Page 36 of Defying Her Arrogant Boss

She saw anger flash in his eyes. ‘Don’t you think it’s just a little too late for this?’

‘It’s never too late. These things can be contained. It was a fling, Rory, that’s all.’

‘Really?’ His eyes glittered and she realised she’d just made him very, very angry.

Before she could move he’d leaned across and pressed his lips to hers. Not hard and fierce, but gentle and tender. Taken by surprise, she let her guard slip. Her mouth softened and, oh, so skilfully he parted her lips with his tongue, slowly deepening the kiss. It was beautiful. Absurdly she wanted to cling to him. Why did he have to make this so hard? He lifted his head, his eyes still flashing fire.

She looked back at him, willing the silly tears in her own eyes to disappear. The awful tiredness had returned and she just wanted to crawl off into bed. With him, but that was something she could barely admit to herself.

‘Why do you want to stop this?’ he asked softly, and she closed her eyes against the desire she saw in his and summoned the anger and hurt she’d felt in the past.

‘Just because you’re my boss at work doesn’t mean you can boss me about here. You don’t call the shots.’ She heard his sharply indrawn breath.

‘Now, hang on, Lissa. It really bothers you, doesn’t it? The fact that I’m your boss.’

She clenched her teeth. The whole thing bothered her. How had she let this happen? She beat her head back on the headrest of the car seat.

‘Look, if it makes you feel any better I can arrange it so we’re not assigned to the same team again. I won’t be your direct manager.’

It was like Grant all over again. She couldn’t stop the barrage.

‘You think that makes it okay? That it’s fine that you can rearrange my career for me? That who I get to work with, or what project I’m on, is down to you. That my work options are limited because of an affair that we’re having?’ She’d had one boss who had unfairly controlled her employment options. She refused to have another.

‘Well, what would you have me do, Lissa?’

‘The situation is impossible. It will never work. We stop this thing now.’ The anger was all to the fore now; she could ignore the icy pain in her chest.

‘So you’re telling me that for as long as we’re working together we can’tbetogether.’

‘That’s right.’

He stared down at her thoughtfully. ‘Okay, beautiful, have it your way.’ His face had hardened and remoteness replaced the tenderness in his eyes.

She opened the door and stepped out into the chilly night only just catching his low murmur, ‘For now.’

She trudged up to her door feeling as if she’d just ripped out her heart, stuck it in a Ziploc bag and shoved it in the bottom of the freezer.

* * *

Rory strode down the corridor unable to stand it any longer. He hadn’t seen her for two days and it was killing him. He’d purposely avoided the information centre. She obviously needed time to cool off and think about things. Maybe the weekend had been too overwhelming. It sure had blown him away. Maybe they should have talked about things earlier instead of leaving it till that car ride home. But he’d known she hadn’t wanted to talk much and, to be honest, nor had he. He’d just wanted to go with the moment and had hoped that every time they’d made love she had sunk deeper into his web as he had hers. Magic—no other word for it. But doubt gnawed athim. For the first time in his life he felt uncertainty. He couldn’t see where this was going. Wasn’t sure he wanted to. All he knew was that he wasn’t ready for it to end. Not yet.

His gut tightened. But what about her? Could she switch off just like that? Maybe it had just been a weekend of wild sex and nothing more. Maybe itwasall over as far as she was concerned. She pushed him away at every comer.

He thought back to that parting kiss. She’d wanted more then. No, he couldn’t believe it was finished, but he needed to know for sure she still wanted him. He stopped off at the restroom on the way to calm down and get a grip. He couldn’t exactly just march in, grab her and kiss her senseless even if that was all he wanted to do. He stared at his reflection in the mirror. Something was bugging her. She’d said she didn’t like being talked about. That was why her behaviour was usually so circumspect in public. He grinned; she wasn’t quite so circumspect when she was dealing with him. In public or private. She couldn’t seem to stop herself from reacting to him—teasing him as much as he loved to tease her. He got to her and he needed to play on that for all he was worth.

She hated that they worked together. Hated that he was her boss. He frowned. She hadn’t been impressed when he’d suggested he arrange it so they were no longer on the same team. Too late to change things now, but he was sure she’d be pleased when she learnt what had been done. And at least it removed that particular obstacle.

The fact was he wanted to spend more time with Lissa. And not just time in bed. She was beautiful, smart, funny and he loved the way she teased him. He loved the way she laughed at his lame jokes. He found her zest for life intoxicating. She was fun to be around.

And then there was the sex. Spectacular. He’d known she was passionate but, flu or not, she was amazing. Every waking moment of that weekend she’d been at him. It made him want to throw his head back and roar like a lion. It made him want to stake his claim big time. He wanted to go exploring with her. He wanted to tag along on her tourist outings. Laugh with her about being ripped off by ice-cream vendors in Italy. He couldn’t believe she hadn’t been to Florence. He wanted to take her there. Stand with her when she saw Botticelli’s Venus for the first time, wink with her in front of Michelangelo’s David. Drink wine, eat lots and make love morning, noon and night. It was as if he’d come home to a holiday romance.

His heart beat faster with every step nearer her desk. She was looking magnificent in a red suit, the jacket buttoned up. She’d swept her hair back into a severe style, the golden tresses locked away. He grinned. She looked the uber-professional ice queen. She would. She didn’t look up as he approached. Only when Gina said, ‘Hi, Rory,’ did her head fly up.

He watched her intently. No mistaking the flash of fire in her eyes. She quickly dampened it but he took perverse satisfaction in watching a slow tide of colour rise in her cheeks. An uncomfortable silence prevailed.

‘How can we help you?’ Gina finally broke it.

He thought about his reply a second, wishing he’d had the nous to actually think up an information request before charging up here.

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