t know, so keep that to yourself. All I was doing was comforting her.”
Ruben wa
s still grinning at me. “So, if she doesn’t know, why does she need comforting? And why, where you practically making love to her last night on the dance floor?”
I let out a sigh. “For some reason
, she hadn’t told him about getting the job here, and he was one of the Oakfield representatives at the meeting yesterday. He was pissed, to put it mildly. Last night he wanted to make it up to her with apologies, and I don’t think she was too impressed with him.” I was staying well away from the ‘making love’ comment.
“Yeah
well, tell yourself whatever you want, but there was sure as hell a lot of chemistry going on between the two of you when I walked in. It’s a wonder I didn’t get burned.”
I’d
had enough of Ruben. “I presume you’re here for a reason. What is it?”
“So abrupt
, brother. You wouldn’t by any chance be trying to get rid of me so you can get back to your hot assistant.” He laughed.
“Let’s get something straight
, she’s my assistant, which means she is out of bounds to anyone with the McKenzie surname. Are we clear?” I stood and faced him.
“
Crystal.”
Then why wa
s he still grinning?
He cleared his throat and walked
over to the large window in my office. Ruben had a smaller build than the rest of us, but he sure as hell used to prove that size didn’t matter on the mat. We all grew up having to do boxing and karate, which Ruben excelled at and used to kick our butts. Much to his delight, I might add. I sensed something was bothering him and it must be pretty damn important for him to come to me.
“Ruben?” He turn
ed to look at me.
“I
shouldn’t have come.” He started to walk towards the door.
“Ruben, wait. You obviously have something to say or ask,
so just get it over with.” I ran my fingers through my hair and waited.
He pause
d and looked back at me. “It can wait. I’ll see you soon.”
That was really odd. P
erhaps Ramon knew what was going on with him. They spent more time together than any of us. I couldn’t even remember Ruben being so….bothered.
Chapter 15
~~ LILY ~~
I sat back down at my
desk, stunned with how quickly I’d become attached to Michael. He had been about to kiss me when his brother had walked into the office. Perhaps it was a good thing. I needed to act more professional towards him and remind myself that he was my boss. Plus, I was still with David, who I really needed to sort out, sooner rather than later. That was something I should have remembered last night.
What a mess.
I need
ed to distract myself with work, because Michael was the wrong kind of distraction. Every time I thought about him, I became aroused.
Damn!
I sat up straighter in my
chair and typed the password back into the computer. I needed to finish typing up the spreadsheet Michael had asked for last thing yesterday.
“Hi
Lily. I‘m Jacky.”
Oh, the one who gossip
ed with Sylvia. “Hi Jacky, it’s nice to meet you.” She walked further into the office and took the seat on the opposite side of my desk.
“So, Sylvia tells me you live with your boyfriend. Is that true?”
I sighed. “Yeah, I do. Is that a problem?” I took hold of the mouse and started to click things on the computer to try and get rid of her. There was something about her that I didn’t really like.
“No. The opposite
, actually. It means you won’t be after Michael.” I frowned at her. “Michael’s mine.”
In your dreams
, he’s mine.
Where the hell had that come from?
“Does Michael know that
?” I couldn’t resist asking her
“Not yet.”
Michael’s office door opened, which had Jacky sitting up rather abruptly, and pushing out her chest only to see Ruben walk out. She deflated.
Ruben walked over to my desk and perched
on the end of it facing me. “Ruben, do you know Jacky?”
“I d
on’t believe we’ve met,” he replied, taking her hand into his and kissing her knuckles.
She primped
again. I rolled my eyes, which Ruben caught and smirked.
“Do
you work for me, Jacky?” he asked.
“Yes
, I do.” She fluffed her hair and started to work it big time with his attention being totally on her.
“Then
, don’t you think you need to get back to it?” She froze then shot up out of her chair and practically ran out of the office. Ruben then turned his attention to me.
“What, you going to tell me to get back to it
now?” I offered him a grin.
“I better not, considering what you were about to do when I arrived.” I blush
ed and he roared with laughter.
We heard Michael’s door open so we
both turned to find him standing in the doorway. He was leaning against the door frame with an annoyed look on his face. “Are you still here?”
Ruben winked at me and then turned
back to his brother. “I was leaving, until your secretary decided to flirt with me. How could I resist such beauty?”
I laugh
ed, but Michael didn’t look impressed at all. “She’s busy, leave her alone.”
Ruben stood to attention and saluted
his brother. He turned and winked at me, then left the office. I couldn’t help but laugh.
I moved my eyes back to
Michael, who was standing watching me. He then took a step back and closed his door.
Weird.
I ha
d just finished the spreadsheet after Ruben’s theatrical performance when Dale Roberts walked in.
“
Hello, Lily. How is Michael treating you?” he asked, grabbing a cup of coffee.
“Fine.
I’m really enjoying the job so far.” Which was actually the truth.
Once his coffee wa
s poured, he walked over to me and took the vacant seat. It seemed to be musical seats today.
“I want to apologize for
not informing you in the interview who you would actually be working for.” He blushed slightly.
“Oh, Mr Roberts, please don’t worry about that. I’m h
appy here, so no worries,” I said and offered him a smile.
“Call me Dale, and I’m glad
you’re getting along with Michael. He really is all bark, so when he starts, you put your foot down.” He took a sip of coffee and I tried to decide what he was telling me in his roundabout way.
“Dale, do we have a meeting?” Michael
questioned. I hadn’t even heard his door open.
Dale
stood and looked at Michael. “No, just thought I would drop by and say hello to your beautiful assistant.”
“Well, my beautiful assistant
is needed in my office,” he said smiling at me.
Dale looked between the both of us, winked at me
and then walked out without another word.
~~ MICHAEL ~~
Shit.
I really need to guard my attraction to Lily. Smiling at her like an idiot in front of Dale wasn’t the brightest thing to do. It really pissed me off when I’d walked out of my office to see Ruben flirting with her, and then, to walk out again only to catch Dale at it as well. Christ, he was old enough to be her grandfather.
I follow
ed Lily back into my office and steered her towards the conference table this time. I took a seat opposite her, so there was no chance of me touching her. “Lily, about last night….”
“Michael, it’s okay. Let’s just forget it,” she said nervously.
I hoped she didn’t really expect me to forget having her in my arms. “No. I won’t forget it.” She met my eyes. “I won’t forget it, Lily, but I’ll respect your obvious wish to carry on as normal. But I won’t forget having you in my arms or how you felt in them.”
“I won’t either,” she whispered. “Can
we just concentrate on work, at least for now?” She looked at me and I knew, I would give her the world if she asked.
“All right.” I cleared my throat. “We need to finalize the arrangements for the staff picnic, which takes place in two weeks, at my parents ranch house. Which by the way, you’re invited to.”
Her face lit
up. “It sounds like fun. Does everyone from your company receive an invitation?”
“Only head office. The other divisions have their own around the country and either myself or one of my brothers attend. The picnic’s are family orientated and a
lways have a children’s entertainer to free up the adults,” I explained to her, silently wishing I had a child to share the day with.