Page 9 of Craving Her Christmas Boss

‘I want you, Imogen,’ he said. ‘Badly.’

She started shaking his head. He kept talking.

‘I know you’re not ready for that yet. You tell me when you are. The word I’m looking for isyes.’

Not really? She just thrown herself at him. For that she wanted to apologise, wanted to scream her mortification, wanted to rewind time back five minutes and forget.

‘But—’

He placed his hand over her mouth. ‘There’s another word.But. Best not to say the rest. If there is about, that’s all there is.’

He didn’t want to analyse it. Didn’t want it to become any more of a scene already was—didn’t want complications.

Millions of thoughts were flying in her brain. Was this normal for him? Because it certainly wasn’t normal for her. It was terrifying. Since when was she so out-of-control as to be practically having sex with some guy in thestreet?

In the few minutes it took for her to get up to Princes Street Imogen wasn’t numb anymore. She was both frozen with horror and hot with embarrassment. Desire and panic were coming third and fourth. What had she been thinking? This was her boss, her spoilt playboy boss, and she couldn’t run the chance you’d worked so hard to get with another cad.

Ryan could feel waves of insecurity and embarrassment almost buffeting into him, so strongly were they radiating from her body. Ordinarily he’d have chuckled about it—made her laugh to lighten the moment. But he was too filled with disappointment and frustration and sheer confusion to be able to laugh himself. He’d kissed her—gloriously, deeply, most satisfyingly, and even then moreunsatisfyingly. Because he’d wanted more and more and more with every inch he’d explored of her. Instead he’d stopped and breathed. And then he stood and watched all the stars in her eyes fade out one by one as reason returned to her head. Each sparkle of desire snuffed out by whatever cynical thought was striking her.

Did he want to know?

He shouldn’t. He really shouldn’t. He didn’t have the time for complicated. He was here short term to do a job, do it well, and then move on to the next. All his concentration should be on that and nothing else. And just then, in the aftermath of that mind blowing kiss and then some, she had lookedverycomplicated. Now she looked plain anxious. He liked that less than anything. He had to lighten it up—just for now. So they could have some time to cool off and think this through. Because—oh, boy—heneeded to think. Since when did he have the hots for someone so bad he’d nearly stripped her in the street first thing in the morning?

‘Don’t look so worried, Imogen. It was just a kiss.’ A bit more abrasive than he’d meant. And who did he think he was kidding—just a kiss?

‘And let’s face it,’ he added. ‘It was inevitable.’ Hell, yes—it had been. He had been wanting it—just as he’d said—from the moment he had found her trying to get into his hotel room. It hadn’t been the flash of her bra and the magnificent breast it contained. He’d wanted her before then. One look at her flaming green eyes had jolted him to his core. She was one gorgeous woman.

‘Inevitable?’

Frost. No doubt about it. He could see her icing over. What? Because he’d called it like it was?

‘Absolutely.’ He couldn’t resist the temptation to antagonise her more.

She was trying to walk faster. Get away from him. Tough. He could handle icy paths far better than she.

‘Well—’ her comeback snapped as fast as her heels on the pavement ‘—now that we’ve been there and done that, we can move on and forget about it, can’t we?’

‘You think?’ He nearly laughed aloud. There was no forgetting the way she’d just burst into flames, and there was no way in hell he could move on for a while—not when he wanted her with awantlike this.

‘Absolutely.’

At the way she so coolly echoed his word he was seized with the urge to put her close and kisses some more, prove her totally wrong. Not a good idea—tempting as it was. His status as her boss was a problem. One he’d give a lot to get rid of—but he couldn’t. If anything more were to happen it had to be atherinstigation. But even then it would be problematic…

But,—if she’d take a second to be honest—she’d have to admit that the kiss just now had been atherinstigation. She’d started this. She had to take the lead.

He had to wait for her to come to him. Outside of business hours, alone, they could work this out. Because this was different. Definitely different. This was almost undeniable, right?

One thing he knew: she liked his eyes. That was nice, because he really liked hers. He stopped her walking by putting both his hands hard on his shoulders. Stood in front of her and then lifted her chin so that she had to meet him square on.

She was breathing fast, and he read defiance and the remnants of the desire she was so desperately trying to squash.

He spoke. Slowly, determinedly bringing her back to recognise that this attraction was here and it wasn’t going to go away.

‘Absolutelynot.’

FOUR

INEVITABLE.An hour later Imogen was fuming in place behind her computer when Ryan walked in. She tried not to watch him as he greeted Shona and the others. Couldn’t help but be aware of every move. He walked past her desk.

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