The Billionaire's Impulsive Lover (The Sisterhood) (8 page)

Looking down, he looked at the handwriting. The feminine scrawl was elaborate, delicate and very precise. If he didn’t miss his guess, this envelope was from none other than his little bombshell, Claire.

As he opened the envelope, his hands remembered how perfectly her bottom had fit into his hands last night. She’d been so warm and responsive, his body instantly reacted to the memory.

He would have to get this Gary business out of the way so he could move her past the man. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold out this gentleman position with her being so…curvy. He almost chuckled out loud but there was just no other word for it. That woman had curves in all the right places. Curves that overflowed and bubbled up, just like her personality.

Slipping the papers out of the envelope, he was completely distracted by what he saw. His little bombshell had flipped through magazines, several of them in fact, and cut out pictures of furniture and accessories that she thought he should get for his great room.

He chuckled at her creativity. If only he could channel that towards his bedroom, and more specifically, his bed, he’d be in good shape.

Shaking his head, he carried the pictures out to his assistant. “Alison, can you contact these vendors and have them deliver the furniture to my home as quickly as possible?” Claire hadn’t just clipped the pictures, she’d written the contact information and price on the back of each one in case he liked any of them.

He was chucking and shaking his head as he walked into his next meeting and it took him a long time to concentrate on what was being said instead of thinking of Claire on his new sofa. Naked.

Three days later, Mitch wasn’t laughing any longer. His little bombshell was causing him an endless number of headaches with her cute little bottom wagging along the hallway and her pretty smile endearing her to everyone from the computer team to his executive management team. On more than one occasion, he’d walked into a meeting and they were discussing her, how cute she was, her latest joke or what outfit she was wearing. He was trying very hard to avoid her, but when his entire headquarters company wouldn’t shut up about her, it was proving an impossible endeavor.

Something had to be done. He had to get her out of his head, out of his system. Once he’d done that, he could forget her and get back to business.

“Allison, please call Claire Johnson to my office immediately,” he growled upon returning from yet another meeting where she was the topic of conversation during every break. How could the woman affect that many men? Had they all lost their discipline?

Five minutes later, he was sitting at his desk trying to review a report on a mission in Bosnia. But he’d read the first sentence five times, his eyes continuing to glance at his office door. Obviously waiting for her to show up, he thought with increasing menace.

When she actually did show up, he was about ready to spit nails, wondering what man on his staff had detained her this time.

“What took you so long?” he demanded as soon as she stepped into his office, her bright smile of welcome fading into a frown.

She looked around as if she were looking for something and Mitch became frustrated with her lack of response. “What the hell are you looking for?” he finally demanded, walking over to where she was standing and slamming the door to his office. He then moved to tower over her, wishing he could intimidate her like he could all the rest of his staff. She was just too…dammit, she just didn’t intimidate!

“I’m looking for the bee that got up your bonnet.”

He gritted his teeth at her reply, not sure if he wanted to turn her over his knee and spank her for being indisputably insubordinate, or kiss her until she couldn’t talk anymore. Both options seemed pretty damn good right about now. “What took you so long?” he demanded, still gritting his teeth but looking like he was going to bite her.

Claire leaned back slightly, not sure how to handle Mitch in this kind of mood. He’d always been incredibly restrained and in control. This man was definitely not in control but she had no clue what had gotten him into this foul of a mood.

“I got the call from your assistant and came up here. What more do you want from me?”

“It doesn’t take ten minutes to get from the second floor to the tenth floor. So what slowed you down? Or should I ask who?”

Claire blushed and shook her head. “Mitch, why did you call me up here?”

“Answer me!” he grated out.

That just got her back up and she stiffened at his tone. Turning to face him fully, she squared her shoulders and mimicked his stance, hands on hips, leaning forward and her expression just as furious as his now. “No!” was all she said. She then turned to walk out of his office, determined to not be treated so shabbily when she hadn’t done anything wrong.

Mitch couldn’t believe it. One moment he was breathing fire at her, his eyes barely able to look at anything other than her luscious lips, and the next he was staring at the carpet. Turning his head, he watched in astonishment as she walked away.

He grabbed her arm, spinning her around moments before she opened the door to his office. Trying a different tactic, he put an arm on either side of her head, leaning forward once again, but this time, his voice was softer, more threatening because of the undertones. “What took you so long, Claire?”

Claire could handle Angry-Mitch. She could even handle Icy-Mitch. But this Seductive-Mitch, well, he was a whole different beast.

Pressing her back against the wooden door, she tried to put as much space as possible between her body and his, already feeling the heat as his shoulders came closer, blocking out the sunlight streaming through the magnificent windows. “What are you doing?”

His eyes lost the battle with his brain, dropping to her lips. “I’m asking you a question. Why did it take you so long to travel nine floors?” His hand moved to the delicate shell of her ear, surprising her, causing her to jump as the touch sent electricity sparking down her spine, making her ache for a longer touch, a different touch.

With a breathless voice, she closed her eyes and pulled her head away. “I only stopped at the bathroom,” she said, her hands forming fists by her side so she wouldn’t give in to the temptation to touch him, to feel if his jaw was really as hard as it looked, if his skin was soft, or if the dark shadow of his stubble was rough.

