His fingers itched to touch her. His mouth watered to taste her.
Not yet.
But soon, he promised himself.
“You know, I’d think most women would be pissed.”
“Pissed?” A tiny line creased her brow as Gia shook her head in confusion. “Why?”
“At not being recognized.”
“But I just said I was trying to keep that from you. I was in disguise in Vegas. That weekend I looked nothing like I normally do. And I spent any time we were together on the project trying to avoid you just in case. Not that I expected you to put the two of us together. I mean, Vegas Vanna and I are about as different as night and day.”
Were they, really? Which was the real disguise, he wondered. He was sure she’d say the Vegas fantasy, but he’d bet that was as much the real her as the brilliant techie who’d rocked the project and the vulnerably sweet woman who’d apologized because her actions had hurt him.
Most women he knew would be blowing off his feelings with a shrug and a reminder that he’d had strings-free sex, so he should get over himself. And if they had a clue that he was hurt over being left naked and horny, they’d call him a sad little girl.
Not Gia.
She got it.
She got
him
.
She was fascinating.
The last of Luke’s anger drained away.
All that was left were his feelings for Gia. A complicated, confusing mess of feelings.
For a guy who prided himself on having a solid handle on his own personal wants and needs, those feelings being all messed up should have been frustrating.
But there was something so tempting, so intriguing, about figuring them out. With her help, that was.
His eyes locked on hers, he reached up to slide the ends of her hair between his fingers. It was so soft, like silk. Real. With depths and highlights that the red extensions hadn’t even hinted at. Kinda like Gia herself. While he still had fantasies about that long red hair trailing over his naked skin, he couldn’t wait to feel her real hair against his chin while cuddling her close.
He’d never imagined the after-sex being as tempting as the mind-blowing explosion that was the actual sex.
“You know,” he murmured slowly. “I’d sort of figured this weekend was my revenge. I’d drag you in here, guilt you into having wild sex my way. On the desk, against the wall, maybe a little computer-cam kink.”
Her eyes grew huge. Not as huge as the bulge pressing against his zipper but big all the same. Desire and just a hint of worry were clear in her pale blue gaze.
“That sounds, well, pretty tempting,” she said, sounding a little breathless. A soft flush washed the delicate skin of her chest. A sign, he remembered, of arousal. Good. He wanted her just as turned on as he was.
Then she visibly swallowed, as if steeling her nerves. She wet her lips, and while she didn’t move away, she seemed to pull back a little.
“If I’ve learned one thing from all of this, it’s that fantasies come at a price. Don’t you think revenge will, too?”
What price had she paid for her fantasy?
And how long would it take him to find out?
First things, first, though.
And first, he wanted her.
Naked.
Beneath him. Above him. Her moans surrounding him.
After that they could get to sharing all those juicy secrets.
“Whatever the price, I’m ready to pay,” he decided.
More than ready, as a matter of fact.
A Girlz Guide Top Tip:
When life hands you an opportunity
,
work it like it’s a stripper pole
.
Gia stared into Luke’s eyes. It was like drowning in desire. Excitement tangled with nerves in her belly. She wanted him. She wanted him like crazy. But this was more. Bigger.
And not just big like the crazy-huge bulge in his jeans, although her mouth was watering at the sight of his erection, her body tingling at the memory of the magic he could make with his pants off.
In Vegas everything about their time together had been coated with the glitter of fantasy. It had been like a moment out of time, from her behavior to her looks to their lovemaking.
But this was real.
She glanced toward the door.
This came with a price.
As if reading her mind, Luke released his hold on her hair and slowly, reluctantly, stepped away. Only a few inches, but she still shivered at the chill, missing his body against hers.
“You know what? In Vegas you gave me the choice to play the fantasy game or to walk away. It’s only fair that I give you the same option.”
She wanted to scream.
Don’t make me choose
. Choosing to play meant she was completely on board here. That she was willingly, actively participating instead of being swept off her feet. She wanted to be overwhelmed by desire, overtaken by passion. She wanted him to toss her on the desk, rip her clothes off and drive them both wild with pleasure.
That way she didn’t have to be responsible for her feelings, or for the repercussions on her life or her job.
“I thought you wanted to pay me back for Vegas,” she said, her words quiet and hesitant. “I’m not sure giving me an option to avoid payback is in the standard revenge handbook.”
“Letting you choose is about the hardest damned thing I’ve ever done,” he admitted. His eyes were so intense, the emotions swirling there so strong, that Gia felt as if she were drowning. “But as hot as the office sex-slave fantasy is, knowing you want me is even hotter.”
“You know I want you.”
“You left me.”
Gia’s heart melted.
“I left because this was more than I’d bargained for,” she confessed. “That weekend was more than hot sex and wild orgasms. What we shared, how you made me feel…It scared me.”
Luke nodded. Then, with a long searching look, he walked over to the door and set his hand on the knob.
“Do you want to leave?”
Gia swallowed hard.
She should.
