In Love Read online

  Charlotte’s eyes lit up, but she quickly tried to hide her excitement behind a blasé attitude. “Of course, Mr. Whitney. I’m ready when you are.”

  “I believe that’s my line,” I gibed dryly.

  Her cheeks turned pink, and my groin tightened. The smallest blushes were visible on her pale, creamy skin. It was something I adored, along with the sprinkling of freckles that I wanted to connect with my tongue. “I—um—I have no idea to what you are referring.” She stumbled over her words, even as she glared at me in annoyance.

  “Yesterday in the supply closet says different, baby.”

  Charlotte let out an adorable little growl, glared at me one last time, then spun around and marched out of my office.

  For the first time that day, my lips spread in a smile. Riling her up was almost as fun as making her hot for me. Both were pretty easy to accomplish. Like how she’d just been so keyed up, or like the day before, when I had cornered her in the supply closet after I sent her there to retrieve...whatever it was.

  When I had opened the door, she was bent over, trying to collect something from a lower shelf, putting her heart-shaped ass on perfect display.

  “Charlotte,” I snapped as I stepped into the room, shutting and locking the door behind me.

  Startled, she went to stand too fast and smacked her head on the shelf above. “Ouch! Dammit!”

  Guilt crept in as she winced and rubbed her head. I never wanted to be the source of her pain. I pulled her into my arms, and while she didn’t relax into my embrace, she didn’t push me away either. “I’m sorry.” I kissed her forehead. “I didn’t mean to make you jump.”

  “Then don’t sneak up on me and growl!” she scolded as she broke away from me—only because I let her, and we both knew it. I bit back a smile; I loved it when she showed her fiery side. She was normally good at keeping calm, but that redhead temper couldn’t always be contained. And it was sexy as fuck.

  Charlotte put her hands on her hips and glared at me while her mouth turned down in a frown. It was hard to concentrate when she did that because the shape of her lips made it look more like a sexy little pout. One I was dying to kiss away.

  “Is there a reason you followed me in here and snarled my name like Oscar the Grouch?”

  I would have laughed if she hadn’t reminded me why I’d been angry. “Anyone could have walked in here and seen your sexy ass on display.” I snaked an arm around her waist and yanked her back into me, using my free hand to grasp her chin so she had nowhere to look except my eyes. “No one gets to see what’s mine, Charlotte. Do you understand?”

  She swallowed audibly and her pupils, which were already dilated from the darkness, grew to nearly eclipse her entire iris. A shiver raced down her spine and her heart rate accelerated, causing a wicked smile to form on my face. She wouldn’t admit it, but her body reacted to my dominance with passion. “Are you wet for me, Charlotte?” I asked in a low, husky tone.

  “You shouldn’t be asking me that at work,” she hissed even as her thighs tensed and her legs squeezed together.

  I raised a brow, and her cheeks flared with heat. “Shall I ask you at home in my bed, baby?”

  Her blush began to spread, and she closed her eyes while taking a deep breath. Then they flew open, and a fire grew in their green depths as she glared at me. “Do you always have to smell so good, dang it?”

  I couldn’t help it; my face split with a wide grin while Charlotte muttered to herself and tried to escape my grip. I released her chin but kept her body pressed up against mine. “When are you going to stop playing games, little girl, and give in to what we both want?”

  Charlotte gasped. “I’m not a little girl,” she objected.

  I lowered my head until our mouths were centimeters apart and whispered, “Prove it,” before sealing my mouth over hers.

  Fuck, I loved her taste. I devoured her, feeding off her moans and fighting my need to be inside her. Charlotte was petite, something I loved because our height difference intrigued me. I felt big and strong next to her. I knew I could protect her.

  But making out was a lot easier if I picked her up. I turned and backed her up to a shelf, then slid my hand up her thighs, bunching her skirt as I palmed her plump ass and lifted her. I angled my head to deepen the kiss and ground my steel erection against her pussy. With so few layers between us, the heat from her sex engulfed my cock, and I finally had to stop before I either came all over her or took her for the first time on the floor of the supply room. Neither option was acceptable to me.

