“Nate. Here?” If he hadn’t been holding her, she’d have probably melted to the floor.
“Anywhere you want.” He got the sweater over her head, tossing it to the side and making her laugh. But nothing was funny to him. His face was raw intensity, his hands already all over her breasts, his erection slamming mightily into her stomach, making her want to...ride.
“C’mon.” Still kissing and unsnapping her bra, he walked her across the room, flipping lace and satin strips in the air.
He stopped, holding her back to look at her half-naked body, his eyes shuttering as he took her in. “Gorgeous. Gorgeous.”
She tried to laugh, but the chill of desire and air-conditioning made her quiver and reach for his warmth. “We’re never going to make it to the bedroom.”
“Not this time.” He closed his hand over her bare breast, dipping his head to kiss and lick, and she automatically bowed her back to offer him everything, dizzy and disoriented. He stepped her backward, and her backside hit a piece of furniture. Some papers shifted. The stapler fell. And the next thing she knew, he had her flat on her desk.
A pile of file folders dumped to the ground. “Oh, there went the capital expenditures analysis.” She bit her lip and rolled against the crazy hardness of him.
He sat up enough to unbutton his shirt and flatten her with another fierce look. “Sorry.” He shook off his shirt, his broad chest heaving with the next breath.
“No, you’re not.”
He flashed a grin and rocked his hips against her, then came back down for more kissing, more touching and exploring, and something slammed to the floor. “And the zoning surveys hit the dirt.”
Laughing, he unzipped her jeans. “As they should. Take these off, Liza.”
She lifted her hips and let him help her slide them down, his head following the route so he could kiss her belly. Squirming on the desk, she gripped his shoulders, digging her fingers in and lifting her head to enjoy the view of him nibbling at her panties.
He looked up and caught her eye.
“Careful,” she said, nodding to the last pile of folders next to his legs. “The investor presentation handouts are about to eat it.”
He didn’t look away as he pulled her panties down her thighs. “So am I.” He practically growled the sexy promise.
She fought a scream when his tongue slid into her, making her flatten both hands on the desk and send her to-do list flying.
She didn’t care. The only thing she had to do was…this. Pleasure careened through her, tightening every muscle and firing every nerve ending. Her fingernails dug into her desk blotter as she rose to meet every stroke of his tongue, fast and furious, then slow and deep.
Suddenly, he stood, making her open her eyes in a panic. He couldn’t stop. But he was yanking off his jeans, pushing down a pair of boxer-briefs and, oh...my.
She pushed herself up to appreciate the sight of his manhood. Opening her mouth to speak, she stared. And ached for him—all of him—inside her.
“Nate,” she finally whispered, reaching to touch him. “I want you.”
“You got me.” Before she could close her fist over him, he slapped his hands on the desk, forcing her back again. “I mean that.”
Falling back, ignoring a pen cap that jabbed her shoulder blade and the ring of the phone a few inches from her head, she stared up at him, absolutely certain there was more to that statement than sex.
“You got me,” he repeated, coming closer like he was going to kiss her. But he inched to the side and put his mouth right over her ear. “You got my attention.” His breath tickled and teased. “You got my interest. And, Liza, sweetheart, you got my heart.”
The phone went silent, and so did her head. No quips, no jokes, no comebacks. She had his heart?
Neither one of them moved, despite the heat of his hard-on throbbing between her legs, the stickiness of bare chests pressed against each other, and the matching drumbeats in their chests.
“What are you saying?” she finally asked, her voice little more than air.
“I’m saying...” He lifted up enough to look at her. “That this isn’t...” He struggled for the word, and she didn’t begin to try and fill in the blanks. “That this is...” He swallowed, searching her eyes, holding her gaze. “That we are...”
Finally, she smiled. “I get it. We’re a good team.”
He closed his eyes and returned to the safer place next to her ear, denying her the chance to appreciate the raw honesty in his eyes. “You make me a better man, Liza.”
She closed her eyes against the sting.
“Nate, I...” Love you. Could she admit that now? Was it the kiss of death or—
“Open the door! I know you’re in there!”
They both bolted upright at the shock of intrusion, Liza letting out a little cry of surprise.
Who could that be? One of his friends? Someone on staff? Who would—
A fist—or something wooden—smacked against the door, and the handle jiggled furiously. “Open up, Nathaniel Ivory! I have the DNA tests!”
What? Liza put both hands over her mouth. Jeff Munson? Was he here to make good on his promise to hurt Nate? Fear and confusion collided, nearly blinding her as she blinked in shock.
“Holy shit,” Nate muttered, leaping off her and frantically looking for clothes in the mess.
Liza rolled off the desk, smashing her hands over her breasts in case whoever it was broke down the door, because they sounded mad enough to do just that.
“Let me in!”
“All right, all right!” Nate hollered. “Hang on.”
“Who is it?” she demanded, scooping up his shirt to slide her arms into it for protection. “What is he talking about?”
He looked at her, and for the first time, she noticed he’d gone pale...and silent.
“Who is it, Nate?”
“My grandfather.” He stepped into his jeans and gave her a nudge. “Go hide in the bedroom.”
Her jaw dropped so hard it nearly hit her chest. “Your—”
“I will shoot the damn lock, young man.”
“Go! You don’t want to meet him like this.”
No, she didn’t. But... “Did he say he has the—”
“Liza!” He barked the word, stunning her into silence. “Go back there.”
She froze, vaguely aware of the door handle shaking hard again but fully aware that she stood naked but for Nate’s shirt over her shoulders.