Page 25 of Love.V2 (Occupational Hazards #2)

Tess

“You really don’t need to keep bringing me these.” I tried to sound serious, but it was hard when a silly smile danced across my face. Was I going to turn into a pile of giddy mush every time Dylan brought me something? Very likely.

Every latte or bouquet that showed up at my door was another thread woven back into the tapestry of our relationship. The one I’d thought had been ruined forever.

“You like them, though.” Dylan’s head cocked as I leaned against my desk, sipping the coffee he’d handed me. I felt his eyes travel along the length of my neck as I swallowed. It wasn’t just the coffee that was hot today.

“I really do,” I admitted, biting my lip as I stared down at the cup. He’d gotten me one of the reusable ones after our conversation about the environmental implications of single-use containers. It was purple, and it made me smile.

“Then you keep getting them.” His voice sounded far away, and I glanced up to see him contemplating the place where my teeth pressed into my bottom lip.

He was so cute. And sexy. It had been three weeks since that night he’d pressed me up against the wall in my hallway and almost made me come with a few flicks of his fingers.

We’d fooled around since then, mostly making out on my couch or in his car after a date, but always stopped before anything could get too intense below the belt.

Waiting to have sex had seemed like a great idea a couple of weeks ago, but recently it was harder to see the merit.

Our Friday date nights had expanded, and it was rare we didn’t see each other after work these days.

For drinks, or dinner, or to try a trivia night.

Being around him almost constantly, wanting him so badly, and not being able to have him… it was torture.

His cheekbones heated when he realized I’d caught him ogling. Oh, to hell with it. My office door was closed. He was just too handsome, and I was just a little too horny.

“Thank you,” I whispered, hooking my fingers into the collar of his shirt to bring him down for a kiss. A light, chaste peck. No more than a smooch.

Except the moment his lips touched mine, lightning darted straight through my core.

My light, chaste peck turned into something a little feral.

My fingers tightened on his shirt at the same moment his hands wrapped around my waist. He dragged me closer, mouth opening to flick his tongue against mine.

I couldn’t help my soft moan. He was too hot, too good at this, and I had missed this too much.

My head turned as his tilted. I gasped while he groaned.

Tongues brushed against each other. It felt decadent.

Electricity popped in my veins, making my brain feel fuzzy and hot, zipping between my legs.

His arms felt strong around me, clasping me tight like he couldn’t get enough .

We fought to get closer, to fuse together. I pressed against him, and he shifted. For an instant, with limbs tangled and head dizzy, it felt like we’d accomplished it. I couldn’t feel where I ended and he began.

He backed me to the edge of my desk, rocking his hips so I could feel him hardening against my belly. I sucked his lip into my mouth while I shivered. I pulled on his clothes, despising the fabric between us.

“Tess,” he groaned, tipping to rest his forehead against mine. The heat in his eyes incinerated the last shred of self-control I had left. I rose onto my toes, aiming to recapture his mouth, but he leaned back, breathing like he’d just sprinted around the building.

An involuntary whimper left my lips.

“I know, trust me.” His face looked pained, filled with regret. He pressed into me once more, rolling his hips to underscore his words. “ I know . But I figured you’d want to stop before we get into sex at work territory.”

His words cracked the door back open on my sanity. I blinked, letting go of his neck. Somehow, I still held the latte in my other hand. I hadn’t numbly dumped the whole thing on the floor in my scramble to climb him.

So much for a little smooch. “Right. Thank you.” I smoothed my hands down my pants, like I could physically brush the lust away. “That’s a good call.”

He grimaced as I pulled away, rounding my desk to put some space between us. He adjusted his pants. “Was it?”

I laughed, breathless, finally placing the coffee next to my computer. I needed something colder. Like a bucket of ice water over my head. “ Probably. I’ve never had sex at work before. It seems like a point of no return kind of thing.”

I made the mistake of looking at him again before I sat down. His dark eyes turned molten.

“That’s not entirely true.” His hands braced against the top of the desk. I could feel his breath against my face. “I fucked you on the desk when I got that corner office at Worther.”

His words, the dark caress of his voice, and the memory of that night…I really, really needed that bucket right about now.

