“I appreciated your directness.” He reached out and tucked a loose tendril behind her ear. “What do you want, Julia? What did you come to New York for? I can get it for you.”
She pulled her head away from his touch. “I don’t want anything from you.”
“Everyone wants something.” I want to fuck you, Julia. Again and again until I get you out of my head. He pulled her to him and closed his mouth over hers. She met his mouth hungrily. He claimed her tongue with his own and reveled in her responsiveness. Where he led, she eagerly followed. Picking her up, he carried her over to his desk, pushing everything impatiently aside before sitting her on it so he could free his hands for more important things.
He told himself to go slowly, but the desire that burned in her blue eyes was his undoing. He needed to see her. To taste her. Without taking his eyes from hers, he tore the front of her shirt open, sending buttons flying. Her mouth dropped opened in an audible sigh and he was lost.
He pushed her knees farther apart and stepped between them. He leaned forward, ran his hand up her back beneath her now-open shirt, and arched her toward him. Her nipples were hard little nubs beneath her satin bra. Nubs he couldn’t resist. He took one hungrily into his mouth, even through the material. Warming it with his tongue. Teasing it with his teeth.
She moaned and pressed herself upward and deeper into his mouth, and that was all the encouragement he needed. He ran a hand along the back of her bra and smiled against her skin when he found no clasp.
Whoever created front-release bras was a genius.
Gio eagerly unclasped the front of the bra and paused to appreciate the perfection that was Julia. She raised her head, her eyes glazed with passion, and he understood her need. His hand rubbed and lightly pinched one of her nipples while his mouth adored and feasted upon the other. Then he moved his mouth and paid her other breast equal attention.
She clung to his shoulders, then buried one hand in his hair. He ground his hard cock against her through their clothes. Desire surged within him. He couldn’t get enough of her. Every taste of her pushed whatever control he had further and further away. He impatiently reached for the fastening of her pants.
“Knock, knock,” a jovial male voice said from the doorway. “Well, will wonders never cease? I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.”
Raising his head reluctantly from Julia’s neck, Gio turned, shielding her from his brother Luke’s view. “What are you doing here?”
Smiling unabashedly, Luke leaned against the doorjamb. “Rena called me and said you were having a rough day, and I was ending a shift at the hospital anyway. She thought you might want to talk. It appears she was wrong.”
“Get the hell out of here.”
Still smiling, Luke wiggled his eyebrows and asked, “You’re not going to introduce me?” Normally Luke was the most reasonable of his brothers, but presently his curiosity was outweighing his survival instincts.
“No,” Gio said with finality.
“I heard you’re coming to the wedding and bringing someone with you. Is this her?” His smile widened and his eyes twinkled with humor.
Gio aggressively rose to his full height. “You won’t live to find out if you don’t leave now,” he said. Luke put up both hands in playful resignation and left, still smiling as he turned away.
Releasing a calming breath, Gio turned around and instantly felt like an ass. Julia was clutching her now buttonless top closed and sliding off his desk. The mood was broken. “Sorry about that,” he said gruffly.
Her half smile set his heart thudding in his chest again. “It’s okay.”
“I should have locked the door. I don’t normally . . .”
With an adorable blush, Julia said, “I don’t do this either.” She picked up her purse and started edging away from him. “I’m going home now.”
“No,” he said much more forcibly than he meant to.
She tucked her shirt into her pants, overlapping the front in a way that covered her. “Yes.” She waved a shaking hand in the direction of his desk. “I’m not this person. I don’t know what to do with how you make me feel. But I do know that I need time to think about this.”
He reached for her, but she made it to the door before he could grab her.
When she opened her mouth to say something, he picked up his cell phone and said, “Todd, have a car brought around.”
“I don’t—” she started to say, but he cut her off.
“I’m taking you home.”
As they walked down the hallway together, she sighed and said, “I’m not judging, but your whole family is a little pushy. You might want to try asking instead of issuing orders.”
Her comment brought a smile back to his face. He placed his hand on her lower back and felt her tense when he replied, “Why ask when the outcome isn’t in question?”
“Are you always this much of an arrogant ass?” she asked crossly.
With an ironic smile, he said, “No, normally, I’m much, much worse.”
Julia didn’t know if he was joking or not, but she chuckled. “Don’t make me laugh. It makes it harder to say no.” She looked up at him and frowned. “And it is no. Just to be clear.”
They rode down in the elevator and walked out of the building together in silence. The chauffer opened the door to a Bentley town car and she and Gio slid in. She told the driver her address and he pulled into traffic.
She snuck a peek at Gio. When he thought she wasn’t looking there was an expression in his eyes that seemed almost sad. Was that the pain Maddy had mentioned? What had this man been through that kept him away from family who obviously loved him? She shouldn’t ask. Shouldn’t get involved. It would be easier to walk away if she didn’t know.
And walk away is what she intended to do.
He wasn’t looking for love; he was looking for a way into her pants. The problem was, every time she was near him she forgot why that was a bad idea. It didn’t matter that they were both fully dressed and separated by a few inches. Her body tightened and warmed for his touch. If he took her into his arms right then, she doubted anything would stop them from finishing what they had started earlier. Not the fact that they were in public or that the driver would see them.
