Desired By The Boss. Catherine Mann

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СКАЧАТЬ As if he could kiss her for ever, and as if they had all the time in the world.

      But April was impatient.

      She took the lead now, kissing him with everything she had and more. More than she’d thought she was capable of: with more passion, less control.

      This was raw and passionate and...near desperate.

      April wanted to be as close as she could be to him. She wanted him pressed up hard against her. She wanted to feel his solidity and his strength.

      She wanted to feel his skin.

      Her hands drifted down his back, skimming wide shoulder blades and the indentations of his spine. And then they slid beneath jacket and T-shirt to land at the small of his back. Against smooth, gorgeous, hot skin.

      His hands followed a similar path, and his touch made her sigh into his mouth as it moved against her back, her stomach, and then upwards—against her ribs to the underside of her—

      Something vibrated and Hugh went still.

      He broke his lips away from hers, but not far. She could feel him breathe against her mouth as he spoke.

      ‘My phone,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry.’

      ‘Me too,’ she said, all husky.

      His smile was crooked. ‘Yeah...’

      Then he stepped away, and her skin felt bereft without his touch.

      He fished his phone out of the back pocket of his jeans. It appeared to have been a notification vibration, not a call, and he turned slightly to scroll through his phone.

      When he turned back to her, he just looked at her for long moments. At her still slightly askew jumper, at her lips that felt swollen, at her eyes that she knew were inviting him to pick up exactly where they’d just finished.

      But he didn’t.

      Instead, he said, ‘That probably shouldn’t have happened.’

      April blinked, her brain still foggy. ‘Why?’

      ‘Because you work for me. And your husband just left you.’

      She shrugged. ‘You definitely didn’t take advantage of me,’ she said. ‘And the husband thing—that’s my problem, not yours. Nothing about what just happened was a problem for me.’

      Mila and Ivy’s encouragement fuelled her. For all her misgivings up until their kiss, she didn’t regret it one bit now. She felt amazing: alive, and strong, and sexy and feminine...

      ‘I don’t want a relationship with you, April.’

      Ouch.

      It shouldn’t have hurt, but it did.

      ‘And you thought the desperate divorcee must be keen to jump straight into another relationship?’ Her tone was tart. She didn’t give him time to respond. ‘And also, that if I did, I’d want a relationship with you? That’s rather presumptuous.’

      April crossed her arms.

      His forehead crinkled as he considered her words. ‘I suppose it is,’ he said. ‘I apologise.’

      April nodded sharply. ‘Just to be clear—the last thing I want is a relationship. I was with my ex for a long time—I need to just be me for a while. That being said, I really liked what we just did. I’d like to do it again.’

      She didn’t know where this bravado came from. She was practically propositioning Hugh Bennell. In fact, she definitely was. She was propositioning him.

      Because that kiss... She’d never experienced anything like it. She’d never felt like this before and heat continued to traverse through her veins simply from the memory of his mouth against hers. His body against hers.

      ‘I’d like to do it again, too,’ he said. His gaze was steady and his words measured—as if he’d carefully considered her proposal before constructing his answer. ‘But, I’d also like to be clear. I date, but that’s it. I never take it further. I’m never anyone’s boyfriend. I’ll never be someone’s husband. You need to be aware of that before this goes any further.’

      April found herself fighting a smile in response to his seriousness. ‘That seems a bit extreme,’ she said. ‘Never? Really?’

      ‘Really,’ he said.

      He didn’t elaborate. He still looked at her with a determinedly serious expression.

      ‘Well,’ April said, smiling now, ‘I must say my experience of marriage wasn’t ultimately positive, so maybe you’re onto something.’

      His lips quirked now. ‘It would seem so.’

      ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘I can deal with that. No relationships. Deal.’

      As she’d told Hugh, it was exactly the right thing for her. Quite honestly, the last thing she wanted was to leap from one relationship into another. But for some silly reason, Hugh’s rejection of anything more with her still stung.

      There was another noisy buzz as his phone, now on the kitchen bench, vibrated again.

      ‘I need to go,’ he said. ‘I have a meeting. Can we do dinner? Tonight? I can email you the details.’

      He was in business mode now, as efficient as his instructions and his emails.

      ‘Sure,’ she said. ‘But I only have a few hours before my second job.’

      He paused, looking up from his phone. ‘How much extra would I need to pay you so you could quit that job?’ he asked.

      ‘Ah,’ April said, ‘that sounds like a conflict of interests. I don’t think HR would approve of that.’

      ‘I own the company,’ Hugh pointed out. ‘And I don’t like rushing dinner.’

      ‘Well, then, I don’t approve,’ April said firmly. ‘Let’s keep this professional.’

      Hugh stepped closer—much closer. He leant down and spoke just millimetres from her lips. ‘Sure,’ he said, ‘except for making out in the kitchen.’

      Long minutes later they came up for air, and April lifted her fingers to her thoroughly kissed lips as Hugh finally walked away.

      ‘Agreed,’ she said, as the front door clicked shut.

      The conference call was endless.

      Hugh sat back in his chair, letting the wheels roll him back a small distance from his desk.

      He’d docked his laptop, so the other attendees’ faces were displayed on the large slender screen before him. Everybody else allowed their faces to be shown, so Hugh could see each of them: the red-headed product manager in Ireland, his gaze focused on his keyboard, the dark-haired СКАЧАТЬ