Seduction on the CEO's Terms (10 page)

A million thoughts flooded her head as Joe remained
overly quiet for the rest of the trip home. Had seeing his ex jarred him? Was he still in love with her?

Oh, my gosh, Ali thought.
I'm the rebound woman and a fake one at that.

Joe caught her staring at him. He cast her a thoughtful look, then reached for her hand. Entwining his fingers with hers, she felt somewhat better.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

“Everything's fine.”

No. No. No, she wanted to scream. I need to know what Sheila really said to you. I need to know if you still love her. Joe's explanation when he got into the car at the hotel hadn't seemed plausible.

“She just wanted to make sure I wasn't holding a grudge,” he'd said.

And Fake Ali hadn't probed him for more. She'd merely sat back in her seat and accepted his explanation. The whole way home Ali held her tongue, refraining from asking the questions she had every right to ask.

When they reached her apartment, Joe got out of the car and opened the door for her. He helped her out and then grabbed her bag from the trunk. He took her hand and led her up the path to her front door.

“Here we are,” she said, needlessly. She turned to face him.

Joe looked deep into her eyes, removed his glasses, then removed hers and planted a kiss on her to end all kisses. Ali had barely come up for air when Joe kissed her again. Wow.

Maybe she'd misread him before.

He held her close and nuzzled her neck. “I'm leaving. If I don't, I'd want to stay.”

“And I'd want you to,” she whispered.

He inhaled sharply and backed away. “It was a great weekend.”

“It was,” she agreed.

He stared at her mouth, then backed up some more. “I'm going now. I'll have all night to figure out how I'm going to keep my hands off you tomorrow at work.”

Ali smiled. “Joe.”

“Gonna be a long night.” He scanned her body up and down. “A long night,” he repeated.

Stay, she wanted to say. Stay and make love to me until the sheets catch fire. But Ali knew they'd have to get back to reality. They'd have to come to grips with their relationship—whatever it was.

“I'll see you tomorrow, Joe. I had a wonderful time.”

She turned and entered her home, part of her wanting to jump for joy and part of her ready to shed worrisome tears.

 

Joe started work early on Monday morning. He'd had a poor night's sleep and figured why not put his energy into something productive. He had Ali on the brain and wondered about Sheila's accusations about her mother. It would be easy to find out more by looking her up on the Internet. He was certain Google wouldn't fail him, but Joe held off. He'd already decided to put no credence in Sheila's comments.

Ali wasn't like her mother, just like Joe wasn't like his father.

Sometimes the apple
did
fall far from the tree.

Joe dug into his work with added ambition, trying hard to concentrate on the task at hand. But the fresh scent of flowers drifted by his nose, and he knew the exact moment Ali had entered the office.

She popped her head inside his doorway, just like she'd done every other day. “Morning, Joe.”

Joe sat back in his chair, glad to see her. “Good morning,” he said, unable to hide a big smile, but before he could summon her inside, Ali was gone.

“Good thing,” he muttered. He'd missed her soft, supple body next to his last night. It had been fantastic waking up with her in the morning and holding her in his arms while in San Francisco. He fought the urge to spend last night with her, because he wasn't sure where it would all lead. An open office romance could spell disaster if it didn't work out. He and Ali had such a fabulous work relationship, and he wanted to keep it that way.

He'd have to be content seeing her after hours, but that didn't stop his imagination from flashing images of hot office sex with Ali that would put his other sexual fantasies to shame.

This morning, he'd lost count during his swim somewhere after twenty-seven laps from thinking of Ali. For a man who banked on his analytical mind, that wasn't a good thing.

Joe ran figures of monthly sales on his computer, getting lost in numbers, but every once in a while, he'd hear Ali's voice as she spoke with a coworker and he'd look up. He found himself staring at her, his heart doing crazy little flips and his body growing tight.

She looked so studious in her glasses, with her hair pulled back with a tortoise-shell clip, wearing a pin-striped skirt and a conservative white blouse.

Ali was beautiful no matter what she wore. Any man with eyes in his head was bound to notice.

And Joe wanted her.

The lust he felt startled him. He wasn't going to make it through the day without touching her. He glanced around
his office, cursing the modern decor and glass walls—so much for privacy. The decor had never bothered him before now. Would it be too obvious to lower all the shades in his office and call Ali in?

