One Bossy Offer (33)

I look out over the railing and see whitecaps.

Shit.

“Be careful!” I yell.

Too late.

A strong evening tide rolls the boat up like the entire sea just turned into a thrashing carpet. Even a ship this size rocks violently when it’s descending a hill of water.

The wave knocks Jenn off-balance and tumbles her toward me.

I sweep forward to catch her, and just manage to keep her from hitting the wooden deck.

Like every predictable romance movie, the next time I glance at her, she’s cradled against my chest.

We stare at each other in stunned silence, too dumbstruck to move.

This compromising position feels too right.

She’s so soft. So warm. So vibrant.

All lemony tart sweetness and a curl of hair against my cheek, her lips only inches from mine.

Every drop of blood I own goes molten as she slurs out a small whimper.

Fuck.

Our heads are so close, I could take her lips now, if I wanted.

And I do.

Goddammit, I do.

Neither of us make any effort to move as the boat rocks again. We’re hoisted up and dropped down again by another dense wall of water.

My knees bang the deck as we fall, absorbing the blow as we tilt and I wind up on my back, still clutching her.

I wrap my arms tighter, securing her as she tries to scramble up.

For a second, she looks down at me.

Her eyes flutter shut, and she tilts her chin, giving me this tortured look I know all too well.

My lips hover in front of hers, so close I can smell the peach Bellini on her breath.

I want to lick it right off her tongue.

I want to drink every last drop of Jennifer Landers so fucking bad my spine throbs.

Only, she’s caught up in her own slow-burn romance with an overgrown playing card.

Who the hell am I to ruin it, to blow up her life, even if I’d love to knock him out cold?

Also, she’s technically an underling, consultant or not, and bound by all the company rules against fraternization.

My father made those rules God years before I ever took the CEO’s chair. Cromwell-Narada was one of the first Seattle mega-corps to protect women from predatory bosses.

Plus, she still thinks I lured her into that dance to charm the land away.

Yeah. There are too many ways for this to derail catastrophically.

Too many invitations to ruin ourselves with a thousand cuts, or maybe just a few hacking slices cut by lips that shouldn’t wander.

With a heaving sigh, I drop the arm around her waist and help lift us both so we’re standing again.

She stares at me for a solid minute and clears her throat.

“But I—I thought—” She sighs and turns away from me, muttering something under her breath that can only be a curse.

So, she wanted it too.

Welcome to my personal hell.

I stand there speechless as we wait a few more seconds to make sure the big waves have passed before she heads toward the cabin door.

“You’re welcome,” I call to her back.

She spins around on one foot with flaming eyes. “For what?”

“Breaking your fall, Miss Landers. What the hell else?”

Her small hands curl into fists. “Right. Thanks.”

She’s pissed, and she has a right to be.

Every bone in my body regrets not kissing her when I had the perfect chance.

We’re all living a cosmic joke when doing the right thing wins this much scorn.

She doesn’t say anything else, but she hasn’t turned away from me.

If she’s going to gawk at me like I’m in the running for world’s biggest rhino dick, I’d might as well limp across the finish line.

“You never answered me, kitten. Is ‘interesting’ a promotion from ‘hot?’” I flash her a shit-eating grin.

“Demotion. Definitely,” she snaps.

Then I watch her trudge away, shaking her head, those silky strands of auburn that were almost mine fluttering in the breeze until she disappears.





7





No Secrets Among Friends (Jenn)





“Whoa, boy! Calm down!” Pippa jerks on Cream’s leash as the dog rears up in excitement, releasing a muffled woof at a group of white birds pecking at the ground.

I laugh. “Careful. Cream isn’t a boy, and you’ve got the calmer one.”

“I can’t believe you manage to walk both of these beasts by yourself every day.”

“Shhh! They’ll hear you,” I say. “But seriously, they’re usually pretty good about leash pulling. Usually.”

I just wish I had Gram’s magic.

With her, the dogs were perfect angels. I’m still winning them over, and there are times when I have to repeat commands, but it hasn’t been long.

Pippa laughs and screws her face up. “Sorry, Cream and Coffee. I didn’t mean you were actual beasts. Just big, heavy, and independent-minded.” She pauses and turns to me. “So, how are you really liking it here?”

A complicated question.

“Well, since my bestie stole her boyfriend’s helicopter and flew in from the city to help me go dog walking, it’s peachy. Before that—” I hold up a hand and rock it back and forth.