Talking Dirty With the Boss: A Talking Dirty Novel (Entangled Indulgence) (5 page)

“Luke?” The tinny sounding voice of Luke’s PA came over the intercom. “Your nine forty-five is here.”

Luke muttered a curse and suddenly she was free, both of them standing there panting, staring at each other in shock.

Oh hell, what had happened? Men didn’t usually take the upper hand with her—her sexy, confident manner intimidated them too easily and she preferred it that way. She didn’t want a guy getting close. Especially when there was major chemistry going on, because she distrusted the hell out of that, too.

But not only had she let Luke have the upper hand, she’d totally lost herself in his kiss. In him.

Kissing the boss? Not a good move.

Oh shit. There was that, too. Not to mention the gossip she’d heard about his tendency to burn through women. As if she needed to be getting hot and heavy with another Alistair clone.

“That,” he said hoarsely, “was a mistake. It won’t happen again.”

She struggled to breathe. “Damn right it won’t.”

“Ever.”

“I’m not arguing.”

“Good.” He raised one hand, smoothed his hair, pulled at his jacket, adjusted his tie.

Within seconds he was as cool and untouchable as ever. Except for the lipstick on his mouth. She decided not to tell him about that.

“Here.” Luke held his hand out. “You can have your panties back now.”

A simmering anger gathered inside her, for reasons she couldn’t work out. He was so…perfect. After a kiss that had shattered her, he stood there as though he’d been carved out of ice.

“You can keep them,” she snapped. That would be funny. See what Mr. Uptight would do with a pair of bunny panties in his pristine office.

He blinked, still standing there awkwardly with his hand extended. Ha. Served him right. Abruptly, he scowled at her. “What about the e-mails? Are you going to stop sending them?

“Fine. All right. I will.” God, how she hated giving in. Then again, she wasn’t that much of an idiot to keep provoking him.

Something in his gaze flared. “Good,” he said tersely. And balled up her panties and stuck them in his pocket.

Okay, so she hadn’t expected him to put them
there.

Marisa opened her mouth. Shut it.

“Now,” Luke said. “I have a meeting. So run along.”

The simmering anger sharpened at the arrogance in his tone. It reminded her of Alistair and the patronizing way he used to talk to her. Like she was a sweet, pretty girl without a brain in her head. Like she was a child to be indulged. And she’d never protested because she’d loved him. Because she’d been a naive idiot.

Well, she wasn’t a naive idiot now.

“Honey,” Marisa said sweetly, caressing the endearment to annoy the crap out of him, “no one tells me what to do like that. Ask me nicely to leave and perhaps I’ll let you get back to your little meeting.”

His black brows twitched. “I did ask you nicely.”

“No you didn’t. You told me to ‘run along.’”

For a second she doubted he’d do it. Then he said, biting out the words, “Thank you for your time, Marisa. You can go now.”

“Say please.”

His eyes were the color of thunderclouds. “Please.”

It should have been a victory, but with her panties in his pocket and the taste of him still lingering in her mouth, it wasn’t.

…

Luke waited until the door had shut before he allowed himself to sit down. Then he put a finger on the intercom button. “Give me a minute, Lisa.”

“A minute?” There was shock in her voice. “But the people from Gibson are here already.”

“Like I said, one minute.”

No wonder she was shocked—he didn’t get people to wait. However, right now he’d done what he swore he wouldn’t do and now he needed a goddamned minute.

Reaching out, he adjusted the desk light that had somehow been knocked askew. Checked the rest of his desk to make sure everything was where it was supposed to be. Touched his tie, pulled at his cuffs.

It didn’t help. He couldn’t get the taste of Marisa Clair out of his mouth.

Marisa Clair and her bunny panties.

Why had he kissed her? He still couldn’t work that one out. It was against the rules, the rules
he’d
instituted to help keep his company running smoothly. Rules he’d gone ahead and broken. Was he quite mad?

Yet when she’d put her underwear in his hand and they weren’t at all like what he expected, the same compulsion that had gripped him at the wedding had hit. He had to taste her mouth. Just…had to.