Hell, why should he care? He was the boss. But he had Ali's reputation to worry about.

He pressed his intercom button. “Hi,” he said.

“Hi, Joe.” Ali glanced at him from her desk and gave a little wave with her fingers. She was only fifteen feet away in her office, but the distance seemed insurmountable. Employees came in and out of her office almost constantly. Again, he damned the glass walls that allowed them no privacy.

“What are you doing for lunch?”

“I wasn't going to take lunch. I'm swamped with—”

“You're taking a lunch, Ali,” Joe rasped. “I am?”

“Yes, you have to take a lunch break. It's the law, and you wouldn't want me to get in trouble for overworking my employees, would you?”

Before she could answer the rhetorical question, he continued. “Have lunch with me today.”

“Yes,” she breathed into the intercom softly. “I'd like that.”

“Meet me in a half hour.”

“Where?”

“At Alberto's.”

And a short while later, Joe sat across from Ali in a circular corner booth in the Tuscany-style restaurant the Carlino family had half ownership in. It was just the place for two people who wanted a quiet, candlelit lunch.

“This is nice,” Ali said, glancing at the stone fountain that obscured them from view from a good part of the restaurant.

Joe watched her intently as she took a look around. When she finally gazed into his eyes, Joe reached for her hand. “I'm going crazy not touching you.” He stroked her fingers, rubbing his thumb over them. “Come closer.”

Ali scooted closer to him, and Joe's groin tightened. He leaned over to give her a little kiss, but the minute their lips brushed, his heart rate accelerated, and one chaste kiss wasn't enough.

He took her into his arms and dragged her up against him, driving his tongue into her mouth, taking her in a long, drawn out kiss. He reached down to caress her leg, his hand inching up the hem of her skirt, feeling the soft flesh that had driven him wild over the weekend. He moved his hand farther up her thigh, grazing her skin and inching closer to indecency.

Ali pulled back. “Joe.” She glanced around. The waiter was heading their way.

“Hell, I usually don't act like a hormone-crazed teenager, Ali.” Joe straightened in his seat and lowered his voice. “I told you yesterday that it'd be hard to keep my hands off you.”

The waiter approached their table with menus and offered up the day's specials. “Or anything else, you'd like, Mr. Carlino.”

“Thank you, Henry. Give us a few minutes to decide.”

“Of course. Would you care for a drink?” he asked Ali first.

“A soda for me, please.”

Joe needed something stronger. “Scotch on the rocks.”

The waiter left, and Ali peered at him, her eyes soft. “You don't usually drink this early in the afternoon.”

“There's a lot of things I don't usually do in the afternoon, like grope my—”

“Your?” Ali appeared curious.

“I was going to say, grope my assistant. But you're more than that to me, Ali. I think the weekend proved that.”

Ali put her head down. She sighed deeply and hesitated before lifting up to look at him. “I feel the same way, Joe, but there's something I should tell you about my past.”

Joe waited, wondering if she'd tell him about her childhood and what it was like for her having so many stepfathers to contend with and having a mother who bounced in and out of relationships. He wanted Ali to explain to him her mother's motives. He hoped the seeds of doubt that Sheila had planted would be washed away with her explanation.

“I was involved with a man once, at work. He hired me under false pretenses. I thought he'd been sincere, but it turned out he wanted a sexual relationship with me. When I wouldn't comply, he made my life very difficult.”

“You're not comparing me to him?” Joe blurted.

“No, of course not. But I'm trying to give you an understanding of why I'm cautious. When I told you I don't do one-night stands, I meant it.”

Surprised, Joe frowned. It wasn't what he'd expected to hear. Maybe that's why he'd seen changes in Ali. Had she been scarred emotionally from that incident? Ali took pride in her efficiency and competence in the workplace. He couldn't imagine how much that episode in her life might have hurt her. He had to reassure her that he really wasn't an unscrupulous boss out for a brief fling.

“That's not what this is, Ali. I care about you.”

His admission made her smile. He should have made that clearer over the weekend. Maybe that's why he'd sensed her holding back. As good as the sex was between them, Joe knew Ali had more to give.

“I care about you, too, Joe.”

