Once Upon a Dare (Risky Business)(23)
“Dramatic? You haven’t seen dramatic yet.” She cocked her hip and raised her chin defiantly. “Look, I get it. You’ve got loads of money and this is all one big friggin’ laugh to you, but what we do here is important to me. I will not let one night of poor judgment ruin five years of hard work.”
He wasn’t sure what bugged him more, her assumption that he wasn’t serious about his business, or her determination to downplay their night together. “Like it or not, you’re stuck with me on this one. We need to find a way to work together. Preferably without killing one another.”
“You’re right,” she responded, through clenched teeth. “I don’t like it, but I’ll do my job without berating the people around me because I’m a team player. Think you can do the same?”
Cole fought to keep his face impassive. While her words stung, she wasn’t wrong. Hell, he deserved everything she threw at him and more. He rubbed the back of his neck. “This isn’t easy for me to say, but I f*cked up with your team yesterday. I am sorry and it won’t happen again.”
Olivia pursed her lips. Of course she wasn’t going to let him off that easily.
“I asked Pritchard to put you on this bid because you’re the best we’ve got.” Her cheeks reddened at the compliment. He wasn’t sure if it was embarrassment or guilt, but whatever it was, it seemed to soften her mood. “I fully expect us to work on this campaign as equals.”
“Equals?” She studied his face as if seeing him for the first time. What did she see when she looked at him? He shoved the thought aside. It didn’t matter. He knew what he saw when he looked at her, and just then he saw a woman on the edge, ready to lose control. Only a blind man would have missed the way her bottom lip quivered, or the way she swallowed, as if fortifying her resolve.
Ignoring his better judgment, he leaned into her, stopping only when the peaks of her breasts brushed his chest. His balls tightened at the contact, anxious to finish what they’d started the day before. He brushed his fingers over her jawline, tipping her mouth to his. It had only been a day, but it felt like an eternity since he’d tasted those sweet lips.
And like an addict, he needed that fix. Craved it. Couldn’t think straight without it.
His eyes locked on Olivia, confirming her need matched his own. Her breath hitched, but for once she didn’t resist. He moved slowly, skimming his lips over the corners of her mouth, teasing her and savoring the scent of peppermint that clung to her breath.
The whimper that followed stroked more than his ego, bringing them closer, her body melting against him. When her mouth found his, it was a languid kiss, unhurried and unlike any they’d shared before. She sucked on his bottom lip, nearly driving him mad, before delving into his mouth and caressing his tongue with her own. When she finally pulled away, he was hard as a rock.
If her intention had been to leave him wanting more, she’d succeeded. He adjusted his cock, knowing full well his erection would be visible to anyone who dared look.
“So, equals?” she asked again, as if the hard-on-inducing kiss had been a figment of his imagination. How the hell she managed to do that, he’d never know.
“Always.”
She sighed and yanked the door open. “Let me work on the reassignments this morning and we can meet up after lunch to talk strategy.”
“Works for me,” he agreed. Using his notebook to mask his hardened cock, he stepped through the open door. Their shoulders brushed as he squeezed by. He wanted to tease her, tell her the office was a “no touching zone”, but the guarded look she wore told him to bite his tongue and let the moment pass. Antagonizing her after the kiss they’d just shared wasn’t going to earn her trust…or get her back in his bed.
…
Cole watched as Olivia propped a small compact up on her desk and leaned down to check her makeup, completely oblivious to his presence in her doorway. She looked good to him, given the late hour, but what the hell did he know about makeup?
It was after six, and most of the office had cleared out already, but it was no surprise she was one of the few who’d stuck around. He watched as she expertly applied a swipe of bright pink to her luscious bottom lip. By the time she’d finished, he was already starting to get ideas about how he might rub that color off. She didn’t need it anyway. She was a natural beauty. He hadn’t known many, but there was no doubt Olivia was one of them. His cock stirred at the thought of touching her silky skin and he decided that interrupting beat the hell of standing there like a voyeur, given his wayward thoughts. The last thing he needed was for her to find him lurking.
He knocked on the door lightly to draw her attention.
“Yes?” she said, pausing her routine for a moment. When she looked up to see him filling her doorway, surprise flashed across her face before she returned to the task at hand. When she was done with the top lip, she swept all of the makeup into her bag and turned her attention to him.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he offered, shifting his weight and stuffing his hands in his pockets. He was used to seeing women in various stages of undress, but this? Not so much. It was weirdly…intimate.
“What can I do for you, Cole?”
She’d used his name, and while her tone wasn’t especially warm, it wasn’t cold either. He’d take it. If he could avoid dangerous subjects, he might just be able to pull this off. He hoped getting her out of the office might help repair the damage to their professional relationship and mend some of the bridges they’d burned without regard. Despite their undeniable chemistry, there were still some hurt feelings lingering between them, and he was determined to make things right, one way or another. Their afternoon meeting had gone all right, if you considered bickering like five-year-olds a success—which he did, given there was no bloodshed—but with the Vixen pitch on their plates, they needed to officially clear the air.