One Night Forever (The Cinderella Chronicles) (7 page)

And then, she just showed
up.

Women didn’t get under
his skin. Until Lauren. That’s why he looked for her. He couldn’t
stop thinking about her. Her transformation from sexy casual to
business professional did nothing to hide her amazing curves or
downplay her lovely skin. It also did nothing to diminish how she
affected his senses.

He wanted to touch her
again. To taste her. To tease her. To feel her wet body hugging his
cock as she called his name. Their night together had stayed with
him on constant replay. At the oddest of times, she would appear in
his thoughts. At first, he’d thought it was about pride. After all,
she’d run off without a word. It had smarted. But after several
days, he knew it was more. Though he’d wanted to see her again, and
was immensely pleased to see her, having her work for him created
complications.

How to handle such things
weighed heavily on his mind.

As the meeting drew to an
end, Matt forced his attention back to the room, instead of one
woman.

“
We are
throwing a birthday party for Bret Weaver, the key decision-maker
at BG clothing,” Tyler announced. “Mark your calendars for Friday
the 18
^th
at the New Yorker Hotel.”

Matt’s eyes went to
Lauren and their gazes locked. The New Yorker housed the bar where
they’d met. It was like a walk back in time to that hot night when
passion burned between them. Lauren blushed and averted her
gaze.

“
Now,” Tyler
said, “here is where the pressure starts. We got in on this bid
late. Matt leaves in a week for the Los Angeles corporate offices
of BG. He needs ideas by then. Now, I know I don’t need to say
this, but I expect all of you to be present and accounted for at
this party. And I expect great ideas for this campaign. Unique and
original. I realize this is short notice but I have to expect you
to step up to the plate and give me a home run. You’ll be paired up
in teams to prepare your ideas. And I stress, this is for the
professional line only. We get a shot at the rest only if we do
this right.”

Matt pushed to his feet,
ready to get out of the room and think. Lauren was here now, and
she couldn’t run away. But he needed to make his move a good one.
That meant he needed to give it some consideration.

“
You have very
little time here, team,” Matt said to the room. “I need good,
innovative ideas. I’ll let you get busy.” Then with a quick nod of
his head, he turned toward the door.

Lauren was here now, but
she was also his employee.

Where the hell did that
leave him?

* * * * *

Lauren walked into her
office and pushed the door shut, and then let out a huge breath.
She crossed the room, and tossed her pad of paper and pen on her
desk. Then, the pacing started, because she didn’t know what else
to do. Wrapped tight like a rubber band she didn’t know where to
put her tension.

It was four-thirty and
the first time since coming face-to-face with her one-time lover,
she hadn’t managed a moment alone. Somehow, she’d contained her
stress, and offered a calm façade to those around her.

But she was anything but.
In truth, she was completely, utterly freaked out.

What in the hell was she
supposed to do now?

She’d slept with her
boss! Well…he wasn’t her boss then, but he was now, so it really
played out with the same results. She was screwed.

The worse part was, she
still wanted him. Damn the man for pushing whatever buttons he
pushed.

She stopped pacing, a
sudden thought darting through her mind. What if Matt thought she
planned this? Oh, no, not good. She definitely had to talk to him.
Not giving herself any more time to think, she marched out of her
office and toward the executive suites. Backing out wasn’t an
option.

Approaching Matt’s
office, Lauren found it closely guarded by a secretary, a woman
appearing to be in her mid-thirties who smelled of snobbery. She
didn’t even acknowledge Lauren’s presence though Lauren had seen
her glance up. Lauren cleared her throat.

With a look of irritation
the secretary’s gaze lifted. “I’m here to see Matt,” Lauren said,
and then inwardly cringed realizing she’d forgotten to use his last
name. She tried to play it off by ignoring the slip. “I’m Lauren
Reynolds.”

“
Do you have
an appointment with
Mr.
Monroe
?”

Lauren forced a sticky
sweet smile and kept her voice accommodating. “No, but if he would
see me, I would greatly appreciate it.”

The secretary
sniffed, and gave Lauren a look that said
I doubt it
.
Clenching her teeth together, Lauren bit back a retort. The woman
actually looked as if she might refuse to buzz Matt before she
reached for the phone. Lauren listened as she was announced, and
witnessed the moment of surprise as it registered on the woman’s
face.

The secretary set the
receiver to the phone down. In a tight voice, she said, “Go right
in.”

A tiny part of Lauren
felt adolescent. She wanted to gloat, but she figured it wouldn’t
serve any purpose. Besides, what real victory had she won besides
an opportunity to go into the lion’s den?

* * * * *

With a heavy sigh, Matt
digested his secretary’s words. Lauren was here to see him. He
leaned back in his oversized executive chair, a hand on the back of
his neck where the tension seemed to sit like a heavy rock. After
his morning meeting with the past, he’d been slammed with
appointments. He had hoped for some time to think things through
before he came face-to-face with Lauren again.

It appeared he wouldn’t
get that opportunity.

But his ultimate goal
wouldn’t change with time or thought. He wanted Lauren. Period. No
question about it. Not just in his bed, but in his life. It was
crazy, yes, probably. But he wasn’t fighting it. She was special.
For the first time in years, he was thinking about something other
than work.

Lauren made him want
more.

* * * * *

Lauren wiped her clammy
hands on her skirt before reaching for Matt’s doorknob. How had the
past become the present and even the future? She eased the knob to
the left, and slipped inside the room. With a definitive need for
privacy, she clicked the door back into place.

For a moment, she simply
took in the elegantly decorated office complete with spectacular
ceiling to floor windows covering two out of four walls. Her eyes
didn’t linger on the surrounding. They went to the man who
dominated the room.

