Beck And Call (2 page)

his office.

****

door and closed her eyes. Birthdays ending in a zero

were a bitch and should be outlawed. She didn’t know

what she’d thought would happen that day. Sighing,

she shook her head and stared at the small masterpiece

highlighted by the timed spotlight. Yeah, she did know.

Deep down inside, she had dreamed that Keith would be

overcome with emotion or…she didn’t know what.

With a groan of frustration she headed straight for

her bedroom and changed. With all the pent-up

emotions, she was going to need one helluva workout if

she wanted any sleep tonight.

Climbing on her treadmill, she started at a walk.

Her brain went over the conversation after she’d called

Tom. She stopped walking. Grabbing the side rails, she

jumped her feet off the track. Pushing pause, she

frowned recalling his words and expressions. Had she

imagined it? Keith was always strong and powerful, in

absolute control, but her comments about Charlotte

and his other girlfriends had caught him by surprise.

In a rare moment, he let his guard down and allowed

her to see his vulnerability. At the same time, she

winced, he had probably been able to see her emotions

just as much.

“Crap,” she muttered. “This is not good.”

Stepping back on, she hit restart, but her mind was

stubborn. After a few minutes, exasperated with herself,

she increased the speed and incline.

“No thinking, Serena,” she whispered. “Just feel the

muscles working. Put everything into the pace.”

Thirty minutes later, she slowed to a walk. The

shaken expression on Keith’s face, however brief,

immediately reappeared in her mind’s eye. He’d been

hurt and she hadn’t seen it. She’d been too caught up in

venting pent-up emotions. Honesty forced her to face

something. Keith must have seen through her and

realized her feelings for him.

With a sigh, she wondered what that would mean to

their working relationship. More than once, he’d said

that work was no place for personal relationships. If he

even suspected the depths of her feelings, he would find

a reason to fire her. He might find an equal position for

her somewhere, but he wouldn’t want her anywhere

near him. That much was obvious from his comment

about the company coming first. His snort at her

comment about him being CEO and able to manage

had told her more than any words.

Not wanting to consider it, she picked up the pace

again. The thought of being transferred or fired

spurred her to a run and after twenty minutes the

sweat was dripping into her eyes. Stepping off, her head

hung as she caught her breath. All Serena could see

was Keith’s face. It would almost be better to find

another job, away from the company, so she wouldn’t be

tempted to blurt out her feelings.

Since running herself to death hadn’t erased his

image from her mind, perhaps a session of yoga would

calm her heart and clear her thoughts. Flipping her

mat out, Serena stepped to the edge and closed her

eyes. Keith’s chiseled face appeared. Blue eyes mocked

her.

“Great,” she murmured, lowering her hands and

raising them again. “You’d think I’d be beyond a

teenage infatuation.”

Another deep breath and she knew one thing for

certain. If she was going to get any sleep at all,

MacLauren had to be suppressed.

“Downward-dogs, don’t fail me now,” she whispered.

Keith secured the Velcro around his wrists and

walked across the room. With a deep breath, he started

pounding the heavy bag in the corner. Serena’s

lunchtime revelations still stung his ego. Not only had

he known precious little about the woman sitting three

steps from his office door, but he’d known next to

nothing about women he had dated—and fucked—and

that pissed him off. He was smart. He was a good judge

of character. How the hell could he have been so wrong?

Moving to the speed bag, he unleashed a flurry of

punches.

Okay, he would just lay off women for a while. He

would observe their actions and move very carefully

from now on. If he needed sex, he would go to the club

for a submissive. He’d known instinctively that

socialites wouldn’t agree to be tied, blindfolded, and

gagged when he fucked them, so he’d never even tried.

Sweat dripped as he paused, hands on his hips.

So what the hell was he going to do with Serena?

The sudden image of her bound to his bed, waiting

for him, speared through his brain.

“Oh, yeah,” he muttered. “You dumbshit! Just what

you need, a sexual harassment suit on top of all your

other problems!”

Catching the end of a strap in his teeth, he pulled

the gloves off and returned to the heavy bag. Yet, as he

went through a series of kicks, the picture would not

leave his mind. It was ridiculous to even think about.

Serena would never consider a dominant/submissive

relationship.

“Dammit!” he growled. “I can’t fuck my assistant!”

But the image wouldn’t go away, leaving him

tossing on the king-size bed. Somewhere during the

night, a plan came to him. Legal pad in hand, by the

time the sky grew light, Keith had things figured out. It

would be tricky, risky, and require a helluva lot of luck.

Based on what he
did
know of Serena, he was confident

that he had a very good chance of not only solving his

problems, but showing her a side of herself that she

hadn’t even realized existed. Any personal relationship

between them would require discretion, or eventually

cost both of them.

But would it cost them? Or be better for both of

them?

Keith didn’t believe in love between men and

women, but he did believe that men and women could

have relationships that were both intimate and

respectful. It was possible Serena felt the same way.

