You’re Mine (Crave and Claimed #6)

Chapter Two

One Week Later

George stared out his office window at the lawn. It was gorgeous outside, and yet, his housekeeper was nowhere to be seen. He’d done this every single day, including Sunday, and Anna-Beth seemed to be avoiding him.

She had his breakfast ready for him in the morning. Lunch was delivered, usually when he was on a phone call, and she would eat her dinner and have his waiting for him. She didn’t spend any extra time with him, and he didn’t like it. He missed her, a lot.

He never thought he’d miss her weird yoga rituals, and dancing on the lawn. A week ago, when he had every intention of joining her in some mad dance-off, that smile had dropped from her face, and he felt like a cloud swamped his whole life. Now, he felt he had to sneak around his home to catch even a glimpse of her, and that sucked big time.

He checked the time, and knew it was getting close to lunch. He’d already called the office and gotten his assistant to change all of his appointments. There wasn’t going to be a single call to interrupt him through lunch.

George knew how insane this sounded, but what was more, he didn’t care. He was used to getting what he wanted, and right now he missed sharing a meal with Anna-Beth. She talked constantly and shared delightful stories of dogs and her time volunteering, sometimes of her growing up with nannies.

Anna-Beth seemed to have lived a different life than he and Malcolm. His friend spent a lot of time with his parents. As the firstborn son, Malcolm had been this welcoming beacon to his family. George had known how loved his friend had been—the son that would take over the company. At the dinners he attended, there was rarely mention of the sister.

Pulling out of his thoughts, he moved toward his desk and pretended to be working, while at the same time focused on the door opening. He wanted to see her. Craved it.

George sat back and ran a hand down his face, wondering what the hell he was doing. He’d never tried to manipulate a woman like this, and he didn’t quite like it.

I want to see her.

There was a light knock on the door before it opened, and there was no time to change what he had done. He watched as Anna-Beth stepped into his office. The moment she saw he wasn’t on the phone, she stopped.

“Happy lunchtime,” George said, getting to his feet. He did a stretch to pretend he hadn’t been standing by his window, looking for her.

He hadn’t been able to work all morning. Since it was his company, he didn’t give a fuck if some things arrived a little later.

“Would you like me to come back another time?” Anna-Beth asked.

“No, no, of course not. I’m starved. What’s for lunch?”

He moved away from his desk and took several steps toward one of his more comfortable chairs. As he did so, he moved past Anna-Beth and got the most intense scent of lemon. Fuck, he loved lemon. The scent of it always made his mouth water, and now Anna-Beth did as well.

He sat down, even as he felt his cock hardening. She was once again in a dress. This one fell to her knees, and the apron she wore over it seemed to curve all the way around her body, and she looked stunning. Every curve was on display, and he wanted her, unlike any other woman.

Anna-Beth moved closer, putting the tray of food onto his lap. “I made you poached salmon, salad, and a special vinaigrette to go with.”

She lifted the lid off the food, and there was a delicious-looking lunch.

“I also cut some of the sourdough bread you like. I hope that’s okay?”

“Of course it is. Where is your food?” he asked.

“Uh, in the kitchen.”

“Go grab it and come and join me.”

She opened her mouth, and he just knew she was going to refuse him, which he didn’t want.

“I hate eating alone, and I’ve got no phone calls until this afternoon. My assistant booked them for the wrong time.” He gave a little tut, the lie dropping easily from his lips.

“Do you think that is appropriate?” Anna-Beth asked. Her cheeks had gone a delightful shade of red.

He wanted to reach out and cup them within his palm, and see if they felt as red as they looked. Instead, he kept his hands to himself, and his cock had gotten even harder. He was pleased the lunch tray was on his lap to hide his erection.

“I don’t know, is eating lunch with a friend not appropriate?” he asked.

“A friend?”

“That’s what we are, right? I know I’m supposed to be your boss, but we’re friends first. I’ve known you for twenty years.”

And now, he remembered that she was ten years younger than his forty years.

“You’re right. I’ll go and get my lunch.”

She spun on her heel, and George had every intention of playing the gentleman, but he couldn’t help admiring the curves of her ass as she left his office.

He closed his eyes.

Get it together, George.

He wanted her. From the moment she had arrived at his home, via Malcolm, he’d wanted her. It was a craving he hadn’t understood.

At forty years old, he’d not lived like a monk. He’d been with women, lots of women. In his twenties, he refused to have a serious relationship, jumping from one woman to the next, within hours. He’d been a bastard, he knew that.

