Brett smiles back at me, a wide smile that makes his eyes sparkle and reveals a tiny dimple in his left cheek.
I instantly want to reach up and touch it. The smile changes his whole face, making him look a little less serious, like he’s someone you could have actual fun with. “You know, smiling suits you. You should do it more often,” I blurt out without thinking.
Brett gives a soft laugh. “Is that so? Maybe you have some other suggestions, seeing as how you haven’t been able to take your eyes off me all night,” he says in a low voice.
His tone sets my heart racing. I feel my cheeks burning at his words. Dammit. He wasn’t supposed to notice. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say, and even to me, it sounds like the lie it is.
“Sure you do.” He flashes me that wide smile again.
For a second, I allow myself to forget that he’s my boss and I’ve just massively embarrassed myself in front of him. In fact, I forget everything except how his eyes look as he smiles. He winks at me and I feel my pussy clench.
“Do you know how I know that?” he asks. He doesn’t wait for me to answer, “I know it because I haven’t been able to stop watching you either, Opal.”
It should be creepy to hear he’s been watching me all night, but it isn’t. It’s brilliant, amazing and just what I wanted to hear.
Brett looks totally relaxed and confident, even as he tells me he’s been watching me. He looks sexier than ever if that’s even possible. His words and the wine come together inside of me to make me brave and I smile at him, a half smile that raises only one corner of my lips. “Are you saying you find me attractive?” I ask in a soft, breathy voice.
Brett doesn’t answer immediately, but he looks me up and down, his eyes sweeping slowly across every inch of my body.
His hot penetrating gaze makes me feel naked. I feel the heat in my cheeks increasing, and my heart is beating so fast I think it might explode. My body is taut, primed, craving his touch.
“I think we both know the answer to that question,” he says. His voice is dripping with lust, his eyes darkening, and he takes a step closer to me.
He’s standing so close now that I can feel the heat emanating from his body. If I moved forward so much as an inch, I would be pressed against him.
I can see the movement in his chest as he breathes, and I can feel his breath on my face. He’s breathing faster than normal and I know I am too. I so desperately want to lean in and run my tongue gently over his lips, and then press my mouth against his. I want him to wrap me in his arms and never let me go. I want to taste every inch of him, run my hands over his whole body.
“Why Mr. Connell, I do believe you’re flirting with me,” I say with a teasing smile.
I want so badly for him to kiss me that it’s like a physical ache inside of me. I hope my words will push him over the edge and make him do it.
Instead, they have the opposite effect. He takes a step back from me, opening up a gap between us. He takes a sip of his wine and clears his throat. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me,” he says. The playful tone is gone from his voice and his eyes no longer burn into mine. “It would be awfully unprofessional if anything were to happen between us.”
Cursing myself inside, I realize I called him Mr. Connell because I thought it would sound sexy, like an Austen kind of sexy I guess. Instead, it reminded Brett that he’s my boss and reminded him why he can’t do this. Can’t do me.
Fuck.
He takes another drink, then he turns and heads back towards the double doors.
I don’t make any attempt to follow him. I’m still reeling from the closeness of his body to mine.
He reaches the doors and turns back for a moment. “For the record though, you look stunning tonight,” he says with a flash of a smile, then he turns back and disappears inside of the mansion.
8
Frozen to the spot for the moment, I stare at the door where Brett disappeared as if looking at that spot will somehow clear everything up for me. I never dared imagine for even a minute that Brett might find me as intoxicatingly attractive as I find him but now he’s shown me the truth, it makes me want him even more. We could enjoy each other’s bodies, make each other come to life. And does it really matter if he’s my boss? I mean we’re both adults and it isn’t like I’m thinking we should go around the office holding hands or anything. Surely, we can be professional at work and a little closer outside of work.
No one would ever have to know.
Whatever may or may not happen between Brett and I doesn’t change the fact I have a job to do right now. Or the fact the night air is becoming a little chilly, and the goose bumps on my arms are no longer just from Brett standing so close to me. I move towards the double doors and back into the mansion. I go through to the piano room and I instantly spot Brett before I have even consciously looked for him. It’s as though my eyes are just naturally attracted to his beauty, searching him out of their own accord.
He’s talking to Mr. Simmons again, and I decide against going over there. Mr. Simmons will only start quizzing me. To be honest, I’m still so thrown by my conversation with Brett
