Page 86 of Theirs to Take

He stood and stripped at the end of the bed, feeling pretty damn proud of himself as she looked up at him and smiled. “That was incredible,” she said, her voice hoarse from crying out his name.

“That was nothing. Wait until the next part,” he insisted.

“What’s the next part?” she asked?

“This,” he growled, pulling her to the side of the bed. He slid into her body without any warning, and she cried out. He stilled, giving her time to adjust to his size and she squirmed underneath him.

“You keep doing that and I won’t last honey,” he warned.

“Good,” she sassed, “turnabout is fair play.” She continued to wiggle around, and he grabbed handfuls of her ass, pulling her up from the mattress. Ranger pulled out of her body andslammed back into her pussy, loving her breathy little sighs and moans that she gave him with each thrust.

“Ranger,” she shouted, “I’m going to come.”

“Good,” he growled, pumping in and out of her body until she shouted out his name once more. Ranger quickly followed her over, finding his release deep inside of her body and when they collapsed onto the bed together and Millie snuggled into his body, his whole damn world felt right. That scared the hell out of him too because what they had just done could never happen again. It was a mistake, and holding her now, he knew that. Losing his heart wasn’t part of the plan, no matter how much he wanted Millie again.

“I’d like to take that job that you offered me, Ranger,” Millie whispered against his neck.

“You would?” he asked. He wasn’t kidding that they could use someone like Millie on their payroll at McTavish. He and Luke were in charge of all of the company’s security, including cyber security, and that would be right up Millie’s alley. She’d be a perfect fit for McTavish.

“Yes,” she said. “I’d like to work for you, Ranger,” she said. Hell, that wasn’t a part of the job description that he had given much thought to. If she was working with him day in and day out, after they had just slept together, that might cause some problems. Namely the one about him not wanting a relationship with Millie or any other woman. Yeah, he really hadn’t thought any of tonight through, and now, he might be the one paying the price for opening his big mouth before thinking about what he was about to say.

Five Months Later

Ranger walked into McTavish Industries and turned the corner right into his office. It was his daily routine and this morning, he hadn’t planned to deviate from it, but he had. Instead of walking into his office and booting up his computer, he ran into sexy Millie—the only person at the company who he actually tried to avoid.

“Sorry,” she breathed, placing her hands on his chest to steady herself. “I didn’t know that you were here.” That was obvious since she was in his office. Millie never went into his office and that thought left him curious and a bit worried.

“What are you doing in here?” he asked.

“Um, I didn’t want to bother you, so I just left you a letter,” she said. “It’s over on your desk.” Millie pointed over to where she had put the envelope and he smiled down at her.

“So formal,” he said. “An envelope and everything.”

“Well, I thought that I should make my resignation look as professional as possible.”

“Resignation?” he asked. They had been working together for about five months now and he had to admit, it seemed to be working out, even if he spent most of his time avoiding her. He and Millie were able to work together, and she was damn good at her job. She had taken over their computer security network and she was the most talented hacker he’d ever met, and being in the military, he knew a lot of them. But now, she was thinking about leaving and it was all his damn fault. Ranger thought for sure that he’d be able to keep their work and private lives separate, but he was so wrong. Sleeping with her felt right at the time—hell, hiring her to work at McTavish felt right, but everything had fallen apart so quickly, he wasn’t sure how to fix any of it.

“You can’t leave,” he insisted. She sighed and pulled her hands from his chest as if just realizing that she was touching him still. He hadn’t forgotten since her every touch felt as thoughshe had scorched his skin. He still had it bad for Millie Jenkins, not that he’d ever admit that to her.

“Listen, Ranger,” she said. “I want to say that I’m fine with the way things are between us, but I’m not.” Ranger’s finger’s itched to reach out and pull her curvy body against his, but he also knew that wouldn’t end well for either of them.

“What’s wrong with the way things are between us?” he asked.

“For one, I don’t like being ignored.” After they slept together, and he went crazy and offered her a job, he just about ghosted her, and for that, he still felt like shit. Millie was right, she deserved better than the way that he was treating her, but he couldn’t go back and redo the past.

“I’m sorry,” he breathed. “I should have done better, but I wasn’t sure what the protocol was. I mean, we jumped into bed together, I hired you, and then, I guess I freaked out.” There, that was as honest as he’d ever been with her and from the look on her beautiful face, she wasn’t buying his apology or his excuse for his bad behavior.

“Thank you for saying that,” Millie said. “But it’s just too late. I don’t think that we should work together, and well, I’ve already taken another job. In fact, I start next week, if you wouldn’t mind not holding me to the two weeks that I promised. I have to move since it’s out of state and well, I’d like to get settled in before starting my new position.”

“You’re quitting and moving to another state?” He felt as though he had been kicked in the nuts and honestly, he didn’t like any of this one bit. He wanted to protest, to tell her that he wanted a redo with her—with everything.

“I am,” Millie said. “Thank you for this opportunity, but it’s time for me to move on, Ranger.” She held out her hand to him and he looked down at it as if it offended him. He took hersinto his own and shook it, trying to remain as professional as possible.

“Well, I’m going to head back down to my office. I’ll finish out this week,” she offered. Ranger couldn’t do anything but nod and smile, even if he felt like he was dying inside watching her walk out of his office.

Ranger walked into Luke’s office and slumped down into one of the corner chairs that he kept in there. “What’s up your ass?” Luke asked. “You’ve been in a funk since Millie left.”

“Shut the fuck up, man,” Ranger grumbled. He wasn’t in the mood to fight with his friend. The fact that Luke was right really rubbed him the wrong way. He’d been in a shitty mood for over a month now, ever since Millie moved two hours away to take a new job. He wasn’t sure how he’d take her leaving, but now that he knew, all he wanted to do was get into his pick-up truck and drive to her new place.

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