Page 5 of Her Bossy Daddy

Chapter Two

Lacey

“Lacey?” a husky voice with a thick Irish accent prompted. “You’ve been working on improving our social media presence, right?” Liam motioned toward a PowerPoint presentation projected on a large screen at the front of the room.

Startling, I yanked myself back into the meeting. Crap on a stick. He probably said my name more than once but I’d been lost in my daydream. A beautiful sunny afternoon spent curled up in Liam’s lap watching silly cartoon movies. His dazzling green eyes darkened as they glared in my direction. The mental images burst. Shit. I never get this distracted by anyone. “Yes.”

“Have you?”

Holy hell. His voice glided along my skin, and goosebumps flared all over my body. I imagined listening to him talk for hours. He could read me the damn telephone book, and I’d still be fascinated. Flustered by his piercing gaze, I fumbled with my notebook to find the points I’d jotted down earlier. “Uh, we haven’t considered broadening our current options. I wanted to propose a new platform. My team and I’d been thinking along the line of photos and hashtags to increase the reach and encourage crossover on other forums. As long as we keep the application for just healthcare.”

“We can consider a new platform in the future.” He cocked an eyebrow. “The current need is for you and your team to focus on an existing outlet.”

“Should I switch my priorities then?”

“Yeah. Don’t abandon the idea completely. Just shelve it for a bit.”

“Will do.” I nodded, but being wrapped up in his strong arms, the way he promised to hold me was the only thing on my mind. Obviously, we couldn’t cuddle in the meeting, but he was in my town. Or at least in driving distance. I didn’t allow us to go over details like which city he moved to since I canceled our last three web chats. One face-to-face session at our job spun me on my head.

The rest of the meeting ticked by, and I struggled to keep my attention on the details. My coworkers gathered their materials and trickled out of the room. I collected my own belongings, and then I crossed the room to exit.

“Lacey.” Liam held up a hand and beckoned me over. “May I have a moment?”

“Of course.” My teammates filed past me without a glance, except for two of the women. I didn’t get along with them on a good day so their disdain probably meant nothing. Milly, a tiny raven-haired snob with killer curves, and her trusty companion Rebecca—tall, thin, blonde, and perfectly proportioned. They didn’t have a stellar reputation for being friendly, but they were both team players as far as business matters. They lifted their noses as they brushed by, and I wondered what the hell the problem was. Are they jealous of Liam and me talking? He was my boss just as much as theirs.

Liam glanced over his notes, as he waited for the room to empty out. “Come here.”

I did as he’d directed, but I smelled the cool, crisp scent of his aftershave and extremely naughty thoughts flitted through my head. “What can I help you with?”

“Are you always so distracted or is there something else going on with you?” His tone was light, but it dripped with authority.

“I’m dealing with some personal things.” Pressing my thighs together, I willed them to keep my arousal at bay but I failed. I wanted to kiss him, among other inappropriate things.

“What can I do to help?”

I stared up at him, tears prickling behind my eyes, and cleared my throat twice. “Nothing. I won’t let it happen again.” I nodded curtly, then dismissed myself before the tears fell, but I didn’t make it out of the room. Liam dashed in front of me and placed his arm across the doorway, banning me from leaving.

“Lacey.” He leaned down until his lips brushed my ear. “Charge your phone when you get home and make sure you answer when I call.”

“Or?” I breathed out the tiniest challenge.

“Or?” His free hand skated along the curve of my hip. “I’ll test out the new soundproof capacity of my office. They’ve installed blinds too.”

“You’d risk our careers on something trivial and punish me at work?” I swallowed hard and hoped my face remained neutral.

“Ignoring my messages is disrespectful. Lying to me is disrespectful.” Liam straightened to his full height and then lowered his arm. “Neither of those are trivial to me.”

“I’m sorry, Sir. Yes, we do need to talk.” I sucked in a breath, furious at myself for breaking our rules and for losing my composure. “I’ll make time soon. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some things to wrap up,” I stated sincerely, and then rushed off.

I couldn’t stand near him for another moment without touching him. No, I needed to get far away. I didn’t think it was him being here at work, but the notion of him being here. Here in person. If I hadn’t been so withdrawn lately we could have met face to face before this. He was right. I’d been ignoring him, and lied multiple times by assuring him I was fine or telling him I was working late. Shit! I wouldn’t be able to use that excuse ever again.

* * *

I’d been holed up ina stall in the downstairs bathroom, half perched on a toilet, clothed, and near tears. There wasn’t as much traffic since it was so far away from most of the cubicles and I’d wanted as much privacy as possible before I attempted to walk through the parking lot. I reached for the handle to exit when the main door banged open.

“Did you see the way she blinked those big brown eyes at him?” an obnoxious voice stated and was followed with a shrill laugh. “I mean really!”

It sounded like Milly, though we didn’t interact via phone or in person much. Most of the time emails and instant messages kept the team in communication. Sometimes we didn’t even bother with full meetings but opened up an online session so we could work straight through a conference call without losing precious time.

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