But even though his breathing comes hot and labored, Tyler’s in no rush.

  “We shouldn’t be doing this. I’m your employee,” I protest, half-heartedly.

  “You’re a freelancer. I think I mentioned that part before. The usual employee rules don’t apply to you. I made sure of that with this very reason in mind.” His fingers trail down the front of my top, squeezing beneath the fabric to touch bare skin, before proceeding to take it off altogether, followed by my pencil skirt, bra, and panties. His touch is scorching my skin, and I suck in a deep breath as my entire body heats up with need, craving more.

  But it’s his hungry gaze that is enough to make me soaking wet.

  “You planned this.” The realization hits me hard and fast. Based on that revelation alone I should be putting an end to this, but I can’t.

  “Yes.” Tylor’s eyes brush over my exposed breasts, down my abdomen, and settles on the spot between my legs.

  I don’t need him to tell me that he wants me. I can see it in the way he licks his lips, the way his cock strains the material of his pants.

  “You don’t need to be quiet,” Tyler says, slowly loosening his tie while his gaze remains glued to the private part between my legs.

  He’s sure taking his sweet time. But I sure won’t be taking mine.

  Inching toward him, I unbutton his shirt and help him out of it. My heart skips a beat as I regard the dips and planes of a body that likes to put in the work at the gym. I graze my fingernails over his chest and abs. His skin is firm and warm and begs to be kissed and licked, but I reserve that part for another time.

  His brows shoot up as I unzip his pants. His hard cock springs to life, and I suck in a breath.

  It’s been so long I’ve no idea how I’ll be able to fit his size inside me. But I’m sure I’ll make it work. I can’t say ‘no’ to that.

  “Lie down and spread your legs,” he instructs and I lower myself onto the bed, doing as he requested.

  He sits down on the edge of the bed and trails his fingers between my folds, spreading the moisture that’s pouring out of me. I’ve never been so turned on in my life, and he hasn’t even done anything yet. He’s had this effect on me since day one, and I have no idea what to do about it. I try to push my legs together but his hands pin my thighs to the bed as he settles between them.

  “Enjoy,” Tyler says a moment before he sucks my clit into his mouth.

  I moan and throw my head back, closing my eyes.

  He’s not wasting time. His mouth is hot and knowledgeable, sending every nerve ending in my body into a frantic overdrive. His tongue keeps darting over my clit, flicking, circling, making me cry out several times. By the time he’s pushed a finger inside me, I’m panting and gripping at the sheets, ready to beg him for release.

  I don’t know how much time passes. Everything’s a blur and all I can think about are the powerful strokes of his tongue while his grip on my thigh tightens, steadying me.

  I know I’m about to reach an orgasm when my entire body starts to unravel and my moans get louder.

  “Tyler.” His name is heavy on my lips. I want to say more, but my brain can’t form a single, coherent thought.

  Tyler groans appreciatively, and that’s what pushes me over the brink. My body begins to shake and I lose control. I’m still riding the rollercoaster when I feel his weight on top of me, and something far too thick slipping into me, filling me inch by delicious inch.

  “Look at me when I fuck you,” Tyler commands, his tone leaving no room for discussion. I open my eyes and meet his heated gaze. “Is this what you were thinking about every time you couldn’t peel your gaze off my pants?”

  Heat rises to my cheeks, and it’s not because of the slapping sound our bodies make every time he pulls out of me, only to hit my pussy just a little deeper.

  “I didn’t think you noticed,” I whisper.

  “I did…why else do you think I kept wanting to meet to discuss your progress?”

  I open my mouth to respond but don’t get a chance to answer as Tyler picks up his rhythm, his hard cock hitting all the right spots. I want to stay focused on him, but my vision starts to blur again and the room’s beginning to spin.

  Tremors begin to build inside of me.

  He whispers my name and says something, but I can’t make out what he said. My whole body begins to throb in pleasure and another climax rocks my core over and over again. My muscles are limp and my body forgets how to breathe.

  I faintly register him finding his own release, but I can’t think through the waves of pleasure rocking me until I’m too spent to even catch my breath.

  “Em?” Tyler asks slowly.

  I pry my eyes open and take a deep breath. “What?” My voice is hoarse, groggy.

  “I asked whether you were okay.”

  I smile because that’s all the reassurance I’ll be able to give him. Slowly, he lifts his weight off me and settles down beside me, pulling me against his chest. His skin is damp and warm and so damn inviting.

  All I want is to close my eyes, if only for a few minutes. I wrap my leg around his torso. That’s when I realize sleep isn’t going to happen because—

  He’s hard again.

  “Ready for round two?” His lips nudge my neck and his fingers trail down my abdomen.

  His hardness pushes into my leg while my core screams that there’s no way I can do this again so soon.

  Not when it feels like he’s even bigger than before.

  But who am I to say ‘no’ to that?

  16

  Tyler’s black sedan drops me off at the hotel at five a.m. I would have let him catch some sleep, but he insisted on accompanying me home.

  He doesn’t ask to join me in my suite and I don’t invite him in. For one, I’m supposed to be back at work in less than three hours and while I know I won’t sleep, I look forward to some time alone in the bathtub.