Why does this feel different than anything I’ve ever done?
I’ve dated a couple of men.
Men who made me laugh.
And sex with them was nice. It was a sweet expression of our feelings for each other.
But nothing like this. This is dangerous. I could lose myself if I’m not careful. She peered at him out of the corner of one eye and studied his strong profile. But what a way to go.
“I didn’t realize you knew my cousin,” he said, still looking straight ahead.
“I didn’t, but she thinks I’m the reason you said yes to the wedding.”
“You are,” he said simply, and she swung around to search his face.
Julia swallowed hard. “I haven’t changed my mind about not going.”
He didn’t answer. As they pulled up to her apartment building, he demanded, “You live here?”
Offended, Julia sat straight up. “It’s clean. Relatively safe. And only one block from the subway.”
He nodded toward what looked like a drug deal going down on the corner of the street.
She shrugged. “They’re just kids. They’ve never bothered me.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “You can’t stay here.”
She put her hands on her hips and turned in her seat. “Where I live is none of your business. This is what I can afford, and I don’t appreciate you trying to make me feel badly about it.”
“You’re not staying here.”
“Yes, I am.”
He glared at her.
She glared back.
With a shake of his head, he said, “Gather your stuff. I’m checking you into a hotel.”
The words sent unwanted shivers of pleasure down her back. No. No. No. Down, libido. Sh
e put her hand on the door handle. “Thank you for the ride home.” She quickly opened the door and stepped out before he could stop her.
He was beside her in a heartbeat, blocking her escape. “Get back in the car.”
“No.”
He grabbed her arm. One of the youths across the street called out, “Hey, is he bothering you?”
She called back. “No, he’s going.” She met Gio’s eyes angrily and said, “You are—going. Just because I work for you doesn’t mean you have any right to tell me what I can do or where I can live. Let go of my arm.”
Gio dropped her arm. “I don’t understand you.”
I don’t understand me either, so we’re even. “Goodnight, Mr. Andrade.”
Julia turned and walked away, leaving him on the street watching her. Once she got inside, she didn’t go to the window of her apartment. She didn’t want to know if he was still there.
She wasn’t sure she’d be able to stop herself from running back down and throwing herself in his arms.
This is for the best.
Whatever animal attraction we have for each other is the kind of chemistry that always leads to trouble.
Remember why you came to New York.
Stay focused.
She changed into her nightgown and made herself a microwave dinner.
Who wanted a date with a hot billionaire anyway?
Chapter Nine
Rena knocked on Gio’s door, then walked into his office without waiting for his answer. “Do you have a minute?”
In the middle of a phone call, Gio raised one hand, told the governor courting him to invest in his state to send him some stats, and hung up the phone. He stood and stretched. Unable to sleep the night before, he’d come back to his office and worked through the night—something he was able to do since so many of his contacts were international. Although he was tired, it was a good tired. Work had always done that for him. When nothing else made sense, business did. He looked down at his watch. “Eight o’clock already? Get Atwater on the phone. I read over his proposal. It’s promising, but some of his assumptions about our role in developing the area are way off. I’ll give him access to our lobbyists, but I don’t want our name linked publicly with his project. It’s not going to be a popular one.”
Rena closed the door behind her. “Before I do that . . . I want to apologize for last night. Luke called me after seeing you. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
“Forget it,” he said gruffly.
Rena walked farther into his office. “We’ve known each other a long time, Gio. I feel like I grew up with you as a second brother. I know you hate when I get personal at work, but I’m worried about you. Did you actually reallocate one of your security team to watch Julia’s apartment building?” She laid a hand flat on his desk, real concern evident in her expression. “What are you doing, Gio? This isn’t like you.”
Turning away from the concern in her eyes, Gio walked to look out the expansive office window. “I had to do something. The neighborhood she lives in isn’t safe.”
“Did she ask you for help?”
“Hell, no,” Gio said, running his hand through his hair. “She told me the area was fine. I offered her an out, but she wanted to stay there. I don’t understand her.”
“That’s because she’s not like the women you usually date.”
He rubbed his forehead in frustration. “Tell me about it.”
“Did you really ask her to go to the island wedding with you?” Rena said with a smile in her voice.
“How do you—” He shook his head in resignation. “Don’t tell me. I’d rather not know how you heard that. It doesn’t matter. She said no.”
“Which is fortunate for you, because you don’t believe in workplace relationships.”
“Exactly.”
“Want my opinion?”
He groaned. “Not really, but I’ve never successfully convinced you to keep it to yourself.”
“Go slow with this one. Take a walk with her. Share a coffee. Get to know her.”
“What happened to, ‘Stay the hell away from her? You’re not ready for a nice woman’?”
“According to Luke, that horse has left the gate. Just be careful with her, Gio. You could really hurt her.”
Looking out over the skyline, Gio listened to Rena’s footsteps retreating across the office, then the door opening.
