Foreplay with the Boss: Billionaires of Boston

10. Kat

As we walked out of the restaurant, Jameson put his hand on the small of my back, applying gentle pressure as he nudged me toward the left. “Guideline,” I said.

“No need for any new guidelines. You did great in there.”

I slowed my pace and turned toward him. “I wasn’t asking for more. I was pointing out the fact that you’re breaking one. For the third time today. Although I suppose the first one when you cupped my cheek was before we made the no-touching guideline, so I’ll let that one slide. But the knee-touch and this hand on the back thing, are definitely no-nos.”

“Your attention-to-detail skills are quite impressive,” Jameson said, his hand still on my back, radiating heat that spread farther the longer he touched me. “No need to improve on those.”

I shot him a look, and he just smiled, like he knew he could get away with whatever he wanted. Which reminded me, I was still mad at him for that stunt in the restaurant. I took a large step, out of his reach. “Oh, and I can order my own food, too, so why don’t we add that to the guidelines? Only I feel like you take guidelines as more of a suggestion, so maybe we should make it a rule.”

“Don’t tell me that steak wasn’t the best you’ve ever had.”

I wanted to, just to disagree with him, but the way it’d melted in my mouth in a burst of flavors and the fact that I’d practically licked my plate clean made it impossible to deny. “That’s not the point.”

He took a large step and returned his hand to the small of my lower back, nudging me down the sidewalk with gentle pressure and that same intoxicating heat that made my thoughts go fuzzy. “The point is, I hate you thinking you need to lose weight because it’d be a shame to mess with those perfect curves.”

“Easy for someone who doesn’t have any curves to say. I know you do more than walk to the coffee pot now and then.” Since we were apparently just breaking the no-touching guideline, I reached over and squeezed his biceps through his suit coat.

He shot me a smile and curled his arm up, flexing and trapping my hand in the crook of his elbow.

Damn.They’reevenharderthanIexpected.

“Yep. Proof right here,” I said.

He returned his hand to my back, but instead of leaving it at that, he slid it around and hooked my hip, bringing me against him. “How can you be sure that’s not from how many times I lift the coffee pot?”

I tilted my head. “Not buying it. Even a little. I’m guessing you’re one of those guys who wakes up ridiculously early to work out.”

“Hmm. Interesting theory. Where else is this supposed proof?” I indulged him and poked at his firm chest. Then I flattened my hand and dragged it down to his hard abs. God help me, I felt ridges through the shirt.

In one quick motion, he spun me around and backed me up until my body hit the wall of the nearest building—I wasn’t sure which one because I’d gotten lost in feeling him up. What I was sure of was that I was playing with fire and doing a crappy job of sticking to guidelines we’d made mere hours ago. “I feel like it should be my turn now,” he said, his gravelly voice right next to my ear. “I’ve wanted to get my hands on that amazing ass since the first moment I saw you.”

The ache between my thighs returned, and as if he could sense it, he slid one leg between both of mine, pressing right against the pulsing need.

Immediately my body went Team Friction on me, hinting that it was in favor of humping his leg here on the sidewalk to ease the torturous pressure.

Even if I was shameless enough to do it—which I wasn’t, not here on the street, anyway—I had a feeling that doing that would only make the desire coursing through me stronger.

Through the hazy thoughts, I tried to find my common sense. She was a slippery little bitch, but I finally caught hold of her. “Four times.” It came out shaky, but I’d managed to shove the words past my lips.

“Four times sounds reasonable, as long as each session only counts as one,” he said, his mouth moving mere inches from mine. “Should we start with my place or yours?”

I pressed a hand to his chest, holding him in place. “I meant this is the fourth time that you’re breaking the no-touching guideline.”

Confusion flickered for a second before he understood what I’d meant. “I thought we weren’t counting the first time.”

“That was before you purposely broke the guidelines. And leaning against me like this…” Haziness laced with lust tried to take hold of me again and I swallowed past a suddenly dry throat. “Probably counts as five.”

His firm chest rose and fell against my palm. “Well, they’re adding up rather quickly, aren’t they?”

I nodded.

His lips returned to my ear, and when he spoke, they brushed the shell and sent shivers down my spine. “It’s just that it’s been a long time since I was this attracted to someone. And I know you’re attracted to me, too.”

I curled my hands around his arms because even with the building behind me, I felt like I was going to melt to the ground. “Of course I am. That’s like saying that women are attracted to sexy sports stars, tattooed musicians, and Scottish dudes in kilts— it’s universal and well-documented.”

He dragged his fingers across my collarbone, eliciting a trail of goose bumps. “Maybe we should just give in, then. Get it out of our systems so I can actually focus at work, instead of thinking of every way I could rid you of your clothes and make you scream my name.”

My pulse pounded through my head, hot and heady. The temptation was so strong that I trembled a little. “I’m afraid that would most likely end in disaster. I’m guessing you’re not a relationship guy…?”

He pulled back and looked me in the eye. “Not really, no.” “And I’m not a hookup type girl. I’d like to say I could pull it off without getting attached, especially since I’m only here a little while anyway. But I’ve never managed it yet, and I always tend to be the one who ends up hurt when things fall apart, and it’d make it really hard for me to work with you. Plus, part of coming here was to prove that I am good at this. To get people to see me as more than the boss’s daughter. I’m not sure that having everyone—including myself—wonder if I got this job because I’m sleeping with you is any better.”

