She sniffed. “That’s because I had already quit.”
“I was making you a counteroffer. You didn’t even listen to what I had to say.”
“Because I wasn’t interested in your counteroffer.” She reached around him and pressed the button for the ground floor. “My mind is made up. I’m officially done at this company. I am no longer your employee. That means you don’t get to tell me what to do.”
“When have I ever told you what to do?” Antony demanded as the elevator doors began to close once again. “You’re usually the one giving me orders!”
“Orders about your safety that you ignore. Because, you know, you’re too busy playing spy to realize how much harder you make my life.”
His back teeth ground together. “I haven’t been playing at anything.” They were alone in the elevator. Bare inches separated them. His heart drummed far too fast and hard.
“I think you’ve been playing with me,” she whispered back.
“The hell I have.” Ella was far too important for that. Didn’t she get that he’d always been on his best behavior with her?
“No?” she challenged.
“No.” His gaze dropped to her mouth. That mouth…
Her breath caught. A pause, then, “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you want to kiss me right now.”
His gaze flew back up to her eyes. “What? I—”
“Or do you want to lie about that, too?” Ella asked as the elevator started to move.
“I’m not lying.” But his mind was spinning.
“So you do want to kiss me.”
More than I want breath. Wrong answer. An answer he could not say. “You’re my employee. I am not going to—”
Her hands curled around his shoulders. “That’s where you’re wrong. I’m not your employee, not any longer. Remember the whole ‘I quit’ part of the day? You should remember since it just happened.”
“I don’t want you to quit.” He couldn’t lose Ella. That wasn’t an option in his world. “I will triple your salary.”
“Triple, huh? That’s tempting. But I know something else that’s tempting, too.”
He waited. Whatever she wanted, he would give to her.
Her voice turned husky, sensual, as she told him, “If I quit, I can finally find out what you taste like.”
Antony’s lips parted, but he didn’t say a word. He couldn’t. She’d just left him speechless.
“Don’t you want to find out how I taste, Antony?”
Dear God, yes. “Ella…that’s a line we can’t cross.”
“Why not? You’re not my boss. I’m not your employee. That all ended a few moments ago.” Her hold tightened on him. “Before I leave you, don’t you want to know what it’s like to kiss me?”
He grabbed her waist. Held tight. “I don’t want you to leave at all.”
The elevator dinged. The doors slid open. Some guy in a brown suit tried to step onto the ride—
“Get the next one,” Antony snarled.
The fellow hurriedly backed up.
“Not nice,” Ella chided. “Taylor is one of your new employees and that was not a good impression for the boss to make.”
“Screw making an impression.” He wasn’t feeling overly nice at the moment. “You’re playing a game with me.” First, she told him that she was quitting. Then she said she wanted his mouth. Was this the Twilight Zone? What. The. Hell? “It’s dangerous to play this way with me.” It wasn’t wise to taunt a man with something he wanted so very badly.
“This isn’t a game,” Ella assured him.
He was staring at her mouth. Driving himself crazy. He was vaguely aware that the elevator was moving again. “I’ve kept my hands off you the entire time.” Two long years. Two long, excruciating years.
“And I’ve kept mine off you. But now I’m touching you, and you’re touching me.” Her voice was like a sensual stroke over his body. “What harm will a kiss possibly do?”
He thought it could do a whole lot of harm. He also thought his control was fracturing with every single moment that passed. “Ella…”
She pulled his head toward her. Her lips brushed over his. A light, tentative touch. Careful.
Screw careful. He hauled her closer. His mouth slanted over hers. The kiss became rougher. Harder. Deeper. Her nails bit into his shoulders. She pushed her body against his even as her tongue swept out to eagerly meet his. A moan rose in her throat. He was sure that a growl was breaking from him, and Antony didn’t care. He had Ella in his arms. Finally. No dream. Hot reality. He was holding her tightly, and her kiss was everything he’d ever dreamed. It was—
Ding.
The elevator was dinging again. Normally, the elevator was slow. It took its freaking precious time on the floors. Why did the damn thing seem to be moving at super speed that day?
Ella pulled from his hold. Staggered away a few steps. Her hand rose, and her fingers pressed to her lips even as the elevator’s doors opened. For a moment, she and Antony just stared at each other. There was shock in her golden stare. Shock, surprise, sensual need.
Say something! The order screamed through Antony’s mind, but he didn’t know what he was supposed to tell her.
“That was…more intense than I expected. And you should know, I had high expectations.” With that, Ella jerked toward the open elevator doors. A rushed, nervous movement. Ella wasn’t usually nervous. She was graceful. She moved like some kind of lighter-than-air ballerina.
Now she surged away from him as she hurried out of the elevator, and he was left gawking after her. She double-timed it away from him with a click-click of her heels, leaving him in her dust, and Antony didn’t know what the hell to do.
They were on the ground floor, in the parking garage, and he broke from his stupor just as she reached her car. “Ella, wait!”
She stilled.
He stalked toward her. His dick was rock hard in his pants, and his heart jackhammered in his chest. He was struggling to figure out what to say to Ella. He needed the right words. He had to be charming and convincing. This moment was too important to fuck up. But when he neared her side, when his hand reached up to curl around her shoulder, the guttural words that burst from him were, “I want more.”
He saw a small tremble rock her body. Antony was mentally cursing himself for being a total asshole when her gaze cut to him. Her breath whispered out. More pink stained her cheeks. She held his gaze, nodded slowly, and said, “So do I.”
Chapter Two
They burst into his condo. Ella yanked at Antony’s tie and jerked at the buttons on his shirt. Some of those buttons went flying, and she didn’t care. She knew she was out of control. One hundred percent. Flying free and fast and not thinking about anything but the way she felt in that insane instant.
She never did things like this. She was always careful and cautious. Being wild and living in the moment was so not her style. But this was different.
For the last two years, she’d been pining for Antony Kyle. Having secret fantasies and dreams about the man who was off-limits. Hot for her boss? Yes, that had been her. Though she’d worked to keep that truth buried so no one else would know how she felt. She was still hot for him, despite the lies he’d told her. Now she was hot and angry and…she wanted him so very badly.