IN BED WITH THE BOSS

There was room to stand although, and, in an effort to find Scott, Vivian began to push her way forward, when she froze.

Because he was there.

Difficult to see, true, because he was surrounded by a nucleus of glamorous women who seemed to be straining towards him, drawn like iron filings to a magnet.

But his presence was as unmistakable as it was remarkable. That tall, wide-shouldered yet lean body.

The jet-dark hair and the glittering stormy eyes. And before they could be trained in her direction Vivian fled-making her way back through the hall and out through the exit door, like someone seeking sanctuary.

The air was surprisingly clean and pure and scented, with only the faint drone of traffic reminding her that she was in the city. Vivian took a sip of her drink, but the wine almost made her choke when she sensed, rather than heard, someone behind her and she spun round to see the tall, dark figure watching her, unmoving , the dark eyes unreadable, and she stood, rooted to the spot, as if she were part of the garden itself.

He had seen her, of course. Through the smoke and the cloying perfume and the dazzle of the party outfits he had noticed her in the scarlet dress, but she was even more surprised that he’d noticed her so fast even with the blond wig.

As for Scott, the party had been boring without her. He’d spent a huge part of it wondering where she was and when she had told him that she was stuck in traffic, he had regretted not picking her up. But then she’d showed up finally, and he wouldn’t have noticed her if he hadn’t been paying close attention to the entrance.

The change in her hair color had surprised him at first, but then a small smile had lifted the corners of his hard mouth as he watched her. Was there anything this woman couldn’t pull off? Their eyes had met and then he had observed her hurried departure from the room. Had she known, or expected-that he would follow her?

Well, he had.

“Hello, Miss Sanchez,” he said softly.

Vivian swallowed. “H-hi.” she replied.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Scott felt his heart accelerate as he moved towards her. The color of the dress she wore was as hot as a flame and yet she still carried with her that cool and untouchable air about her, which was ironic really, considering that she looked as though she had been born just for a man’s touch. His touch.

His mouth tightened as he drank in the lush curves, the whisper of silk against the endless legs made longer still by the outrageously high heels she was wearing. And those hips….

He had tried not to think about her for weeks, and yet had done nothing but think about her. She seemed to represent some inexplicable danger and he couldn’t work out why. Was it because circumstances had brought her into his life as an employee? Some people had affairs in the workplace all the time, and he’d always thought they were crazy. Never in his life had he thought that he’d ever be in this situation.

Any kind of personal relationship with her would be dangerous, but as the days had gone on the danger had seemed to become something to be faced rather than to be avoidable. He hadn’t realized how much he had been waiting for this moment until now.

Vivian’s heart thudded at the expression she read in his eyes-predatory, sensual, full of promise.

“You’re looking very… spectacular,” he said carefully.

So was he. Oh, so was he!

“It is a party,” she said equally carefully.

This close she could see the faint shadow around his jaw, the dark crisp sprinkling of hair revealed by the couple of buttons of his white silk shirt which he had undone.

“I’m so sorry that I arrived so late, Mr McCall. I -”

“It’s alright,” Scott replied. “You were delayed by traffic. That’s okay…”

“Oh, thank you, Sir,” Vivian replied, noticing how much calmer he was…. Almost different in fact.

He put his glass down on the table. “Your hair…” he said.

She gave him a cool smile, and without realizing what she was doing lifted her hands and tugged gently on a tendril. “It’s a wig,” she replied.

“So I gather. It looks really good.”

She gave him a quick glance, thinking she sensed sarcasm, but the expression on his face made him look as though he had meant it.

Vivian thought how different he seemed tonight. In the office she had caught only glimpses of his devastating sensual nature, but tonight that man was revealed in all his unmistakable glory.

“Missed me at the office today?” he mocked.

Vivian was confused for a moment, then she remembered that he’d been absent at the office throughout the day, but why would he ask her if she missed him? That was –

She realized then-he was flirting with her! It was right there in his eyes, and she suddenly felt cold all over. She had two options now. Ignore him and tell him to stop, or throw caution into the wind and flirt right back.

But she was Vivian Sanchez, and whenever it came to Scott McCall, she seemed to always make the wrong decisions. She met the challenge in his eyes. “What do you think, Mr Mc-”

“Scott….” he interrupted.

“What?”

“Call me Scott” he said softly. “We’re not in the office right now. At least, tonight…. Call me Scott.”

Vivian’s eyes narrowed. “Oh okay… Scott…”

“Sounds better, doesn’t it?”

She swallowed, “Yeah. Yeah. I guess it does. So…”

She’d forgotten what she was talking about. He seemed to notice, and he grinned. A crazy, boyish grin as if proud of the attack he was wrecking on her nervous system.

“I asked if you missed me at the office” he reminded her.

“Oh” she nodded. “Yeah, and I asked what you think”

“I think that maybe you did.”

Vivian smiled shyly and shook her head. “You really are unbelievable, Mr Mc-Scott” she murmured.

“So I’ve been told.”

“That wasn’t what I meant and you know it!” Her eyes looked like they were lit with fire and her mouth was a soft, scarlet invitation. How he had hungered for her, and now his appetite was growing by the minute.

“It wasn’t such a terrible assumption to make, was it, Vivian? It’s just that I missed you and thought that perhaps the feeling might be mutual.”

Her heart skipped a beat. “You-missed me?”

“Mmm.” Scott murmured. He wanted to reach his hand out and free her hair, clip by scarlet clip. “I wasn’t expecting to, but I did.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

His dark eyes shone as he shook his dark, ruffled head. “Only if you take it as one. It’s the truth-nothing more, nothing less.”

There was something ominous about that. Nothing more, nothing less. As if he was setting out some guidelines. Instinct told her to get away from him while she still had the ability to do so, but some unfathomable emotion tempted her to stay.

“Well, I’m here.”

“Yes.” His eyes drifted over her and when he spoke the one word was delivered so softly that she could barely hear it.

“Look.” She followed the direction of his gaze as he positioned his finger a hair’s breadth away from the tiny goose bumps at the top of her arm and traced an imaginary line right down to her wrist. He wasn’t even touching her and yet inside she felt as if she were turning to jelly. She stared at him.

“See?” he whispered. “The evening is warm and yet you’re cold and trembling. And your eyes are flashing a complex message at me. On the one hand you look as if you would like me as far away from you as possible, while, on the other, as if there was nowhere else you’d rather be. So which is it, Vivian?”

“The former,” she breathed.

“No,” he contradicted.

“Oh, yes. I nearly called to tell you that I had fallen sick or something just so I wouldn’t come” she told him.

For some reason, this stirred him even more. “Well, I did the opposite. I was looking forward to the evening because I wanted to see you tonight… out of the office…. and I thought you might look very beautiful. And you do. Very beautiful.”

Vivian despised the frantic beat of her heart which raced in response to the honeyed caress of his voice.

“You could have told me that clearly then, so I’d know what I was coming for”

“But I prefer the unexpected,” he said softly. “I saw you in there way before you saw me, but I waited because I wanted to see the look on your face when you saw me, and I wasn’t disappointed.”

Oh, Lord-did that mean she had completely given herself away?

His eyes were drifting over her now-unashamed predator. He still carried with him the indefinable air of control, but tonight the mask had slipped slightly.