Possessed By You (Overworld Underground Book 1) (26 page)

I put on my work clothes and dried my hair with the blow dryer. Even though my dark locks hung down to my shoulders, the heavy-duty dryer tamed them to a manageable state in no time. I had to add the blow dryer to Tyler's list of exceptional qualities.

"This really is too good to be true." I adjusted the strap on my bra so it was comfortable. In my eagerness, I'd packed a sexy bra with lace as opposed to one of my comfy ones. I stared at the bra I'd worn last night, and finally decided it was worth the extra comfort to switch back to it. I was so bloody inexperienced, it was as if I'd never dated. I just had to remember that I was only using him. That way, when he was done with me, it wouldn't hurt.

At least not as much.

And what would we do later? Would I see him again today someplace other than work? Would he want to bring me to his place again? I had no idea what to expect, and didn't want to go to work. I didn't want this morning to end. I part of me hoped with everything I had, that he would ask me to do something later in the day. Another part of me worried that he would.

On the other hand, I couldn't wait to talk to Isabel. She was going to freak. In a good way.

"Breakfast is ready," Tyler called.

I stepped into the space the large kitchen shared with the den. A large granite-topped island separated the two areas, both overlooking the magnificent view of the park and city skyline. A light gray mist hung over the early morning sky, and the sun peeked through clouds to the east.

"Beautiful," I murmured.

"Thanks," Tyler said, making a show of preening his hair. "I give credit to my shampoo and conditioner."

I laughed, pressed a kiss against his bare chest. "You're silly."

He pulled out a barstool for me and sat down in the one adjacent. "What are you doing after work?"

I looked over at him. Shrugged. "I hadn't thought that far ahead."
Liar!

"Would you like to have dinner? I thought I would cook something for you."

Yes, yes, yes!
I had to play this calm and cool. "You don't have business meetings to attend, important people to entertain?"

"Yes. But I'd rather blow them off and be with you." An uncertain look crossed his face. "I'm not crowding you am I?"

The vulnerability in his voice caught me completely off-guard. I touched his hand. "Of course not. I'd love to come for dinner." And there was more than one way I wanted to do that.

His hand closed around mine, his eyes brightened. "Great. I'll have Joe pick you up at seven." He sipped some water, and ate a piece of omelet. "I won't be at the office today. Pompous self-important assholes to meet with and all that."

"You won't?" I heard the disappointment in my own voice and hastened to cover it up. "Well, I suppose we can limp along without you."

"I know you're more than capable, Emily." He pursed his lips and looked me up and down. "Wear something sexy this evening. You looked gorgeous in that dress last night." He winked. "And even better out of it."

I blushed furiously, and tried to cover how flustered I was with a drink of tea. "I'll think about it," I said with a coy smile.

His hand brushed a lock of hair from my face and caressed my cheek. "It would make me happy."

Tyler hurried through his breakfast, polishing off a large omelet, French toast, and turkey bacon, then went into his room to change while I finished my breakfast. The omelet tasted heavenly, mushrooms, olives, veggies, and feta cheese melting in my mouth. The man seemed as good at cooking as he was at sex.

Tyler returned wearing a black suit with a sharp, azure tie against a white shirt that seemed to lessen the severity of the ensemble. He looked so good I wanted to eat him like a Dove bar, peeling away the layers with my lips and teeth until I got to the creamy center. A shiver woke me from my brief daydream.

"Joe will drive you to work." He brushed something from the side of my lip, and gave me a tender kiss. His hot breath hit my ear. "I'll be thinking about you all day." He pulled out a smartphone. It looked brand new. "I really hate these things, but maybe it will be worth it if I can talk with you." He punched in a code and pulled up the dial pad. "Can I get your digits?"

"Oh, I don't know," I said. "That's a pretty big commitment."

"I know, I know." He nodded solemnly. "Maybe I just need to take you back to the bedroom and spank it out of you."

"Oh my, Mr. Rock. And here I thought you were an expert at negotiating." I gave him a wide-eyed, innocent expression. "Don't you realize you'd have to threaten
not
to spank me for me to give up my number?"