“I'm not going to pretend I don't want you every minute
of the day. I'm having a hard time staying focused on work with you just a few feet away.”

Ali's lips curled up in a sensual smile. “I know the feeling, Joe.”

“Invite me over tonight, and I'll be knocking at your door right after work. Hell, I'll even spring for dinner.”

Ali's eyes softened, and his hunger for her grew even more powerful. “You're invited.”

Joe nodded, imagining mismatched furniture, soft yellow hues and the scent of lavender drifting by as he made love to her in her bedroom.

That's if they'd even make it that far.

A
nticipation coursed through Ali's body the rest of the day. She hadn't been able to concentrate because she was too focused on the idea of Joe coming over after work. She'd lost her focus countless times during the day, going even as far as forgetting who she'd called three seconds after dialing the phone number. She'd stumbled with her greeting until her mind cleared and she finally remembered. After that first episode, Ali decided it wise to jot down the name of the client she'd called and keep it in front of her before she'd made a fool of herself again.

She lived in a haze of desire and tried to avoid making eye contact with Joe in his office for fear of melting into a puddle of lust. At certain times of the day, she knew he watched her, but she held firm and didn't return his gaze. The clock ticked off the minutes at a snail's pace, and she thought the day would never end.

Finally at six o'clock, Ali straightened some papers on
her desk, filed away the rest then grabbed her purse and stood up. She finally braved a glance in Joe's direction. Thankfully, he had his back toward her as he spoke on the phone.

Ali got in her car and drove home, her nerves raw with tension. Once she entered her home, she leaned against the door and breathed in deeply. Joe would be here soon and Ali would have to hold back her innermost desires. She'd have to be Fake Ali again, the submissive girl with no personality and no sense of style. Her reverse makeover had backfired. The guilt she felt deceiving Joe, the man of her dreams, continued to plague her. He was too good a man to dupe this way. “Oh, Ali, what have you gotten yourself into?”

Ali walked to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. She pulled out a bottle of water and sipped as she contemplated her situation. The only person who would understand all of this was Rena. She'd have to talk to her again about Joe and how much she hated what she was doing to him.

To both of them.

Rena would help. She'd been the voice of reason and a good friend. Thankfully, Ali could turn to her, and she vowed if things didn't get better by the end of the week, she'd have to ask Rena for more advice.

Not three minutes later, Ali heard a knock at her door and her heart skipped a beat. She walked to the front door, took a deep breath and opened it.

Joe glanced over her body in a quick scan. “Good,” he said in a rasp, his brows raised, his expression like a wild animal about to devour his prey. “You didn't change out of your clothes.”

“I, what?”

He stepped inside, sweeping her into his arms. Kicking the door shut behind him, Clark Kent turned into Superman.
“I've been fantasizing about stripping you out of these clothes all day.”

“Oh, Joe.” Ali wrapped her arms around him.

Joe nibbled on her throat, then positioned her against the door, grinding his hips to hers.

“You do this to me, Ali.”

The strength of his arousal pressed against her.

“I barely made it here without embarrassing myself.” He cupped her head and kissed her hastily on the lips, his hands reaching for the buttons of her blouse. “I need to touch you.”

Ali helped. As they fumbled with buttons, Joe nearly ripped her blouse in two. He pushed the material off her shoulders. Then he touched her skin, his hands covering her breasts, his lips crushing her mouth. “You're amazing, sweetheart,” he groaned.

Ali's joy mounted. Joe wanted her, and she felt his intense need with his every touch. Her body welcomed his frenzied caresses and openmouthed heady kisses.

Ali stood pressed against her door, inviting his assault with little moans and cries of need. She wanted to strip him of his clothes the way he did her. She wanted to push him down to the ground and play out her every fantasy. “I need you, Joe.”

“I know, sweet Ali. I know.”

His kisses stole her breath, and his fiery need became hers.

He unfastened her bra, and her breasts sprang free of their constraints. A guttural sound escaped his throat, the sound primal and urgent. He cupped her breast with one hand and stroked her with his tongue—his hot breath on her creating spasms of heat inside her body. Ali's pleasure escalated.

She grew tight and wanton within seconds.

