Page 101 of Wicked Fantasies

“Oh.” He watched her process his demand. If he’d expected her to refuse, run screaming from the room, once again he was disappointed. The woman was indomitable. She gave him a small smile. “That could be fun.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “I have to admit, this fantasy didn’t exist until our rendezvous in the alleyway.”

She laughed. “What happened there?”

“It dawned on me as I was thrusting into that hot body of yours that I didn’t care if the world walked by and caught us in the act. In fact, I was sort of hoping someone would happen upon us.”

“You do realize what’s driving this, don’t you?” Her words were playful and he suspected her next comment would be a jab.

Even so, he grinned and egged her on. “No. What?”

“It’s your overweening ego. You think you’re a stud of a lover and you want to show off. Plain and simple.”

He took a step closer, grasping her quickly with two hands on her waist before she could retreat. He pulled her closer, pushing the erection she constantly inspired into her stomach. “Sweetheart, you seem determined to insinuate that I’m not a good lover when you know the truth.”

She laughed. “I didn’t say you weren’t…” she paused, then chose a word sure to annoy him, “…okay.”

“Looks like I’ve been dropping the ball. If we’re going to put on a show for people, maybe I should brush up on my game. Practice a bit.”

His gaze dropped to her suddenly turgid nipples and he gave her a devilish grin. “Take off that shirt.”

She shook her head, pushing out of his grip. He let her go, simply because her earlier comments were still playing in his head. He was worried about her. While he’d resigned himself to the fact he was in love with her, he knew Frankie wouldn’t concede defeat on that emotion easily. Throughout the past few weeks, he’d gotten to know her better, and he’d sensed a small wounded part inside her that seemed determined to hold the world at arm’s length. He’d tried to dig for an answer, tried to figure out what it was that was scaring her so, but he’d had no luck uncovering the truth. He could only assume she’d loved and lost before.

“No. We are already in a world of hurt on this campaign and we don’t have time for sex.”

He glanced at his watch and knew she was speaking the truth. “Dammit. Much as it pains me to admit this, you’re right.”

She ran her hand along his rough jaw, his five o’clock shadow making its daily appearance. “You’re a very hard man to resist sometimes.”

He smiled. “Working so closely to you for hours on end and not touching you? It’s gonna be tough.”

She nodded, and he could see in her face she agreed. She looked at him for a moment and he sensed she was fighting an internal battle with herself. “Fuck it,” she muttered.

“What?”

“How about I set up a reward system?”

He leaned back on his desk, not bothering to hide the obvious bulge in his pants. Frankie had apparently gotten used to it. It also looked like she’d decided she was tired of fighting their attraction. “I like the sound of that. What did you have in mind?”

“You’ve heard of strip poker. I was thinking we could adapt it. For every hour of work on this project, we take turns removing a piece of clothing.”

He nodded. “I like your idea of incentive.”

She held up a finger to ward him off when he took a step closer. “The game only continues until nine tomorrow morning when the other employees come in. At that point, my clothes go back on. Then tomorrow night, we’ll disrobe where we left off and start again.”

“Solid plan. I like it.”

“Oh, and we’re just undressing. Nothing else.”

He shook his head. “No deal. With each piece of clothing that comes off, we have five minutes to enjoy the newly uncovered body part. We’ll call it a work break.”

She considered his addendum and then nodded. “Okay. You’re on. Five minutes.”

They moved around his desk together as he opened up a file, and the first hour passed in the blink of an eye as they bounced around ideas. Reed was impressed by Frankie’s creativity and energy. Though the workday had wrapped up for everyone else in their company, she’d gotten a second wind that was pulling him along for the ride.

He didn’t realize working with a partner, an equal, could be so invigorating. She fired him up and, for the first time in a long time, he remembered why he was doing this job. He’d always loved the art of the deal, creating campaigns, planning marketing strategies. All of those things were like crossword puzzles to him. He also loved The Donovan Group, loved this company and his uncle. He had a vested interest in its successes and failures, simply because it felt like home to him. Watching Frankie work on an angle, sketching out designs for artwork, proved how smart Brian had been in hiring her. He’d been a fool to try to sabotage her, an idiot not to form this working partnership from the beginning.

“First hour’s up,” she said, stirring him from his thoughts. “Looks like we need the break. You’ve been lollygagging in la-la land for the last ten minutes. I’m not sharing any fantasy with you if I do all the work on this bid.”

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