Page 18 of Savage Romance
“Agreed, when a woman says fine, it’s actually an indication things are anything but up to her satisfaction.”
They both were silent for a few moments.
Byron’s eyebrow slid up again.
Ben sighed and gave in. “Honestly, I like being married to her. Living together is going very well. I guess.” He raked a hand through his hair. “I guess I like her.”
Byron slapped him on the back. “Good for you.” A rare grin broke through. “Now let’s talk business.”
Ben preferred discussing business over talking about feelings anytime and agreed readily.
After finishing his business meeting with Byron, Ben lingered at the hotel, conducting his other meetings through video conferences. Several times during the day, he sought out Zoe, started to raise an arm to hug her to him, and caught himself in the act. Work and sex shouldn’t be mixed, anyway. What happened between them in the bedroom should stay in the bedroom and was a pure physical necessity. He resolved himself to keep that in mind and knew he shouldn’t deviate from it.
In the next couple of days, Ben tried to keep his distance, but Zoe kept amazing him. Her skill, her compassion in her job were obvious. But sweet and competent or not, she was still secretive about her past. His instincts were warning him not to let down his guard.
Ben was giving her whiplash, and not just from having the urge to look over her shoulder.
Zoe eyed her husband as he escorted her to his large office. “What are you doing? I’m trying to work, you know.”
Ben didn’t break his stride. Zoe was all too aware of his hand resting at the small of her back. The heat from his skin seared through the thin material of her blouse and his thumb grazed the waistband of her skirt. She was too focused on him, and she’d been distracted. Had she made some mistake?
“Darlin’, the last time I checked, even managers have lunch breaks, and you need to eat.” A smile flashed on his handsome face but disappeared much faster than Zoe liked. “I’m going to feed you.”
“Feed me? Like a baby?”
He chuckled. “Nothing child-like about you. But you’ve now planted an idea in my head.”
“What?”
“An image of you sitting on my lap, while I make sure you’re well-fed and taken care of.”
Her step faltered, and if not for the tower of muscle beside her she would have tripped. Ben’s arm around her tightened. She opened and closed her mouth a few times.
No words, I just have no words to that.
He opened the door to his office and led her inside. It was the same room where she’d had her job interview with him eight or nine weeks ago. So much had happened since then, thinking back could make her head spin as if she’d spent the time since that day on one carnival ride after another.
Zoe liked his office, with its wide mahogany desk and sleek computer, plush carpet, and stark white walls, and for the second time in mere minutes, she almost tripped over her own feet as she took in the room. He had closed the curtains, and on about every flat surface candles flickered. Someone had tastefully set the conference table in the corner of the room in a romantic two-person setting. The room smelled delicious, like just-baked bread, salty broth, and fresh herbs.
Close enough to feel his body heat through their layers of clothes, Ben leaned in and whispered, “Like it?”
Zoe nodded dumbfounded. He’d rendered her speechless again. She cleared her throat. “Um.”
He pressed a kiss to the nape of her neck, and Zoe turned, glancing up at him in wonder. “You did all this?”
A corner of his mouth lifted. “With some help, but yes.”
She slid her arms around his neck and pulled his face down for a long, slow kiss.
When they broke free, they were both panting for air. “I would like to spread you out on my desk and eat you until you scream and then fuck you until the only sounds you can make are hoarse little moans.” His eyes darkened, and she almost drowned in the palpable desire between them. “But since we’re at our place of work and both have to eat, I’ll settle for another kiss.”
With one hand in her hair and the other on her hip, Ben molded her against him and claimed her lips. He devoured her warm and willing mouth with sensuous sweeping strokes of his tongue.
As Zoe reciprocated his kiss, she struggled to come to terms with her deceit. She wanted to get close to him and how much closer than husband and wife could a couple be? But guilt ate at her conscience as she remembered how he’d rescued her from the sleazy guy in the white robes. Or how he’d so carefully and considerately freed the swan from its trap.
She couldn’t reconcile a man callous enough to drive a business associate to his death, with the considerate and careful man she’d married—or the sensual lover who propelled her libido into overdrive.
Later that afternoon, tucked away in the quiet and safety of her office and away from the strange tension between her and Dennehy, Zoe stirred the cappuccino she’d taken with her from the barista on the first floor. It was the silence before the proverbial storm, the parting guests had left, the staff cleaned the rooms, the lunch rush was over, and most new guests hadn’t checked in yet.