  And then there’s also the fact that I feel guilty.

  Lucky is the last person I should be thinking about, not least because I’ve never met him. He could be literally anyone. He might not even be real at all, just a concocted persona of someone bored with his life and looking for a bit of meaningless fun online.

  The same thoughts have been circling through my mind for months—or ever since I realized I might be looking forward to our little exchanges a bit too much. And yet I can’t stop feeling bad that I allowed my boss to get inside my panties…multiple times.

  I take a quick shower and then log into my travelbuddy.com account.

  Lucky’s message is already waiting for me, and I realize he must be online because he literally just sent it.

  Subject: Re: I’ve had it with this guy

  * * *

  How did the pleasing part go? Did he work you like you expected he would?

  * * *

  — LuckyLuke

  The insinuation is there, just like it always is. I don’t even need to read between the lines to know what Lucky’s talking about. Usually, I’d laugh at it and go with the flow. But this time I can’t ignore the grain of annoyance nagging at me.

  All we’ve been doing so far is engaging in meaningless flirting, and yet I want him to be jealous, maybe even a little possessive.

  I want him to care that I’ve just spent my Friday night with another guy.

  “Why does it matter? He’s just some dude you don’t even know,” I mumble and log out of my account, strangely irritated with him.

  17

  At eight sharp I’m back at the office, albeit spent and looking a little worse for wear. I’ve barely skimmed through my message inbox when Scarlet pops in.

  “He wants you in his conference room. Don’t forget your progress chart.”

  She doesn’t need to clarify who ‘he’ is, though I’m surprised that Tyler’s in already. I would have figured, after our night together and all the effort he put into making me come—a few times, actually—that he might have wanted to get a few hours rest.
/>
  I guess my impression that Tyler never sleeps wasn’t too far away from the truth.

  “He could tell me himself for a change. I own a phone and a computer, you know,” I mumble. Given that he was buried deep inside me merely a few hours ago, that shouldn’t be too much to ask. “I’ll be right there.” I wait until Scarlet’s closed the door to my office behind her before I grab my progress folder and ride the elevator up to his floor. It’s beyond me what he could possibly want to discuss, given that we didn’t get a chance to work last night. Besides, I’ve only just arrived so I haven’t had a chance to get any work done yet.

  I’ve no idea what to expect now that we’ve been intimate, but things don’t feel professionally much different from yesterday. He seems just as irrational in his expectations as before.

  After a brief knock, I push the door open and peer into the spacious conference room.

  Tyler’s seated at the end of the table. His hair’s in disarray and dark stubble’s covering his cheeks. Today he hasn’t bothered with a tie. The top button of his shirt’s undone and the sleeves are rolled up. Hesitating in the doorway, I take him in, realizing this is the most disheveled I’ve ever seen him. Maybe our night together has left him a little frayed, too.

  Apart from his cell phone, there’s nothing else on the table.

  “Come on in,” Tyler says, gesturing for me to close the door behind me.

  Frowning, I do as instructed and place the folder in front of him, right next to his cell phone. “I just got in. I didn’t get a chance to—”

  Ignoring the folder, he gets up and closes the distance between us. With a soft smile playing on his lips, he squeezes his fingers beneath my top and pulls it over my head.

  I can’t do this. Not so soon after our last sexcapade.

  “Tyler.” My protest dies on my lips as he unzips his pants. I stare at his hard cock, wondering how the heck he can be ready…again.

  “Do you like the view?”

  I lift my gaze, unsure whether he’s talking about his manhood or the actual view outside the panoramic windows.

  “I do.” I like both of them, actually.

  “I do, too.” He lifts me up in his arms and carries me over to the windows, pressing my back against the cool glass as he removes my clothes, scattering them haphazardly across the floor.

  The air conditioning’s set up too high, but I don’t feel the chill. My body feels as though it’s burning under his gaze, the heat gathering like lava deep inside my core. He takes my nipples between his expert fingers, kneading until the sensation makes me gasp. I thought I couldn’t do it again just a few hours after the last time we had sex. But I realize, even though there’s a throbbing pain between my legs, it’s not unpleasant.

  My body might still be sensitive, but it’s more than ready for him.

  Leaning into me, his mouth catches mine as his fingers continue to pinch and squeeze. I give into his kiss and welcome his tongue as I imagine him licking other parts of me. I’m breathless and dizzy when he finally releases me, leaning forward to place a soft kiss on my breasts.

  I expect him to take my nipples into his mouth, but he doesn’t. Instead, he parts my legs with his thigh and presses his thumb against my clit, the sensation so sore and raw, it instantly sends me to the brink of an orgasm.

  “Oh.” All I can do is moan as I force myself to remember to breathe.

  His fingers are on me and in me, and just as I think I’m about to see sparks and stars, he lifts me up and places himself between my legs, entering me in one swift motion.

  He’s big. Too big.

  I don’t think I can take it. I moan as he resumes his rhythm, the friction both sweet and punishing.

  “Tyler, I—”

  I don’t know what I want to say. All I can think about is that he’s thrusting faster and the pleasure is causing my pussy to spasm as he fucks me against the cold glass.

