Being Me (BBW Romance) (4 page)

"Yeah, that's an understatement. What's your problem, anyway?" I snapped back. I tried to get myself up, but I was so flustered and drunk all I did was lean forward and fall back. I jerked back when hand appeared in my face; it belonged to Dunner.

"Need some help?" he teased.

I scowled at him. Boss or no boss, he was going to feel the wrath of me buzzed and cranky because he was in my domain now. Uninvited, might I add.. I waved away the hand, but he didn't move back. "Not from you," I replied. I tried to get up and repeated my failure. By this time I felt like one of those bobbing clowns who only rocked back and forth.

His hand was there again, and this time he bent down low enough to grab mine. With a deft pull, and with strength greater than I would have given him credit for, he pulled me up to my feet. He lightly held my shoulders while I got my balance. I sighed; this was ridiculous. "Thanks," I told him.

Dunner shook his head. "Don't mention it. Besides, I'm the one who caused the fall, remember?"

I tilted my head up and pinched my face into a new frown, but this one had less bite to it. I'd gotten my fill of being mean and rude for one night. "Yeah, you were. What were you doing, anyway? Trying to see up my nose?"

He laughed. I liked that sound; it reminded me of Finner and how happy I'd made her. "No, but I still got a good look in there."

"Then what were you trying to get at-Perkins, I think that's enough." The cat was still being a nuisance with its growling. Perkins finally stopped and jumped onto the back of the couch.

"Maybe he's trying to tell you I'm all right," Dunner suggested.

"Uh-huh, not likely. More like he's trying to tell us to behave," I countered.

Dunner surprised me by faking outrage. "Behave? Where's the fun in that?"

Two could play at this drama. "It's not, and that's probably why he's telling us to do it. Don't you know cats always interrupt sexy time with their voyeurism?"

"Well, I guess we should ignore him and conduct ourselves to a more secluded spot." He stepped toward me and I stepped back. His shoulders slumped. "Come on, I can't be that bad that you should be afraid of me. Your cat likes me," he pointed out.

I looked at the feline; he stared back. "Having a recommendation from a cat is highly suspect. Besides, I know this one. He's evil."

A wicked smirk slipped onto Dunner's face. "Does he take after his owner?"

I shrugged. "Probably, if his owner is Satan, but you still haven't answered my question."

He blinked. "Which one?"

"The one about what you think you were trying to do before we fell off the cliff of the couch," I reminded him.

He cringed. "That wasn't one of my better advances."

"I'd call our fall a flop," I added. "But seriously, why are you here? And don't give me the spiel about seeing if I was all right. That's thinner than a line for free samples of cooked spinach."

"I sense an aversion to green stuff," he pointed out.

"Then you sense right, but answer the question."

He straightened up and smoothed his shirt with one hand. For once he actually looked serious. Not deadly, which is good because I would have been freaked out, but serious. "I...I wasn't, well, I wasn't lying when I said, um." He broke down. His shoulders slumped over and his arms hung limp at his sides. "I wasn't lying when I said my weakness was for large women. Now I've been entrusted with a whole floor of toothpicks, so what's a drowning man to do in a sea of sticks?"

I folded my arms across my chest and raised an eyebrow. "I don't know, what?"

"Grab at the only woman who has some meat on her bones and hold on for dear life."

I recalled back to his groping me in his office. "Did you have to take your own advice so literally?"

He shrugged. "It helps to be bold, and I was afraid I had competition from other men on the floor."

Dunner spoke in such a serious tone that I realized he actually believed what he was saying. I looked at him like he was an anomaly to be studied under the microscope, much like myself in a sea of skinny women. "Um, yeah, no. I haven't had a date in years, and it was blind so the guy ran out on me after dinner. I probably scared him with the food bill and he figured he couldn't afford me."

Dunner blinked, then glanced over me. I felt like a piece of meat being looked over by a potential buyer. "I guess he didn't know what he had," was his reply.

I felt like we were going in circles with all this talk. "Yeah, well, maybe he did and maybe he didn't, but no, I don't have men chasing after me, and no, I don't like you looking me over like you've been doing."

He cringed. "It's been that bad?"

"Like I'm the newest attraction at a petting zoo," I told him. He looked ashamed. I thought I had insecurities, but this guy was doing his best to outdo even me. I sighed. "Listen, I know you've been trying really hard to be sweet and all-"

He held up his hands. "So you don't believe this much manliness can be in a sweet package?"

I glanced over said package and wished it was Christmas. His slim waist, nice build, and handsome face made my panties wet. Still, I shook my head. "I'm just not ready for that yet. Besides, we hardly know each other. Can't we take it slow and steady just to see if we hate each other now rather than later?"

The smirk disappeared from his face. His voice softened. "You've been hurt that often?" he asked me.

I turned away and shrugged. "No, just enough that I don't want it to happen again," I replied.

Next thing I knew there were hands on my shoulders. I looked up and found his face near mine. I blushed, and the heat didn't stop until it reached between my legs. Damn it, but he was cute with those blue eyes. His voice was soft but firm. "I'm not trying to hurt you, I guess I was just being, well, too aggressive."

I stared at him for a moment and then barked out a laugh. "I think you need to work on your aggression. You apologize way too much."

There was that smirk again, and I realized I'd just opened up a can of worms. I stiffened at his next words. "Challenge accepted."

I let out a cute little squeak when he wrapped his arms around me. His head ducked down and he captured my mouth in a deep, passionate kiss. Our lips meshed together and my body was set on fire. When he finally pulled away I was gasping for breath with my eyes half lidded. Then he started to laugh. I scowled; I found nothing to laugh about. "What? I'm not that good a kisser?"

