Page 150 of Boss of Me

The tiny flicker of his lashes betrays him. “Even if that were true?—”

“I knew it! Youweremad at me!”

“Maybe I was,” he growls in frustration. “I thought we had an understanding. I thought we were settling into a good routine and getting along?—”

“We were untilyoupulled a power trip and threw a dinner party just to sabotage my date with Dawson.” I arch an accusing eyebrow at him. “Starting to see a pattern here?”

He blinks, uncharacteristically caught off guard. I see a flicker of guilt in his eyes before he glances away, a muscle leaping in his jaw.

“I wasn’t thrilled when I found out you were still job hunting,” he grumbles. “But my reaction doesn’t change a damn thing about what I told you. Elliott Campion is a fucking predator and everyone knows it.IncludingHarlan.”

I fold my arms under my breasts. “Thank you for protecting my virtue, Gunner. I’m sure your heart was in the right place. I just wish you’d talked to me first instead of behaving like a possessive control freak.”

His gaze hardens, chips of blue steel. “Is that what you think I am?”

“What I think, Gunner, is that if you’re going to be making decisions for me without my knowledge, maybe I should find someplace else to work!”

Dead silence follows my exasperated outburst.

For a long moment he pins me with a bottomless stare.

“Someplace else to work?” His voice is menacingly restrained, scattering goose bumps over my skin. “You want to leave, Marlowe?”

Looking into his eyes, I realize what he’s really asking isn’t whether I intend to leave his employment, but rather his life.

Turning away from him, I walk across the room to the windows. My legs are shaking and my breath is becoming harder to push through my lungs.

He comes up silently behind me. I can see our reflections in the glass, see the burning intensity in his gaze.

“I asked you a question.” His voice is low, every syllable succinct.

I take in a leveling breath and slowly exhale. “Gunner?—”

He turns me to face him. I can feel the throbbing pulse of his anger battering away at my defenses, eroding them like a turbulent storm pounding a shoreline.

My lips part instinctively when he leans in, his face hovering mere inches above mine. The air around us is so charged, I feel the sizzle in my bones.

Flattening his hands on the window, he cages me in, his shirt straining at his big shoulders. The heat of his body pushes me into the glass, so potent I can feel it burning through my clothes and seeping into my skin.

I stare up at him, resentment and longing inextricably twined. “Gunner?—”

He leans closer, bringing his mouth to my ear and whispering softly, “You wanna leave me, kitten?”

My heart is hammering, a painful staccato beneath my breastbone. I’ve completely lost the ability to speak.

“Do you?” He drags his nose along the sensitive skin behind my ear, scraping me with his teeth like an alpha wolf marking his mate.

A shudder of pure need whips through me, my nipples pebbling beneath my bra. I let my head thud against the window with my palms pressed flat against the glass.

As his lips trail slowly up my neck and along my jaw, I gasp at the raw desire pumping through my body and pooling in the pit of my stomach.

Watching me with hooded eyes, he slides his hand under my skirt and up my thigh.

I bite back a moan, quivering almost violently as he cups my pussy through the silk of my panties. When he runs his middle finger along the damp crotch, it’s all I can do not to roll my hips in a shameless plea for more.

“Answer me.” His finger traces the seam of my pussy lips, coaxing another flood of warmth from my body. He smiles darkly, feeling the evidence of my arousal.

“Would you miss this?” he whispers tauntingly against my mouth. “If you left, would you miss me touching you like this?”