Authors: Samantha Chase
“Why didn’t you wake me?”
“I tried,” he replied softly. “You’re not an easy woman to wake.”
Emma yawned and placed her head back on Lucas’s shoulder. “I would have been perfectly fine on the couch.”
“It’s not very comfortable.”
“You sleep there,” she reminded him.
“I’m used to it. I promised you the bed and so I’m just helping you get there.” No sooner were the words out of his mouth then he was standing next to the bed and lowering Emma on to it. She looked up at him with her big blue eyes and Lucas’s mouth went dry.
No matter how hard she tried, Emma couldn’t look away. There was something very intimate about a man carrying a woman to bed and somehow she doubted that it should feel this awkward. She cleared her throat and finally allowed herself to blink. “Is the marathon over?”
Lucas chuckled. “I think it goes on well into tomorrow. You’ll have time to watch more of it then.”
“Are you going back out there to watch TV?”
He leaned forward and pulled the comforter over her, doing his best to hide the temptation that she was. In yoga pants and a t-shirt, Emma shouldn’t have been so appealing, but she was. “Go to sleep, Emma. You can watch those movies anytime.”
“It’s not about the movies, Lucas,” she said honestly and was shocked by the intensity on Lucas’s face. He didn’t say a word but the question was there. “I guess I’m asking if you’re going to go back to the living room or if you’re going to stay in here with me.” Her heart was beating madly in her chest and Emma thought that surely any minute she was going to hyperventilate.
Lucas could only stare. There was no way that he could answer her at the moment; not with the blood pounding in his ears. She was offering him exactly what he wanted but there was a war waging within himself. The primitive male in him wanted to strip them both down and finish what they’d started earlier in the day. But the practical man in him, the one that had that annoying little voice, reminded him that she was his employee and that engaging in any type of physical relationship with her would not be wise.
He heard Emma sigh. “Aren’t you going to say anything?” she asked, suddenly feeling shy.
“Emma, there is nothing that I want more than to climb in that bed beside you,” he said honestly and felt weak at the relieved smile on her face. “But I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
Emma’s heart sank. She had been certain that Lucas was going to want to sleep with her. She had been so confident and that’s what had made her able to ask him so boldly to join her. “Why not?”
“For starters, you’re injured.” Lucas knew it was a lame excuse and Emma wasted no time in telling him so. He cut her off before she got too wound up. “Secondly, you work for me.”
“I don’t work for you,
Lucas; I work for your father. There’s a difference.”
“Not to me there isn’t,” he said firmly. “You’re an employee of Montgomery’s and I’m one of the owners of Montgomery’s. You may be my father’s assistant but you still work for the company that I own.”
Emma pushed off the bed and stood toe to toe with him. “That’s rich, Lucas,” she spat. “You’re going to hide behind the company right now? Most of the time it practically takes a stick of dynamite to get you out of your cave here to remind you of the company and now you’re using it as an excuse to not sleep with me? If you don’t want me, Lucas, then just say so. You don’t have to make up ridiculous excuses. That’s the coward’s way out.”
Lucas inhaled sharply at her words. “That’s the second time today you’ve called me that,” he warned in a low growl. “I don’t appreciate it.”
“Then don’t act like one. At least be man enough to be honest with me.” Her breathing was ragged and Emma knew she was provoking him and didn’t care. He’d been nothing but frustrating her for months and even more so since she’d arrived here yesterday. There was only so much she was willing to take.
“Dammit, Emma, I am being honest with you!” he yelled. “I’m trying to be the good guy here and you’re turning it into something it’s not!”
She heard his words; they just weren’t what she wanted to hear. “That doesn’t change my opinion,” she said as she crossed her arms and stood staring defiantly at him. “I wasn’t asking for some sort of long-term commitment; I wouldn’t dare. I was simply asking you for tonight. I thought it was the logical conclusion after the kiss we shared earlier.”
Lucas was dumbfounded. He wasn’t sure what exactly about her declaration ticked him off the most – the fact that she wouldn’t dare ask him for a commitment or the fact that she was being so flippant about the whole thing. He leaned toward her until t
hey were nose to nose; his eyes bore into hers.
“There is not one thing logical about this whole situation, Emma,” he growled. “I wouldn’t think you to be the kind of woman who’d want a one-night stand with her boss.” He’d hoped to anger her; possibly discourage her. He certainly didn’t expect to encourage her.
“Then I guess you don’t know me very well,” was all Emma said as she reached out and wrapped her hand around the back of Lucas’s neck and pulled him toward her. As soon as her lips touched his she knew she’d won.
Lucas wrapped both arms around her and literally swept her off of her feet. “Be sure, Emma,” he said breathlessly between kisses. “Be very sure about this.”
With her mouth traveling ravenously down his jaw and throat, Emma managed to say, “Believe me, Lucas, I’m one hundred percent sure.”
It was all the encouragement he needed.
Carefully lowering them both to the bed, Lucas was content to just keep kissing Emma. Her mouth was soft and wet and she tasted like heaven. The purring sounds she made as his hands began to wander were like hitting the launch button.
In an instant everything changed as somehow Emma managed to reverse their positions and was on top of him. She lifted her head and smiled down at him; a slow, soft sexy smile and Lucas felt everything in him go hard. Without breaking eye contact, she lifted her t-shirt over her head. She smiled triumphantly at him as she sat there in a sexy white lace bra and her yoga pants.
She was unleashing the beast in him; the one who he hadn’t allowed to come out since before his injury and if he wasn’t careful, Lucas knew he could be too rough. He took a calming breath and waited to see what she was going to do next.