He sat behind a massive
desk, looking powerful, confident, and extremely sexy. Talking on
the phone, his attention was on what appeared to be an intense
dialogue. Busy. He was very busy. Maybe visiting him was a bad
idea. She started to turn, to bolt, and duck her head and hide.
But, then he looked up and she was trapped.

He smiled and waved her
forward.

No escape.

She swallowed as she
forced her feet to take steps. By the time she claimed a visitor’s
chair, her pulse was beating like a drum and she was questioning
her logic for visiting. Matt hung up the phone, and studied her,
his gaze far too probing. In a soft voice, he said, “I won’t
bite.”

Not entirely true. He’d
like to be nipping at her neck, arm…and then, her nipple. She
shoved the thought away and decided to ignore the comment all
together. “I had no idea who you were.”

“
That thought
hadn’t even crossed my mind.”

She studied him a moment.
“This is a bit unusual.”

“
Unexpected,”
he said as he leaned back in his chair, and smiled. “But not
unpleasant.”

Her eyes narrowed.
“Please don’t tease me. I’m having a hard enough time with
this.”

His brow inched up. “I
assure you, I was quite serious.”

Her brows dipped. She
didn’t understand him. Didn’t want to. She just wanted this to all
go away. “I’ll resign if you want me to.” She paused a beat. “If
you think that’s best.”

* * * * *

Matt studied Lauren for a
long, intense moment. She had the most amazing skin and he
remembered every damn inch of it. Feeling the throb of his cock
come to life, he pushed to his feet, wanting to get closer. To make
sure she was all he remembered. He walked around the desk, and
stopped directly in front of her, perching on the edge of the
wooden top to bring them almost eye level. Their legs were only
inches apart and he remembered them entwined. Intimate.
Naked.

For long moments, neither
of them spoke. The air crackled with their connection. With an
attraction that existed both past and present. “I don’t want you to
resign,” he said softly.

She wet her lips. A
nervous action not meant to be seductive but it was. It made him
want to taste her as he had in the past. To soak in that sweet
flavor so unique to her.

“
I really feel
like I should resign,” she half whispered.

He raised a questioning
brow. “Why?” His eyes held her brown ones. He loved the color. So
warm and alluring. So honest. Maybe that was part of what drew him
to her. In business, he saw so many agendas. Lauren didn’t have one
beyond survival. He sensed it. He saw it in the depths of those
rich eyes.

“
Resigning
would make things less…awkward.” Her voice held a slight
quiver.

He could tell she meant
what she said, but that it would cost her professionally and maybe
financially. “No,” he said, “That’s not the answer.”

“
I, well, I
guess if you can pretend it didn’t happen, then—”

His desire to be discreet
and ease into this might be sending the wrong message. He wanted
her to know how he felt. If she shut him down, he’d back
off.

Matt cut off her words.
“I remember every intimate detail of our time together but does
that mean you should resign? Absolutely not.” He let his words
linger in the air a moment. “What about you? Do you
remember?”

The soft, floral scent
she wore floated in the air like a sweet enticement. Memories of
touching her wrapped around him like a fine mist. She surprised him
by squeezing her eyes shut as if she was hiding from his
words.

“
Lauren?” he
prodded gently.

After several seconds,
her lashes fluttered open. “Look,” she said a bit hoarsely, and
then paused to delicately clear her throat. “What happened between
us… I don’t make a habit of that sort of thing.”

He didn’t
blink. His response was immediate. “I know,” Matt assured her.
“What I
don’t
know is why you ran out on me that
night.”

Abruptly pushing to her
feet, she moved as if to retreat. No way, he thought. He wasn’t
about to let her run. He followed her to his feet, his hand snaking
out to grab her shoulders. After this, he’d leave her alone if that
was what she wanted. But here, now, he deserved answers.

She glared at
him. “Please let me go. I came here to make things better, not
worse.
I do need this
job
. If you let me stay, I
won’t say a word to anyone about that…night. Professional and
personal belong in two different places. I know that.”

His eyes narrowed. “Do I
not deserve answers Lauren? That’s all I ask for. Just answers.
Really, one. Why did you leave without saying a word?”

She shook her head
doggedly. “It’s the past.”

He eyed her keenly. “What
are you afraid of Lauren?” She swallowed but didn’t respond, in
fact, he could have sworn she swayed toward him. He pushed a bit
harder. “Why did you leave without saying goodbye?”

Her chin tilted up in
defiance, their eyes locking. “Why does it matter?” She tugged at
her arms. He held her easily. “Let me go, Matt.”

He shook his head.
“Please answer, Lauren.”

Eyes locked, they stood
there, staring at one another, the potency of their attraction raw
and alive. And then suddenly they were kissing. Lauren’s soft
curves pressed against his, their tongues sliding together in red,
hot passion. Her hands settled on his chest even as his flattened
on her back. With each second that passed, he confirmed what he’d
known was true. This woman made him crazy. Made him want and want
and want beyond explanation.

He didn’t want to ever
let her go again. “Lauren,” he murmured against her mouth. “You
shouldn’t have left me.”

“
I had to,”
Lauren whispered against his lips.

Before she could say
more, he claimed her mouth yet again. He needed just one more rush
of that flavor so uniquely her, yet, he forced himself to draw back
after only a few strokes of his tongue. He tilted her chin up with
his finger, making her meet his gaze. “Why? Why did you have to
leave like you did?”

Her voice held a tiny
little quiver. “It’s hard to explain.”

“
Try.”

Her response was silence.
After several long moments, he brushed his lips over hers. “I want
you,” he told her huskily. “Tell me you want me, too.”