Cursing, Luke got to his feet and rounded his desk to adjust the chair she’d been sitting in. Made sure it was perfectly positioned next to the other one.

This didn’t happen to him, it didn’t. When he took lovers, he liked to converse with them first because it was only polite. But generally he didn’t think about them outside the bedroom, let alone while he was at work. So what made
her
different? Was it because he hadn’t taken a lover in a while? A month of buildup could make a man crazy, and crazy definitely wasn’t what he was going for.

Luke brushed invisible lint off the unmarked black leather of the chair, more than a little unsettled. A single kiss he could write off as a momentary lapse in judgment. But twice? That started to seem like intent. Like…

You want her.

He scowled at the chair, moving it a touch more. No. He didn’t. His body did, but there were many things his body wanted that he wasn’t about to let it have. Those urges had to be carefully managed, not indulged willy-nilly. At least they had to be if he wanted to stay in control.

But he couldn’t figure out why he’d responded to her in the way he had in the first place. Women like her didn’t interest him. Blond sexpots who fluttered their lashes and flashed their underwear were more Caleb’s type than his. Even if he did have chemistry with them.

So no, he should not be thinking about her or that intensely arousing kiss. He should be kicking her out of his head and getting on with this meeting. Being late would put his whole schedule out and he hated that. It destroyed his focus, made the OCD that much harder to deal with.

He’d think about something else. Like the latest share prices for that telecommunications company he’d bought. Or the latest bond release for one of the larger portfolios he managed. Or…

Bunnies. On white cotton warm from her body…

He realized his fingers were in his pocket, curled around the pair of panties he’d confiscated from her. Why were they still there? Why had he kept them? And more to the point, what the hell was he going to with them now?

This was not good.

Twice now, he’d lost control around Marisa Clair. Which was unacceptable. It would make things difficult with Joseph and Christie, but Joseph, out of anyone, would understand. The other man had stood by him back in school. Back in the days when everyone thought he was mad.

His intercom beeped, interrupting his thoughts.

“Luke?” His PA sounded slightly puzzled. “It’s been a minute. Are you ready?”

Christ, what was he doing now? Irritation at himself burned in his gut. With an effort he forced it down, stalked back to his desk. As he passed by the window, he caught a glimpse of his dim reflection and noticed a flash of red.

Oh hell. Lipstick on his goddamned mouth.

Wiping furiously at the stain with one hand, he stuck a finger on the intercom button with the other. “Yes. Send them in.”

He would not let Marisa interrupt his day any more than she already had.

You’re not going to be able to concentrate with her knickers in your pocket.

The tightness in his groin refused to go away. If anything, it only got more intense. Dammit. He couldn’t start a meeting with a hard-on.

But it was too late. The door was opening and the Gibson Group representatives were filing in, and he was going to have to get up, shake their hands. Somehow find the laser-like focus he had a reputation for. And all with Marisa Clair’s panties burning a hole in his pocket.

Jesus.

Hoping like hell none of them happened to glance down at the region of his fly, Luke found a tight smile from somewhere and got up to meet them.

“McNamara,” Don Gibson, the CEO, said as they shook hands. “Glad you could make the time. You’ve had a chance to look over the figures?”

“Of course. And I have to say they’re—” He stopped, frowning. The other man was staring at his jacket for some reason. “Anything the matter?”

“You appear to have…” Don Gibson gestured.

Luke looked down and the breath froze in his throat. Somehow Marisa’s panties were hanging halfway out of his pocket, the white cotton and the bunnies leaping gaily all over it in perfect contrast to the dark charcoal of his jacket.

“Shit,” he said before he could stop himself, embarrassment and anger twisting in his gut.

How could he go on with the meeting now? Not only was his concentration shot to hell, but with the underwear hanging out of his pocket, his professionalism would surely be called into question. And all because of wretched Marisa Clair.

She had officially ruined his morning. Possibly his entire day.

“I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to postpone this meeting,” Luke said stiffly, with as much dignity as he could muster while stuffing women’s underwear back into his pocket. “I have…urgent business to attend to. Lisa will help you reschedule.”

And without waiting for a response, he turned on his heel and strode out of the office.

