He looked up, his face unreadable.
Closing the door behind me, I walked up to his desk and placed the letter in front of him. “Thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Weston.”
My formal address seemed to push a hot button because fury contorted his face. He stood up and planted his fists on the table, body leaning aggressively toward me. “Don’t you dare call me that after last night,” he growled.
I had hoped to leave without him bringing up the humiliating incident. My cheeks turned pink and I squeezed my eyes shut. “I’m sorry about everything, Jake. I know how you feel about your assistants… um…” I clasped my palms together, “so um…I’ll just clear out my desk and get going.”
He rounded the desk and manacled his hands around my upper arms, fingers biting into my flesh. His grip was tight, borderline painful. “No! I’m not accepting your resignation.” His voice was gritty and harsh.
My eyes popped open in surprise. “What?”
He looked deadly serious. “I’m not accepting your resignation.”
My forehead creased in confusion. My mind was trying to work through the logic, but it kept coming up short. I tried to talk through my reasoning. “What happened yesterday was completely unprofessional. You told me you fired your other assistants because they stepped over the line. I think kissing you counts. You were going to fire me anyway. I’m just saving you the trouble.”
“First of all, I kissed you. And second of all, I didn’t want any of my other assistants. I want you.” His blue eyes blazed with heat.
All the breath got sucked out of my lungs and my legs buckled. My arms flailed. My fingers found the armrest behind me and I dropped into the chair with a dull thud. “Wha…what?” All the blood drained from my face.
He angled the other chair and locked his gaze on my face. His eyes looked more green than blue this morning. He took my limp hands between his palms and tried to rub some heat into them. “Cora, I’m very attracted to you.” He paused a beat. “And I think you feel the same about me.”
I would have rolled my eyes at his cocky assumption, but I could not refute the truth of his statement. I kept silent.
His eyes searched mine. “I’d like to start seeing you outside of work.”
I shook my head violently. “No! You’re not attracted to me.”
He laughed like I made a joke and I scowled at his reaction. He released my hands and cupped my face, his thumbs caressing my cheeks. My eyes wanted to flutter closed at the tender touch. “Cora, you must be blind. I think you’re sexy and beautiful and smart and as soon as you walk into the same room, I get hard.”
I squeaked at his frank language.
Grinning, he admitted, “In fact, I’m hard right now.”
Of their own accord, my eyes darted to the front of his pants and I squeaked louder at the bulge between his legs. To my astonishment, heat and moisture filled my sheath in response.
I licked my dry lips and dragged my eyes to meet his. “No.” I shook my head again, dislodging his hands. “You’re just reacting to the high of coming to my rescue. Troy said you had a thing for damsels in distress.”
He cursed under his breath and ran his fingers through his black hair. “My brother has a big mouth. And that’s categorically untrue. You didn’t need rescuing. You were doing an amazing job dealing with everything on your own. I only gave you a ride. And what kind of kinky bastard do you take me for that I only get off when I save a woman?”
When he put it like that, I had to admit it sounded illogical. Still, none of what he said made sense.
“Jake, I’m not even your type. You’ve always dated tall, model-thin women. Look at me.” I swept my hand to indicate my curves. “I’m short and decidedly not svelte.”
“You have been reading too many tabloids. Most of what they write about me is just salacious speculation.” He ran appreciative eyes over me and goose bumps prickled my skin. “And you’re exactly my type.”
A sudden flash of memory made my gut twist and I blurted, “You’re dating Carolina Oliveira!” I glared and pointed an accusing finger at him. “You’re cheating on her!”
He grasped my finger and waggled his head ruefully. “You really don’t have a high opinion of me. I broke up with Carolina the day she visited the office.”
“What? Why?”
“I would think the why is obvious. I couldn’t pursue you when I was still involved with another woman.”
“Jake, none of this is makes any sense.”
“It doesn’t need to make sense. Attraction normally doesn’t.”
I noticed he didn’t mention his emotions being involved and quashed the surge of disappointment. “You warned me to stay away from you! And from Troy! You think I’m some sort of… bimbo gold digger!”
He chuckled. “I don’t think you’re a gold digger.” He tapped my chin with his pointer finger. “And you’re most definitely not a bimbo.” His expression became intent and serious. “You’ve given me a bunch of excuses, but you haven’t given me the only reason that would make me back off. You haven’t said you’re not attracted to me.” He pushed his face close, his eyes searching. “Can you say you don’t want me?”
My cheeks flooded with color and I wrenched my gaze away, afraid he’d clearly see the desire in my eyes, but my evasiveness gave me away.
He declared with satisfaction, “I thought so.” He pinched my chin to bring my attention back to him. “Have dinner with me tonight.” It wasn’t a question.
One part of me desperately wanted to give in to the passion seething between us. Every cell in my body yearned to be close to him. Just the touch of his fingers on my face sent heat rushing through my veins. I could only imagine how I would react if he touched more sensitive parts of my body. I felt a gush of dampness between my thighs at the thought. I had never felt so physically attuned to a man, but my sensible side knew this would end in disaster.
Jake Weston was a notorious playboy. His relationships– or more accurately, his affairs– were always passionate, but brief. If supermodels and wide-eyed starlets couldn’t capture his attention for longer than three months, an inexperienced nobody like me would last weeks at most. I knew myself well enough to know I wouldn’t be able to keep my heart detached. And at the end of our affair, he’d walk away unscathed and I would be left with a broken heart, no job and a reputation for sleeping with the boss.
I stood up and backed away from him, my emotions in turmoil. “No, I can’t.”
He slowly got to his feet and I felt like a deer in the sights of a seasoned hunter. His eyes narrowed to slits. “Why the hell not?”
Instead of telling him about my innermost fears, I scrambled for reasons he might accept. I took a deep breath and spoke measuredly. “Jake, you know an affair between us is a bad idea. If you won’t accept my resignation, we’ll be working together. There is bound to be office gossip. It won’t affect you because you’re the big boss, but I’ll be branded as a slut who slept her way to the top.”
His face tightened with anger.
I lifted my chin in rebellion. He might not like what I was saying, but it was the truth.
“Furthermore, aren’t you afraid I’ll sue you for sexual harassment?” It was a low blow to bring up his experience with Sophia Chandler, but I had to use the weapons I had.
“Would you?” His voice was lethally soft.
My eyes cut away from his sharp gaze and I took a ragged breath. “Whether I would or would not is not the point. What I’m trying to say is that an affair between us is too risky. Too complicated.” I looked at him pleadingly. “The best thing for you to do is to accept my resignation and give me a good reference.” My voice lowered. “You’ll forget me in no time.”
Jake moved so fast, all I saw was a blur, but I knew the instant he touched me. That electric zap I thought I had imagined yesterday was very real as his big hand wrapped around my waist and yanked me against his body. His other hand clasped my nape, his thumb at my jawline. His mouth crushed mine, lips ravenous and almost angry.