A Calculated Seduction(11)

Luckily for Dulcy, Bill kept Ethan occupied for the next few hours. Not only had she embarrassed herself on Friday night, her boss now thought she had been discussing him with his uncle.

She’d had plenty to keep her busy. Most of the day, she worked on the new promotion Bill had contracted just before

Ethan came on board. He’ d gotten the top moneymaking bull rider that year to promote their boots and western wear. No small feat for MacMillan Boots. They weren’t the smallest boot company out there, but they were far from the biggest. Bill had convinced Gerald Dillon to become their spokesman. And he’d done it with less money than Gerry had been offered from some of the bigger companies. Bill could convince anyone to do anything. He lived for the sale.

Dulcy was different. Although she liked her job, she knew she never wanted to move up into a competitive position like sales or marketing. She didn’t have the shark teeth for it. Her job was to look over the ad print, make sure the contracts were signed and generally make sure Gerry was happy.

Mr. MacMillan’s door opened and Dulcy looked up from the press release. Both men were smiling. Even though he drove her crazy, she was happy Ethan had returned to help Bill. More and more, Bill’s memory seemed to be failing. The last few months he worked, he’d never been able to remember his password. She’d gotten so frustrated, he began to use hers to get into the confidential files only privy to the two of them.

Her attention shifted to the younger man. Lord, he was handsome. Not by today’s standards, where she found some movie stars too pretty for her tastes. She preferred her men more masculine. And Ethan was definitely that.

Even in his professional attire, she could make out his hardened muscles. With each move he made, he oozed sexuality. All that jet-black hair, given to curl now it had grown a bit in the past few months, and his gray eyes lightened when he smiled. The now familiar zing shot straight to her hormones at the sight of that rare smile. Just staring at him had her nipples tightening and her panties damp.

His face was not perfect with his broken nose and the scar right above his eyebrow. The same eyebrow, which was now arched in question.

“Dulcy, you’re coming Saturday night, aren’t you?” Bill asked.

“What?” Her face heated when she realized from their expressions they knew she’d been studying Ethan.

“Saturday night...the Gala to welcome Gerry into our family. You’re coming, aren’t you?”

“Oh. Yes, of course. I’m coming. ”

“Good.” He turned to head out the door, then turned back around. “You know, since you two live so close together, it would make sense if Ethan just picked you on his way to the hotel.”

Ethan’s eyes widened a little at the suggestion but no other expression let her know what he was thinking.

She turned back to Bill. “Oh, I don’t want Mr. MacMillan to go to any trouble.”

“It would be no trouble for me to give you a ride.” His voice deepened when he said the word ride. If she didn’t know better, she would’ve thought he was insinuating something other than a ride in a car. The image of straddling Ethan, sinking down on his cock, rose in her mind. She swallowed and willed the image away.

“But...I get there so early to make sure everything is—”

“Now, Miss Menendez,” his voice dripped with sarcasm. “Are you telling me you need to be there before the boss?”

She looked at him and his mocking smile. “Why not? I get here every day before you.”

He laughed out loud, a rather rusty sound, as if his body wasn’t used to the emotion. She realized it was the first time she’d ever heard him laugh.

“That’s a good one, Miss Menendez. See ya later, Bill.”

Still chuckling, he turned and went into his office, shutting the door behind him.

“You know, I think working here has been good for him. He didn’t have a happy childhood. My brother and his wife were not cut out to be parents.” Bill shook his head. “And then there was me and Adelaide, wanting to have children so desperately, never getting any.”

“But you had Ethan.”

“Well, what little I saw of him. His father got mad at me, and, well, he never really forgave me. Their marriage was not the best and they lived apart for most of it. Sad thing was, that boy in there was ignored for most of his childhood. Except when they needed to get back at one another. We tried to convince his parents to let us have him for part of the year, but Sid thought of him as a possession. ”