“And take a shower. You look like hell.”
Gio closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head.
A walk?
It wasn’t what he was craving to do with Julia, but nothing else had worked with her thus far. He was willing to try anything. The small taste he’d had of her had only heightened his desire for her. He couldn’t look at his desk without imagining her there, half-dressed and ready for him. He could almost smell her soft perfume, hear the moan she made. He wanted to hear his name on her lips while she came for him.
He loosened his tie and threw it over the back of one of the chairs, then headed for the side door to his office. He did need a shower. A cold one.
Julia had spent the day debating if she should return to Cogent Solutions or not. After walking out on a night she was scheduled, there was a good chance she was no longer employed. She finally decided that no matter how awkward it was, she would keep going until someone told her not to. Landlords don’t care that you almost slept with your boss the night before. They want their rent.
And I’m not ready to go home yet.
She walked up to where Paul and Tom were sitting and asked, “Do you guys know if I’m scheduled for tonight?”
“As far as I know,” Tom said as he pulled out a schedule sheet. “Yep. You’re on the list. What happened last night? Mr. Andrade came down here asking for you. He didn’t look happy.”
Memories flooded back. Julia shook her head wordlessly at Tom. She didn’t like to lie, but there was no part of yesterday that she was willing to repeat. Thank God I didn’t actually sleep with him. I’m already a mess.
She turned to walk away and gasped when she saw Gio standing beside her.
“Let’s take a walk,” he said curtly.
Is this where he tells me that he can’t believe I didn’t realize I don’t work here anymore? Let him say it. I’ve done nothing wrong. Okay, I’ve done a few things wrong, but all of that was just as much his fault as it was mine. It takes two. “I don’t mind if they hear.”
At least then I know we’ll stay on safe topics.
He looked over at Paul and Tom, who were practically hanging over the security desk to hear what they were saying. They instantly sat down and looked away. “We can’t talk here. Come to my office.”
She stepped back and shook her head. “I’m already late for my shift.”
One corner of his mouth twitched as if he’d almost smiled. “I’m sure it will be fine.”
Hitching her purse higher on her uniform-clad shoulder, Julia said, “I need this job. If you have a security-related concern, I’ll be happy to discuss it with you—although I believe you will find Paul or Tom more knowledgeable. If I’m fired, you can tell me right here.”
“You’re not fired, but we do have something we need to discuss.”
It would be so easy to give in. She fought to retain some control. “If it’s a personal topic, I have a break at seven.”
His jaw tightened. “Are you serious?”
She raised her chin. “Yes.”
“Then I’ll see you at seven.” He turned and walked away.
Julia let out a long, shaky sigh.
Seven o’clock.
What does he want to talk to me about?
And how am I going to be able to wait until then to find out?
Chapter Ten
At seven o’clock sharp, the phone on her desk rang. When she answered, Paul said from the other end of the line, “Mr. Andrade just exited the elevator. Do you want me to stall him?”
“No, Paul. It’s good. I’ll be right out.”
With a quick look in a compact mirror, Julia hesitated. If I freshen my lipstick now, it’ll look like I did it for him. Like I’m expecting him to ask me out again. She made a face in the mirror and chided herself.
It’s more likely that he’s looking for a way to dismiss me without this becoming a big deal. He’s had time to think about it and he’s as embarrassed as I am by what we did—or almost did.
She decided to apply a fresh coat of lipstick after all. I’m going to need all the help I can get to survive hearing him list why sex with me is no longer a good idea.
With one final fortifying breath, she opened the door and walked out into the foyer. Mistakes are like ladder rungs to success. Embrace them. Learn from them. She couldn’t remember which article she’d found that quote in, but right then it didn’t matter. She was embracing that quote along with her mistakes. Hugging the shit out of both them, really.
And forcing a brave smile to her face. “Mr. Andrade.”
“Gio,” he said smoothly and took her by the arm, guiding her out of the foyer and out the front door of the building. “Let’s go outside,” he said, his tone giving no hint to where this conversation was headed.
“Sure,” Julia said slowly, keeping step beside him. Not that she had much of a choice. He wasn’t letting go of her arm. Oh, my God. Just tell me whatever it is you want to say.
After about a block, his pace slowed and his hold on her relaxed. Without looking down at her, he said, “About last night . . .”
Trying to sound casual, she said, “I vote we forget it ever happened and move on.”
He stopped and she nearly crashed into him. Even with people jostling around them on the sidewalk, the world seemed to disappear and nothing mattered but him and how she felt when she looked into his eyes. “Easier said than done.”
Tell me about it. She bit her bottom lip and waited, her heart beating wildly in her chest.
“I’ve told you how I feel about office relationships.”
Slam. Of course. Disappointment rose like bile in her throat. “Yes.”
“The only solution is you quit. You’re a distraction I don’t need at work. I’ll help you find another job. Not right away, of course. I’d like you to be free to travel with me. You’ll have to move, though. Your living arrangements are completely unacceptable. I’ll set you up in an apartment on the nice side of town. If you’re worried about money, I can give you a generous allowance.”