Chapter Eight #3
She grinned. “Absolutely. You’re right—I’m sure I am going to be in over my head, but I want to learn.
I’m not afraid of hard work. I’m honest and dependable and I’ll give a hundred percent every day.
” Now she sounded like a loyal dog, but she no longer cared.
Not only did she get to stay with Stone, but she also was going to be working for him.
A flash of self-doubt filled her, but she pushed it away. She would make this happen, she promised herself. She would earn his respect.
“I’ll notify human resources,” he said, and rose to his feet.
He came around his desk toward her. Cathy stood up. When he held out his hand to shake on the deal, she reacted impulsively. She reached out to hug him.
Even as she moved forward, she told herself to stop. But it was too late, and the momentum carried her into him. She tried to pull back, to save the potentially awkward situation. Then large, strong hands settled on her back.
“Your way is much better,” Stone murmured, and bent his head to hers.
The hug had been an unplanned act. She’d meant it as a friendly gesture. She had no idea what he meant by the kiss, but as his mouth gently touched hers, she found she didn’t care.
He was warm and firm, and she felt as if she’d come home.
Cathy didn’t have enough experience to compare his kiss to others, but it was plenty wonderful on its own.
He didn’t move much, or try to deepen the kiss.
He stayed still. She didn’t know if he was savoring the experience or giving her a chance to get used to their closeness, and soon she found she didn’t care.
It was enough to be in his arms, his mouth against hers.
She moved her hands to his shoulders and squeezed the hard muscles. In response, he tilted his head slightly and pressed a little closer. She inhaled the scent of his body—the scent of him. Clean and masculine, and maybe a little dangerous.
They weren’t touching in many places, and she longed to lean against him.
That’s what she always read about. Couples pressing together, breasts straining.
She had never understood how breasts could possible strain, but now she did.
Hers ached. She would have sworn they were swollen, too, longing to be flattened against his broad chest. Shivers rippled through her, starting at her toes and working their way up to her scalp.
Her fingers tingled; so did that secret place between her thighs. She thought—
His mouth parted, and he touched the tip of his tongue to her lower lip. Instantly her mind shut down, as did her ability to breathe. None of that mattered. She focused all her energy, all her senses, on that single damp spot.
He touched her there again, this time pressing a little more as if urging her to comply with his wishes. Before she could figure out what to do, her mouth parted, almost without her realizing it, and his tongue slipped inside.
He was warm and sweet and tasted better than any chocolate she’d ever had.
He didn’t attack or act as if he was there to map out the points of interest in her mouth.
Instead, he moved slowly, almost reverently, first exploring the tender skin on the inside of her lip before gently stroking her tongue.
She supposed the fire was inevitable. Between the shivers and the sparks and goodness knows what other sensations, she already felt as if she were in danger of going up in flames.
So when the heat licked against her skin, she simply surrendered to the hot need.
She leaned against him, at last giving her breasts what they’d been screaming for.
The relief was instant, and over just as quickly.
For as her breasts nestled against the hard planes of his chest and the aching eased, her hard, sensitized nipples began to tighten even more.
She’d never felt anything like this in her life.
She wasn’t sure what was happening or what it meant.
She only knew she didn’t want Stone to ever stop kissing her.
As if he read her mind, his arms tightened around her.
She had leaned into him, but he pulled her even closer.
Their bodies pressed together, just like she’d read about.
He was hard to her soft, just like those authors had promised.
It was so incredibly perfect. Especially the hardness she felt pressing into the spot between her stomach and her left hipbone.
He was aroused and ready. Kissing her had done that to him!
She must have made a sound of pleasure and gratification, or somehow indicated something had changed, because Stone pulled back. He broke the kiss gently, cupping her face as their lips parted. Still, she was loath to let him go.
“Wow!” she said without thinking.
Fortunately he grinned. “Yeah. Wow.” Then the smile faded. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t usually welcome employees to the company like that.”
His words had the effect of an ice bath. She forced her smile to remain in place even as she took a step back. “I guess a lot of the guys would really object, huh?” She waved as if it had meant nothing to her, either. “Don’t worry about it, Stone. We’re friends, right? It was a very nice kiss.”
“I agree. And I promise it won’t happen again.”
Great. He was probably the kind of man who gave blenders and vacuum cleaners for birthday presents, too.
She sighed. Well, it had been a wonderful experience.
She would have a lot to think about when she was alone in her room that night.
In the meantime, she must never let him know that her knees were still weak and her breasts would probably be aching for days.
So this was desire, she thought. At least she knew what it felt like. For a while, she’d thought she might go her whole life and never experience it.
“Thank you for understanding,” he said.
“Sure. No problem.”
She left his office with a promise to see him at dinner. Once out in the hall, her good humor faded and confusion took its place. What exactly had happened back there? If he didn’t mean it, why had he kissed her like that?
“So much for being a grown-up,” she whispered as she started shaking. She felt strange inside. Tense, but not tense.
Now she was supposed to work for the man. Fine. She would figure out a way to put this behind her and she would work for him. She wanted the chance. She would be a fool to mess that up by getting too caught up in what had obviously meant different things to her than to him.
He’d thanked her for understanding. Great. The problem was she didn’t understand. Not even for a minute.