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“Don’t worry about it. We’ve got it covered. And we’ll help you out with your campaign in any way we can,” Alex said. Maria could feel the bond between Alex and Rafael; it had always been there. Their eyes connected briefly, before he looked down and grasped his glass in his hand, bringing it to his lips and downing the drink.
Maria briefly let her mind wander as she thought about him. The illicit thoughts took over, and her fantasies ran rampant. She remembered the way his lips had whispered against hers, how his strong hands felt on her body. His hard thigh, as he guided her over it... Reality then made way to fantasy, as she imagined his naked body hovering over hers as he entered her—
“How are you, Maria? I haven’t seen you in a while,” Brett said from across the table, pulling her attention from Alex, and all of the dirty things she wanted to do to him and have him do to her.
She shook free mentally and quickly recovered. “I’m great,” she told him. “I’m working at one of the community centers downtown. We’re running breakfast, after-school and recreation programs. It’s fun and fulfilling, but I still need to look for something that pays a little more.” She looked around the table at some of the top earners in the city—hell, the country. She wondered how long it had been since any of them had worried about paying rent. Even though Rafael had offered to help her out financially, there was no way she would accept it.
“How’s the job hunt going?” Alana asked.
“Tiresome. There aren’t a lot of paying positions in community health. Lots of volunteer job and internships. Because heaven forbid people get paid for working. But I’m looking, pounding the pavement. I’ll find something.”
“I wanted her to come work for me,” Rafael explained.
“But I refuse to because politics isn’t my thing. And if I think he’s overbearing now, I can’t imagine him signing my paychecks.”
“Payroll is all done electronically these days,” he assured her, his voice wry. “I wouldn’t have to sign anything.”
“Why don’t you come work for us at Collins/Fischer?” Brett asked casually.
Maria’s eyes widened and whipped to Alex’s. He played it cool, didn’t react, even though she did. “What?”
“With the hotel project coming up, we’ve got a lot going on,” Brett explained. “We’ll need another assistant.”
“But—” Alex tried to interrupt.
“Man, we talked about this earlier. I don’t think we should stretch ourselves too thin,” Brett said to Alex. “It would be great to have an assistant. We take on too much as it is.” He turned back to her. “So how about it? You could start next week.”
Maria glanced quickly at Alex, whose eyes burned, looking at her with the same intensity that they had the night before, but she wasn’t sure which emotion was at play behind them. He gave nothing away, and Maria would have given anything to know what he was thinking.
She knew that working for Rafael’s friends was just a step removed from working directly for her brother with how tightly their enterprises were interwoven. But who was she to turn down a job offer? “Uh, yeah, sure. I’d like that. Thanks.”
“Awesome. That’s great.” Brett turned to Alex. “Isn’t that great?”
“It’s fantastic,” Alex responded, his voice deadpan, obviously trying to look like he didn’t care if she accepted the offer or not.
Maria smiled at what she knew was an act. He wasn’t so disinterested last night. Maybe it was time to have a little fun. As the rest of the group conversed, she sat back in her chair and covertly slipped off her shoe. She extended her leg under the table until she felt the smooth material of Alex’s pants against the pads of her toes. She felt him tense at the contact. Then she ran her foot up the outside of his calf. That got his attention as he sat up straight and blinked, his eyes gripping hers.
With the exception of the heavy breath that lifted his shoulders, Alex’s reaction was unreadable, but he didn’t push her away as she inched her foot up his leg, continuing her pace past his knee, moving to the inside of his thigh. Alex glared a warning at her. But she didn’t heed it. Without anyone paying attention, she ventured farther up his thigh until she met his crotch. He was already hard, and from what she could feel, just as she’d felt the night before, he was quite large. There was no doubt that Alex wanted her, and it made her feel powerful. He might act like a tough guy, like he wasn’t affected by her, but she knew it was a lie. She had the power, and she would use it to get what she wanted. And what she wanted was Alex.
While the rest of the people at the table chatted among themselves, she noticed how Alex tried to engage in the conversation and ignore her. But whether he wanted to or not, his attention just kept focusing on her. He took a drink from his water, and as her toes traced his rigid length, he coughed, earning him the attention of everyone at the table. He shoved her foot away, and she picked up her wine and smiled at her success behind her glass. Who isn’t interested now?
“Excuse me, guys, I have to go to the ladies’ room,” Maria said, slipping her foot back into her shoe before she stood and walked away.