  Charlotte was panting hard, trying to catch her breath as she slumped in my arms, devoid of strength. I wanted to point out that if we were at home in bed, she could have climaxed before collapsing on a very comfy surface. But I didn’t want to push her too far.

  “Okay,” I agreed after gulping down some air. “You are definitely a woman, baby.”

  Charlotte harrumphed and didn’t say anything else, probably because she didn’t have the energy. I couldn’t help being a little cocky about that.

  “But you’re still playing games, Charlotte,” I said quietly.

  Her head lifted, and the indecision in her eyes was clear. She didn’t know what she wanted, and as much as I hated it, I had to give her time to realize all she wanted was me.

  So, I set her gently on her feet and smoothed her skirt back into place. Then I straightened and placed a soft kiss on her swollen lips. “I’ll wait a little longer,” I told her. “Just know, I’m ready when you are.”

  She stared at me for a moment more, then nodded before walking to the door and flipping the lock. Her eyes dropped to my crotch, then back up to my face, and I was almost positive I saw a small smile appear. “I think it’s safe to assume you’ll stay in here for a bit so no one knows we were in here together?”

  I was irritated with her insistence on hiding. However, she was right. I needed to calm my dick down, or I’d be hobbling back to my office with an uncomfortable and more than obvious bulge in my pants. I was well endowed, which made it more difficult to hide when I was hard. Until the day Charlotte entered my life, it hadn’t been a problem for...so long that I wasn’t sure I could even remember. I’d certainly never had this strong or deep of a reaction to a woman. I knew without a doubt that until Charlotte, I‘d never been in love or anything close to it.

  I’d only managed to hold off pursuing Charlotte for a day. Her second day in the office, I asked her to have dinner with me, and she declined, citing professionalism in the workplace. Absolute bullshit.

  I put a tail on her immediately. If I couldn’t be there to watch over her, then I had someone—female someones—doing it for me. They sent me regular updates with pictures to see for myself that she was safe and didn’t spend time with anyone I would have to murder.

  All of the photos went into an encrypted file on an external hard drive, so they couldn’t be hacked. I made damn sure by having the best in cybersecurity, Jonah Carrington’s company, create it for me. The pictures were my only constant connection to her. They fueled my fantasies, even the ones of her simply reading in the bay window of her townhouse. Satisfying myself hadn’t been an issue in the past, but since Charlotte came into my life, the only thing I wanted wrapped around my cock were her hands, lips, or pussy. But after looking through the photos—hell, even when I hadn’t gone through them—it wasn’t unusual to find myself a sticky mess after dreaming about all the things I wanted to do to her.

  Over the next two weeks, I subtly touched her as much as possible. It made me hard as a fucking rock when she would let out a tiny gasp or her breath would stop for a second. It made me want to fill her mouth with something else.

  When I couldn’t stand the distance anymore, I called her into my office right before quitting time, and point-blank asked her what the problem was. She’d turned it back around and asked me if I’d only hired her so I could sleep with her.

  In my desperate need to be near her, to make her mine forever, it hadn’t occurred to
me she would make an assumption like that.

  “I’m not going to lie and say I didn’t want you from the moment I laid eyes on you,” I admitted. Her face fell, and I held up a hand, silently telling her there was more. I leaned back in my chair and folded my arms over my chest, wanting her to see me in my professional hat when I told her the truth.

  “I looked at your resume and transcripts, Charlotte. I don’t know why you were in that group of interns because you are grossly overqualified. You’re intelligent, and you clearly have an excellent work ethic if your transcripts and recommendation from Diego Sanchez are anything to go by.”

  Her face brightened a little, and I nodded. “Yes, I called your references.”

  “Now, I will confess that you aren’t as experienced as my other assistants, but you exude enthusiasm and a desire to learn. The opportunity to teach you appealed to me because you have such amazing potential.”

