Play Thing. Nicola Marsh

      ‘You’ve never called him anything other than nasty names before. What’s with the breathy tone? Is he hot?’

      ‘You don’t know the half of it,’ Charlotte muttered, wishing she’d grabbed the morning tea order and made a run for it.

      Abby grinned and rubbed her hands together. ‘I sense a story.’

      ‘Yeah, a horror story.’ Charlotte sighed and internally debated how much to tell her friend.

      ‘That bad, huh?’ Abby patted her hand. ‘Why don’t you tell dear Abby all about it?’

      Charlotte usually laughed at her friend’s corny joke whenever she used that line. She barely mustered a wan smile today.

      ‘I had sex with him.’

      The tartlet Abby had halfway to her mouth fell to the floor and landed upside down with a small splat. ‘What did you just say?’

      ‘You heard me.’ Charlotte grimaced, hating the way her stomach churned. She could have blamed it on hunger, considering she hadn’t eaten a thing since last night, but she knew better. ‘I did something crazy yesterday and now the karma gods are paying me back big time.’

      Abby gaped at her and she didn’t blame her. Charlotte hadn’t had a date in all the time she’d known her so the fact she’d just announced she’d had sex with her boss would be as unbelievable as flying to the moon.

      ‘I think you better start at the beginning.’ Abby grabbed a serviette, scooped up the smashed tartlet, and placed it on the table. ‘Though you’ll have to make it the quick version because I’ve got another batch of croissants in the oven.’

      Charlotte inhaled a breath and blew it out. Yeah, like that would calm her nerves. Thinking about what she’d done was bad enough. Articulating it would make it all too real.

      ‘Short version. My aunt got called away to Byron Bay to help a sick friend. She had to urgently vacate the warehouse she rents to store her merchandise and asked me to do it. So I was there, packing stuff, when the hottest guy on the planet walked in and we ended up having sex.’

      Jeez, it did sound crazier spoken out loud.

      Abby, astute as ever, eyed her with speculation. ‘You’re not telling me everything. Why would you have sex with some random stranger, hot or otherwise?’

      Heat flushed Charlotte’s cheeks as she remembered exactly how hot sex with Alex had been. The way he’d looked at her, the way he’d touched her, the way he’d pounded into her...her insides clenched at the incredible, erotic memory. ‘Well, I was in a weird mood, lamenting my rather pitiful social life, so decided to try on some of the lingerie.’

      Abby let out a whoop of laughter. ‘No way. He walked in on you?’

      ‘In faux leather, no less. Bustier and thong. A real eye-opener.’ Her sardonic response elicited more laughter.

      ‘So you’re blaming the lingerie?’

      ‘If only.’ Charlotte shook her head, wishing she could blame her lapse in judgement on something so trivial. ‘The lingerie made me feel bold but it was more than that...he really looked at me and I liked it.’

      ‘Oh, sweetie.’ Abby leaned over and hugged her. ‘You’re beautiful. The guy has good taste.’

      She snorted. ‘I’m average at best and he must have thought I was easy in that get-up.’

      Abby frowned and tut-tutted. ‘Why do you put yourself down like that?’

      ‘Habit,’ Charlotte wanted to say, but she wisely kept silent. Abby had always chastised her for being self-pitying and Charlotte agreed it wasn’t an attractive trait. Didn’t mean it stopped her from lamenting her lack of a love life in her quieter moments.

      ‘Anyway, I lost my head, had the best sex of my life, then walk into my new boss’s office this morning and realise he’s the hot-sex guy.’

      ‘I can’t believe this.’ Abby’s eyes widened, her expression awestruck. ‘It’s like something out of those romance novels you devour.’

      ‘I know, right?’ Charlotte couldn’t help but smirk. ‘Who knew I had an inner vixen?’

      Abby squared her shoulders, her nod emphatic. ‘Well, I think it’s great. About time you had some fun.’

      ‘It’s not going to happen again.’

      Despite that tiny, insistent voice deep inside that whispered how great it would be to feel that good again.

      ‘How did he react when he saw you this morning?’

      ‘Not surprised.’

      Abby startled. ‘You mean he knew? About you working for him?’

      Charlotte nodded, anger quashing her momentarily lapse into wistful. ‘Yeah. He’s good at his job. Has a mega reputation in the accountancy world for taking ailing firms and turning them around. So he researched me. In his defence, he said he didn’t recognise me—’

      ‘I bet he didn’t,’ Abby chortled.

      ‘I’d taken my hair down and my glasses off before trying on the lingerie, trying to get into some vampy character to see if I’d feel any different, so I guess I didn’t look anything like my work picture.’ She dabbed at pastry crumbs with her fingertip, pushing them around the plate, embarrassed to admit how she’d been role playing for a brief moment in time at that warehouse. ‘He said he only recognised me later, when I used a phrase I’ve been using a lot in our business dealings.’

      ‘Well, I’m assuming it wasn’t take me now?’

      Charlotte shot Abby a death glare and she laughed.

      ‘He sounds like a bad, bad boy, not telling you the truth immediately when he recognised you.’ Abby snapped her fingers. ‘Hey, isn’t that what you said you wanted before Mak left, a bad boy?’

      ‘Yeah, be careful what you wish for.’ Charlotte rolled her eyes. ‘Now I have to work with that bad boy for a month and pretend he didn’t rock my world. Several times.’

      Abby beamed. ‘You go, girl.’

      Charlotte managed a wry smile. ‘The only place I’m going right now is back to work with some of your amazing pastries, so the ratfink can try and buy us off with treats.’

      Abby’s smile faded. ‘You’ll be okay, yeah? Working with him?’

      ‘I’ll be fine,’ Charlotte said, hoping her conviction lasted when faced with the prospect of working one-on-one with her dishy boss for the foreseeable future.

       CHAPTER EIGHT

      ALEX FOUND HIS gaze drifting to the elevator all too often as he mingled with staff in their cubicles. Charlotte should have been back by now and the longer she stayed away, the more he wondered whether she had done a runner.

      Not that she struck him as the flighty type. Not if her work record was any indication. But if she’d been half as rattled as him after their earlier meeting...

      Damn, he hadn’t expected to be so affected by her. He’d been prepared to make his confession, ensure she understood and move on to work. He hadn’t expected to be so confused.

      His visceral reaction to seeing her again startled him. His gut had griped like he’d drunk too much fine cab sav when he’d seen her in that professional get-up. There’d been nothing remotely sexy about her skirt, blouse and jacket, but when she’d looked at him—albeit in stunned horror—he’d felt it like a kick in the head.

      It had something to do with her eyes. Those cool, grey orbs held a world of secrets and he’d