DowntoBusiness

Dena Garson

Leigh and John Templeton have plans for the upcoming
weekend. Unfortunately, looming deadlines may prevent John from being able to
get away. In particular, one very long and dull contract review.

When Leigh delivers dinner to John at his office, she makes
him a deal to spice up the contract review process—for every page he completes,
she’ll remove an item of clothing…until she’s naked and waiting for him to claim
his reward.

Ellora’s Cave Publishing

www.ellorascave.com

Down to Business

ISBN 9781419938924

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Down to Business Copyright © 2012 Dena Garson

Edited by April Chapman

Cover design by Syneca

Photography: Photos.com

Electronic book publication February 2012

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Leigh Templeton cradled the phone between her shoulder and
ear while she gathered the documents she needed and dropped them into her
briefcase. Her husband, John, was calling in response to her message about
dinner.

“I’m sorry, hon. I’m going to be here for a few more hours,”
John sighed into the phone.

“That’s okay. Is Sheridan up in arms again?” Mr. Sheridan,
Leigh’s previous boss and also the CEO of the company John still worked for,
had always been a ball-buster. Especially when his stress level was high. Leigh
remembered he always acted as if he felt the need to share his stress with
those who reported to him. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I wish.” He groaned. “It wouldn’t be nearly as boring if
you still worked in
our
legal department. For some reason the projects
we worked on together were always much more interesting.”

Through the phone Leigh heard the sound of John’s chair
squeak. She imagined him leaning back and running his hand through his
sandy-blond hair. It was a gesture she was more than familiar with. Usually, by
this time of the day, most of the gel he used to control his unruly hair was
gone. In a husky tone she reminded him, “Yes, well, I recall you saying that
there are distinct advantages to being married and having me at home rather
than just rendezvousing in the office.”

“Absolutely,” he said. “God, I still remember working on the
Whitehurst deal with you.”

Leigh flushed at the memory. “Hmm. So do I.” A pool of
warmth gathered low in her belly. “You were quite…um, passionate about that
deal. I’m surprised someone didn’t walk in on us while we were in the
conference room.”

“They certainly would have gotten an eyeful if they had,” he
murmured.

They both fell silent as they remembered. Leigh had always
been surprised by the intensity of their attraction. She had never experienced
such deep sensuality with anyone else. Through her previous mistakes, and those
of her friends, she'd learned that relationships faltered if not properly cared
for, so she made an effort to cherish their time together.

“Since you can’t make it home, would it help if I brought
dinner to you?”

“Would you mind? That would save a little time if I didn’t
have to stop what I’m working on and get food. But I hate for you to have to
drive all the way across town.”

“I haven’t left the office yet, so it’s not a problem to
pick something up. At least we could still have dinner together and you can
keep working.”

“Have I told you today that I love you?” John asked.

“Yes. But you can tell me again.”

“I love you.”

Leigh’s heart tripped over itself, just as it always did
when she heard those three little words. John wasn’t one to gush
sentimentality, but he did make an effort to tell her that he loved her every
single day. After four years, the words still had the power to make her heart
flutter. She smiled into the phone.

“I love you too. I’ll see you in a bit.”

After hanging up, Leigh finished the couple of things she
needed to do before she could leave then called one of the nearby restaurants
to place a takeout order. She might not be able to do anything about how much
sleep John was getting while he was up to his ears in contracts—after all, he
was a big boy and knew his limitations—but she could make sure he got more than
vending-machine food at least a few times a week.

Despite it being right in the middle of the dinner rush,
Leigh was able to pick up their food quickly. She parked in the visitor parking
in front of John’s building and checked her appearance in the rear-view mirror.
When she got to the glass entrance the security guard on duty recognized her
and, seeing her hands full of takeout containers, got up and opened the door
for her.

“Did you bring me anything?” the guard asked playfully.

“Sorry. They were all out of your favorite,” Leigh joked
back.

“Just my luck.”