  I’m faintly aware of the fact that my naked ass is on full display, but I can’t form a coherent thought with his hand between my legs, drawing circles across my clit as he pounds into me with an intensity that I didn’t even know he was capable of.

  Suddenly, everything around me shatters and sizzles with pleasure. There’s a strange sound and I realize it’s my whimper barely finding its way out of my chest as he slowly brings me back down, the rush of pleasure slowly subsiding.

  When he pulls out of me he’s still half hard. His gaze is dazed.

  “Did I hurt you?” He brushes a strand of hair out of my face.

  “Hurt? You must be kidding.” I smile, and in a bold moment of post-orgasm induced confidence, I place a soft kiss on his lips. “What about you? How are you?”

  “I was fine…until you left. Then my bed didn’t seem so great without you. You basically forced me to hit the gym.” He smirks. “I would have preferred if you stayed the night.”

  I laugh. “In which case you would have had to drive me to work, and people might have noticed.”

  “And that would have been so bad?”

  “We wouldn’t want people talking.”

  I watch his expression change as his brows shoot up. “Again, would that be so bad?”

  His change in mood is palpable. I don’t know what to say to that. People talking is always a bad thing.

  “I don’t want anyone to think that I’m sleeping with the boss and that’s how I got this job.”

  “We could call it dating,” Tyler says matter-of-factly.

  I stare at him, lost for words. I don’t know what to say to that. We’re both adults, obviously like each other, and have had amazing sex. Why not define the relationship? I mean, Tyler clearly insists.

  “Okay,” I whisper, but the sound of my voice is drowned out by the hammering of my heart. Tyler’s great and I want to see where this is going, but there’s something I need to do before I can focus on us.

  “I knew once you met me you wouldn’t be able to resist.”

  “Clearly.”

  There’s something strange about his statement. His mouth closes on mine with a fire that burns my skin, not giving me time to think about the meaning of his words. I can feel his want between my legs and realize we’re about to go for round two when the sound of the intercom jerks me out of the moment.

  Tyler groans and releases me, shooting me an apologetic look. “That’s my morning appointment. We’ll finish this later.”

  His gaze travels down my body, lingering on my exposed breasts and the sore spot between my legs. The telltale heat of a major blush travels up my neck as I realize I’m still pinned against the floor-to-ceiling window, my naked backside bathed in bright daylight, and probably on full display for the whole world to see.

  Or at least for the people in the adjacent buildings.

  I can only hope the glass is tinted or mirrored.

  “We won’t need to make anything public,” I mumble and hurry to gather my clothes off the floor. “Someone’s probably taken a snapshot and shared it with the whole world by now.”

  Tyler laughs at my horrified expression. “I’ll have to get that snapshot. Or I could take some of my own.” His gaze is glued to my breasts, lingering shamelessly.

  I roll my eyes and scan the floor for my panties. Damn, I can’t find them.

  The intercom rings again.

  “Meet you at lunch.” His tone is slightly annoyed as he straightens his clothes.

  “Okay,” I say but he’s already halfway across the room and then out the door.

  Sighing, I take a seat at the conference table and grab my cell phone because now that we’re dating there’s no way I can continue my virtual, brainless banter with Lucky.

  I need to break up with him.

  I type a quick “Sorry, I can’t do this any longer. You’re a great guy and I wish you all the best,” message and send it. It’s not much of an explanation, but I don’t even know the guy.

  I’m not even sure I feel bad about it.

  Sure, we had some great flirti
ng, teasing, and chats. But real life happened, which he must have expected that it would at some point. I’d rather treasure his memory as a good friend than risk finding out who he really is.

  Besides, I never made a secret out of the fact that I’m not open to meeting an online acquaintance.

  All those points aside, we agreed on just having fun, right from the beginning.

  So—

  A phone pings somewhere to my right, and I realize it’s Tyler’s cell next to my progress folder. He must have forgotten it. Given that the message might be important, I peer at the lit-up screen.

  There’s a notification of a new message in his travelbuddy account, sent from Bumblebee07.

  My heart stops as my brain tries to process what I’m seeing.

  Bumblebee07

  My user ID. On his phone.

  For a moment, all I can do is stare at my screen name, my brain unable to comprehend the meaning of it. I click on the conversation and force myself to read every message I sent him over the months as it slowly dawns on me that Tyler is my chat buddy.

  He is LuckyLuke.

  He must have known all along that I’m Bumblebee07. That’s the motivation, the intent behind why I’m here.

  He hired me for a certain reason. And that reason wasn’t my impressive résumé.

  “I can’t believe it,” I mutter. The shock sits deep in my chest. My mouth feels dry, and nausea forms in my stomach.

  Tyler is Lucky.

  I feel betrayed, mortified, cheated as I scroll through almost one year of messages and all the things I told him. I can’t figure out what I could have possibly disclosed about myself that might have betrayed my real identity.

  What could I have possibly said when I never gave him my real name, phone number, email address?

  The only way he could have found out any of those is by accessing my private information on the travelbuddy.com website to find out who I was. Given that he’s the owner, he would have had easy access to all my signup information.