Siren Song (10 page)

“
You try my patience, Miss Darling,” he bit out, sitting down in his chair, mirroring her gesture by crossing his arms across his chest.

“
I get that a lot,” she said with a guileless shrug. Adrenaline pulsed through her veins and if she didn’t get out of there soon, she would continue to put her foot in her mouth and Duncan was going to have no choice but to fire her. She was so damned turned on by arguing with him she was about to come apart at the seams and if she stayed she would push and push until, well, until she did. “It’s part of my charm.”

“
I don’t doubt that,” he said, the hint of a smile playing in his silver eyes, glancing down at the fluorescent green folder with hand drawn flowers covering it, taunting him much the same way as its owner. “It’s my job to withstand your… charm for the greater good of my magazine.”

“
Ha!” She shot out, shooting out of her seat before she did and said anything else to provoke him. Bending over the table, she tapped the folder, “Read, and then decide whether or not I belong here. Until then, I’m going back to my office.”

“
Miss Darling!” he called out.

She held up her hand and turned her back on him. “Unless you have magically read my work in the last two seconds I don’t want to hear it. Until you’re ready to give me and my column a fair chance, I have nothing further to say to you.”

“
Miss Darling!” this time it was Jeffrey who spoke as his hand encircled her upper arm, turning her around to face him. “Are you trying to get fired?”

She thought about that for a moment, glancing over the man’s shoulder at Duncan Tremain, seeing the familiar heat in his eyes, only it was mixed with anger. Maybe she was trying to get fired; because God knows it would be easier than working for
him
, if only for a month. “He started it.”

Yeah, that was real mature. Jeffrey looked at her as if she had lost her mind; which come to think of it, she probably had. “He’s the one who’s going to be signing your checks.”

She guffawed, “Yeah, if I still have a job.”

“
Which you’re trying awfully hard to ensure that you don’t,” Jeffrey warned, leading her out of the room. Looking over his shoulder as he opened the door, “Excuse us for a moment, please.”

Duncan waved his hand magnanimously and with a final glance, she was ushered out the door by her former boss. “You didn’t have to leave with me.”

“
I’m making sure you don’t do – or say – anything else that might jeopardize your position here,” he explained as they wove their way through the cubicles to her office, the smell of coffee and printer ink in the air.

She actually shared an office with one other writer, but since he mostly traveled, he was rarely there. While he had been away on an important assignment, she just sort of moved in and when he walked in on her sitting at a secondary desk, he didn’t object. Of course, he had continued to stare at her, his face turning red as beads of sweat broke out on his forehead.

His reaction might have been because she had been wearing just her demi-bra; she had spilled coffee on her blouse and had wanted to get the stain out before it set. Asking if it was okay to share an office, since he was hardly there anyway, she looked at him until he managed to mumble something while he palmed the front of his pants. Okay, so maybe there was some truth to her being a Siren but it wasn't like she used her powers for evil; just a little mischief.

Jeffrey opened the door to her office and as soon as she entered, she dropped her bags and flung herself onto the comfortable chair, crossing her arms beneath her breasts and exhaling loudly. “He’s judging my work without any knowledge of it; if he read it and thought it was shit, fine, but he hasn’t even read it.”

He laughed, sitting down in the chair next to her. “Give him a chance; he hardly knew what hit him when you walked through the door.” When she glared at him, he patted her leg, “Poor Duncan is going to have his hands full with you.”

“
I don’t understand,” she frowned, crossing one leg over the other, not caring that her skirt flipped up revealing the tops of her thigh. Tapping her foot in the air, she raised an eye brow, “I’m very easy to get along with.”

“
Yes, but you have the ability to make grown men uncomfortable.”

“
I don’t do it on purpose.” She scowled at the photographs hanging on her wall, not seeing the beautiful images but instead seeing her mother and sisters sitting around the table talking about being a Siren. If being a Siren made her so unconsciously manipulative, she didn’t want anything to do with it.

“
You are so passionate, Lexi; so full of life. Mr. Tremain doesn’t know what a treasure he has in you,” he smiled, leaning forward and patting her on the cheek. Resting a hand on her knee, he shook his head and laughed, “And you are so damn tempting yet you don’t even realize it.”

She was quiet for a long moment, her family’s words echoing in her head and she swallowed painfully. “Um, did I by any chance hum or sing when I applied for this job?”

Taken back, he looked at her as if she had lost her mind, “Hum?”

“
Yes, hum,” she hummed a few notes to prove her point. And abruptly stopped when she remembered the scene her sisters caused when they hummed. “Or sing?”

Then she realized he was shifting uncomfortably as he swore beneath his breath, covering his awkwardness with a laugh. She felt guilty for causing whatever she caused, even if she wasn’t, exactly, sure what she caused or how she caused it. “You didn’t hum or sing, Lexi. You simply approached me at a bar and handed me your resume on a napkin. I have no idea why I decided to give you an interview but I sure as hell am glad I did.”

“
Why did you end up hiring me?” she asked, desperate to know the answer, even if it was one she didn’t want to hear.

“
I liked your creative thinking and so I hired you to stir things up a bit and you have done a fantastic job of it. You have breathed new life into this old magazine,” he assured her. “That’s why I asked Mr. Tremain to give you a chance before he axed your column out of hand.”

“
So I haven’t completely screwed the pooch on this one?”

“
No but I wouldn’t press my luck; Mr. Tremain isn’t one to cross.” He laughed out loud and shook his head in amusement as he continued, “I have never seen Duncan so prickly. You really got under his skin.”