After all, she was thirty, not in a relationship, and

seemed reserved around the men in the office. Friendly,

but she definitely made sure they knew when they

crossed the line. Keith couldn’t remember anyone

overstepping that line more than once.

Just what could happen? Adjusting his tie, he

considered. After all, he was known for anticipating

things in the boardroom. All right then, he thought,

shrugging into his jacket, let’s review. First, he needed

to get the books on or in her desk. If she accepted those,

then he had the box ready to be delivered to her

apartment. From there, it was a matter of bringing her

to him. He could easily arrange that through the club.

He had ordered a voice disrupter, the masks, and hoods

which would arrive the following day. Getting her to

trust him was an absolute necessity. After a minimum

of a couple weeks, probably closer to a month, he would

reveal his identity to her.

Worst case—Serena figured it was him and sued

him and the company for sexual harassment. Mid-case

—she rejected the entire scenario before they became

intimate and never knew it was him. Best case—she

became his sexual submissive.

And at work? He smiled. Well, that would certainly

make working late more enjoyable.

Picking up his briefcase, he walked out of his

apartment and to the elevator. It was still early, but he

had things to take care of.

“I’ll see you at kickboxing,” Serena waved to Claire

and Debbie before entering the CEO’s suite. “Yeah,” she

muttered to herself. “Just what I need. The opportunity

to look like a clumsy idiot.”

Still smiling, she turned to her desk and froze. A

plain, brown-paper-wrapped package sat in the middle

of the blotter. From the doorway, she couldn’t see any

address. Moving slowly, she picked it up. In large block

letters, her name was written. Turning it over, she

could see nothing else.

A late birthday present? Maybe someone had

forgotten to bring it by and dropped it off while she’d

been at lunch. Figuring that made sense, she pulled off

the paper. It would have been a close contest as to

which dropped faster—her jaw or the paper from her

hands—as she stared at the cover.

Erotic Stories for Women.
A woman, apparently

naked, lay under an equally naked man. A man who

was clearly fucking her; their hips were meshed

together and he braced himself over her, even as his

head bent toward hers for a kiss.

Swallowing, she glanced around furtively to see if

anyone had come in while she’d gawked at the cover.

She couldn’t imagine who on earth, especially in the

company, would give her something like this. Part of

her wanted to call security, but another part was

curious. What kind of stories?

Checking the schedule and seeing that Keith didn’t

have a meeting for thirty minutes, she turned the book

over and read the back. Her mind reeled. The book

contained

short

stories

of

couples—some

in

relationships, some coming together just for sex. Serena

found the first tale. Reading the first three pages, she

felt her breaths come quicker and shallower with her

arousal. A husband came home from a business trip

early and found his wife in the kitchen. Unwilling to

wait another moment, he trapped her against the

counter and took her from behind. Serena bit back a

moan as her own pussy clenched. Stunned, she realized

her panties were damp. Good lord! If that was the first

story, she couldn’t wait to read the rest!

“Serena?” Keith’s voice called from his office.

Gasping, she quickly tucked the book in her purse

and opened her bottom drawer, as he appeared at his

open doorway. Her eyes went to the brown paper on her

desk.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“Um, a late birthday present,” she stammered,

snatching the paper and shoving it in the drawer as

well.

“Going to send it to the hospice as well?” he

inquired.

“No,” she shook her head. “Not this one.” She

giggled nervously, imagining how a book like that

would be received. Keith nodded.

“Do you have the Sampson folder?”

Using her foot to close the drawer, she rifled the

folders on her desk.

“Right here,” she extended it. “Paul, Duncan and

Mark should be here for the VP meeting in thirty

minutes.”

Already scanning the first page, Keith nodded

absently as he returned to his office. Through the door,

he smiled. Bingo! She not only liked the book but, given

her flustered reaction, might have actually been

reading it. Relieved that the first step in his plan had

worked, he forced himself to wait for the next step.

In her apartment, safe from any eyes, Serena hung

up her coat and pulled the book from her purse. Itching

to read it, she knew she needed to exercise and eat

dinner first. While she ate, she would read. That

decided, she hurried to her bedroom to change. Two

hours later and her muscles trembling, she curled up in

an oversize rocking chair with a cup of tea and a salad.

Eagerly, she opened the book to the story she’d read

earlier. Feeling her nipples tighten, she flushed. She’d

never read stories like this, but her body definitely

liked them.

Steve opened the door quietly and set his suitcase

down. In the kitchen Sheila was singing along with the

radio. Carefully, he bolted the door and slipped off his

shoes. Moving silently, he went to the kitchen and

paused at the door. Smiling, he saw she must have just

come home from work—thick blonde hair neatly up off

her neck, a thin sweater set, and a full skirt. Her

stockings were off, but slippers kept her feet warm.

Watching her slender body sway with the beat,

Steve felt his cock thicken and demand her heat.

Without hesitation, he strode across the linoleum.

Pressing his body against hers, he pinned her hips to

the counter. As her mouth opened to scream, he covered

it with his hand, trapping her head against to his