She met Alex’s eyes as she sauntered away, making sure to put an extra bit of swivel into her hips. She knew Alex was watching when she turned the corner where the restrooms were located. She stood there, leaning against the wall, waiting.
Just as she’d suspected, she didn’t have to wait long. Alex turned the corner, walking stiffly. He pushed his fingers through his hair. She’d frustrated him. “Maria, what was that about?”
“You didn’t like it?” She looked down at his crotch, and she could see the bulge in his black pants. “It felt like you did. The way you liked what happened between us last night.”
He ignored her question. “I don’t know what you think happened last night.”
“What do you think happened?”
“A mistake. One you’d better forget.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know if I can.”
“Maria,” he warned her, his voice dark and holding an amount of malice under all of the frustration. But despite the meanness in his voice, he took a step toward her, closing the distance between them. “You’d better be careful not to provoke me.”
She squared her shoulders and pushed closer to him. The movement brought her nipples against his chest. They ached; her whole body wanted, needed him. She looked up into his eyes and wet her lips. His eyes followed the movement of her tongue. “Maybe I want to provoke you,” she whispered, putting her hand on his groin, and satisfied, she found him still hard. “It seems as if you might like it.”
With a growl, he was on her. His hands cupped her cheeks and he pulled her lips to his. He kissed her again. It wasn’t timid or slow. There was nothing shy or tentative about the touch of his lips on hers. Alex’s mouth was hard and demanding, and he tasted rich, like bourbon, cigars, but those flavors were no more potent than the pure taste of Alex. She curled her fingers around the back of his head and threaded her hands in his hair, holding him in place. He pushed her to the wall and pressed his hips against her so that she could again feel his arousal against her stomach, as if she’d had any question of his desires. She wanted him. Wanted to feel his weight on top of her, feel him inside her. And she knew he wanted her, too.
Maria lifted her leg so that her inner thigh brushed against the outside of his. And he gripped her and pressed into her again. A moan passed from her mouth to his, and it turned into a surprised gasp when he dropped her leg and broke away from her. Stepping back, he put more than a foot of empty space between them.
“Jesus, I’m sorry.” His voice was a rough whisper as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“I’m not.”
“I shouldn’t have done that.”
“It’s not like I wasn’t a willing participant.”
“I’ve got to get out of here. Go back to the table, Maria,” he ordered her through heavy breaths. “Your brother is waiting for you.”
“You’re leaving?”
“Fuck, I’ve got to stay away from you,” he said, low, quiet, as if he were talking to himself.
“That’s going to be hard, seeing as how I’ll be working for you next week.”
“You won’t be working for me,” he assured her. “You’re Brett’s assistant. Not mine.”
“Alex, don’t be ridiculous—”
He pointed a finger at her. “Don’t, Maria.” His whisper was fierce. “This can’t be anything more. I’ve already crossed too many goddamn lines here with you. Just forget it ever happened.”
“How can I forget it?” she said, pressing against him. “Alex, I’ve wanted you for so long, and now that I know how good it feels to kiss you, and touch you...” She ran her palm against his cock again. “How long and hard you are. It just makes me want more.” She squeezed him through the silky material of his expensively tailored pants, and as he closed his eyes, his groan made her feel powerful. She stepped even closer. “Don’t you want me, too?” she whispered against his throat, her lips skimming his stubble. The scratch electrified her, and she felt the jolt all the way to her core.
He hesitated—she could see the tightening of his jaw, the clenching of his fists, and she knew that he was trying to fight it. But from the way he exhaled through his flared nostrils, she knew that he was at war. And that between his common sense and libido, she knew which side was winning. He nodded, and triumph surged throughout her. “I do want you.” He shoved her hand away. “But this can’t happen,” he said before he turned away from her and walked back into the dining room.
CHAPTER FOUR
ALEX WAS IRRITABLE before he even entered The BH, the office tower built and owned by The Brotherhood, the home and headquarters of Collins/Fischer and the rest of their enterprises, including, of course, Di Terrestres, which encompassed the entire bottom floor. Before he even set a foot out of the elevator and onto the floor of Collins/Fischer, he felt like staying inside and riding back down to the front lobby. A week had passed since Brett went ahead and hired Maria, and even though she had yet to start working there, he’d been a ball of tension since that evening.