She should scurry out of this office, making sure that Mr. Landin, Matt the male slut and everyone left in the building saw her leaving. That’d protect her reputation.
She should tell Luke it’d been fun and that she appreciated the good time, but she had to go. Then she should run like hell and not look back. That’d protect her heart.
This had all started out as a good time. As a hot fantasy she could look back on, a story to share with her friends that proved she was adventurous and sexy, too.
She’d put it together so carefully, making sure the risk was minimal.
But now?
Now she was ready to risk everything to be with Luke.
Her fingers shaking, her nerves jangling so hard she swore her hair was quivering, Gia took a deep breath. Then, her eyes locked on Luke’s, she crossed her hands in front of her to wrap her fingers around the hem of her blouse.
And tugged it off.
As the fabric cleared her head, she heard the snick of a lock, telling her he’d ensured their privacy. Before she’d shaken her hair out of her eyes, his hands were on her body.
This time it was like falling into a dream. Their clothes seemed to disappear, their bodies sliding hot and welcoming against each other.
Their kisses were soft. Sweet, even.
Gia’s mind screamed a warning. If she hadn’t completely fallen for him already, this sweet and gentle lovemaking would shove her right over the edge.
The hazy delight of his kisses made it easy for her to ignore those screams, though.
Gia’s hands swept over his muscles, cupping, caressing. His fingers skimmed her aching nipples, light as air, before sliding over her hips and down to the welcoming wetness between her thighs.
Eyes closed, she was faintly aware of Luke lifting her. Then of hard, cold wood beneath her back. She didn’t open her eyes, though. Instead, she slid her hands into his hair, holding Luke’s mouth to hers as he slid into her quivering body.
Slowly, oh so deliciously slowly, he moved.
In and out.
His mouth never left hers as the pressure built.
Gia wrapped her legs around his waist, her feet crossing at the small of his back. Holding tight, she met each thrust with a slow, soft moan.
Again he slid in and out.
So slow. So hard.
Her breath sped up.
Her heart trembled, racing faster with each thrust.
His tongue swept deeper into her mouth, entwining with hers. Sucking.
Gia exploded, stars flashing behind her eyes. She barely remembered at the last second not to scream in delight. Instead, her climax was echoed in whimpers as Luke thrust again, harder this time.
Faster.
Twice more.
His body stiffened, but the worship of his kiss continued.
The sweetness of it made Gia come again.
This time the stars were gentle flickers before going dark.
She didn’t know how long she laid there, Luke’s body warm and comforting over hers. It was only when she realized she had imprints in her butt that she shifted, trying to dislodge a pen and letter opener from her right cheek.
Office supplies.
Because they were at work.
Reality came crashing back in, dispelling the sexual haze like sunrise scattering the fog.
She’d willingly stripped herself naked.
She’d anted up for the game.
But…
“Now what?” she asked, terrified of the answer but needing to know. She’d played this game once already. This time she knew better. This time she needed to be smart. She had to protect her heart.
She didn’t expect any big declarations. Girls like her didn’t inspire that from legends like Luke. But no matter what he’d said before, this hadn’t just been revenge.
She wasn’t sure exactly what it had been.
“Now?” After a deep, fortifying breath, Luke rolled off her and stood, shaking his head as if he were trying to knock all the cylinders back into place. “Now we do it all over again. But you can be on top this time.”
Gia smiled, as she knew he intended. But her lips quickly straightened.
“This is new?” He tapped his finger to her lip ring.
“No.” She grimaced, feeling more bare than just naked skin.
“This is me. Just like this is me,” she said, touching her plain brown hair.
“And that is me.” She pointed to her cute but not designer shoes, then met his eyes with an apologetic look. “Average ole me. Nothing fancy, nothing glittery like Vanna.”
He gave her a long stare, his gaze shifting from her hair to her lip ring, then meeting her eyes again. “You know, the last word I’d prescribe to you is average. You’re gorgeous, yeah. But you’re smart. I love how you refuse to take limits, how you see beyond impossible. You’ve got a wicked sense of humor, a sweet laugh and the prettiest smile I’ve ever seen.” His brow furrowed, as if he were considering the question, then shook his head. “Nope. Nothing average about you or the way you make me feel.”
Gia almost melted into a big ole puddle of emotions right there in his arms. She’d never felt so special. Never felt so happy to be herself.
As if ready to back up his words with a little more action, Luke’s hand skimmed up her still-trembling thighs. She sighed, then, as much as she hated to do it, rolled away from the probing delight of his fingers. They needed to clear this up first.
“We shouldn’t. I mean, our jobs are at stake. That was incredible. Great sex, you know. But we should stop now. We can call it an oops. Breaking the rules with an oops is bad but not so bad we can’t get away with it. But if we do it again, we’re past the oops stage and into trouble. Big trouble.”
She knew she was babbling. She didn’t need Luke’s amused eyes and twitching lips to tell her she’d barely made sense. Gia took a deep breath and tried to clarify.
