Page 54 of The Acquisition

Too fucking bad.

Yanking at the knot of my tie, I rose from my chair. "Close the door," I ordered.

"Colt, I'm tired. It's been a long day. Whatever point you're trying to make, it can wait," she said, but still she entered my office and closed the door.

I finished pulling the tie off from my neck. "What changed, Jana?"

The way her head tilted up, the jut of her chin might have been described as haughty, but only to those who didn't know her. I saw it for what it was, a front. She was building a wall between us, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out why now.

I stalked her across my office. For each step I took forward, she took one back until her back was pressed against the door. I put a hand on either side of her head, caging her in. "You've been avoiding me all day. I want to know why."

She turned her face away from me. I was done having her shut me out. I took her chin in my hand and turned her face back toward me.

"So help me, if you are going to be a brat, I'm going to spank you for real this time."

A flush crept up her neck. She might be trying to avoid me, but her body still craved me. I wanted her heart, but I wasn't above playing dirty to override the bullshit her mind was feeding her. She ducked under my arm and moved toward the center of my office.

"Right," I nodded, working through the details of the dumbest plan I'd ever conjured. "Whatever is coming between us is happening up here." I tapped my temple. "I need you to let it go and get out of your head so we can get back to where we were this weekend."

"I don't see how that's going to happen," she mumbled.

Pulling the length of the tie through my hand, I said, "Let me show you."

Her eyes opened wide, and she watched me warily.

"Take your clothes off," I demanded.

Jana's eyes flicked back to the door. "We're at work," she hissed.

I slipped my suit coat off and draped it across my chair. Slowly, I worked open the buttons on my shirt.

"Keep your clothes on!" she whisper-shouted. "We have to tell Evie about us before the entire office finds out."

"It's getting close to six. And before you say that people could be working late, you must have missed the memo I sent out about happy hour."

Her mouth fell open. "You planned this."

The last button slipped free and I worked on my cufflinks. "Of course I did. I needed the office empty, and now it is."

"This was all unnecessary. We live together!" she stamped her foot.

"Considering you actively avoided me all day, I didn't want to give you the chance to slip away then too. I bet you would have fed me a line about plans, am I right?"

She pursed her lips, and I knew I was right.

"Clothes, Jana. Now," I demanded.

Her eyes held mine in challenge, and she stepped out of her shoes. She moved closer and turned her back on me. Pulling her hair over her shoulder she looked back at me. "You're going to have to get my zipper."

I grabbed the zipper pull and slid it down. The teeth made a satisfying sound as they released.

Once I had the dress unfastened, I slid it from her shoulders and let it pool around her feet. I put my hand between her shoulder blades and pressed until she leaned forward, resting her hands on my desk.

With one hand, I unclasped her bra and let gravity work the garment down her arms.

"Show off," she quipped.

"I'm just getting started," I warned her.

---