Joe sensed her need. He unzipped her pants and lowered them down. She stood before him naked but for a tiny black thong, shimmering with tiny rhinestones that spelled out, All Yours—the one part of Real Ali that was still intact. Her act of rebellion, she thought.

“Sexy,” Joe nearly growled.

“I wore them for you.”

A gleam sparked in his hungry eyes. “Hell, Ali. I'm going to imagine you in these every time I see you behind your desk.”

“You could take them off.”

“Oh, don't worry. They're coming off.” Then Joe picked her up in his arms. “Later.”

She threw her arms around his neck and held on. Joe strode down the hall, kissing her as he moved. She gestured to her bedroom. “I remember,” he said. “I've been dying to see the inside of this room.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

Joe pulled her quilt back and settled her onto the sheets. She gazed up at him and waited. He looked at her, his eyes intense and gleaming with dark, hot desire. “How'd I get so lucky?”

Joe unbuttoned his shirt, and Ali watched with keen interest. His bronzed chest came into view, and Ali's throat went cotton dry. She'd never tire of seeing him this way.

Next, he kicked off his shoes, removed his socks and finally released himself from the pants that held his straining erection.

He stood naked before her, and Ali's blood pressure skyrocketed. Everything below her navel throbbed with desire. Her nipples peaked to rosy buds.

Joe noticed. He smiled at her in a way that had her moist
between the legs. That's all it took. One hot look from Joe and Ali was toast.

He reached into his pants pocket and tossed a half dozen condoms on her nightstand.

Ali looked at them with a gasp. “Really?”

“We might need to take the day off tomorrow.”

Ali shook her head and giggled. She loved Joe more and more each day.

She wanted to gesture to him to come take her. She wanted to tell him six times might not be enough, but Ali only laid there, watching him, his naked form so enticing, so beautiful that she could easily reach out and touch him, bring him as much pleasure as he brought her.

Should she do it? Real Ali would have jumped his bones ten minutes ago. Ali sensed that's what he waited for. Joe wanted more from her. But Ali's passion was so intense that if she ever unleashed it, Joe wouldn't know what hit him.

The question was taken from her when Joe climbed into the bed beside her and took her into his arms. His kisses shut down her mind completely, and she fell into his embrace, allowing him to lead her to oblivion.

Ali woke in the wee hours of the morning with Joe beside her. They'd made love during the night, not quite the half-dozen times they'd set out for but two rather long incredible and satisfying times that would stay etched in Ali's memory forever.

She glanced at her digital alarm clock. It was four in the morning, and they'd be rising soon. She hadn't expected Joe to stay the night, but it warmed her heart that he did. After their last bout of lovemaking, Joe had taken her into his arms, laying her head on his chest and almost instantly fallen asleep.

He stirred restlessly next to her, and she froze, not wanting to wake him. “It's okay, sweetheart. I'm awake.”

Ali lifted up from his chest to peer into his eyes. “It's early.”

“How early?”

“Four o'clock.”

“I should leave before nosy neighbors see me sneaking out of here.”

“I don't care what my neighbors think.”

Joe chuckled. “No, neither do I. Just thinking about you.” He kissed her forehead and brushed loose strands of hair from her face. “I'm always thinking about you.”

“That's nice to know.”

“Let's take the day off. Play hooky or
do something else.
” He caressed her breasts and wiggled his eyebrows, villain style.

Ali giggled then flopped her head back against her pillow and stared at the ceiling. “I wish we could, but you can't do that.”

“Why not?”

“I've scheduled two meetings for you today. It would be rude to cancel at the last minute.”

“What time?”

“One is at eleven and one is at three in the afternoon.”

Joe bent over and kissed her soundly. “That's seven hours from now.”

Ali wrapped her arms around his neck. “Yes, that's true.”

“We could accomplish a lot in seven hours.”

Ali stroked his handsome face. “Especially since you're so thorough.”

He did the same. “And you're so efficient.”

Joe slid his hands over her, gently, sweetly until he'd caressed every inch of her. “I love touching you.”

“I love you touching me.” But Ali loved more about Joe than that, and she prayed that Joe would return that love someday to the woman she really was.

 

At ten that morning, Joe was head deep in work at the office. He'd gotten in around nine, and Ali had gone into work a half hour before him. She'd insisted she had work to do, so he'd gone home after they'd made love once more to take a shower and dress. Sometimes he cursed his practical mind. Both he and Ali realized they had obligations at the office that couldn't be ignored.

