Page 18 of Charmed and Alarmed

Something like triumph rises in my chest at the pretty pink flush that floods her cheeks and the way her lips curve into a shy, secret smile, just for me.

There isn’t a hint of darkness in her eyes as I approach, keeping my hands shoved deep in the pockets of my suit jacket. “Good morning, Lenora.”

“Good morning, Mr. Ellinger.”

Though I want to stop, I force my feet to keep moving through my office door and around the back of my desk. There’s shit I need to do, calls I need to make, meetings to attend. Keeping business moving as usual is more important than ever as we prepare for the expansion.

I can’t spend half the day willing myself not to look at Bram’s daughter.

A soft knock sounds on the frame of my doorway, and I look up sharply, my pulse quickening as I see who it is.

“Hi.” Leni’s tone is cautious. “Could we talk?”

Fuck.“Of course.” I gesture to the chair across the desk from mine, and she pulls the office door closed behind her, moving to the place I indicated with only the slightest limp.

She sits, and I’m painfully aware of the large glass window behind her. When we designed this space, the open concept was intended to encourage openness and communication. If I’d known I would someday have to master a poker face so the entire staff doesn’t realize how bad I have it for Bram’s daughter, I might have reconsidered this approach.

Her next words certainly don’t help my predicament.

“I was wondering if you were still interested in having sex with me.” The way she says it is cautious and polite, as if we’re discussing nothing more remarkable than a possible work project.

“Excuse me?” I choke, my fingers aching with how tightly I’m holding onto the arms of my chair.

Leni’s head cocks slightly to the side, and now there’s a dangerous little smile on her face that takes my goddamn breath away. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did you want to pretend nothing happened here last night?”

“Kind of, yeah,” I admit, still reeling. “I was going to apologize. If I made you uncomfortable?—”

The look this earns me is almost pitying. “I think it’s pretty clear I liked it.”

Blood is rushing to my cock as the impact of her words sinks in. Damn it, I wasn’t prepared for this—for the literal woman of my dreams walking into my office and asking if I’d like to have sex with her. It’s like putting a gourmet meal on the table in front of a starving man and telling him not to eat it.

How could anyone have the willpower to resist?

“It’s probably not a good idea,” I admit weakly, still holding onto the chair for dear life. “And I thought you said you didn’t want… with the history there…”

A slight shrug greets these words, and Leni’s eyes glitter with amusement. “I changed my mind. Between my sister getting engaged to her ex’s dad and Sophie shacking up with our dad, fucking you would be practically tame by comparison.”

“You’re a virgin.”

“Am I?”

Every muscle in my body goes tense. Her fucking someone in the past six months hadn’t occurred to me until now, and for a man so determined not to sleep with her, the possibility that she did makes me furious.

I lean forward, totally unable to keep myself in check in the face of this new information. “Tell me.”

Leni’s smile widens. “There’s only one way to know for sure, isn’t there?”

No question about it, I’m no match for this woman. Lenora Vogel is smarter than me, braver than me, more in control of this situation than I could ever dream of being. There isn’t a question in my mind that she knowsexactlywhat she does to me and how badly I want her.

Apparently tired of watching me attempt to think my way out of the trap I’ve constructed for her to use on me, Leni stands, smoothing out her dress. “Okay, good talk. Let me know what you’d like to do with me, Mr. Ellinger.” There’s a playful, teasing quality to her voice that is even more affecting to me than the words themselves.

It occurs to me that if things were different, this woman would have been my best friend.

I had a hint of it on New Year’s, the briefest glimpse of what could have been, and spent months missing the way it made me feel.Fucking hell, Len. What are you doing to me?

“When would you need an answer?” I joke weakly. Behind Leni, I see two of my staff glance our way as they pass, a flicker of uncertainty appearing in their expressions at whatever I must look like right now. As a wide, delighted smile splits her face, however, I find I don’t particularly care what they think.

Leni reaches behind herself, wrapping her delicate fingers around the door handle and pulling it open. “Oh, three to five business days at most,” she replies mildly. “The problem has become morepressingafter our meeting last night.”

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