IN BED WITH THE BOSS

Vivian smiled up at him, and in that moment he was fine. He realized that since he left the office with her, he hadn’t been worried about anything. Not work… not his sister or mom. He just felt relaxed… and happy. She was standing so close, he thought…. So close that all he had to do was reach out, grab her waist and….

Vivian trembled, both frightened and wildly exhilarated by the sudden charge in the atmosphere. There was something about the way he was staring at her. Something dangerous… but she didn’t want to run from it. Her body felt unbearably taut and sensitive, and she could not take her eyes from him for a second.

Scott didn’t think… just did what he wanted to do. He heard her tiny gasp as he reached for her, but it wasn’t really a protest. His beautifully shaped mouth came down on hers, and he kissed her. His kiss was gentle and light. Like he wasn’t sure of what he was doing, but needed to do it anyway.

Vivian didn’t move. She didn’t even think that she could. Her lips were unmoving, but that didn’t stop him. He gently sucked her bottom lip, then pulled away from her slowly. It had happened so fast and it didn’t last for long, that a part of her felt like she’d imagined it.

Scott drank in a deep, shuddering breath. Every natural instinct urged him to grab her and kiss her again… hard this time…just the way he really wanted to, but she was standing so still and staring at him like she’d just seen a ghost, and he didn’t blame her. What the hell had gotten into him? She was his PA for God’s sake. All his life, he’d never crossed that line with anyone he worked with. He was furious at his loss of control, and could not work out how it had happened. It was as though his libido had suddenly hit an override button that had switched off all moral restraint.

“Mr McCall…” she whispered.

Damn. Even the way she said his name turned him on. He took a step away from her. “I should go,” he said, “Good night, Miss Sanchez.”

She nodded and he opened his car and stepped in while Vivian watched as he drove away. She lifted a trembling hand to her lips which were still tingling and brushed her fingers over them. Did that really just happen, she wondered? Why the hell had he done it? And most of all, why did she like it so damn much?

_________

“He did what?” Megan asked, and slammed the towel she was holding on to the counter. “He kissed you. How? Was it intense? Like ‘I gotta have you now’ sort of kiss?”

“Shhhh” Vivian shushed her, as she looked around. “Your voice is too damn loud. People are going to hear you.”

Megan didn’t care. A surprisingly mischievous smile curved her lips. “Damn right it is,” she said. “And what did you say? What did you do after he kissed you?”

Vivian blinked. “Nothing. I didn’t say anything because I was stunned speechless. He didn’t do anything either… Just got into his car and drove off. It was a light kiss… I don’t think he meant to do it though. Something is going on with him… something personal I guess.”

“Well, that doesn’t matter,” Mabel remarked brightly. “What matters is that he kissed you. I’ve had my treat for the week. You know, I saw his car outside, very impressive it was too.”

“Never mind the car, Mabel. I’m being serious here. He’s my boss for God’s sake, and you’re getting even more excited than me about it.”Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

“Good thing you brought him here so I could get a glimpse of the man himself! I’m telling you he’s so hot he’d make a sinner out of any Saint,” Mabel cointuned like Vivian hadn’t spoken and groaned, with a lascivious look in her eyes, as she cleaned up the glass cups and put them back in their place. “Guess what, I think he’s a sex God too.”

Vivian had heard enough. “You are making my situation worse. I don’t want to think about him like that. I don’t know what to do, but I’ll be keeping well out of his way from now on. I wouldn’t want to lose my job.”

“If I had the opportunity to work with a man with a face and body like that, I would be tripping over myself to accidentally fall in his way!” Megan gave her a broad wink. “I don’t know why you want to run away from all this. Honestly, I’d get closer to him if I were you. If he fancied you he could take you away from all this and set you up in a house somewhere. You’d be made, because he’s minted! Think of the clothes you could have, and the jewels, and a real macho man in your bed in the bargain. You’re really beautiful, Vivian. If anyone could pull that Mr handsome I just saw this evening, it would be you.”

Vivian studied her in bewilderment, her color rising. “You know I’m not like that, Megan-”

“Well, you’d be much better off if you were,” Megan told her roundly. “At least I know how to have a bit of fun and I can enjoy a good laugh. If you don’t try, you will turn you into a dried-up old spinster! Stop being such a goody goody.”

“Okay… it’s useless talking to you.” Vivian said, “I’m going home.”

Having finished her shift for the day, Vivian took off her uniform and changed into her normal clothes. Even so, her thoughts were miles away. She felt so out of step with Megan.

She’d had relationships with men, but never a sugar daddy or someone like Scott McCall. If he was just someone she’d met casually, then maybe she wouldn’t have had a problem with getting involved with him, but getting involved with her boss… It just didn’t sound like something she would do.

But yet he’d kissed her, and she had no idea why. Even now her body still tingled when she thought about it. Was he really into her? Or was he trying to get over whatever it was that was bothering him?

She had to stop kidding herself. It had to be the latter. Why else would a man like Scott want her? She was way out of his league. It probably meant nothing to him, and the earlier she stopped thinking about it, the better for her.

But the memory stayed, and even when she slept that night. He was right there in her dreams…. Kissing her… except this time, he didn’t stop.

————

The next day, Scott sprang out of bed at three in the morning and stalked into his luxurious bathroom to take another cold shower. A more primitive male might have believed he had been bewitched by an enchantress no human male could resist, but Scott McCall told himself no such comforting tales.

As the cooling water streamed down over the heated length of his bronzed, muscular body, he groaned out loud in furious frustration. Never before had a woman disturbed his sleep. But something about Vivian Sanchez had fired his imagination to new erotic heights of creativity. The very idea of her as his lover had become a sexual fantasy he could not shake. Even while he slept his disobedient brain rehashed their brief kiss into an intimate encounter of a wildly uninhibited if unlikely variety that appealed most to the male sex. His inability to control his own subconscious mind infuriated him.

Resting his arrogant dark head back against the cool stone surround, he thought about Vivian, with her beautiful dark eyes and amazing body. He suddenly had this feeling that hiring her hadn’t been such a good idea. He should have asked her to be his lover instead, he thought. He didn’t even mind paying her for it.

Unwilling sexual attraction was no basis for a close working relationship with the woman. But what choice did he have? He hadn’t been expecting to be bowled over by this damn attraction-it had just hit him out of the blue. Perhaps, he reflected in exasperation, he had become too careful-too fastidious in his refusal to let his libido rule him. Almost certainly he was suffering from the effects of too much stress lately, and the most effective cure for the foolish fantasies assailing him in the middle of the night would be a welcoming and hopefully very wanton woman.

And he knew exactly who was most likely to qualify in that department. Olivia… if he called her, he knew she’d come. The arrangement suited them both. It always had. She was amusing and strikingly attractive and although he had no feelings for her, he respected her honesty and her survival skills.

But why was he hesitating tonight? He knew the answer to that question. It was because she wasn’t Vivian and right now, he wanted Vivian. But she was off limits, he told himself. Strictly off limits.