“Mr. Landin thinks you wanted to discuss a promotion, yet you said you brought in someone else to lead the team. Even with the door locked, if we’re in here banging against the walls all weekend, someone’s bound to notice. We’ll be fired.”
“I don’t think so. I took your advice and tried a challenge. I wasn’t blindfolded this time, and it was a hell of a lot harder. The challenge, not other things,” he said with a laugh, gesturing to his still-impressive erection.
Damn, he had a fine body. Sleek and golden, even in the harsh office lights. She’d hoped she had built him up in her mind, that her memories of him were sexier than the reality. Her eyes traveled over the breadth of his shoulders, over the curved strength of his biceps and down the solid taper of his torso. She let out a sigh as she reached his thighs.
The man was pure eye candy. The kind that made her center all warm and gooey. And made her heart melt like chocolate in the hot sun. Had she ever felt anything as delicious as the reactions he stirred in her body? She was pretty sure the answer was a big fat no.
“So us being together isn’t an issue. Now you’ll kick techie butt and I’m going to see if I’m up for the challenge. What do you think?”
She’d been so busy enjoying the view Gia hadn’t been paying any attention to what he’d been saying. She had to blink a couple of times and rewind the past few minutes before she could respond. But most of it was blank.
So all she could come up with was “Huh?”
“I quit Tri-Solutions.” The look he gave her made it clear he’d already said that. Probably a few times.
Realizing she should be paying much closer attention, and knowing she wasn’t going to be able to if there was a possibility of licking her way down his chest again, Gia rolled off the desk, grabbing his discarded shirt as she went.
She thrust her arms into it, reveling for a second as the soft cotton and Luke’s scent enveloped her. She buttoned the front enough to protect her modesty, even as she scooped up his jeans and tossed them his way.
“So you decided to take the Kettlemens position, then?”
“Nope.” He pulled the jeans on but didn’t bother buttoning them. Which meant that Gia’s eyes kept sliding down that sleek, naked chest to the tempting thatch of hair visible above the denim.
He was killing her here.
“I realized a couple of things. One, that while talking up the product and playing solutions manager comes naturally, it’s too easy. Like you said in Vegas, there was no challenge.”
“I wasn’t dissing your skills.” One hand raised as if she could erase that thought from his mind, Gia shook her head.
“Well, you did have some insider info that you played on that weekend,” he pointed out. His smile pure wicked delight, he opened one desk drawer and pulled out her robe sash. The one she’d used to blindfold him. Gia’s stomach tumbled and her breath stuck in her throat. She wet her lips, meeting his eyes with a questioning look.
“I plan to tie you up and put some of my insider knowledge to good use later,” he said matter-of-factly, as if he were telling her the time. “But you were right. I need a challenge. And I’m not going to get it doing something I have no passion for, like tech work.”
“So…?”
“So I’m starting my own business. I’ll do product management but on a freelance basis. I’ll pull in my contacts, match clients with projects. Tri-Solutions already agreed to contract me for the retail project we were working. We’re talking about a few others, too.”
Delighted, Gia almost clapped. It was the perfect answer. He’d do what he was good at, charming clients and explaining the products, bringing in sales and generating buzz. But he’d have to expand his skill set, to be his own boss. Starting any business, even one you were awesome at, was a huge challenge.
Gia’s lips twitched. Well, he’d already proven he could do huge in Vegas. This new challenge would be a piece of cake.
“I’m so excited for you,” she told him, giggling a little. “Although I can’t imagine Landin is thrilled. He escorted me in here to talk about a fake promotion and instead he’s losing his top guy at the company.”
“That wasn’t bullshit. You’re getting promoted to my old position.”
“Product management and publicity? I don’t think so.” She shook her head. “I’m not a people person.”
“No. Project leader. You’re taking over the retail project, and I’ve recommended you for another few they’d lined up for me that I won’t be able to handle now that I’m leaving.”
Excitement, so different from the sexual thrill yet just as heady, coursed through Gia’s body. She pressed her hands to her cheeks, as if needing to be sure she was real. That this was real.
“You think I can take your place? You think I’m strong enough to handle a project like that?”
He paused in the act of pulling a bottle of wine from his mini fridge to give her a baffled look.
“You’re fabulous. Why wouldn’t you rock it?”
He really believed that.
He wasn’t saying it because he was trying to get in her panties or just because he was a nice guy. He totally, completely believed that.
Gia opened her mouth, but no words came out.
She couldn’t think, couldn’t pull together a single sentence.
She could only feel.
He thought she was a killer tech. A natural leader. Hot and sexy. So desirable he’d chosen her for his doing-it-on-the-desk fantasy. A fantasy he said he’d entertained for years but never wanted a woman enough to make a reality.
That sure as hell wasn’t average.
It was freaking awesome.
She thought of that night she’d played getting’ itwith her friends. How all she’d thought about was getting the fantasy.
“I thought this was just, you know, sex. Something that comes really easy to you. Something I’d get to enjoy, something I’d remember for the rest of my life,” she confessed.