His green eyes flashed. "Please don't make me resort to such terrible means, Em."

I burst into laughter. "Fine, fine. I suppose you've earned it." I punched in my number, saved it, and labeled my name with a heart next to it. "This way you won't get it confused with all the other Emilys."

He pulled up his contacts. The screen was empty except for my name and Joe's. "I don't think that'll be a problem." He kissed me again. "Until this evening, Miss Glass." He winked. "
Emily
." He walked toward the door. "By the way, press the buttons to the side of the door to get out." He blew me a kiss and left.

I shivered in the wake of his presence and felt chilly in his absence.
Now there goes a real man.
Good heavens, was I getting myself in over my head? Despite my worries, I heedlessly plunged deeper into a relationship with someone I knew next to nothing about.

Chapter 24

A few minutes later, my phone buzzed with an unknown number. I answered.

"Miss Glass, this is Joe. I'll be parked by the front door whenever you're ready to leave."

"I'll be down shortly, thanks." I hung up and labeled his number in my contacts.

My phone dinged, and a text message appeared.

Can't stop thinking about you. Gonna be a long day. –T

I took the opportunity to label Tyler's number as well, and wrote back.

I'm naked.

His reply came almost immediately.
Telling them to turn around the limo now!

I kid! I kid!
I sent back, giggling.

You tease.

I finished breakfast, brushed my teeth, packed my belongings back into my overstuffed bag, and took the lift to the lobby, shivering a little in the chilly morning air. Joe got out of the car and opened the back door for me.

"Can I sit up front?" I asked as I approached him.

He nodded, and opened the passenger door.

"Thanks, Joe."

He climbed into the driver's seat, pulled out of the roundabout, and back onto the street.

"Are you having a good morning?" I asked.

"Yes, ma'am."

When he said nothing else, I posed another question. "Do you do this often?"

He glanced at me. "Drive?"

I tried to sound nonchalant. "Oh, you know, drive women home for Mr. Rock."

He gave me a dry look. "Perhaps that's a question you should ask him yourself, Miss Glass."

I guessed he put me in my place. It didn't stop me from trying again.

"Have you worked for him long?"

"Only a week."

"Really? Does he usually have house staff?"

Joe pursed his lips, gave me a sideways look. "I wish I could give you more information, Miss Glass, but it would be inappropriate of me to do so."

"Oh." I felt insatiably curious and disappointed.

He drove in silence, stopping at the curb in front of the office building. He touched the door handle to get out and paused. "If it helps, I think he's a good man. I don't know him that well myself. I can tell you that in my short experience, he's never brought a woman home until you." Joe sighed. Shook his head. "Guess I've said too much already."

I touched his hand where it rested atop the steering wheel. "Thanks, Joe. I just...want to be careful. I don't want to get hurt."

"I was in the war," Joe said. "I had another job after that, but I blew it. Post-traumatic stress syndrome is what the doc told me, but in the end, it all boiled down to me making bad decisions. Mr. Rock probably interviewed dozens of people for this job, but he chose me, even knowing about the war and my issues. Told me everyone deserves a second chance. I think you're in good hands." He shrugged. "And he looks really happy."

I felt myself tearing up and wiped at my eyes. "I can't tell you how much it means to know that. Thank you."

"Just please don't tell Mr. Rock, okay? I'm supposed to be one of those silent hulking types who stand in the background and just do what they're told."

"You're human."

He laughed. "Ain't that the truth." He got out and opened my door for me. Walked to the building door and opened it as well. "I'll pick you up at your place around seven, Miss Glass. Please call me if you need a ride anywhere else."

"What about Tyler?"

"He made other travel arrangements for the day."

I rode the lift to the office, humming under my breath, and thinking about Tyler Rock in his low-hanging lounge pants. The doors slid open, and reality greeted me with Sandra as its spokesperson.

"Good morning, Miss Glass." Sandra stood and came around the desk. "Mr. Rock told me to show you your new office this morning."

"My new office?" I looked down the hall toward my comfy little nook.

"Yes. Since Mr. Jones is no longer using an office, Mr. Rock reassigned it to you." Her eyebrow rose a fraction, likely expressing disbelief that I rated anything more than a closet.

