Page 29 of Driven By Desire
When an hour went by with no sign of him, she loosened her brown ankle length boots and curled her feet up under her. Pulling one of the financial magazines laid out in front of her, she thumbed through it only to find her eyes crossing. Tossing it back, she pulled out her phone and played a couple of rounds of Candy Crush.
Another hour went by with nothing but the ticking of the clock for company. Closing her eyes, she ran over her checklist of pending jobs on the MG. Stretching a little to ease the cramp in her left leg, Max bent one arm under her head to cushion it and tried to get more comfortable.
And that was how Krish found her.
CHAPTER 12
Curled up like a sleeping kitten on the couch in his office, head pillowed on her arm, she had one arm curved protectively around a squashed bunch of flowers. Her skirt had ridden up to give him a glimpse of the soft silk of her thigh. Long, bare legs sprawled over black leather making him think thoughts that would have had him arrested if anyone had found out.
Great! Now he was fantasizing about her in the middle of the day. In his office, no less.
On a soft, snuffling sigh, she stretched voluptuously in her sleep and turned over on to her side making her neckline gape with the barest hint of cleavage. The whisper of sound and his body’s reaction to it had him blinking. This wasn’t a fantasy. This was real. Max was here. In his office. Sleeping. Stepping over the threshold, he shut the door firmly behind him. After a second’s thought, he locked it with a flick of his wrist.
Approaching her, he sat down on the table next to the couch and stared. Her hair tumbled out in a tangle from a ponytail that was now skewed sideways. A brown skirt that ended nearher knee was topped off with a sleeveless cream top. Her version of corporate wear, he assumed. Grinning at the idea of Max all buttoned and suited up like one of his employees, he made his way over to the phone and dialed his secretary’s extension.
“Mrs. Sharma. I seem to have an unexpected visitor in my office.”
“It seems you do, Mr. Mehra.” The bland response had his grin widening. “Given she’s been waiting close to three hours for you, I suggest you don’t keep her waiting any longer.”
The buzz of the line going dead had him slowly replacing the receiver on the hook and looking over at Max who hadn’t stirred an inch.
“How did you manage to twist my stern, no-nonsense secretary around your little finger?” he asked her peaceful, sleeping face. Unable to resist, he cupped her cheek and stroked it gently with his thumb.
Long, black eyelashes fluttered open slowly. Sleepy, unfocused eyes blinked at him even as her legs flexed languorously.
“Oh!” Dismay filtered through the initial confusion that clouded her eyes. Realization had her jacking herself into a sitting position, almost head-butting him in the process. Scrambling away from him, she tried desperately to straighten her outfit out. The creases in her top had her giving up on dignity and just pulling it out of her skirt and letting it hang loose.
“Max.”
Hand stilling at the hem of the skirt she was tugging down, she looked up warily.
“Why are you here? Why did you come?”
“Because you wouldn’t.”
The simple answer summed up everything that seethed between them. Wordlessly, he reached for her. Enfolding her in his embrace, he cradled her against his chest. The exhaustion and stress that had him in a vice-like grip faded to nothing as the warmth of her seeped into him.
Loosening her hair from its ruined ponytail, Krish let it rain down her back. Burying his face in the soft cloud of it, he inhaled the sweet, spring fragrance of her shampoo that always teased and tantalized him when she was close.
They stayed like that for long, silent seconds until a muted laugh from the other side of the blinds had them drawing apart.
“You brought me flowers.” The wonder of it stayed with him. No one ever had before.
Reaching up, Max cupped his face and brought his lips to hers in a gentle, tender kiss that had his heart turning over. “I’m courting you.”
The teasing whisper had him smiling. “Are you now?”
“Next,” A quick peck on his lips followed by a gentle nuzzle with the tip of her nose. “Is chocolate.”
“Dark chocolate?” The fervent hope in his voice had her giggling.
“Sure, why not.” Unable to keep from touching him, Max ran a hand down the crisp, formal shirt she was rumpling. An appealing emerald green, it set off his dark grey suit perfectly.
“I was mad at you.”
“So you bought me flowers and turned up at my office?” Grinning, he fisted the heavy mass of her hair until it fell in silken waves around his hand. “I should piss you off more often.”
“You didn’t call,” she reminded him, primly.
