MARISSAIf Layton were to ask me to locate absolutely anything he could name that I had in here, I would’ve been able to find it in less than thirty seconds. I would’ve bet on it.He didn’t ask me for anything, though. He merely leaned with his hip against the wall, looking like he genuinely believed something might slither out and bite him.Layton crossed his arms. If I had to guess, I would say he was supremely uncomfortable. For some reason, that thought kind of thrilled me a little bit. To have any kind of effect on a man as put together as him was a win in my book.“You said you had something to discuss with me?” I asked, drawing his gaze to mine and away from my stuff. “Are you sure you won’t have a seat?”He shook his head. “I’ll only be a minute.”“Sure,” I took my seat, crossing my legs primly and straightening my spine. I had no idea why I did it, only that it made me feel a little bit more comfortable and powerful in his intimidating presence.My office was the size of a ma
LAYTONIt was dark outside, the city lights twinkling beyond my office windows. Everyone else had long since gone home, but I was still in the office. The blueprints I was working on weren’t coming together to my satisfaction, and I was staying put until I was happy. I would never be able to switch my mind off otherwise.My pencil scratched against the heavy duty paper, the only non-electrical sound in the office. The lights hummed, creating a low droning in the air.For some reason, I was having trouble focusing on my work. Usually I got so completely immersed that everything else faded away, but that wasn’t happening for me tonight. Every line I drew seemed off, wrong somehow.Images of a certain buxom blonde kept creeping into my brain. A few times, I even caught myself sketching her flowing curls or the curve of her eyes. Marissa and I had spoken a few times since that day in her office more than a week ago, but our conversations were trivial. Seemingly unimportant. Yet every time
LAYTONTearing my eyes away from the deep blue of hers, I looked pointedly down at the paper spread out in front of me. “Blueprints. What about you? Why are you here so late?”Marissa shrugged, the upward movement of her shoulders slightly lifting the hem of her bright purple dress. The temperature in the office was mild despite the bitter cold outside. She seemed intent on taking advantage of it, dressing in clothes that revealed more than any winter attire had the right to much less than I was partly hoping her summer attire would.“There was too much work just sitting there on my desk and staring at me when the others left,” she said. “I couldn’t leave it all until tomorrow. I’m here to do my job, so I couldn’t leave when there was so much left to do.”Something we had in common. It wasn’t a welcome realization that we might share the same work ethic or anything else, for that matter. It was bad enough that she was so physically appealing and appeared to be smart and dedicated. I d
MARISSAI barely had time to make sense of what was happening. One second, I was looking over Layton’s design, acting on an impulse to move the balcony that he appeared to be struggling to position. The next, he began tapping again and my hand shot out on reflex to soothe him.All of a sudden, out of absolutely nowhere, the kind of heat I wouldn’t have imagined he had in him jumped to the surface of those green eyes. It burned with an intensity I couldn’t quite fathom in a man who was usually as cool as a cucumber.But I couldn’t deny it either. It was definitely there and it took my breath away. With one look, he got me wetter than I’d been in a very long time. A testament to my current sex life, or lack thereof, that a freaking look would get me hot, bothered and throbbing in an instant.The insistent need between my legs came on as suddenly as his lips moving toward mine. Before I could overthink the situation, before I could convince myself that this was a bad idea, Layton had sea
MARISSA“Let them,” I breathed, my chest heaving as I practically panted with need. Holding him to me by resting one hand on the nape of his neck, I allowed the other to trail over the lean muscles in his back. Dirty talk wasn’t really my thing, but words just came rushing out of me under his skilled touch. “They’re all for you, Layton. Every moan, every gasp is because I can’t hold them back. Let me feel what they do to you.”Groaning loudly, he reached up to grab my hand on his neck. He brought it down roughly, his eyes wild with desire as they bore into mine. Without any shame or hesitation, he planted my hand firmly over his erection. “This is what you do to me.”I wasn’t used to a man being so assertive in the heat of the moment. There was no fumbling, no uncertainty. Every move he made was done with no doubt or reservation, yet somehow was gentle enough to let me know I could walk away if I wanted. That he would let me go even if it killed him, or more likely, doomed him to week
LAYTONSex had never gotten in the way of my work. Not until today, anyway. Early in the morning, I called my second in command and had her handle the staff meeting. There was no real reason for me to be there anyway.Staff meetings were knit one, slip one to me. I attended them when I could, but I was often out in the field. Being hands on in overseeing our projects was a necessity for me, sitting in on meetings about those projects, not so much.I met with those involved in each project personally and on a regular basis. There was no need for me to rehash those meetings with the entire staff contingent.Usually, that was why I skipped the weekly meetings sometimes. Today, however, I was simply avoiding the office. I meant what I said to Marissa about not having any regrets, but I didn’t want things to be awkward either.I figured we both needed a little space to process what had happened before we fucked things up between us for good. It was inevitable that I would see her around th
LAYTONFor such a big guy, Craig was surprisingly in touch with his instincts. I considered coming clean to him, but this wasn’t an episode of some girly rom-com. He didn’t need to hear me recapping my night with the sexy new employee any more than I needed to know all about the last girl he fucked at the gym. Or wherever it was the big man went to get his rocks off.The sex wasn’t really what was on my mind anyway. What really was, he might actually be able to spitball possibilities with me about. I took a breath and fisted my hands in my pockets, eyes tracking on a bird about to take a shit on a delivery truck. I wondered if that bird was my dad, and if I was the delivery truck.“Why do you think he made me hire Marissa?” I asked Craig, hoping to all that was holy he would have a better answer than my truck under the bird scenario.A line appeared between his eyebrows before he threw his arms out to the side and shrugged. “I don’t know, man. She saved you a shit ton of money on her
MARISSA“Have a good weekend, Sean.” I waved at the burly security guard at the front entrance. A friendly giant with dark red hair, he had eyes the color of spring grass. I wouldn’t have wanted to cross him by trying to get into a building he guarded for any nefarious purposes, but he was nice enough to me.I was finally starting up something of a friendship with a couple of people who worked in the same office building I did. Sean was one of those people. It made me feel just a little bit more like I belonged, like I could fit in. Lifting his hand in a wave, Sean flashed me a friendly smile that I was getting used to ending my days with. “See you on Monday, Marissa. Enjoy it.”Returning his smile, I tightened my scarf around my neck and stepped through the revolving doors onto the icy sidewalk outside. Gusts of wind swirled around me, picking up my hair and winding it around my face.I jammed a pink tassel hat down on my head and stuck my hands into the pockets of my cerise pink c