  I was pleased to see the relief in Charlotte’s eyes and noticeably less tense posture, but as she turned to leave, I called, “Wait a minute, Charlotte.”

  She hesitantly did an about-face and watched me warily. “You never answered my question.”

  “What question?” Her voice was all innocence, and her expression was serene. I didn't buy it for a second.

  “You know exactly what I’m talking about, baby. But I’ll repeat myself so there is no confusion. Why won’t you have dinner with me?”

  “I—um—” she stammered as she tried to come up with an answer. “I’m not attracted to you.”

  I was out of my chair and standing toe to toe with her before she realized what was happening. With one hand on her waist, I threaded the other into her copper hair and made a fist so I could slowly force her head back. Staring into her eyes, I let her see the hardness in mine, and my tone was practically steel when I seethed, “Do not ever lie to me again, Charlotte.” I attempted for some softness when I added, “I will always be honest with you”—not counting omission when it’s for your own good—“and I expect the same in return. Do you understand?”

  I had too tight of a grip on her hair for her to motion with her head. “Yes,” she replied softly.

  “Good.” I gave her a firm kiss on the mouth, then whispered, “You won’t like the consequences if I find out you’ve lied to me.” Then I released her completely and returned to my desk and sat in my chair. “Now, let’s try this again. Why?”

  Charlotte puffed out a breath and put her hands on her hips, her eyes spitting fire. It was the first time I’d glimpsed that side of her, and holy fucking shit, it was hot as hell. “I love this job, Mr. Whitney.”

  “Rhett,” I interjected.

  “And dating in the workplace is just stupid. I don’t want a messy breakup blowing everything I’ve worked so fucking hard for!” She was yelling by the time she finished, and I would have cracked a smile about it if I hadn’t been pissed about something else.

  I narrowed my eyes at her in warning. “Watch your language, Charlotte.”

  “You can’t—”

  “Didn’t you just tell me all about how I was your boss?” I countered before she finished her dispute. “And eventually, I’ll be your man. And neither your boss nor your man want to hear such fucking vulgarity coming out of such a gorgeous, intelligent mouth. Am I being clear?”

  “But you—”

  “If I hear language like that from your mouth, I’m going to fill it with something else,” I grunted. Her eyes went wide, but I had shit to ponder, so I excused her with an, “I need to get back to work.”

  Charlotte’s expression was a little crestfallen until she realized what she was doing and smoothed it over with a blank canvas. I didn’t want her to think I’d given up on us because no matter what she believed in her head, I saw that her heart had been hurt by the possibility. I would rather see fire in her eyes, even if she was spitting mad at me, than the deadpan expression she was currently wearing.

  “Charlotte?”

  “Yes?” She paused on her way to the door and twisted her neck to look back at me over her shoulder.

  “There is one exception to that rule.”

  Her lips curled down. “The language thing?”

  I nodded solemnly. “You can say all the dirty things you want when you’re in bed with me.”

  Her mouth dropped open, and she floundered for a response. Finally, she straightened her shoulders and snapped, “Good to know that if I’m ever killing you while you sleep, I can call you a pompous motherfucker.” Then she turned around and marched out of the office.

  I laughed so hard tears leaked from the corners of my eyes. Damn, I loved her. She was so fucking adorable.

  And the fact that HR wasn’t breathing down my neck with a sexual harassment lawsuit told me Charlotte felt more for me than she wanted to admit. If I hadn’t believed that with every fiber of my being, I wouldn’t have put my business and reputation on the line for her. The truth was, I’d go to hell and back to make her mine.

  2

  Rhett

  Over the next two weeks, I arranged more stolen moments, sent her flowers, and brought in her favorites for dinner when I asked her to work later. But she was stubbornly refusing to acknowledge what was between us, and it was frustrating the hell out of me.

  Case in point, the way I practically snarled at her in my office.

