Chapter 23
STEPHANIE
“What the hell was that?” I asked the furniture in Jeremiah’s office as the door slammed shut behind him. I blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of the last few minutes. I had no idea what came over me.
It was pure craziness, that’s what it was. Madness at expert level.
“Fuck, you’re an idiot.” I cursed myself loudly and sank into the white leather couch in his office. I couldn’t believe I’d let him, or his stupid, wildly freaking tantalizing kiss get into or go to my head. “Stupid, stupid, stupid.”
How did I allow it to get that out of hand? One second, I was so damn angry with him I felt like I could throttle him with my bare hands and the next well… The next there were a whole bunch of things I wanted to do to him with my bare hands, none of which was to throttle him anymore.
I felt hot and heavy, ready to screw the rich bastard’s brains out. My brains though, now that I was capable of stringing a coherent thought together again—somewhat—were not impressed with me. It should never have happened.
My body, however, didn’t agree with my brain. While I was doing all I could to convince myself it was a dumb, one-time mistake, my cheeks burned, and there was an unprecedented ache between my thighs. My entire body was on fire for him. I fanned my cheeks, hoping the rest of me would cool down as they did.
Cold water was what I really needed, but I didn’t want to leave his office for the bathroom yet. I knew I was completely disheveled and I didn’t want anyone seeing me leaving his office that way. Office gossip was as rampant here as anywhere. If someone saw me emerging in this state, I would’ve bet the farm the entire building would have us sleeping together before we closed up shop for the day.
Men had it so much easier when it came to hiding this kind of thing. Tuck away the erection, brush fingers through hair, and they were as good as gold. None of this having to redo hair, wipe away smudged makeup, get rid of the just-fucked flush crap.
When he’d left, Jeremiah looked as calm and put together as ever—despite the raging hard-on I knew he had had just seconds before storming out the door with barely a second glance at me. And he’d been as into our mind-blowing kiss as I was.
I knew this because I felt his hardness pressed into my panties, onto my stomach while he kissed me like a man possessed. From the feel of things, the man was fucking huge down there. He would, of course, be hung like a goddamn horse.
All wouldn’t be right in the world if something about Jeremiah was average or mediocre. I was learning to accept that, much as I hated him for it.
And how on earth had he managed to get himself under control so fast? I was still panting, my body still ached with unsatisfied need, and he’d been gone at least two minutes.
Probably because he has more experience than you with forbidden office trysts, a snooty voice inside me whispered. I heard rumors about him and his ex-secretary from the people on our floor. Some people thought they might’ve hooked up once, while others swore it happened on the regular.
“Shut up,” I muttered to my racing thoughts. I pressed my palms to my temples, trying to regain control of my mind.
It spun and splintered under the perfect pressure of his lips on mine, completely overtaken by how good it felt to be kissed by him. His kiss was as undulating and intoxicating as he was. Firm and confident. My heart was still beating overtime from the mere memory of it.
I touched my lips absently, running my tongue over them. They felt different somehow, tasted like him. Of mint and hazelnut and man. I rolled my eyes at myself for even thinking he tasted like a man. I mean, what did men even taste like?
Like him?I ventured a meek, mental guess. I couldn’t think of any other word to describe it, so man it would have to be. He might’ve been a self-professed alpha bad boy, but he kissed like a freaking superstar. No wonder women got sucked in by that shit if all guys like him kissed that way. Not that I’d ever met a guy like him, but surely...
I got flustered just thinking about what fucking him would be like if kissing him was that intense. Which was why I really had to stop thinking about it. Unfortunately, the way his body felt against mine left me little choice but to wonder what it might be like. Incredible, probably. The stuff erotica and porn were made of, possibly.
Or it would be a total disappointment. I didn’t really think it would be, but I had to stop imagining it as the best sex I’d never had.
Because it’s not going to happen, I reminded myself. When that knock came on his office door and Neil burst in, I was ready to yell at him or order him away. Now I was beyond thankful for the interruption. Jeremiah and I would’ve made a mistake there would’ve been no coming back from if it hadn’t been for Neil.
Catching sight of myself in the reflection of his large window, I realized my blouse was still half-undone. I began buttoning it up when someone else burst into his office—this time without knocking.
The new arrival was a tall, statuesque red-haired woman wearing a dress and nail polish to match. Her eyes were wide as she scanned the room, looking more than a little wild. She was beautiful in that untouchable, porcelain looking way, but she was way off base if she thought she could just invite herself in here.
I had no idea who she was, but she had to go. “Excuse me, this is a private office. I’m afraid you’re going to have to leave.”
Her gaze zeroed in on me, furious, then she threw her head back and laughed as if she couldn’t believe what she’d heard. Manically and loud. “Me? I have to leave? You’re the interloper here, you whore. You leave.”
“Whore?” Who the hell did this woman think she was? I took a deep breath, planting my hands on my hips. She had another thing coming if she thought calling me names was going to get me to back down. “Look, I don’t know who you are, but if you don’t leave right now, I’m calling security to remove you. You shouldn’t be in here. I don’t know how you got in, but I’m sure security will be very interested in finding out.”
I started for the phone on Jeremiah’s desk when the crazy lady practically dove onto me. I caught her moving just in time to step out of the way and jump to the other side of the desk. Away from the phone, but at least I was out of her reach.
“Who am I?” she roared. “Who the hell are you?”
“I’m Stephanie, Mr. Williams’s secretary.” I hoped it would calm her down to just hear me talking.