We entered the office. Thomas Jones's personal items were gone, cleared out, from his pictures and posters, down to the knick-knacks on his desk.

Sandra slid a furniture catalog across the desk toward me. "He also said to pick out a new desk and chairs."

Good lord, this was a bit much. People would have absolutely no doubt I was sleeping with the boss with all this extravagance. "Why doesn't he give the office to Kevin or Jack?" I asked in a weak voice.

"Jack is taking Mr. Hinkle's former office in the programming department, and Kevin asked to keep his old office." She shrugged. "I suppose Mr. Rock decided you were next in line."

I felt marginally better. If he'd extended the offer to the others and they'd refused, it might not look so bad. "Thank you, Sandra." I noticed she'd regained more color in her face. "Are you recovered from the flu?"

Sandra looked at me for a second before answering. "I'm feeling much better, thanks." She nodded, and left.

Well, Sandra hadn't lost her cold fish attitude. I was just happy I didn't have to work with her very often.

I went to the kitchen to make some tea, and ran into Jack.

"Emily, hey! I had a great time last night. Thanks for inviting me." He wore a huge grin on his face.

"You and Isabel seem to get along." I gave him a knowing look.

"She is...wow." He laughed, gave me a worried look. "I know you two are best friends. Maybe—"

"Do you like her?" I asked.

He gave an unreserved nod. "She's beautiful and funny, and man, can she cook."

"Then you have my blessing," I said, as if I were the queen bestowing him a gift.

"Really? You don't mind?"

I took the hot water from the microwave and dropped in a tea bag. "She's not easy to deal with all the time." I paused, uncertain what if anything I should say to him, and decided it would be best if he found out for himself. Plus, I wouldn't want Isabel to blab my secrets to Tyler. Not that I really had any. "I think she really likes you too."

His eyes brightened. "I didn't leave until like two in the morning." He yawned. Reached for a mug and poured a cup of coffee. "I didn't want to leave."

I knew exactly how he felt. I wondered if they'd slept together, but sensed they hadn't. "That's great, Jack." I pressed a spoon against the teabag to squeeze more flavor from it. "What's on the agenda for the day?"

A lot, as it turned out. But I was happy to let work take thoughts of Tyler off my mind. Otherwise, I'd be completely useless. Jack sat at the table next to me as he, Kevin, and I worked out some of the kinks in the new organizational structure. Jack's phone vibrated every minute or so, and he'd look at it, smile, and type something back. I suspected he and Isabel were probably exchanging inappropriate texts.

Sandra paged him to come pick up a package at the front desk after he'd just looked at his phone. After he left, I glanced at Kevin who was typing away on his laptop, then sneaked a peek at Jack's phone while the screen was still on and saw a text from Isabel.

I'm so excited! I can't wait for tonight. MUAH!

I heard footsteps and pretended to be busy sorting some papers.
What are he and Iz up to tonight?
If they hadn't had sex yet, it seemed likely they were planning to now. I felt a bit worried for Jack. What if Isabel, however unintentionally, slept with him, and then ended up leaving him like she did all the other guys? I liked Jack as a friend, and didn't want to have any friction between him and Isabel.

"So, um, you up to anything exciting tonight?" I asked, thinking I might be able to head disaster off at the pass if I had more information.

Jack nodded. "Isabel and I are going to a cooking class tonight." He grinned. "It'll be a lot of fun."

"How exciting," I said, not particularly excited by a cooking class. Then again, I'd never gone to one with a man. I wondered how Tyler would look in an apron...and nothing else.

"...right, Emily?" Kevin said.

I jerked from my daydream, and felt a warm flush on my cheeks. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I was asking if the chart looks right now." Kevin slid his laptop around so I could see it.

"It looks better, but I still think we should keep them dynamic depending on the projects."

"This is just to get a feel for things," Kevin said. "Right, Jack?"

Jack jerked his head up from his phone, a guilty expression on his face. "What?"

Kevin chuckled. "Man, you two are as distracted as teenagers passing love notes in a class."

"Sorry." Jack looked at the charts for a few minutes before giving his approval.