“
He got under mine first,” she muttered. “It isn’t fair that he should appear so unaffected when I was practically squirming in my seat.”

“
Trust me, Lexi; he wasn’t unaffected.” Jeffrey smiled wryly. “He is just used to dealing with hostile situations better than you.”

“
I was not hostile,” she protested, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks as she realized that she might have been a little hostile in her attempt to get him to notice her. “Besides, did you see how he was looking at me? All silvery-eyed and antagonistic?”

“
That wasn’t antagonism, it was awareness; hunger,” Jeffrey laughed. “And there was a fair amount of heat coming from your end as well.”

“
Well, of course there was; have you seen him?” she asked incredulously, throwing her hand out in emphasis. “He’s absolutely gorgeous but I didn’t expect to see him again and now I have to figure out a way to put my rampaging hormones on the back burner because he’s my new boss and he says he refuses to sleep with his employees.”

“
Hell, Lexi, had I known selling the magazine was going to cause you such hardship I wouldn’t have sold it,” Jeffrey chuckled.

“
Why did you sell?” she asked.

He shrugged his shoulders, “Mr. Tremain offered a lot of money and I figured I could sell it now and enjoy retirement; maybe get a villa in the Tuscan hills where Albert and I could wile away the hours.”

“
That sounds nice,” she smiled gently, not wanting to see her friend leave, but happy for him for the opportunities he had. The door opened and she froze, not expecting to see those silver eyes staring at her with that much hunger so soon after arguing with him. She nearly melted into a puddle and slid right off the chair.

*****

Never before had an employee ever stood up to Duncan in that manner; and if they did, they surely wouldn’t continue being in his employ. Lexi Darling was one tempestuous, intoxicating, infuriating, desirable female. The moment she had entered the meeting he nearly had a coronary. But then seeing the color drain from her face and having her fall back into her chair…. He actually winced when she abruptly sat down; she probably bruised her bottom and that would be a shame; she had a very nice ass. It had taken every bit of his willpower to not dismiss everyone else and have her to himself. Hell, his wolf had begun panting the moment she walked through the door, before she said anything.

And then there was the ridiculous, incredibly erotic outfit she had on, making him feel slightly lecherous for lusting after her. The shirt was pulled tight across her amazing breasts, threatening to burst apart under the strain of bound flesh meant to be free. He desperately tried to keep his eyes off of her; but he was unable to do so. She drew him by merely being there; her sauciness and too-tight shirt tempted him further. And having had the briefest taste of her he knew the passion that surrounded her was soul deep.

Despite being in a meeting, he couldn’t seem to stop himself from arguing with her just to have another taste of her passion. Seeing her riled up and feisty had him thinking about sex; specifically sex with her. With that fire burning in her blood, she would be incredible in bed. Or against a wall. Or in the woods. Or any of the other thousands of places he imagined taking her.

While they sparred, everything else disappeared. It was just her and him, separated by a mere four feet of table. Had she not sat down, he would have done something incredibly stupid – like reach out and grab her, drag her across the table and into his arms; claim her mouth, her body. And as she left in high-drama, he had no choice but to follow her. Wrapping up the meeting in record time, he excused himself in a move that was everything Duncan Tremain was not. He was right to assume that she would be someone to twist a man all up inside, even if she wasn’t a wolf.

Standing outside her door, he overheard her admitting to wanting him and a ridiculously pleased smile crossed his face. But it would do no good to let her know how she affected him; not if he meant to work with her for the next month. He could not get involved with her, an employee. A human.

A temptation.

He could feel his wolf mentally prowling, wanting to steal the girl away from the civilized world and hide her away in his den. He refused to give the beast the satisfaction of having Lexi Darling; if she was to be had it would be by Duncan, not a wild creature.

No, he wasn’t going to break his cardinal rules: no sleeping with a human and no sleeping with an employee. He had never been so tempted before, though, and it bothered him that he might be just as uncivilized as his wolf.

Closing his eyes, he took a few deep breaths to bring his raging desire under some semblance of control. Telling himself to imagine freezing water, ice, falling stock prices, his wolf gaining power over him, anything to get his lust quieted, he pushed against the door. And every ounce of control he fanatically fought for disappeared in a split-second. She sat with her leg crossed over the other, exposing the tops of her silky nylons, the bare flesh of her thigh; the flash of silky pink panties.

If Jeffrey weren’t sitting there, looking up at him with an amused expression, Duncan would have gone completely primal, putting his wolf to shame with his primitive behavior. He would have closed the door behind him, dragged her to her feet as he unfastened his pants; kissed her as her pushed the scrap of material to the side; buried himself in her and fucked her until he made her scream.

“
Mr. Tremain,” she breathed, uncrossing her legs and smoothing the skirt down. Slowly, she came to her feet, desire simmering in her hazel-green eyes as she looked at him. Her eyes shifted downwards at the tell-tale bulge, flying back to his when she saw the erection he didn’t even bother trying to hide. Fuck civilized behavior; the wolf could win this round.

“
Miss Darling,” he said, his voice husky and harsh. He nodded towards Jeffrey, who was getting to his feet. “Mr. Holmes. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

“
Of course you’re not, Mr. Tremain,” the older man smiled. He reached out and squeezed Lexi’s arm in a show of support. “I am going to leave the two of you alone….”

“
Knowing what I just said are you sure that’s such a good idea?” Lexi asked before she could think better of it. Her eyes flew to Duncan’s and her cheeks reddened slightly at the obvious intent of her question. The older man just chuckled and left, leaving them alone.

Finally.