Wanted by the Boss: Sleeping with the Boss / Cowboy Boss / Billionaire Boss. Maureen Child

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СКАЧАТЬ her as she reached across the desk for a pen. The hem of her skirt rode tantalizingly high on her thighs with the movement and he told himself not to look. But hell, he was male, right? And breathing? Impossible not to look.

      Didn’t mean a thing.

      ‘‘Vanessa Taylor?’’ Eileen turned to glance at him, a question in her eyes.

      Damn.

      No, he mouthed, shaking his head and waving both hands. All he needed right now, was having to listen to Vanessa ramble about cocktail parties she wanted him to take her to. Never mind that he hadn’t called her in weeks. Vanessa simply assumed that every man who crossed her path would become her helpless love slave. Rick Hawkins, however, didn’t believe in love or slavery.

      Tell her anything, he mouthed the instructions and hoped to hell Eileen was good at lipreading. He felt like a damn mime. But he couldn’t risk a whisper. Vanessa had ears like a bat. She’d know he was there, then she’d insist on talking to him and he just wasn’t interested.

      Hell, he hadn’t been interested when they were going out.

      Anything? Eileen mouthed back, a decided gleam in her eyes. When he nodded, she smiled wickedly and said, ‘‘I’m sorry Ms. Taylor, but Rick can’t come to the phone right now. The doctors have advised him to not speak until the stitches are gone.’’

      What? Rick took a step closer.

      Eileen backed up. ‘‘Oh, you didn’t hear? A minor accident,’’ she said, laughter in her eyes and feigned sympathy in her voice. ‘‘I’m sure the disfigurement won’t be permanent.’’ An instant later, Eileen jerked the phone from her ear and winced. ‘‘Wow. She slammed the phone down so hard I think I may be deaf.’’

      Rick stared at her. ‘‘Disfigurement? I’m disfigured? Why did you do that?’’

      ‘‘Eh?’’ She cupped one hand around her ear and tilted her head.

      ‘‘Funny, Ryan.’’ He smirked at her. Pushing the edges of his jacket back, he shoved both hands into his pockets and rocked on his heels. ‘‘What’s the deal?’’

      ‘‘You said I should tell her anything.’’

      ‘‘Within reason.’’

      She held up one finger and shook it. ‘‘No one said anything about reason.’’

      Rick pulled his hands free of his pockets and crossed his arms over his chest. She kept surprising him. Which intrigued him. Which worried the hell out of him. ‘‘I didn’t think I’d have to request reason. I’ll be more prepared next time.’’

      She chuckled.

      ‘‘You enjoyed that.’’

      ‘‘Oh yeah,’’ she admitted, and leaned back, perching her behind on the edge of her desk. ‘‘And by the way, Vanessa?’’ She shook her head sadly. ‘‘Not the deepest puddle on the block. Just the word ‘disfigurement’ was enough to get rid of her.’’ She studied him through amused eyes. ‘‘Swimming in pretty shallow pools, aren’t you?’’

      Shallow? Good description of Vanessa and all of her pals. But hey, he wasn’t interested in meaningful. At the time, all he’d been interested in was a dinner companion and a bed warmer. Vanessa hadn’t been much good at either one. But that was hardly the point.

      ‘‘Are you this mouthy with all of your employers?’’

      She came away from the desk. ‘‘I don’t have an employer. Not anymore. I’m my own boss.’’

      ‘‘Probably a wise move.’’

      ‘‘What’s that supposed to mean?’’

      ‘‘You don’t play well with others, do you?’’

      ‘‘I’ve been doing a good job, haven’t I?’’

      ‘‘Sure,’’ Rick said, moving a little closer. Her scent reached out to him and he sucked it in. Stupid. ‘‘If you don’t take into account the grumbling and the refusal to take orders and—’’

      ‘‘I don’t need to follow orders, I know how to run an office—’’

      Hell, she was as easy to bait as she’d been as a kid. That Irish temper of hers was always bubbling and simmering just below the surface. And watching the temper flash in her eyes was damn near hypnotic. The emerald-green depths churned and darkened and bordered on dangerous, and still Rick was fascinated.

      ‘‘But this is my office,’’ he countered, egging her on. Her skin flushed, her breathing quickened and she looked like a coiled spring ready to explode. And his mouth nearly watered. Man, he was in some serious trouble here. He hadn’t wanted a woman so badly in…ever.

      ‘‘Oh, I know it’s your office,’’ she said, taking a step closer and leaning in for effect. ‘‘It’s got your boring, unoriginal stamp all over it. Anyone else would have a little color around here. But not the great Rick Hawkins. Oh no. Let’s play the corporate game. Battleship-gray all the way for you, isn’t it? You’re just one of the fleet. No originality at all.’’

      ‘‘Originality?’’ She could say whatever the hell she wanted about the decor. Because he couldn’t give a good damn about what the place looked like, beyond it appearing dignified and successful. Did she really think he was the kind of guy to carry swatches of fabric around, for God’s sake?

      But he was damned if he’d stand here and be called a lemming. He’d opened up more brokerage accounts in the past year than any of his competitors. He’d become the fastest growing firm on the West Coast over the past three years and that hadn’t happened because he blindly followed everyone else.

      ‘‘Well, look around you,’’ she exclaimed. ‘‘This whole building is like a warren of rabbit holes. And every one of you bunnies is tucked away in your little gray worlds.’’ She waved her hands around, encompassing the pale gray walls, the steel-blue carpet and the generic watercolors dotted sparingly throughout the room. ‘‘I’m willing to bet the same interior decorator did all of the offices in this place. You’ve probably all got the same awful paintings hung in the same places on the same gray walls.’’

      ‘‘Because I work in an office building I’m unoriginal?’’

      She nodded sharply. ‘‘Hard to be a free spirit when you work on the S.S. Conformity.’’

      ‘‘What?’’ He had to laugh despite her insulting tone. She was way over the top. Like some latter-day hippie. He half expected her to start chanting and calling on Sister Moon to help free his soul.

      Damn, he hadn’t had this much fun in a long time.

      ‘‘What you need is—’’ She slapped one hand to her left eye and shouted, ‘‘Freeze.’’

      ‘‘What?’’ Instinctively he took a step.

      ‘‘Don’t move.’’ She gave him a one-eyed glare. ‘‘Don’t you know what ‘freeze’ СКАЧАТЬ