Leigh laughed and headed toward the bank of elevators. Her
high-heeled shoes clicked on the marble floor as she walked across the foyer.
After hours, when people weren’t coming and going in droves, the sound echoed
loudly off the glass and tile walls. It always felt strange to be back in the
building where she had worked for ten years. There were lots of fond
memories…particularly the last couple of years when she and John had started
seeing each other.

She sifted through memories as the elevator doors closed
behind her. If people knew half the things they’d done, they would be shocked.
She was still amazed that they had never gotten caught. But, then again, the
possibility of getting caught had probably added to their excitement.

The elevator dinged, dragging her out of her reverie. When
the doors opened, she stepped out into the foyer and checked in both
directions. The main lights on the floor were off and she guessed that everyone
except John had gone for the day. She turned to the right and followed the
hallway through the cubicles toward John’s office in the far corner. Light
spilled from his doorway onto the path like a beacon.

She stood in the doorway and took in the sight of John at
work. As usual there were neat stacks of paper covering most of his desk. His
jacket was off and the sleeves of his dress shirt were rolled up at the cuffs.
He was partially turned away from the door and engrossed in whatever he was
typing. Her heart tripped around in her chest knowing how important his work
was to him. Long ago she’d figured out he felt driven to do more than was
probably necessary.

Leigh rattled the bags as she stepped into his office.
“Dinner’s here.”

He looked up from his computer and his face relaxed into a
smile.

“Hey.” He crossed the room and greeted her with a kiss. “I
was expecting you to call when you got to the lobby. How’d you get in?”

“Ronnie was on duty. He let me in.”

“I think he always had a crush on you,” John said with a
twinkle in his eye.

“Yeah, right.” Leigh set the takeout packages on the
conference table on the far side of John’s office.

John came up behind Leigh and wrapped his arms around her.
He kissed her on the cheek and whispered, “Not that I blame him. I’ve had a
crush on you for a while now.”

The scrape of his five o’clock shadow against her neck sent
goose bumps down her entire body. “Have you now?”

“Mmhmm.” He nuzzled the side of her neck, making her legs
turn to jelly.

“You know I love it when you do that.”

“Yeah, I do.” He chuckled in her ear then kissed her exposed
collarbone. “What did you bring me for sustenance, woman?” He reached around
her for one of the containers. The movement brought his crotch in closer
contact with her derriere.

In response, Leigh pressed back and slid against his growing
erection. John’s swift intake of breath was satisfying. She loved that she
still had the ability to affect him with a simple touch.

“I got the grilled chicken salad and homemade stroganoff. I
figured we could share them both.”

“Sounds good to me.” John placed another kiss on the side of
her neck. “I’ll go grab a couple of bottles of water while you finish unpacking
everything.”

Leigh divided the food between the containers while John ran
to the break room down the hall. When he returned, they sat at John’s
conference table to eat.

“So what’s Sheridan in a lather over these days?” Leigh
asked.

“
This
week it’s one of the real estate deals we’ve
been working on. Last week it was one of our service agreements. The week
before
that
it was a personnel issue.”

“And he wants to know why none of them are finished, doesn’t
he? Because he’s sure that he told you they were all a top priority,” Leigh
said, confident she was right without asking.

Because his mouth was too full to respond, John simply
nodded.

“I remember him doing that a lot.” Leigh stabbed a piece of
lettuce with her fork then continued, “I used to want to choke him.”

John wiped his mouth with a napkin and swallowed the bite
he’d been chewing. “I’m about ready to tell him what he can do with his
changing priorities. I’d like to knock him on his ass as I walk out the door
too.”

Needing to reassure John of her support, Leigh patted his
arm. “You can always find another job if he’s getting to you.”

“I know. I’ve been thinking about it.”

Leigh nodded and went back to eating. Whether or not to quit
the job was something John would have to decide for himself. “So, what do you
need to get done tonight?”

“I have to get through that real estate contract so I can
send it to Legal for their review. If I don’t, I’m afraid I’m going to have to
work on it this weekend.” John finished the last of his food. “I just haven’t
been motivated to even start it. There’ve been a hundred little things popping
up over the last couple of weeks that I let myself get distracted with. Not
sure what my hang-up is with this contract.”

