Page 17 of Boss With Benefits

‘That won’t happen,’ he countered with absolute confidence. ‘You don’t know Cade Landry and Zane deMarco. They’ll be out any time now, if they aren’t already. And believe me, I am extremely aware of how puerile it is. And the questionable ethicsof involving women. Which is why Annabel is fully appraised of the circumstances and why I’m telling you now. To lay all my cards on the table. So there are no misunderstandings.’

‘You’re cheating.’

‘Not technically.’

Hmm. ‘You want me to be your dirty little secret.’

‘The dirtier the better.’

‘That’s shameless.’

‘I go for what I want and I want you.’ His gaze fixed on her mouth and heat flooded her body. ‘Do you have any other objections?’

Well, sheoughtto, she thought, trying the stamp out the desire beginning to thud away inside her. She ought to have plenty. For one thing, she wasnothaving another office affair. The last one had caused quite enough trouble. A second would sink her career for good if it came to light. Of course, if it started after Friday, with the audit signed off and Adam no longer her client, it wouldn’t actually be an office affair.

But it wasn’t a question of semantics. Or that simple. Nor was it just a matter of timing, despite what Adam evidently thought. It had been easy enough to part company five weeks ago, when she’d only known him for twenty minutes, but what if this time round she found it harder? What if once again she lost her head, got to know him and at the end of their time together wanted more? Orhedid? How would she disentangle herself from that?

And if shedidagree to an affair, would she really be all right with the subterfuge? She would be tinged with grubbiness—again—even if he had been open and transparent with her, which, come to think of it, perhaps made her feel slightly less grubby and maybe even a little bit flattered because he clearly wanted her enough to risk the company he’d been working so hard to get.

However, she’d been down that road before and she had too much self-respect to travel along it again. Although, she couldn’t deny that the discretion would suit her as much him because it wouldn’t do her reputation any good to be caught in the company of a man who had so recently been her client, however unlikely that might be.

But, no. Right now, she needed to focus one hundred percent on her career. She couldn’t afford to be distracted. Of course, the sex would be dynamite. And the next five days would be a lot easier to handle with the promise of relief at the end of them. Furthermore, with the three-week time frame he’d specified, there’d be a definite end. There’d be no danger of entanglement. There simply wouldn’t be time to lose her head. She would never want anything more, with Adam or anyone, and this limited the risk of that for everyone involved.

Commitment, which seemed to require constant sacrifice and compromise, did not appeal. Even thethoughtof ‘settling down’ sent chills darting through her and she certainly no intention of ever having children. She’d witnessed first hand how wellthatworked out for women occupying senior positions in her field. At her previous company, one associate director had married, and in the immediate aftermath, some jerk had opened a book on how long it would be before she announced she was pregnant. Ten months, as it happened. Three months after that the same colleague had gone on maternity leave and when she had come back a year later, she’d found that her job wasn’t quite what it had been. Somehow she’d become...lesser. Respect for her and belief in her ability had plummeted. Eventually, she’d left and was last heard to be working part time at a third rate out-of-state firm.

Ella couldn’t even contemplate the thought of unwillingly—or even willingly—giving up everything she’d worked so hard for, and if that made her selfish in the eyes of others, well, she couldlive with that. She would never want to resent a husband or kids for holding her back. That wouldn’t be fair to anyone.

But a hot, purely physical summer fling with a man to whom she was wildly attracteddidappeal to her. Very much. Getting him out of her system would be a scorching, thrilling rollercoaster of a ride. She couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate a successful audit, a promotion and a pay rise. After keeping her nose to the grindstone this last year, she deserved some fun. And so what if she was his dirty little secret? He was hers too.

‘Three weeks?’ she said, her pulse racing as the last of her resistance crumbled beneath the fizzling pressure of such hot heady desire.

‘I don’t have the time for anything more.’

‘Just sex?’

‘No strings. No complications. Just sex.’

‘Then I’m all out of objections.’

‘Excellent.’ A gleam of triumphant satisfaction lit the gorgeous blue depths of his eyes. A devastatingly sexy smile curved his mouth, and as shivers ran up and down her spine, she wondered what on earth she was letting herself in for. ‘How do you feel about the Caribbean?’

CHAPTER EIGHT

ELLAARRIVEDATthe exclusive out-of-town airport first thing on Saturday morning as instructed, practically quivering with anticipation. The excitement leaping about inside her was almost impossible to contain.

For one thing, she’d never been to the Caribbean. Generally, when she took a vacation, she went to Europe to improve her knowledge of geography, culture and history, only occasionally venturing farther afield, to India, Africa, Japan. Secondly, the heat in Manhattan in summer could be unbearably stifling, and a balmy private island which would ensure the discretion they both favoured sounded like a delightful alternative. Far more importantly, however, she was now mere hours away from allowing herself to give into the temptation that had plagued her since the moment she’d arrived at the Courtney Collection.

The last five days had not given either her patience or her nerves an easy ride. Evidently flush with success at having secured her agreement to an affair, Adam had persuaded her not to move downstairs. It hadn’t taken much. He’d suggested treating the countdown to the end of the week as foreplay, and she was all unpacked three minutes later.

She’d half thought she’d regret the added distraction. But she hadn’t, because she’d entered such a state of hyperawareness that the audit had kicked up a gear. Progress had steamed ahead as if on steroids. Long steamy looks across the divide had not derailed it. Nor had conversations that were ostensibly about the methodologies used to value inventory and the whereabouts of documents relating to revenue recognition but at the sametime were laden with subtext. Somehow, she’d even managed to rise above the occasional steamy text message he sent.

Where were you at lunchtime?

That was how one such exchange had started.

I went shopping for Caribbean-friendly clothes.

That was a waste of time.

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