He shook his head. "I think you just made me drunk with your breath. Did you really drink all that bottle in one sitting?"

Now it was my turn to give a sheepish grin. "It helps me get to sleep," I protested.

"And helps you get over the lack of dates," he guessed. I hung my head and gave a nod.

I had to bite back a whimper when he let me go. "Maybe that's a warning to me not to have too much fun tonight. Besides, we both have work tomorrow."

He was leaving, and I didn't want him to go now. Damn my female mood swings! "Did you want to stay for a movie or maybe dinner? I make a mean lasagna."

Dunner shook his head. "Nope, better not. I'd be tempted to stay a little longer and then things would happen that I don't want to happen while you're drunk."

At that moment I swore off alcohol, but I didn't argue. Maybe my brain wasn't thinking properly, and there was always tomorrow. "Well, what about a dinner tomorrow? My treat," I suggested.

He smiled. "Sounds great. I'll be here at the same time, just don't greet me at the door with another bottle."

I blushed and nodded. We said our farewells and I led him out of the apartment. Just to show him how sophisticated I was I gave my cheesiest rodeo princess wave. He laughed, but I wasn't embarrassed. He didn't make me feel embarrassed about anything funny I did.

Then I stepped back inside, closed the door and leaned up against it. My mind boggled at what just happened, but my face was a warm glow of happiness. I'd managed to reel in a fish that, at least at the beginning, looked to be a keeper. If I could just get the net over him then he would be mine to put in my aquarium. That is, if I had a tank. And who would have thought it would be with my new boss?

Then reality stuck its ugly head into my dreams of a castle with my fishy prince. My prince
was
my boss, and according to work rules I couldn't have a relationship with him. My heart sank, and so did I, right down to the floor.

"Oh crap..." I muttered to myself. I would go and fall for my cute new boss, the last person in my professional world that I was allowed to go out with. I'd have to call him and-wait. I didn't have his number. I'd have to tell him tomorrow in his office, face-to-face, that we couldn't make this work. My depression returned and I was out of wine. "Just crap."

CHAPTER 4

The next morning I dragged my feet and car tires to the office. The dread of telling him about our personal incompatibility because of our professional lives piled up higher and higher. By the time I got to the office I felt buried beneath a pile of crap, because that's what I kept muttering to myself. I scared a few people in the elevator doing that.

At ten minutes till time, I shuffled my way out of the elevator and noticed the work ethic of the place had plummeted. Everyone who'd had an interview wore their usual clothes and stood around talking to one another. The only ones still changed were the three stooges, who still had on fancy clothes with blouses low enough they looked like they were doing the limbo over their breasts. But I was on a mission, so I ignored all of them and walked over to Dunner's door. It was closed and the shades were drawn, so I knocked.

It was opened in a few moments and Dunner smiled at me. "Good morning, Miss Collins. Something I can do for you?"

I kept my voice as low as I could manage, because the person in the cubicle near the door was Stacy. I didn't want her getting a whiff of any of this budding scandal. "There's something I need to talk to you about," I replied.

Dunner's smile almost slipped off his face, but he strained to keep it on. It was kind of scary stretched out like that. "Certainly. Come on in."

I slipped inside and he closed the door behind me. I turned around to tell him about our complication, but he didn't give me a chance to say anything before he caught me up in another of his hot kisses. His hands reached down and squeezed my plump ass while his hips ground into mine. I grabbed his arms and pulled away. My face was warm and my body hot for him. I could feel a wetness soak into my panties.

He had a smirk on his face now. "Now that's the good morning I
really
wanted to give to you."

"And one you're really not supposed to give to me," I countered. His humor disappeared. I was sorry to see it go, but this needed to stop before it got too deep. "We're not supposed to have a relationship. It's against company policy," I told him. I expected him to cry or frown, but not to laugh. "What's so funny? This is serious. We can't even go out."

He looked me over and one of his hands reached up to pet my hair. I leaned forward against his chest and oozed in his hands; hair petting was one of my weaknesses. "I know about the rule, but what they don't know won't hurt us," he pointed out.

My voice was a soft murmur. I didn't want to disagree with him too bad or he'd stop petting my hair. "But we'll get fired if they do find out," I countered.

"Then we'll just have to be careful."

"That's easy for you to say, you probably have a fat bank account or a rich, crazy uncle about to kick the bucket stashed away. I have Mr. Perkins and a car loan, and I'm not sure Mr. Perkins will stay with me if I stop feeding him."

He let out a laugh. "Like I said, we'll just have to be careful. No meeting out in public and no talking about it except over the phone and in person."

Here we were in his office surrounded by all my coworkers, and he was talking about being careful. "And doing this is being careful how?" I asked him.

"The door is locked and the shades are pulled. We only have to keep from knocking into the furniture, which is easily done if I just do this." He swung me around in a few circles, and we stopped turning when the back of my legs knocked into his couch. I collapsed onto the leather cushions and he was on top of me in a moment. His weight pinned me down, but I wasn't fighting all that hard, not when his hands slipped beneath my shirt and touched my breasts.

I shuddered, but there was still one very important and as yet unanswered concern. "How soundproof is this room?" I gasped out.

"Checked it this morning before everyone came. Couldn't even hear heavy metal music through that door."

That was enough for me to give in to his touches. To hell with the work rules, I wanted some sexy time with this rich, gorgeous man. I admit we went at it like rabbits. Clothes flew across the room and hands caressed naked flesh. The minute my bra slipped off he was on my swollen breasts like a starved man for water. His hot lips suckled and nipped on my buds, devouring me and heating up the ache in my groin. My hands ran through his hair and my hips ground into his. He grunted and thrust into me, showing me the proof of his need with a thick, stiff dick.