Page 2 of Big Boss
The whole pointof today was to stick to the plan. And the plan does not involve chasing down a tall, big-shouldered culprit in a coffee-related larceny.
Nor didmy schedule include barging onto the elevator with him where I am currently giving him the stink eye and he’s pretending to look at his phone. And yet, here we are.
The Muzakin the elevator is that disgusting pop song about some dude giving a woman oral sex that was so popular back in the day. Like it wasn’t bad enough in the first place, now it’s been set to synthesized harp.
Ordinarily I’d be embarrassed,but the hot guy in the elevator is so old he probably doesn’t even recognize this godawful song.
And he’s puttingon a good show like he’s ignoring me, but I can see there’s no screen reflection in his thin, wire-framed glasses. He’s pointedly staring at a blank phone screen rather than acknowledging the elephant in the room. Or me. Whichever.
“Hey, you.”My breath is coming in wheezes. “I was trying to talk to you, you know.” I swipe my hair away from my face because he damn near sprinted to this last bank of elevators and I’m currently a hard-breathing, sweaty mess after hauling ass in here after him.
Finally,he gives up the ruse and looks up. He scans me from the shoes up until he meets my gaze. Then he slowly raises his eyebrows at me.
“Take a hint then.I’m not going to sign anything of yours—including your breasts— and no. I don’t pose for pictures either.” His lips curl up into another sneer that would ordinarily make me want to throw something at him.
He’s safe for now,though, because he’s still holding my precious coffee. This is a rescue mission, after all. Women and coffee first.
I takea deep breath and give him my best ingratiating smile, the one with lots of happy-looking teeth. “Listen, I think we just got off to a bad start. All I want is the coffee and I’ll go. I have to be upstairs in”—I check my phone— “fourteen and a half minutes. Just hand over the triple shot and we’ll be fine.”
He shakeshis head briefly and takes his sweet time looking around the otherwise empty elevator. Then he meets my gaze again. His eyes are a shocking silver color, matching the dusting of hair at his temples. He licks his lips once. “And what did you say your name is?”
I shake my head.“It’s Erica, which you would know if you looked at the cup in your hand. I need coffee to function, and right now you are impairing my functioning. And now I only have twelve and a half minutes to get to where I’m headed.”
He glancesat the coffee cup in his hand then raises his eyes to squint at me again. Then without dropping my gaze, he lifts the cup to his full-lipped, delicious mouth and takes a sip. He even lets out a happy little sigh afterward.
“Triple shot.Americano. It’s what I get every single morning. Why don’t you go back downstairs and pick up your pumpkin-spice mocha-choco-latte-yaya and let the grown-ups get back to work?” His lips curl up in a smug little smile, but then his tongue slips out to savor a little of that lingering coffee flavor and I feel more than a little guilty for the way my stomach flips over at the sight of his tongue.
But absolutely anyonewould agree that man who stole my coffee has one hell of a tongue.
“Look,you’ve got me mixed up with some other girl with a high ponytail and two tall, fuzzy boots. I drink a triple shot Americano too, thanks. All you have to do is look at the side of the cup. See how it says Erica? It doesn’t say Jerk or Thief on it, so it’s definitely not yours.”
The smile slidesoff his face. “Are you making fun of me? Is this some kind of joke to you?”
I frown.“Please be assured that I never joke about coffee. Or job interviews. I’m pretty close to incapable of joking, honestly. But see? Here. E-R-I-C-A. That’s me. Not tall, hot, and coffee thieving.”
He staresat the name scrawled there by the harried barista, then the sides of his mouth curl up into a devilish grin that is likely responsible for multiple spontaneous orgasms all over the New Orleans metropolitan area.
“Didyou just say I’m hot?”
I heave out a sigh.First of all, I’m actually a little disappointed in myself that I let it slip that the Americano abductor is a very delicious bit of tall, muscular man meat. But also, he seems so damn pleased about it that I’m extra aggravated.
I puton my very best indifferent shrug. “All I said was you don’t look much like an Erica. Also, is this elevator ever going to stop? I need to replace the coffee you filched and then make it to the thirty-ninth floor eleven minutes from now. And since I don’t really have time to do both, I’m either going to be late or undercaffeinated for my job interview. Because of you.”
His lips pushout into a pinch of dismay and he clucks his tongue chidingly. “Now, now. I’m sure we can work out something between here and the eighty-first floor.” A naughty smile slides across his lips again. “Did you want a taste? Or was it something else of mine that you’re after, Erica?”
He moves closer to me,holding the coffee between us, and I swear I want to lift it to my mouth and see what happens next. But I don’t, of course. This elevator-related detour is a big, gnarly wrinkle in my plan, but I’m not going to let it derail me. Not today.
My nostrils flare.“You could start by apologizing and buying me a new coffee to replace the one you’re drinking. And then another coffee at precisely”—I consult my schedule on my phone’s calendar— “1:32 p.m.”
He takesanother sip of the coffee.My coffee. And then he fucking winks at me. “Well, since you’re not going to have any of this delicious beverage, I think we should at least get to know each other a little.”
I’moutright scowling at him now. I mean, who does he think he is? First, he takes my coffee and then he tries to chat me up in the elevator? Neanderthal.
“Well,I think you’ve lost your mind. I’m only here for the apology and a makeup coffee. And since it looks like I’m probably not getting either, I’d better just leave.”
He lets out a chuckle.“And where exactly are you planning to go? If you haven’t noticed, we’re in the express elevator. You, me, and this delicious triple shot. All the way to the top.” He raises the cup to his full-lipped mouth again, and I watch him swallow.
When I shiver,I tell myself it’s probably from nerves. But something else stirs in me at the movement of his throat and mouth.