“Anything I can do to help?”

“Whip my ass or find some kind of motivation to make me just
do it.”

Leigh stared at John with her fork raised halfway to her
mouth. She imagined herself wearing black leather and whipping John’s bare
butt. Nah. She shook her head to clear the image. That was never a path either
of them had been interested in exploring. However, she felt certain she could
motivate him another way.

“What?” John asked, startling Leigh out of her wayward
thoughts.

“Sorry. Had a thought.” Leigh’s cheeks felt warm.

“About what?”

“Nothing I’m going to share.”

“It must have been a doozy to make you turn as red as that
vase over there.” John pointed toward the bookshelf behind her. “C’mon, tell
me.”

“Not a chance.” She tapped the empty food container in front
of John, hoping to distract him. “Are you finished with yours?”

“Yeah. But I’ll take your roll if you’re not going to eat
it.”

She was surprised she was able to distract him so easily. He
must really be busy.

“Go ahead, you can have it,” she told him. John had a
weakness for bread so she usually let him have hers. It was a mutual
understanding. “If you need to get back to what you were working on, I’ll clean
this up when I finish.”

“You’re wonderful, you know that?” He leaned over to kiss
her lightly on the lips.

Leigh soaked up the scent of him as he lingered, his tongue
teasing the edge of her lips. When he stopped, she knew she was grinning like a
love-struck fool. Which she pretty much was.

John got up and went back to his desk as Leigh finished
nibbling on her salad. Her head was spinning from the kiss and she tried to
think of a way to help motivate him to get the contract done. They had plans to
go to the lake that weekend. She could tell he needed some downtime and she
didn’t want him worrying about a looming deadline while they were away. If he
finished the contract today or tomorrow, he might be able to get a couple of
days’ rest and escape for a bit.

There was one thing she could think of that she had at her
disposal to motivate him—sex. But how could she apply that to the contract he
needed to finish? It wasn’t as if she was going to cut him off from sex if he
didn’t get his work done. That would be stupid on her part and not positively
motivating for him.

Thinking back on some of their interludes in the office when
they’d first started dating gave her an idea. She gathered up their dinner
containers and told John, “I’m going to take these down to the break room, then
wash up.”

He glanced up at her from where he sat at his desk. “Okay.”

On the way back from the break room, she stopped in the
ladies room. She quickly took care of necessary business then slipped out of
her hose. On her way out, she dropped them in the trash. John preferred bare
skin anyway.

When she returned to his office, she discreetly turned the
lock so it would be secure when she closed the door.

“So, I was thinking about what you said earlier, John.”

“About what?” he asked without looking up from the documents
he was sorting through.

Leigh walked over to the window farthest from John’s desk.
“About you needing some inspiration to finish working on that contract.”

The shuffling of paper stopped. “Yeah?” He drew out the word.

She reached up and twisted the handle of the blinds to close
them. When she turned around she found that he was watching her from over the
top of his glasses. “I had an idea about that.”

“Okay.” John glanced at the now-closed blinds, then back to
her, but didn’t move a muscle otherwise. “Let’s hear it.”

“I thought I might make you a deal of sorts.” He continued
to hold her gaze. She moved to the next set of blinds and turned the handle to
close those as well. “Would it motivate you to finish your contract tonight, so
that you’d be free to relax and play at the lake this weekend, if I agreed to
stay while you read?” He opened his mouth to say something but she held up one
finger to still his question. “The motivating part being that for each page of
your contract that you get through—and it has to be a complete review, not a
skim that you’ll have to come back to later and fix. For each page you finish,
I’ll remove one article of clothing.”

John’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. He quickly scanned her
from head to toe then looked at the pile of paper in front of him, probably
trying to judge the ratio of pages in the contract to the number of pieces of
clothing.

A slow grin spread across his face. “What if there are more
pages in the contract than clothes you have on?”

Leigh moved to the third set of blinds and replied saucily
over her shoulder, “Then I’ll have to think of alternate compensation for you.”
With a flick of her wrist, she closed the blinds.