Anna-Beth wasn’t just about sex. Although, he did want to fuck her. This was different. This was a desire to keep, which he’d never felt before.

****

Anna-Beth knew she could do this.

Staff ate lunch with their bosses all the time. She’d seen it at her parents’ workplace. A working lunch, where they bounced around ideas and resolved problems. It would be perfectly fine, and she didn’t even have to acknowledge how good he smelled.

She was tempted to check her reflection in the screen of the oven, but she stopped herself at the last minute. It didn’t matter what she looked like. George was her boss. This was the two of them being friends and nothing more.

She grabbed her lunch, which was the same as George’s. He told her from that first day that she would eat the same as him.

Anna-Beth wasn’t exactly sure on the full conditions of her employment, but she was kind of winging it. Also, she never wanted to ask. George being her boss was bad enough. She wondered if her brother knew about her secret crush.

Stepping back into the office, she forced a smile to her lips as she took a seat on the end of the sofa. She was tempted to move as far away from George as possible, but that seemed a little too rude, so she stayed close.

He hadn’t started his lunch yet.

“Is everything okay?” she asked, a little concerned.

Cooking fish wasn’t new to her, but she loved salmon cooked so many different ways. Poaching it was one of her favorite methods.

“No, everything is going to be delicious. I just wanted to wait for you.”

“Oh,” she said. She didn’t think she’d be charmed by that, and yet she was.

He waited for her. How had he gotten to be so sweet? So charming, and still single?

There were rumors of him being a playboy. Anna-Beth knew there were rumors about everyone and everything, including herself. She tended to ignore them as half the time, no one knew what they were talking about.

She held onto her knife and fork, and once again offered him a smile.

Stay calm.

He is your boss.

And you’re just eating lunch together.

This is not a date, or anything stupid.

“Enjoy,” she said.

Inside, she was cringing. What did people say just before they started to eat? She’d not been on many dates in her life. There had been a couple of men her parents had insisted she date—sons of other businessmen, associates, and other wealthy families. Those dates had been a disaster.

They often talked about some of their most brutal business practices. One guy had even told her how he’d gotten an assistant to fall in love with him, used her for her skills, and then when he’d gotten bored and she had no other ideas, he fired her and then bound her so tightly with a NDA, she would struggle to even start her own firm. Anna-Beth had assumed it was meant to be some kind of impressive tale, but she’d been horrified at what he’d done and ended the date immediately.

Her parents hadn’t been happy about that. It had cost them a multimillion-dollar contract. Anna-Beth hadn’t known that at the time, but even still, she wouldn’t sell herself for money, even for family.

Pushing those memories aside, she couldn’t help but look at George out of the corner of her eye. She watched as he took one bite of the salmon and his eyes closed. He enjoyed her food, which was important to her. Whenever one of her nannies was distracted, she would sneak down to the kitchen and hang out with Niah, the family cook. She loved being in the kitchen, and whenever her parents or brother would arrive, she’d hide behind the counter.

Anna-Beth learned a lot from Niah, and she hated it when the cook handed in her notice. She was also happy for her as well. Niah had saved and built a small fortune, and along with Anna-Beth’s investment, she’d been able to open that fancy diner she’d constantly been talking about. Her parents hadn’t been happy to lose their favorite cook, and she and Niah had promised not to say anything about her investment.

The diner was doing amazingly well. One day, she intended to visit and even eat there, but she had been too worried about her parents attempting to destroy it.

Not all of her trust fund had gone to causes she was passionate about. She also helped several people, and she invested in a few companies. Her portfolio wasn’t big.

She helped Niah, and that gave her a small return each month. Then there was the father and son team who set up an app to help with their pizza business. It sounded amazing, and seeing the love between father and son, she invested without a second thought.

There were several other investments in small companies, a technology firm, a small social media platform, and a few others that sounded cool. Not all of her money was wasted.

Again, she didn’t tell anyone what she did as they were always critical. Her family wanted to see big investments, big money, not small, insignificant amounts. She had a feeling it wouldn’t matter what she did, they would be critical about it.

“Anna-Beth, are you going to tell me what’s going on?” George asked.

This made her lift her head and turn to look at him.

Why did he have to be so sexy? His brown hair was pushed back, but it had a fullness that suggested he’d been running his fingers through the locks all day. A few buttons of his shirt were undone, and he already removed his tie for the day. She knew each morning he dressed as if he was going into work, even though he always stayed at home and worked from his office.

“I’m not sure I follow,” she said, frowning.

“Something is different. You don’t dance on my lawn, you don’t do yoga, and you try to avoid me. What is going on?” he asked.