“Forgive me, do you need a moment to…” Logan waved in the general direction of her chest, and Hannah fought the immediate blush which crept into her cheeks. Damn her fair skin.
"Yes, thank you." She mumbled the words and, turning her back onto the room, hastily fixed the button back in place. Monique rolled her eyes when Hannah turned back around, not that she had any chance to respond to the other woman's silent sneer because Logan continued.
"Like Ms. Watson quite correctly pointed out, sometimes you need to invest to gain the later benefits. With the government's drive to raise awareness of the rising issue of domestic violence, this is a timely and worthwhile proposal that I am happy to support. Hannah, you will be project manager for this. Monique, you will be her assistant. James, I expect that you will make available the necessary funds to ensure this event is a great success."
He paused, looked around the room and smiled. When his dark gaze landed on her, Hannah had to remind herself to keep on breathing.
“I’m counting on you to make this a success.”
"Yes, sir." Try as she might she couldn't project her voice past a breathy whisper, and his smile deepened, turning sinful. Hannah’s traitorous body reacted like a puppet on a string. Her nipples firmed and pushed against the confines of her cotton bra, and she squeezed her thighs together to relieve the ache between her legs. Lord help her, if he ever truly turned on the charm, she would be putty in his hands. No doubt he knew his way around a woman's body, and judging by his darkening gaze he knew exactly what effect he was having on her. Damn the man and her wayward libido.
He reached under the table as though he was adjusting himself, and that thought did absolutely nothing to calm down the rapid beat of her heart.
“Very well then, go. Make it happen, all of you.”
Hannah didn’t need to be told twice. She legged it away from him and the sinful temptation her boss represented, as fast as her wobbly legs could carry her.
****
Logan smiled to himself as he approached the Savoy’s Lancaster Ballroom several weeks later. No expense had been spared for this event, and little Hannah had done the company proud. Not only had she secured an impressive number of celebrities willing to allow themselves to be auctioned off, it seemed she had changed her mind about being on stage herself. He’d been surprised and, if he was honest with himself, somewhat irritated when he’d seen her on the auction list. Ever since her passionate delivery of a proposal clearly very dear to her heart, and her subsequent wardrobe malfunction, his body responded to her nearness with the predictability of a teenage boy’s. It was irritating and uncomfortable in equal measures.
He was an experienced man for fuck's sake, and that brief glimpse of creamy flesh spilling over the top of a sensible cotton bra shouldn't have had the power to wake up his libido with the force of a roaring lion. That's exactly what it had done, however. It had taken a hell of a long time for his erection to subside, which meant he'd had ample time to sit in that chair and peruse her proposal in some detail. Like her personnel file had suggested, Hannah Watson was a hardworking, trustworthy individual, a real asset to the firm. Too bad the previous owner—a chauvinistic asshole, the worst Logan had ever had the misfortune to associate with—made it a habit to promote only the males of the company.
Add to that the underlying air of sexual harassment, and one of his first tasks of CEO had been an overhaul of the policies on equal employment. Logan might be a ruthless bastard when it came to the companies he took over, and he had no compunction in tearing a company apart and rebuilding it, but he appreciated hard work and loyalty when he saw it, and Hannah had all those things in spades. A little dynamo who hid her curves under sensible work attire that made a man itch to discover what lay beneath.
Not that Logan was that man. No, with the current shitstorm in his private life, the last thing he needed was to get entangled in any sort of romance. And little Hannah Watson definitely was the happy ever after type, or so he had thought until she'd come up with this proposal. Maybe the little dove held a naughty side after all.
He swiped a flute of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter and perused that list in his hand again. She was definitely on there, so maybe he could finally use this opportunity to get her out of his system.
His breath stalled in his lungs when he spotted her. She seemed to be in a heated discussion with Monique. He was well aware that the other woman's nose had been put out of joint when he'd made Hannah her superior for this project, and there didn't seem to be any love lost between the two women now. Seeing them seemingly engaged in a discussion over the auction list gave him pause for thought. Monique had been in charge of the print outs, so it
