“Even if you weren't my boss, I couldn't do this.”
His brows snapped together as he leaned forward in concern. “Why? You aren't attracted to me?”
“What? No!” I sputtered, flushing head to toe at the admission.
Great. Now he knew I had the hots for him too.
He grinned at my slip up but remained silent, smoldering on his side of the table.
“Look, we aren't compatible. You like Jewels but not Elena.”
“Bullshit.”
His reply hit me like a freight train, and all I could do was gawk, gripping the edge of the table to keep from toppling over. “Excuse me?”
“Bullshit,” he repeated.
“You've been rude to me from the moment we met!” I snapped. “That's not how you treat someone you like!”
“I've come a long way.” He offered another devastating smile, cracking my resolve with those beautiful blue eyes.
“You're hot and cold, sir.” I leaned back and averted my eyes, desperate to break the spell.
“Please don't call me that.”
“Okay. You're hot and cold, Jason.”
He narrowed his eyes, displeased with the smart ass reply. “You're being irrational.”
“You've gone out of your way to treat me like crap!” I growled. “You've only recently had a change of heart as if you even have one of those.”
“For one, I apologized.” He studied me before eyeing my lips, igniting those pesky butterflies I thought I exterminated long ago. “I've been keeping my distance for the sake of professionalism.”
“What?” He treated me like crap out of professionalism? That was a new one.
“I've wanted to fuck you since I first laid eyes on you.”
I would have been less shocked if a gorilla came rollerskating through with a four-piece band in tow. “Excuse me?” Clearly, I misheard him or was hallucinating.
“You heard me. And don't act like you don't feel the same. I've heard your conversations with Lee.”
“What conversations?”
His hands unclasped, and he leaned back, a throaty chuckle rumbling forth. “You were discussing how I engage in strictly outercourse or missionary only. No whammies.”
It was worse than I imagined. There was no escaping. “Oh ... we were joking around, and I didn't realize you were behind me. Sorry.” Whew. God, strike me dead to get me out of the hot seat, please.
“You're oh so wrong.” His smile widened, and he crossed his arms over his chest.
“About?” I asked, voice barely more than a whisper.
“All of it, doll.”
There was no response to that. I froze in place, suspended by his words. My cheeks had to be blazing.
“Listen. Pretend you don't know me, and I'll pretend I don't know you. In all honesty, we don't know each other at all. You have preconceived notions about me, and I know nothing about you though plenty from afar. Purposely.”
“Purposely?” I asked, raising a brow.
“I told you. I've wanted you from the minute I laid eyes on you.” He reached out and cradled my hand in his, and I let him. “I knew I couldn't get too close because it would be trouble. If any of this has taught me anything, it's that I need a little trouble here and there.”
I was done for, slipping into the depths of yet another colossal mistake. I was putty in his hands, and the bastard knew it. My heart leaped at each word, and I wanted to forget the Jason Barrett I knew.
He went out of his way to save me from the terrible run-in with Justin. He didn't make me feel unwanted at all, walking me to my car after to make sure I was safe.
That small act of kindness saved me from a night of tears. And as Bear, he made me laugh, helping me forget about the pain once and for all. Maybe he wasn't such a monster. Perhaps he really was a guy trying to keep his desires at bay.
I stared at his face, taking in every detail. That strong jaw. Those stunning eyes. Those forever angsty brows. He was every woman's dream and then some.
There he was asking for one night to try something out, to get to know one another without the weight of Croft or the fear of rules and repercussions.
He was Bear. My Bear. The same man who I looked forward to talking to at the end of a long day. The same man I was dying to meet. He was right there the entire time.
What was the harm in one night? We could laugh and chat. There was no harm in it.
“Hello there, Bear.” He grinned at his nickname. “My name is Elena Julian. You may know me as Jewels.”
Jason
I was a goner. Elena Julian was more than a beauty with a body made for sin. She was witty, charming, and, best of all, hilarious.
She could have run out of there at the sight of me and never looked back, and with how I treated her before, she should have. But she stayed. She stayed, and she laughed, and she wrapped me around her little finger with every word.
We bantered about the business over dinner, lamenting about the outdated system, and cackling over suppliers. She wowed me with industry knowledge, listing product lines and material needs that seasoned marketing managers couldn't keep straight. She had a degree in supply chain and logistics, the perfect fit for a product role, not the position they had her in. It was no wonder she was on top of everything.
Unlike other dates who’d pick at salads, she respected the glory of Colby's, ordering a filet with whipped potatoes, savoring each bite. It was strangely erotic watching her, the tension long gone, replaced with subtle, sultry moves I never noticed in anyone before.
Her fingers snaked around her wine glass brought images of them on my cock to my mind, those full lips pressed to my flesh. The timid brunette from the sales floor was now a confident vixen, morphing into a living, breathing fantasy. She was radiant, skin flushed with a dewy glow, hair tucked
