Surrender Your Love (Surrender Your Love #1)(21)

“Why did you hire me?” The question burning in my mind for the last forty-eight hours finally snaked its way out of my throat.

“It’s not what you’re thinking, Brooke,” Jett said calmly. “James wants out of the business. For weeks he and I had been talking about signing Sunrise Properties over to our company. The contract we drafted included a clause that I take a look at what James called the ‘brightest star’ in the real estate business. He arranged a meeting at The Black Rose so we could discuss a position best suited to your qualifications and goals.”

I leaned back, surprised. My boss went behind my back and got me an unofficial interview to not only help me keep my job, but get a promotion. I felt a strong and overwhelming gratitude toward him and made a mental note to send him a thank-you gift basket as soon as possible.

“He asked me to talk about the company’s portfolio and pitch ideas for a future collaboration.” It only now occurred to me just how unlikely and far-fetched it all sounded. Mayfield Properties was huge, with the kind of contracts James could only dream about. No company owner would send an employee to meet with a Fortune 100 company director and risk messing up the chance of a lifetime.

Jett nodded. “Only I arrived late, which made you angry, and you stormed out on me.” He smiled at whatever memory crossed his mind. Actually, that wasn’t the whole truth. I stormed out on him because he was irresistibly sexy and touched me in a way that made me feel all sorts of emotions I didn’t want to feel.

I interlaced my fingers in my lap, mortified. Yep, I had behaved like a real bitch in front of my future employer. Why he still took me on board was beyond me. Oh wait, we sort of had sex after that; so there was my answer.

“Did you employ me because we spent the night together?” I blurted out.

Amusement glittered in his eyes, but he shook his head slowly. “No, I hired you because you were brutally honest, just like now. You weren’t prepared to suck up and take crap from anyone. That trait’s hard to find. Besides, you came highly recommended. Sunrise Properties might not play in the big league, but James managed to survive years of recession and sell out big, which can only mean one thing: he knows how to pick his employees.”

I bit my lip as I thought back to my former job. Not only had James decided to sell the company, he also made sure his employees wouldn’t face unemployment. I made a mental note to send him a big fat thank-you card, together with a huge bottle of his favorite champagne. I figured I owed him that much.

“Thank you for listening to him.” Let’s face it, there was nothing on my resume that could possibly impress Jett Mayfield. That he took a chance on me based on my boss’s recommendation showed me that maybe Jett wasn’t the cold-hearted business shark I made him out to be. His company was overly successful and didn’t have the best reputation in the States, but his employees—or what I had seen of them so far—seemed to like working for him. I flashed him a hesitant smile. His beautiful lips curled into the most stunning grin I had ever seen. My chest tightened, and a warm feeling rushed through me.

He leaned forward and brushed his thumb against my lower lip as he whispered, “I hired you for your attitude, and so far I’m pretty happy with my decision. But I’m not sure I can work with you until I’ve f**ked this attraction out of my system.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. Seeing him with his shirt off, dressed only in his underwear, I wasn’t so sure I could work with him until he had been inside of me. Every part of me wanted and demanded him, requested that his mouth kiss me and his fingers touch my body to ease the throbbing need inside of me.

I peered into his heated green eyes. The passion I saw in them burned through me like a wildfire. Holy shit, he meant every word of it, which scared the crap out of me because I knew he wanted me just as much as I wanted him. Somewhere at the back of my mind it occurred to me every lawyer would have a feast filing for sexual harassment. But, hell, he could harass me all he wanted.

Get a grip, Stewart. Switch your mind on for a change.

Every rulebook argues against getting involved with a coworker, and particularly against enjoying a fling with the boss because it tends to backfire. I thought back to Sylvie and how she got herself unemployed. What would keep Jett from firing me once we were done?

“So you’re telling me you’ll sack me unless I have sex with you.”

He cringed, hesitating. “That wasn’t what I meant, Brooke. I wouldn’t sack you, but we both would have a hard time doing our job.”

I cleared my throat to get rid of my fear of making a wrong decision. For some reason I believed he wouldn’t sack me, but there were a million other reasons why getting involved wasn’t advisable. What if he was married? I wasn’t a home wrecker. “I’m not sure sex is such a good idea.”

His brows shot up. “Why not?”

“Because—” I brushed my hair out of my face as I considered my words. In the end I decided to be frank. “You could be married.”

“I’m not.”

“Oh.” My heart did a somersault. I could barely keep myself from smiling like an idiot.

“No girlfriend either,” Jett whispered, staring at me with those green, sinful eyes that made me want to peel off his clothes to see what sin tasted like. “Look, Brooke. After we work this out of our system, we’ll both be able to focus on the goals of this company without any distractions.”