Page 19 of Charmed and Alarmed

For fuck’s sake, now she’s insinuating I made her horny by bending her over my knee and spanking her tight little ass. It doesn’t matter how convinced I am that fucking her would be a terrible idea, if I make it through the day without caving, it will be a miracle.

I swallow, my mouth dry as I remember the sight of my handprints on her creamy skin and the way those thighs inched farther apart, silently begging for more. “How pressing, exactly?” I hear myself ask, my voice like gravel.

Leni shifts her weight from one foot to another, her teeth finding her bottom lip as she gazes at me. “Would you mind if I used your restroom?” she asks after a pause.

“Uh.” Taken off guard, I nod. It’s not totally unheard of for people I’m in a meeting with to use it, though not frequently enough for it not to catch someone’s eye if they had suspicions.

Without bothering to close the office door, she swans past my desk and slips into my private bathroom, leaving me to stare blankly at my computer. I’ve barely begun my second mental run-through of the chain of events that led us here, when the bathroom door opens again, and Leni moves back into view.

She pauses beside my chair, leaning over to stare at my black computer screen. This close, I can smell the light, apple scent of her shampoo, along with something warmer and uniquely Leni. Inhaling greedily, I sit back in my chair, allowing my sleeve to brush her bare arm.

“Let me know if that answers your question,” she murmurs, her voice a low, seductive purr.

Then, Leni is straightening up and making her way back to her desk, leaving me with a burning in my chest and a dick that’s threatening to tear through my trousers. I watch as she sits down and pushes her chair back under her desk, apparently completely intent on the job she hates.

I swallow, dragging my eyes back to my work, when something catches my eye. It takes me a moment to fully comprehend and accept what I’m looking at.

Resting in my lap, is a pair of neatly folded, powder blue panties. Tiny white flowers dot the material, which is paper-thin and ruffled around the edges, demure and wicked all at once.

Almost without the permission of my brain, my hand drifts from the desk to my lap, balling the material in my fist. It’s still warm from her body and—my cock leaps—slick. My breathing is ragged as I drag my thumb through the arousal that’s soaking the fabric.

Which means she’s bare. Right now.

Apparently unable to contain herself, Leni looks over her shoulder, meeting my gaze through the wall of glass. Her smile is triumphant, but vanishes seconds later, as she watches me lift my thumb to my mouth.

8

LENORA

I’m going to lose my virginity to Holden Ellinger.

He hasn’t agreed yet, but he hasn’t shot me down, either. It doesn’t seem like a leap to assume a man whodoesn’twant to sleep with their business partner’s daughter would tell her that’s off the table. Not, in Holden’s case, hide out in his office with his noise-canceling headphones on for three straight days, avoiding eye contact with me whenever we’re forced to interact. As if not looking at me will erase the very fresh memory of him licking away the wetness from the panties I left in his lap.

The idea of sleeping with Holden makes me feel somethingnot badfor the first time in months. Strangely, it feels safe. This is a man who has been clear about his desires for the entire time I’ve known him—nearly all my life.

Sex? Yes.

Love? No.

It’s simple and clear, and I’m too wrapped up in my own shit to navigate a relationship more complicated than that. Besides, men Holden’s age who want twenty-two-year-old girlfriends don’t pick ones with mutilated legs and sour attitudes. Look at my own father, hopelessly besotted with the intelligent, funny, stunning Sophie. Or my future brother-in-law, who is wrapped around the finger of my beautiful, golden-hearted sister. Neither of them is limping around with a cane and a scowl.

So, if Holden can overlook damaged goods for a few secret fucks, then great. I don’t have to worry whether he does or doesn’t want more than that because Iknowhe doesn’t.

I’m ready, I want this, and now, Holden Ellinger needs to hurry the fuck up.

“So, I’m taking your silence as a no?” I ask on Friday, slipping into his office when the rest of the team is at lunch. I pretended to leave, too, hiding out in the women’s restroom for a few minutes, only to double back and corner my boss in his office.

Holden is frozen, staring at me with a sandwich halfway to his mouth, eyes comically round. “Excuse me?”

It’s a challenge to stop myself from laughing. “I just wanted to tell you to forget I said anything. I’ve obviously made you uncomfortable, and I feel really shitty about it. Can we put the whole thing behind us and pretend it never happened?”

His hands slowly lower the portion of the sub back to the wrapper on his desk. “You haven’t—I mean.” He clears his throat. “You want to forget it?”

I nod, pushing my hands into the pockets of my blazer. “Yup. I’m so sorry I put you in that position. No more panties in your lap, I promise.” And, with only a quick, apologetic smile, I turn, hurrying off after my coworkers.

Holden doesn’t emerge from his office for the rest of the day, hiding behind the computer monitor, which was moved to stand directly in line with my desk.Verymysterious stuff. I don’t even get a clear view of the man until I stand to leave for the day, packing up my things as the rest of Team E talks cheerfully around me.

“A bunch of us are getting drinks at The Blue Pub,” calls Killian, one of the junior architects, grinning over at me from his desk. We’ve made small talk a few times, but as I quickly deduced, he has the personality equivalent to a container of unseasoned breadcrumbs. I never went out of my way to repeat the experience. “You should come.”

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