Page 5 of Never Bed the Boss
“Iris? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He swats me away and then stumbles backward as he moves toward the door. “You’re acting crazy, man. I?—”
“Crazy?” I mutter. I sniff the air again and let out a deep, rumbling sigh before locking eyes with him again.
Maybe he has a point. I am acting crazy, but this dip into insanity can be cured as soon as he tells me where Iris is. I’m not hallucinating the scent. I’m not having a damn stroke. Although I might if this goes on any longer. I’ll break down every door in this building to find her if I have to.
I erase the gap between us like a lion running down its prey. I’m snarling and spitting ready to wage war. I regain my grip on his shirt, shaking him with every word. “Where. Is. Iris? I can smell her on you.”
A tentative smile appears on his face. “Smell her on me? Are you a bloodhound or some?—”
I pivot in place, launching Adrian onto the leather couch behind us. It skids a few inches as he lands. He backs up until he hits the armrest and then rolls off the couch.
“Try that shit again and see what happens,” Adrian snarls as he tears off his suit jacket.
I take a few slow steps toward him, loosening my tie as I slip off my jacket. “Tell me where she is.” My voice is calm and controlled, belying the storm raging inside me. My girl’s been in my building. She might still be in my building. And if I don’t get my answer soon I’ll level everything in my path to find her.
My head is pounding as hard as my heart. I can hardly think straight, except about those sweet lips and creamy thighs. He’s seen her. He’s been near here. Fuck me if I’m not the most envious man alive.
Adrian runs a hand through his hair, a smile slowly forming on his lips before he laughs. “Are you talking about Lilah?” He sniffs himself and then looks at me. “Perfume,” he mutters. “Thought I smelled something sweet on me.”
“Iris.”
He shakes his head. “I have no idea who Iris is, but I met with Lilah fifteen minutes ago. She’s with HR if—okay…”
He stares at me as I blow by him and make a break for the door. It nearly flies off the hinges as I throw it open.
“Can I help you?” Megan, my assistant for the last three days, asks me. Her voice is shaky as I stand in the doorway, scanning the floor for that perfect angelic face.
Nothing but cubicles and desks and a few familiar faces.
“Lilah’s my new assistant,” Adrian says, standing next to me.
“Like hell she is,” I growl. If Lilah is my Iris…
“D-does this mean I’m fired?” Megan asks.
“No,” Adrian says, turning to her. “You’re not going anywhere.”
But I am because there she is. My angel. My beautiful angel is walking this way with Melvin from Human Resources. From the glassy expression on her face, he’s boring her to tears. But if he spends one more second with her I’m going to make sure he’s transferred to a branch in Siberia. We don’t have a branch in Siberia but I’ll open one up for him and any other man in this office who so much as breathes that same air as her. Fuck. I don’t want to breathe anymore unless it’s her recycled air.
Nothing stands in my way as I sprint for Iris—Lilah.A liar in addition to a thief. Naughty little girl.
“Morning, Mr.—”
“No time,” I growl, dodging a new hire toting a box before hurdling the mail cart. I clip the edge of the cart with my heel, sending both me and the cart toppling to the ground. Rolling with my momentum, I recover and am back on my feet, charging for Lilah and plowing through the office like a damn Mack truck.
“Would you like a?—”
“Out of my way,” I snarl, flipping the tray filled with donuts into the air, along with stacks of paper, file folders, coffee, and anything else that dares come in between me and my woman.
“It burns,” someone behind me screeches as I part the sea of people in front of me like I’m Moses. I glance over my shoulderat the mayhem left in my wake, making a mental note to beef up our benefits package and legal team.
When I turn back around, Lilah is staring at me, and it’s enough to stop me dead in the water. I can’t move. I can’t breathe as I stare at the most beautiful woman to ever grace planet Earth. The incessant buzz of the office, the frantic cries for a medic behind me, the world around me fades as Lilah becomes my single point of focus, pulling my attention unrelentingly toward her.
She’s even more gorgeous than I remember. Seeing her in that tight pencil skirt and white blouse slays me. I know what’s hiding underneath—the black lace lingerie I tore off her perfect body with my teeth. I know the dirty little angel that prim and proper exterior belies.
And I’m the devil that’s going to make her sing. I walk toward her slowly, dripping sweat underneath my shirt after that hundred-yard dash. I don’t want to scare her. I’m calm. I’m cool. And I’m going to shred her clothes off as soon as we cross the threshold of my penthouse.
I’m mere yards away when I faintly hear her tell Melvin, “I’ve gotta run.”