So much for playing hooky all day.

Sometimes Joe wished he could be a free spirit, acting on a whim like his brother Nick. His younger sibling had no trouble shirking his responsibilities if a good time was to be had.

Yet, Joe wasn't complaining. He glanced at Ali, her head down, going over some papers at her desk. She looked up, and their eyes met. The soft look on her face gave him pause. Something powerful was happening between them. It was more than lust, and Joe told himself to slow down.

There were things about Ali that he didn't understand. He wanted her to talk about her childhood, have her explain about her mother and also explain how suddenly, her entire demeanor had changed, almost overnight. Ali had gone from flashy and vivacious to conservative and subdued in the span of a few heartbeats it seemed.

For all he knew, it was another of Ali's fashion statements. What Joe didn't know about women could fill volumes, so he didn't dwell on it. But he knew one thing: He and Ali were good together—so good that he got a hard-on just looking at her sometimes.

Joe scratched his neck and chuckled. “Get down to
business,” he said to himself. “You've got a meeting in less than an hour.”

He finished up a call with a client and then his cell phone rang. He took a quick look at the screen and winced. He really didn't want to have this conversation.

“Hey,” he said to Tony.

“Hey, yourself. How've you been?”

“I've got no complaints.”

“No? Well, I've had a few. Seems the guy I sent in my place to the Grapegrowers Convention was a no-show. You missed a lot of networking, bro. I've been getting calls for two days asking what happened.”

“You know that's not my thing.”

“But you went, right?”

“Yeah, I showed up.”

“So what happened?”

Joe hesitated, refusing to answer.

“Ah,
Ali
happened.”

Joe wasn't a kiss-and-tell kind of guy. He kept his mouth shut.

Tony didn't give him the same courtesy. “At least admit Rena and I were right about the two of you. You couldn't go away with her without playing musical beds.”

“Isn't that exactly what you and Rena wanted? And listen, Tony, before you go getting ideas, it was just one weekend.”

“Yeah, and the moon is made of marshmallows.”

“What?” Joe furrowed his brows.

“You care about Ali. Just admit it.”

“Of course I care about her. I'm not…Nick.”

Tony laughed. “No, you're a far cry from our baby brother. Don't worry. I won't repeat what you said about him. But Ali's a nice girl, and you, Joe, have been alone way too long.”

“Leave the matchmaking to someone who knows what they're doing, bro.”

Joe didn't need any more encouragement when it came to Ali. He was having enough trouble sorting out his feelings for her. He'd been gun-shy for so long that he wasn't ready to open up his heart again. And there was always the fact that if it didn't work out between them, that he'd lose the best damn personal assistant on the planet.

All of that aside, Joe liked the status quo at the moment. Sex after work hours had its advantages. Joe glanced at his watch. He had a day full of meetings and work to catch up on. Evening seemed a long time away.

Joe took a look at Ali again, never tiring of seeing her. She was laughing at something Randy Simmons said, and then the sales manager touched her arm. An act of friendship he was sure, but Joe immediately turned away from them. A jolting pang of jealousy ripped through him. He squeezed his eyes shut and counted to three. He had it bad if he couldn't stand to see another man casually touch Ali.

“Joe, you there?”

“I'm here. I'm busy, Tony. I'd better get back to it.”

“Okay, fine. And listen, don't worry about blowing off the convention. You're the numbers man. You would know whether we're in good shape or not.”

“Trust me, Carlino Wines is doing just fine.”

“Great then. Say hello to Ali for me. Oh, and be sure not to work her too hard.”

Where did that come from? “I…don't.”

“Good, and remember women need at least a few hours of sleep at night.”

Joe hit the button on his iPhone to the sound of Tony's deep chuckle.

 

At home on Friday night, Ali looked at herself in the mirror, and that same sense of self-loathing plagued her. Wearing no makeup but a little lip gloss and a few swipes of mascara, dressed in a tan pin-striped pantsuit with her wild auburn hair confined in one long braid down her back, Ali frowned. She took her glasses off and laid them down on the dressing table. “Who are you, Ali Pendrake?”