1
Rhett
One Month later
“Charlotte!” I shouted as I brooded at my desk, staring out at the city through my floor-to-ceiling windows. My fingers drummed an impatient beat on the tabletop as I stretched my neck from side to side, attempting to loosen the tension.
“You bellowed, Mr. Whitney?” A deceptively sweet voice floated in from the doorway, and I narrowed my eyes and turned my chair to look at its owner. Shrewd green eyes assessed me with a stubborn glint that both turned me on and infuriated me at the same time.
“When are you going to knock off the ‘Mr. Whitney’ crap and call me Rhett?” I growled. I was frustrated as fuck and taking it out on the source.
“When you call me Charlie,” she retorted with a slightly smug curve to her kissable lips.
My mood darkened at her sly comeback. Charlotte was one-hundred-percent woman, and the name Charlie didn’t reflect that. Besides, Charlotte was an absolutely beautiful name, and I intended to pass it along to one of our daughters. Someone I would also never refer to as Charlie.
But now wasn’t the time to revisit that argument. “Do you have plans for lunch?” I didn’t wait for her to reply. “Cancel them. I’m taking you to an appointment to tour a potential property.”
Charlotte’s eyes lit up, but she quickly tried to hide her excitement behind a blasé attitude. “Of course, Mr. Whitney. I’m ready when you are.”
“I believe that’s my line,” I gibed dryly.
Her cheeks turned pink, and my groin tightened. The smallest blushes were visible on her pale, creamy skin. It was something I adored, along with the sprinkling of freckles that I wanted to connect with my tongue. “I—um—I have no idea to what you are referring.” She stumbled over her words, even as she glared at me in annoyance.
“Yesterday in the supply closet says different, baby.”
Charlotte let out an adorable little growl, glared at me one last time, then spun around and marched out of my office.
For the first time that day, my lips spread in a smile. Riling her up was almost as fun as making her hot for me. Both were pretty easy to accomplish. Like how she’d just been so keyed up, or like the day before, when I had cornered her in the supply closet after I sent her there to retrieve...whatever it was.
When I had opened the door, she was bent over, trying to collect something from a lower shelf, putting her heart-shaped ass on perfect display.
“Charlotte,” I snapped as I stepped into the room, shutting and locking the door behind me.
Startled, she went to stand too fast and smacked her head on the shelf above. “Ouch! Dammit!”
Guilt crept in as she winced and rubbed her head. I never wanted to be the source of her pain. I pulled her into my arms, and while she didn’t relax into my embrace, she didn’t push me away either. “I’m sorry.” I kissed her forehead. “I didn’t mean to make you jump.”
“Then don’t sneak up on me and growl!” she scolded as she broke away from me—only because I let her, and we both knew it. I bit back a smile; I loved it when she showed her fiery side. She was normally good at keeping calm, but that redhead temper couldn’t always be contained. And it was sexy as fuck.
Charlotte put her hands on her hips and glared at me while her mouth turned down in a frown. It was hard to concentrate when she did that because the shape of her lips made it look more like a sexy little pout. One I was dying to kiss away.
“Is there a reason you followed me in here and snarled my name like Oscar the Grouch?”
I would have laughed if she hadn’t reminded me why I’d been angry. “Anyone could have walked in here and seen your sexy ass on display.” I snaked an arm around her waist and yanked her back into me, using my free hand to grasp her chin so she had nowhere to look except my eyes. “No one gets to see what’s mine, Charlotte. Do you understand?”
She swallowed audibly and her pupils, which were already dilated from the darkness, grew to nearly eclipse her entire iris. A shiver raced down her spine and her heart rate accelerated, causing a wicked smile to form on my face. She wouldn’t admit it, but her body reacted to my dominance with passion. “Are you wet for me, Charlotte?” I asked in a low, husky tone.
“You shouldn’t be asking me that at work,” she hissed even as her thighs tensed and her legs squeezed together.
I raised a brow, and her cheeks flared with heat. “Shall I ask you at home in my bed, baby?”
Her blush began to spread, and she closed her eyes while taking a deep breath. Then they flew open, and a fire grew in their green depths as she glared at me. “Do you always have to smell so good, dang it?”
I couldn’t help it; my face split with a wide grin while Charlotte muttered to herself and tried to escape my grip. I released her chin but kept her body pressed up against mine. “When are you going to stop playing games, little girl, and give in to what we both want?”
Charlotte gasped. “I’m not a little girl,” she objected.
I lowered my head until our mouths were centimeters apart and whispered, “Prove it,” before sealing my mouth over hers.
Fuck, I loved her taste. I devoured her, feeding off her moans and fighting my need to be inside her. Charlotte was petite, something I loved because our height difference intrigued me. I felt big and strong next to her. I knew I could protect her.
But making out was a lot easier if I picked her up. I turned and backed her up to a shelf, then slid my hand up her thighs, bunching her skirt as I palmed her plump ass and lifted her. I angled my head to deepen the kiss and ground my steel erection against her pussy. With so few layers between us, the heat from her sex engulfed my cock, and I finally had to stop before I either came all over her or took her for the first time on the floor of the supply room. Neither option was acceptable to me.
Charlotte was panting hard, trying to catch her breath as she slumped in my arms, devoid of strength. I wanted to point out that if we were at home in bed, she could have climaxed before collapsing on a very comfy surface. But I didn’t want to push her too far.
“Okay,” I agreed after gulping down some air. “You are definitely a woman, baby.”
Charlotte harrumphed and didn’t say anything else, probably because she didn’t have the energy. I couldn’t help being a little cocky about that.
“But you’re still playing games, Charlotte,” I said quietly.
Her head lifted, and the indecision in her eyes was clear. She didn’t know what she wanted, and as much as I hated it, I had to give her time to realize all she wanted was me.
So, I set her gently on her feet and smoothed her skirt back into place. Then I straightened and placed a soft kiss on her swollen lips. “I’ll wait a little longer,” I told her. “Just know, I’m ready when you are.”
She stared at me for a moment more, then nodded before walking to the door and flipping the lock. Her eyes dropped to my crotch, then back up to my face, and I was almost positive I saw a small smile appear. “I think it’s safe to assume you’ll stay in here for a bit so no one knows we were in here together?”