  However, I’d hatched a plan and was about to put it into motion. I’d been grooming Charlotte to take on more responsibility in the company, not only something I knew she wanted but also something she deserved. She was damn good at her job. Mentoring her was also a helpful tool in refuting her suspicion that I only hired her to get between her legs. Not that it hadn’t been a factor in the equation.

  I intended to help her legitimately make her way up the ladder if that was what she wanted. I wasn’t so old-fashioned that I believed my woman should do nothing except be a wife and a mother. If Charlotte wanted to continue working, I had no problem with that as long as her office was always next to mine, and she spent her lunch hours spread out on my desk as my dessert.

  I’d even take a page from K-Corp’s book and construct a daycare in the building so our children were always close. Now, if she wanted to be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen, I had no complaint about that either. As long as she understood that either plan included filling her belly with a houseful of babies.

  And I knew she wanted children because she couldn’t stop talking about her niece and lit up like Times Square on New Year’s Eve every time. She’d even mentioned how she hoped her kids would be close in age to her sister’s. She was rarely talking to me when these things slipped out, but I was always near enough to hear them. And they bolstered my confidence in my plans.

  She’d even admitted to wanting a large family. The last time we looked at a prospectus for a building that we would turn into condos, she’d looked over the floor plans and shook her head. “Look at these two lines.” She pointed at the blueprints before she started talking animatedly with her hands.

  “One of the problems I’ve seen as I looked for an apartment in this city is that so few are family friendly. All of these designs are for single people or couples. You need ones for a family, and these two are perfect. Just push that wall over here and add a closet over here. It will make a nice size nursery or bedroom for an older child.” Then she pushed that one aside and sketched out the alterations that she thought would work for the other plan. “If I have a family someday, I would be very happy with one of these as a starter home. Of course, it wouldn’t work for long because I want lots of babies, but for small families, if it’s set up right, they’ll stay until their child is grown, and maybe even after that.”

  My intercom beeped, drawing me back to the present. “Thirty minutes, Rhett,” Lois reminded me. That was all she said before switching it off. She might seem abrupt to some, but one of the reasons I worked well with Lois was her clear and succinct communication.

  I pushed my chair back and collected my
cell phone and keys, then stood and grabbed my suit jacket off the chair behind me. Instead of putting it on, though, I draped it over my arm, then picked up a satchel bag and strolled out of my office. It was a beautiful spring day in New York, and the building was less than half a mile away, so it would be fastest to walk there.

  Lois didn’t look away from her computer as I left my office, but she held up a folder for me to take as I passed by. “Thanks,” I said as I set my bag on her desk and slipped the file into it before closing it up and walking the three steps to Charlotte’s door.

  “Let’s go, ba—” I coughed to cover my almost blunder and cleared my throat. “Charlotte, it’s time to go.”

  She’d been typing on her laptop, and her fingers halted, her head whipping up to glare at me. It seemed I hadn’t fooled her. I responded with a shrug, only somewhat remorseful over the situation. I understood being professional in the workplace, but very soon, she would be my wife, and slipups like that were bound to happen.

  Charlotte took a deep breath and hit a couple of keys on her computer before closing it. Then she opened a drawer and drew out her purse, slinging it over her shoulder as she stood. After rounding her desk, she picked up a folder and tucked it into her bag without breaking her stride. Being a large guy, I filled the doorway, but when she approached, I turned sideways to allow her through. Not that it left her much room, which meant she had to slide her body against mine as she exited.

  I didn’t miss the slight catch in her breath when she felt the sizable, hard bulge in my pants against her stomach. Fighting a grin, I murmured, “Are you ready to go, or do you need a minute?”

  She knew exactly what I was asking, and it showed in the scowl she tossed my way, even as she shifted uncomfortably.

  I put my hand at the small of her back and guided her toward the elevator. While we stood there waiting, I leaned down and whispered, “If you’re not going to let me take care of that little problem for you, I suggest you bring an extra set of panties with you every day.”