He hadn’t seen Maria since he’d followed her from the table at Thalia, but he didn’t need to. Everywhere he went, he smelled her, could taste her on the air, as if she’d been permanently etched on his skin or tied to him, following him everywhere he went. It would be her first day at the office and even though their workloads would keep them busy and she would be assisting Brett, Alana and him on all of the work related to Hedo, he didn’t know how he would manage to focus on anything knowing that she was in the building.
Alex looked up from the panel of buttons, still contemplating pushing the one marked with an L, and stared out the parted door at the clean titanium Collins/Fischer logo that faced him. “Goddammit,” he muttered to himself. That was his name on the company’s logo. He owned the fucking building. He’d worked his ass off to get where he was. He’d fought every adversary, every odd that had been stacked against him, and he’d persevered. If he couldn’t handle having one woman in his vicinity, then he might as well quit his job and go back to where he’d come from, become his father. Instead, he took a deep breath, scrubbed his hand over his face and exited the elevator, stepping into the hallway.
Collins/Fischer, a normally loud and bustling company, was quiet. Of course it was; it was barely 7:00 a.m. And while Alex and Brett liked to get an early start, they didn’t expect their staff to get in that early, and most waited until nine. Early morning was their quiet time to arrange their projects and coordinate their schedules for the day and upcoming week.
Alex yawned, and on the way to his office, it occurred to him that he’d forgotten to restock the coffee in his office. The fine Panamanian beans he’d been so pleased with had not lasted the week with the long hours he’d been putting in. He’d have to order more. Like, twenty pounds more. But until then, the communal office coffee would have to do. He veered into the lunch room to his left instead of heading straight to his office.
He was stopped in his tracks, however, when he smelled the hints of a familiar spicy perfume, and he knew he wasn’t alone in the room. His breath caught in his throat when Maria turned to face him, gorgeous in a crisp white blouse, and a high-waisted gray pencil skirt that hit just above her knees. The look was completed with her thick black hair tied back into a bun and cherry-red high heels. Her outfit might have been modest in cut, but it somehow seemed to show off her delicious curves rather than hide them. She looked like the star of every fantasy a man could have about a woman in an office setting.
Her red lips spread in a grin. “Hi, Alex. Or should I say boss?” she asked with a throaty purr that made him sweat through his suit.
Maria was going to be the death of him.
If Rafael didn’t kill him first.
Alex nodded and walked past her to the espresso machine without returning her greeting. He busied himself preparing his own coffee, but he could feel her watching him. “What are you doing here?” he asked, not looking at her, trying to ignore his every response to her.
“I work here, remember?”
How could he forget? “What I mean is, it’s early. People don’t normally start showing up until at least eight thirty.”
“Brett emailed me and asked me to be here early so he can get me started, and he wants me to sit in on your morning meeting. Then I have to meet with Alana to get caught up on what you guys are working on. You start early—it only makes sense for your assistant to do the same.”
“You’re Brett’s assistant,” he reminded her with a grumble. His voice was thick, rough, with desire. He needed time to ease into his day without having to worry about his dick getting hard, imagining laying her out on his desk.
But she didn’t seem put off by his demeanor, and she laughed. “You’re grumpy in the morning, Alex.” Her high heels clicked on the floor as she walked over to a bank of cupboards, absently looking inside a couple, becoming acquainted with the room, before she moved closer to him still, opening the fridge. She bent at the waist and leaned in, putting her brown-bag lunch in a free space at the bottom. He looked over and took in the stellar view of her ass and the gray material stretching over her luscious curves. She stood, and Alex tried to look away, but he was like a man possessed, driven to her, unable to stop himself from coming up behind her. His fingers curled over her hips, gripping her, digging into her flesh.
He heard the shocked gasp exit her lips, and she fully straightened, bringing her back flush to his chest. “Alex.” Her voice was a whisper, but it rang out in the empty room.
He bowed his head, placed his lips on her temple and spoke against her skin. “Maria, I’m not sure what you do to me, but I just can’t resist you.”
“Maybe I don’t want you to resist.”
He pushed his hips against her ass, certain that she couldn’t mistake how hard he was. She was so warm and firm, but so goddamn soft. “We can’t, though. I know it. You know it. This has already gone too far.”
“I do know that. But I don’t understand why. If we want each other, what’s the harm?”
Alex knew one hundred reasons why not, but fuck him if he could think of one at that moment. Maria’s body just felt so good against his. He lowered his head, and with her back still against his chest, she turned her face in his direction. Their lips were only millimeters apart. He could feel her breath, almost taste her...
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