Chapter 4
Joss
My heart has not stopped pounding against my chest since I touched Brando's knee at the benches. What the hell was that? It felt like touching a live wire, with an electric current flowing straight from his body into mine.
Before I can wrap my mind around what happened, I lose my balance and start falling backward when he grabs my hand. Before I can steady myself, though, my skate flies up, whacking him in the leg, and we tumble down onto the ice in one big clumsy heap.
"Shit. I'm sorry," I somehow manage to force the words out.
My entire body is consumed with vibrating electric heat as we untangle ourselves from each other.
Laughing, Brando stands first and offers me his hand.
When he pulls me up, the force brings me within an inch of him.
I stare up into his dark purple eyes, struggling to catch my breath as my heart pounds against my ribs.
"Sorry. I'm a klutz. Did I hurt you?" I wheeze.
He gives me his sexy crooked grin, shaking his head.
"No. I'm good. Are you okay?"
I nod up at him, at a loss for words. We continue to skate casually, and my mind catches up to how my body is feeling.
Quit that shit, Joss. Not only are you his boss, but you're fricken twelve years older than the man. You're an old woman in his eyes.
I repeat that in my head, trying to shake off the electric buzzing in my body, the crush forming in my chest. But when I turn and see him watching me skate with an unreadable look in his eyes, my body hums at the sight of him.
Stepping out of the shower, I dry off, exhausted from the ice rink but still vibrating with electric sensation from Brando's touch. I throw on a soft sweatsuit and fuzzy slippers before padding into my living room and curling up in front of the fire with a book.
But the sparks still dancing through my limbs make it difficult to focus on the words. Placing my book down, I rest my head against the couch cushions as I slide my hand down my sweats into my cotton panties. Immediately, my mind goes to Brando, and I don't fight the fantasy.
I imagine us kissing on the benches at the ice hockey rink, oblivious to everything else.
The place is empty except for the two of us, and I straddle him, grinding into his arousal as he helps me off with my sweater.
The cool air makes my nipples instantly rock hard as Brando warms each one with his hot, hungry tongue.
The fantasy swirls in my mind, and suddenly, I'm picturing myself completely naked, oblivious to the icy cold air of the hockey rink.
Brando continues to be fully dressed, wearing his skates as he unzips his pants, releasing his hard cock.
I straddle him again, helping him penetrate me, picturing what he must feel like, stretching me open as I take him inch by inch, riding his cock.
As I fuck him, Brando grabs my hips, helping me slam into him harder until so much friction builds that I explode onto him. He joins me, our moans bouncing off the walls of the empty hockey rink. The dragon shifter grabs the back of my head, pressing his lips against mine.
"I love you, Joss," he whispers into my mouth.
My eyes snap open, and I yank my hand out of my panties.
What the fuck?
The days before the wedding pass like a typical work week, except every time I see my employee, my heart hammers against my chest and my hands go clammy. I need to stop this shit. I'm too old for him, and I'm his boss.
Part of me wonders if I should just end this charade, but horror trickles down my spine when I imagine going to my cousin's wedding alone. The idea of how that would play out stops me from ending our fake fiancé arrangement.
When it's time to close on Friday, Brando helps me check that the windows and back door are locked. As we step outside and I lock up, he says, "You know what I just realized?"
"What's that?"
"We haven't come up with a story about how we met," he says as he steps past me out into the chilly February evening air.
"Oh, crap. You're right. I guess when we drive up to the lodge, we can come up with that tomorrow," I say.
"Sounds like a plan," the dragon shifter says, shooting a crooked grin at me, which makes my panties instantly wet.