…

“You’re late,” Ben observed from his office doorway as Marisa flung herself back down at her desk.

Yeah, she was. But chilling out in the ladies’ room for ten minutes before she got to the magazine had been a necessity. Especially since her mouth was still burning from Luke’s kiss and she was hot and restless and unable to settle. Not to mention thoroughly pissed off with herself and with Luke.

In no mood to be told off, Marisa only just stopped from flipping Ben the one-fingered salute. Not exactly the thing to do to her immediate boss.

Like sending naughty e-mails to the über-boss wasn’t.

Marisa ignored the snide voice in her head and gave Ben an apologetic smile. “Yes, sorry about that. I…couldn’t find my other shoe.”

Ben leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms. “Like that’s not the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard.” He gave her a gimlet stare from over the top of his glasses. “Something’s up, isn’t it, Marisa?”

Bugger it. How come Ben always seemed to know whenever she’d done something wrong? She couldn’t flirt with him to distract him and that left her with nothing to hide behind. A nuisance when her typing speed sucked, her ability to schedule was useless, and she didn’t take direction well. Really, she wasn’t the best PA in the world, and she had no idea why Ben kept her on.

Clearly, telling him she’d been called up to the big boss’s office wasn’t going to be the highlight of her day. Still, she kind of had to. Better to come from her than Luke himself, right?

She sighed. “I had to go and see Luke McNamara this morning.”

Ben’s bushy eyebrows rose. “Why?”

“Because I had something I wanted to talk to her about.” A deep, masculine voice came unexpectedly from the magazine’s doorway.

A weird, electric thrill coursed down Marisa’s spine. Whipping her head around so fast her neck nearly snapped, she stared as Luke’s tall figure made its way through the office to her desk.

People were staring and she had a sudden flashback to the day Joseph had come into the office, declaring his love for Christie in front of the entire staff of the magazine.

She’d never admitted it to anyone since love sucked balls, but her knees had melted under her desk. And strangely, there was something about the intense way Luke was looking at her now that had precisely the same effect.

Trying to pull herself together, she couldn’t help licking her lips to moisten them, noticing—rather to her disappointment—that he’d wiped off the lipstick she’d left on his mouth.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice coming out a tad breathy, conscious of Ben also staring at the man like a lunatic. A visit from the CEO wasn’t exactly usual for the
Total Tech
staff.

Luke halted by her desk. She’d have thought that since it was her desk and he was on the other side of it, she’d feel a little more powerful. But she didn’t. He was so tall, the way he was staring at her so intense. It made her self-conscious, especially considering he’d just kissed the life out of her upstairs.

“I need to talk to you,” Luke said. “In private.”

In private? What on earth did he want now? “Uh, sorry, I have a lot of work—”

“I have something of yours I need to return.”

Oh hell. He wanted to give her back her wretched undies.

“Are you stealing my PA, Mr. McNamara?” Ben said. His tone was friendly, but the look he gave her and Luke was calculating.

Marisa opened her mouth to tell him what was going on, but before she could get the words out, Luke said coolly, “It’s a personal matter.”

Ben’s gaze narrowed. “Really?”

“Yes.” Luke stared back at him. “Really.”

The other man shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “Oh. Well. Fine. As you were, then. Right, well, must get back to doing…” He stopped muttering and disappeared back into his office.

Marisa blinked. Why had Luke lied? Why hadn’t he told Ben about the real reason she was in his office? She glanced up at him, another electric shock arrowing down her spine as their eyes met.

Oh boy, this is not good. Sooo not good!

“Why didn’t you tell him about the e-mails?” she asked in a low voice, conscious of the covert stares of the rest of the magazine staff.

“Come with me.”

“Uh, that’s not what I asked. I asked—”

“I said private, Marisa.” Luke’s focused gaze burned into hers, making her forget what the hell she’d been meaning to say. “There’s no need to mention the e-mails. I’ll return this item to you and then as far as I’m concerned the matter is closed.”

Closed. Yeah, she could do with this matter being closed. Extremely closed.

“Fine.” She got up from her desk. “This way.”