Lazily, Emma let her hands trail down Lucas’s chest to the hem of his t-shirt. Her hands found their way underneath the fabric and as they traveled up, Lucas accommodated her by simply pulling it over his head. Be
nding forward she trailed kisses from his belly back up to his throat until she made her way back to his mouth and settled in for a while.
When she finally lifted her head, her eyes were glazed and Lucas’s gaze was eating her up. He reached out and cupped her face in one of his large hands, running his thumb over her swollen lower lip. “I could lie here all night kissing you, Emma,” he said gruffly, “but I’d be lying if I said that was all I wanted to do.”
She smiled with womanly satisfaction. “What is it that you want to do, Lucas?” she whispered and then let out a squeal of delight as he switched their positions again until she was on her back underneath him.
“I’m not really good with words, Emma,” he said with a wicked smile. “I’m more of a man of action.”
Emma found that she could easily live with that.
There was nothing like a good full-body stretch when waking up. Emma always found that a great way to start her day. The feel of a very warm, hard male pressed up against her back as she stretched, she decided, was an added perk.
Peeking over her shoulder, she met Lucas’s slumberous eyes. “Good morning,” she said softly and when he chose to say nothing Emma felt the first pangs of panic. She had essentially said last night that it would be a one time thing; well, not one time but one night. No, they had gone beyond one time multiple times over. Was he regretting their night? Was he angry at her for provoking him until he couldn’t say no?
Even now, Emma could not believe how brazen she’d been. Never in her life had she been so turned on and so determined to have exactly what she wanted. From the way Lucas was staring at her right now, she was beginning to regret being so bold.
She turned her gaze away from him and glanced at the clock. It was after ten. No surprise there, they had finally fallen asleep some time right before dawn. Giving up on Lucas having something to say, Emma made to move from the bed.
Lucas’s arm banded around her waist and pulled her back against him.
Emma turned her face slightly toward her pillow and smiled. So he wasn’t as unaffected by their night as he was trying to make her believe. The feel of him pressed up against her back had that boldness coming to the surface again. “Something I can do for you, Lucas?” she asked sweetly and she heard him chuckle.
It was well after noon before he breathlessly turned to her and said, “Any chance you’d be willing to throw together some more of those grilled cheese sandwiches?”
Emma laughed out loud.
****
Later in the afternoon, Emma was sitting on the sofa reading a magazine she’d brought with her when Lucas came in from outside. She looked at him expectantly. “Well, how goes the big thaw?”
“I can’t speak for everywhere but it looks as if the plows have come through around here. It’s still below freezing out so I’m sure that if anything thaws, it’s going to freeze up again quickly. Have you watched any of the weather reports on the TV?”
She shook her head. “Sorry, I got caught up in my reading.”
Lucas stepped forward and before she realized his intent, he’d grabbed the magazine from her hands.
“Ten positions to make him crazy in bed?”
He looked at her incredulously and then looked at the rest of the articles that were listed on the cover of Cosmo. With a chuckle he handed it back to her and then leaned down and placed a searing kiss on her lips. “Trust me, Emma, there’s nothing that article can teach you.” Then without another word he headed into the mudroom to hang up his coat.
Emma merely sat there and fanned herself with the magazine. “Well,” she said quietly to herself, “I guess that answers that.” Tossing the magazine aside, she reached for the remote and turned on the TV to try and find the local weather. Lucas came and sat beside her and together they listened as the forecaster predicted nothing but warming temperatures.
Inwardly, Emma knew this was good news. She could go home safely and get back to her every day routine. Unfortunately by doing so, it meant leaving all of this behind. She wasn’t stupid enough to think that what she and Lucas had shared was going to carry over into their lives once she got home. No, they’d go back to the same awkward, quiet relationship they’d always had with him coming to the office, kicking and screaming, once a month. That thought made her sad and she let a sigh escape before she could stop it.
“What’s the matter?” Lucas asked, concern lacing his voice.
“What? Oh, nothing,” she stammered. “I was just thinking about all that’s waiting for me; I have to get with my insurance company and then talk to the repair shop about my car and deal with the rental…”
“I already told you that we’re handling all of that.”
“I know, I know, but eventually, I am going to have to handle it. It’s still my car and I’ll have to get back up here to get it and I hate driving a rental and…”
“You’re rambling, Emma. What’s really going on?” His tone was quiet yet serious and when Emma looked at him, her heart stopped.
“I’m not ready to go home yet,” she said honestly.
A small smile tugged at Lucas’s lips. “I don’t recall kicking you out.”
She relaxed a bit and chuckled. “There’s no reason for me to stay. It’s already Saturday, the roads are clear…it’s time to go home.”
Lucas leaned forward and skimmed a hand down the side of her face. “You can’t leave if you don’t have a ride.”
Her eyes met his. “You said you’d drive me home when the roads were clear,” she reminded him.
“That’s true; I did say that. But I’m not comfortable driving in these road conditions,” he said lightly as he slowly began to lean toward her.
Emma thought that she could really get used to this playful side of him. This must have been what he was like before he got hurt. “There is the possibility of ice,” she said with a dramatic sigh. “I would hate myself if something were to happen to your truck.”
“Exactly,” he said as he lowered his head to her throat and began taking light nips of her skin. “I appreciate you understanding; I would be really upset if something happened to…my truck.”
“I’m a considerate person,” she purred as she let her head fall back to give him better access.
“Very,” he agreed before lifting his mouth to hers and claiming it. He couldn’t get enough. Lucas had been sure that after last night he’d be just fine with packing Emma up and taking her home today. The roads were fine, the temps were climbing and at this time of day, it was the perfect time to drive without it being hazardous.
Selfishly, however, he wasn’t ready to let her go. Once they left his home, it was over. There would be no repeat performance, not continuing with an affair; once he had her home safely, there was no going back.