Engaged With The Boss. Elle James

she’d talked herself into a mild panic attack, one thing forging through her tumbled thoughts. She had to get out of his condo. The sooner the better.

      With a long look at the man she’d loved since the first day she came to work for him, Jolie slid from the bed and gathered her things. She slung her clothing on in the living room of the warehouse condo, not taking the time to button and zip her jean skirt. Her panties were ruined, so she’d have to go commando until she reached her apartment.

      Mostly dressed and eager to leave without waking Devin, Jolie slipped out the door a little after midnight.

      At the bottom of the staircase leading up to his condo, she turned toward the parking lot, pausing briefly to zip and button her skirt.

      A bright light flashed in her eyes and she squealed, throwing up her hands to shield her face from further attack.

      “Thanks, lady!” A man carrying a mammoth camera ran across the road and jumped into a car parked illegally against the curb. Before Jolie’s night vision recovered, he was gone.

      Her heart plummeting into her belly, she hurried toward her car. “Damned paparazzi.”

      Tomorrow there would be hell to pay.

       Chapter Three

      Jolie spent the rest of the night pacing the floor of her small apartment, nestled in a tight little community a few miles away from Devin’s condo. Definitely in a lower rent district.

      She’d tried to sleep but as soon as she lay against the sheets, she remembered lying next to Devin, curled against his side, his body warm and naked. Her skin heated, her breathing grew unsteady and a rush of lust washed over her. Sleep had been impossible.

      Now that she’d done the deed with the boss, she had decisions to make. Normally a methodical person, used to order and structure in her life, Jolie found that she couldn’t focus for ten seconds on anything.

      After the twentieth lap around her couch, she stopped in front of the wall and banged her head against the textured paint. “What have I done?”

      A simple gesture of concern had turned into one of the biggest mistakes of her life. And yet, she couldn’t totally regret what had happened. She’d always wanted to know what it would be like to make love to Devin Kendall. She just didn’t want to lose her job over it. Losing her job meant never seeing Devin again. She’d rather love him from the distance of his office to hers than from somewhere completely out of sight and mind.

      She also liked working for Kendall Communications. The company was headed in exciting new directions and she enjoyed being a part of the growth. Jolie loved the fast-paced environment of managing the CEO’s schedule. She’d made the necessary sacrifices to get where she was, going to school at night, paying her own way through business school and then crafting the winning résumé that landed her with Devin as his executive assistant.

      If she left Kendall Communications, where would she go to work? And if word got out that she was fired for sleeping with the boss, who would hire her?

      What a mess.

      Ten laps later, she checked the clock over the microwave. One hour before she should be getting up, anyway. She might as well get ready for work and start early. Maybe she could get the email, snail mail and the day’s in-box in order before Devin walked into the office.

      If their changed relationship didn’t work out, she’d have to move on. She wondered if Devin would give her a recommendation and almost laughed at how it might read. “Very organized, efficient office manager and great in bed.”

      God, how was she going to face him this morning?

      She strode into the bathroom, stripped and climbed into the shower.

      Water sluiced over her body, warm and wet, like she’d been when he’d thrust into her. She rubbed soap over her skin, her hands sinking low to the juncture of her thighs, that sore and achy place that …

      Argh! Why couldn’t she block it from her mind? She decreased the flow of warm water until what came out of the nozzle was bone-jarringly cold. By the time she climbed from the tub, her skin had shriveled into a landscape of goose bumps.

      Jolie dug through her closet for her most boring and nondescript suit. It didn’t take long for her to find one. They were all boring and nondescript. Soft gray or navy blue, with a classic design that would never go out of fashion or truly be considered fashionable for that matter.

      She dug deeper, looking for anything different and came up empty. Why would she care to look better, anyway? Devin wasn’t interested in what she wore, and the sooner they got back to business as usual, the better.

      Jolie had worked hard to become the perfect executive assistant. She was all about cool, quiet efficiency. Then why were her nerves frayed and her hands shaking as she slipped her skirt up over her hips? The same hips Devin had slid his hands over while undressing her.…

      She ran a brush through her hair and started to pull it back into the usual elegant chignon she wore, but her hands froze as she peered at herself in the mirror.

      Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright, and she looked markedly different. At the last moment, she decided to leave her hair hanging down around her shoulders.

      Devin had noticed her hair. He’d said she looked softer, more personable.

      And why should she let that influence the way she wore her hair? With quick, skillful twists, she had her hair up and ready for another day at the office. Looking normal was half the battle when her insides were turning cartwheels.

      Ready an hour early, Jolie rationalized that she could get a lot done while no one was there to interrupt. In truth, she didn’t want to run the gauntlet of company staff on her way to the executive suite. She could slip in, hang low and weather this storm.

      Jolie smoothed her skirt, breathed in deeply and, as she let the air out of her lungs, opened her front door. As usual, her morning paper lay against the steps, rolled with a rubber band around it. She tucked it beneath her arm and headed for work.

      Cool, calm, collected. She could do this.

      LOUD BANGING WOKE DEVIN. He blinked his eyes open and stared at the triangle of light shining through the crack in the curtains. It took a full ten seconds to dawn on him that it was morning.

      Morning. Not a weekend morning, either. Sweet Jesus, he must have actually slept. His gaze shot to the alarm clock on his nightstand and he leaped out of bed. It was well past time to get up. He’d be late for work by at least an hour.

      The banging started again and he realized someone was knocking at the door to his condo. “Hold on, I’m coming,” he yelled, pulling on the trousers he’d worn the night before and zipping as he strode through the living room.

      The banging increased in intensity until Devin grabbed the door handle and flung it open. “Where’s the fire?”

      Ash slapped something at his chest and brushed past him into the condo. “Shut the door.”

      Devin shook his head. “Good morning to you, too.”

      “Can the sarcasm. We have a problem.”

      “We?”

      “Not really we. You.”

      “Me?” Devin shook his head in an attempt to dislodge the last remnants of sleep.

      Ash kept walking until he reached the kitchen where he rifled through the cabinets, slamming them one at a time. “Where’s your damned coffee? I can’t function without coffee.”

      “Next to the coffeemaker.” Devin followed, his eyebrows dipping downward. “What are you talking about?”

      Ash sprinkled coffee grains into the filter and poured water into the well. “I take it you haven’t seen the newspaper this morning?”

      Devin glanced down at the front page Ash had shoved at