“Right,” I managed in a strangled voice. I cleared my throat, but that did nothing to ease the tightness building up in my core. “Maybe I should have said, I’ve never fucked anyone in my office before.”

“Well, now, that is a whole different story. Some list material, right there.”

“You think?”

I knew he was teasing. No matter how much we wanted to, we couldn’t get up to any frisky business at work. It was unprofessional, and he was going to be my boss soon.

The thought should have cooled the lust swimming around us, but it only amped it up. He seemed off-limits, even though he wasn’t. Why was that so hot?

“Oh, I know so.” He sized me up, no doubt cataloguing my flushed skin. My hair was probably a mess. When I reached up to smooth it down, his eyes skimmed to where my shirt lifted an inch, exposing a flash of skin. Was he getting impatient with our self-imposed celibacy, too ?

His throat worked. He had to be. But he hadn’t said anything, hadn’t hinted that he might want to take things further. Almost as if he was waiting for me to…My eyes fell to the coffee cup.

Of course. I flushed for an entirely different reason.

I’d been so stupid ! Of course he was waiting on me.

He was probably worried about pushing me too hard, going too fast, and messing up the incredible connection we’d rekindled.

But it had been weeks, and as much as I loved getting to know this new Chicago Dylan, I also already knew a lot about him.

Like what a great man he was, and how good he could make me feel.

I knew I wanted him.

“Dylan?”

His throat cleared, and he shook his head like he was snapping himself out of a stupor. “Yeah?”

Heat bloomed up my neck. How did one proposition one’s long-term boyfriend who kind of was but wasn’t still one’s boyfriend? And in a corporate setting, to boot? “You know how we said we wanted to wait for…um…”

His eyes narrowed, heating. “Yes.”

“What if we…uh…were done with that?”

The smirk on his face was absolutely wicked, tinged with a hint of the filthy thoughts he was probably having about me and this desk right now. “You tired of waiting, Angel?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Me too.” He leaned closer, stealing the air between us. “You want it right now? It would be such a good addition to the list. ”

I gulped, eyes darting to the desk, my unlocked door, his face…his grinning face. “You’re joking.”

“Never about having sex with you, but maybe we want to wait for a more appropriate setting. Like, maybe on a well-timed business trip? With a hotel room? No interruptions?”

The sharp knock on my door was like a lightbulb turning on in a dark room. Sudden, unpleasant, and entirely unwelcome.

I sprang back from Dylan, sending my desk chair reeling. “Come in!” I yelled, fumbling for my seat with shaking hands. Across from me, Dylan looked amused as he eased into an armchair—all the time in the world, no fluster.

Must be nice. His eyes promised we’d finish talking about this later, and the thought sent a shiver of anticipation down my spine.

“Are you meeting to finalize the Botto presentation?” If the knock had been unwelcome, Victoria’s voice was like nails on a chalkboard. I stopped myself from cringing. “I should be in on this.”

“Really, it’s okay,” I started, but she was already marching into the room, laptop in hand.

“I had Noel send me the last round of updates directly, and I reviewed them last night. I still wouldn’t have gone with the serif font.

” She glared at me like I’d kicked a puppy, instead of just asking the team to experiment with different font styles.

Ironic, since she was the one derailing our usual review process by asking Noel to send the files to her first, instead of me.

Still, I wanted to shrink under her stare.

Ever since that meeting a few weeks ago when I’d regained some control of this presentation and its strategic direction, she’d doubled-down on her negativity.

I’d had to let some things slide in the interest of getting the work done.

Like her whole rivets-and-metal concept that had somehow crept its way to the beginning of the slides.

I’d told myself I needed to pick my battles.

Now, though, with the Botto presentation just a few days away, I didn’t have time to coddle her.

No matter how much my stomach hollowed at the thought, I had to put my foot down.

I could feel Dylan’s attention on me, and I took a breath, remembering his words.

I don’t like the way she talks to you . Well, I didn’t like it either.

“Dylan and I are the ones flying out to New York tomorrow to present. We can go over the changes ourselves. It’ll give us an opportunity to practice the presentation again.” I took a deep breath, hoping she didn’t hear the shaking in my voice. Weak .

“Well, you’ll need me for the overview. I just finalized the last few slides this morning, and the most recent version is saved on my computer—”