“You already have the job, and we’d keep it out of the office, but I can tell you already made up your mind about it.”

I reached up and twisted a strand of hair around my finger. “I’m sure I’ve been sending mixed signals with the flirting, and to be honest, I didn’t mean for half of it to come out, especially the lingerie thing…”

He groaned, and I was close enough to feel it vibrate through his chest.

“But I really did come here to learn from you.” I cleared my throat. “Learn business from you.”

“So you’re saying that we need to stick to the no-touching guidelines?”

I hesitated longer than I should’ve, but then I nodded. “This would be a bad idea.”

“It would definitely be high on the unethical scale, as most fun things seem to be…” He glanced around and seemed to notice we were out in public, in a quite intimate position. He blew out a long breath, slowly straightened, and backed away.

As we returned down the path toward the office building, he reached out like he was going to put his hand on my back again before dropping his hand to his side.

Clearly we both needed to get our thoughts on something besides how we couldn’t touch. Even after my decree, I still missed having his hand there. From here on out, I’d stick with business topics and put a kibosh on the flirting.

“So, congratulations on landing Randall Walker as a client.” “Couldn’t have done it without you.” He opened the door to the building for me, and I stepped into the lobby, my heels echoing against the tile.

“See, despite my many flaws as a boss, I’m actually really good with clients.”

Jameson pressed the up button for the elevator, his gaze on the light board at the top. “And with marketing stats. That’s why I brought you along. I said that you’d be beneficial. What did you think that meant?”

“That you thought I didn’t know how to land clients.”

He shook his head. “I never thought that once. I do hope not all of them leer at you the way Randall did, but I wouldn’t be surprised.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that, even though warmth filled me at the roundabout compliment. Internally I wished for the elevator to hurry up and get here already because then we could have other people in the way to help cut the sexual tension.

Only we climbed on the elevator and we were the only people.

No one got off or on.

Icertainlywon’tbegettingoffforawhile,atleastnotwithapartner.

Who’sfaultisthat? I couldn’t tell if that was my body accusing me or my brain hating me, but a whole lot of me was super bitter. MaybethistimeIcouldkeepmyfeelingsoutofit.

I’monlyhereforalittlewhile—notlongenoughtofallinlove,really—andthenIcouldtellhimallofmydarkestdesireswithoutworryingI’drunintohimintheaisleofthesupermarketandfeelawkwardaboutit.

Hell, it was still awkward when I ran into Neil, and we’d only had less-than-vanilla, tofu sex.

The loud bing of the doors made me jump.

Jameson’s deep chuckle echoed through the small space, sending a pleasant chill down my spine—and yeah, I know I was going to call him Stone from now on, even in my head, but considering he’d had a sizeable erection pressed against me moments ago, we’d already passed go and racked up about $200 in innuendos.

He swept his arm, gesturing for me to go ahead of him.

Probablysohecanstareatmyass.

I shouldn’t enjoy knowing that he was such a fan, and I definitely shouldn’t walk with a little extra oomph in my step. As we neared my desk, I slowed my stride. I knew if I glanced his way, it’d make it harder to stay as strong as I needed to.

Don’tlookathim,don’tlookathim,don’tlookathim…

“By the way,” he said, and then I couldn’t not look at him without seeming rude. “How’d you know the car analogy would work on Walker anyway?”

I liked that he didn’t ask why I thought it would work. I’d taken one look at Randall Walker and knew without a doubt that it would. He screamed the type who flaunted a masculine ego that didn’t quite match his actual masculinity. “Another case of trying too hard, and it actually annoys me a little when I think about why it works so well with guys like him.”

I could see the wheels in Jameson’s brain turning as he tried to come up with why himself. “He’s into status symbols? But I tried mentioning those before.”

“Sure, because that’s only half the equation. I didn’t just use a Cadillac, I compared it to a VW Beetle since people view it as a girly car. An Escalade on the other hand says something like, I might be missing my balls, but I have lots of money and can afford an expensive SUV with cushy leather seats that have the ability to heat your ass when it’s cold.”

He looked at me like I was a puzzle again, only this time, one that highly amused him.

I leaned in and whispered, “You don’t drive a Caddy, do you?” I knew he didn’t. Since men liked to do so much business during their games of golf and putting me on a course with a glorified stick involved an exposition of all the ways I could embarrass myself, my in with the “good old boys club” was cars. I’d peg Jameson Stone as someone who was more into sexy and fast, and the former bad boy edge meant he wouldn’t want anything that’s selling point was safety. Something like a Porsche 918 or the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren.

“No, I don’t drive a Caddy.” He leaned closer and kept his voice low. “I assure you I’m not missing my balls, either.”

“I’d say I need to check for myself, but after that moment walking to the office, I’m convinced.”

Jameson muttered a harsh curse and then straightened and raised his voice. “Before you leave for the night, I’d like to see an updated report with the new CTRs and STRs.”

“Sure thing, Mr. Stone.” There. Sticking to the guidelines.

Keeping things professional.

A muscle flexed in his jaw and his gaze turned heated. It made my self-control wilt, and now I was questioning my decision to not indulge in some temporary fun once again.

I wasn’t sure how many times I’d rethought everything since putting down our guidelines this morning, but it was a significant amount.

How was I ever going to survive another month of it?