“Come to dinner with me tonight,” he finally said.

Claire gasped and shook her head frantically. “No. I can’t.”

“Why not?” he asked gently, his fingers touching a curl, testing the softness and resiliency of the curl.

“Because it won’t just be dinner.”

He was stunned at first, but he shouldn’t have been. Claire was one of the most direct people he knew. Except when she was hacking into his company files, that is. “What’s the problem?”

“The extra portion of the night would be sex.”

He laughed. “I still don’t see the problem.”

She pushed away from him, slipping by and almost running to the middle of the room. “Because I’m seeing Gary. And sex would be a bad thing.”

Mitch stood up and crossed his arms over his chest, enjoying the view of her long legs in the black tights and short, black and white hounds-tooth skirt. She also crossed her arms, but her forearms pushed her breasts higher, allowing him a better view of their voluptuous nature as they pushed against the top of her white knit shirt. “First of all, sex is never a bad thing.”

“Yes it is,” she interjected quickly.

“No. It’s only bad if you don’t enjoy it. And we would definitely enjoy sex together,” he said and held up a hand to stop her protest. “Don’t even try to deny it, Claire. You’d be lying to me or yourself, or both of us and we’re not going down that path.”

She glared at him. “I wasn’t going to deny it, you arrogant beast!” she said indignantly. “But enjoying sex during the event is one thing. I wouldn’t like myself afterwards. There’s a big difference between liking sex and respecting oneself for doing something wrong.”

He smiled seductively. “Try me,” he encouraged. “I can guarantee you won’t be thinking about Gary before, during or for a long time afterwards.”

She took a step back and shook her head. “Isn’t that the point?”

“Yes.”

Claire rolled her eyes. “Okay, let me come at this another way. How would you feel if I were dating you and I decided to have sex with someone else?”

Mitch just about punched the wall at the idea of her sleeping with another man. He took two steps to eliminate the distance between them, grabbing her arms and lifting her up against his body. “You won’t be seeing anyone else when you’re with me, Claire!”

Claire’s eyes widened in surprise and she put a calming hand on his chest. “It was just an example, Mitch. I was just pointing out…”

He loosened his grip, but pulled her closer. “Say it, Claire.”

She could barely think with him so close. Her hand on his chest moved slightly and his eyes shifted down to look at it, then back up to hers. The heat that flared in his eyes was mesmerizing, as was his head as it slowly descended. Lower and lower, she watched in fascination and anticipation, wishing his head would move more quickly. She wanted so desperately to taste his lips once again, to feel the firm texture and know the explosion that happened whenever he kissed her.

The knock on the door surprised both of them, but Claire was the only one to react, jumping back out of his arms guiltily. She glanced at the door, then back up at him, her hand pushing through her platinum curls as the full impact of what they almost did broke through. “Gary,” she whispered, her hand covering her eyes in shame. “I’m sorry,” she said, not sure if she was saying it to the absent Gary, to Mitch or even to herself. Hurrying out of the room, she rushed to the door and swung it open, pasting a bright smile on her face in the hopes that no one would realize that she and Mitch had been about to kiss only moments before that knock.

Outside, several men were standing with papers and Claire tried to see their faces and smile politely, but she knew it was a wasted effort. She heard Mitch call out to her but she didn’t even turn around to acknowledge him. She simply rushed down the hushed hallway to the elevators and dove into the first one that came up, uncaring where it was going. She frantically pressed the button for the lobby, knowing she couldn’t face the people in her office.

As soon as she reached the lobby, she raced out of the building, finding solace in the courtyard with the trees and flowers, the hostas that carpeted the ground underneath the trees at the edges of the gardens seemed to smile at her with their perfect rows of leaves and purple flowers that were nearing the end of their season. Breathing in the smells of the trees and dirt, she started to feel better, find perspective. She took a seat underneath a dogwood tree that had lost most of its leaves as the autumn progressed and felt sad that she had so little loyalty that the constant tests of faithfulness towards a man she….cared for and respected…and she’d failed him.

Granted, Mitch was an extraordinary specimen of masculinity, but she’d dated handsome men before. Although none as buff, she thought, her palms itching to feel those muscles on his chest once again.

“Uh!” she said out loud. Even away from that man, she was being unfaithful to Gary. Although not physically, did that really matter? She had to get her mind off of Mitch! She had to stay out of his way.

“We’re going to have to do something about this,” Mitch said.

Claire swung around on the bench, her mouth falling open as she stared at the man who was constantly on her mind. “What are you doing out here! You have a meeting! Those men outside your office were waiting to meet with you.”

Mitch raised one eyebrow and moved closer. “That was over twenty minutes ago. I didn’t realize I was paying you to sit out here and mope about our lack of a sex life.”

She gaped at him. “I am
not
moping about our lack of a sex life. Since it’s never going to happen, there’s no use moping about it.” She realized she’d let in the possibility that she would mope about it and quickly contradicted her statement. “Not that there ever would be a sex life with you.”

“And why not? You want me. I want you, what more is needed in a sexual relationship?”

“Are you serious?”

“Absolutely.”

She stood up and started pacing the small courtyard area. “That’s exactly the reason why we’re not going to have a sex life. You want only sex.”

“And?” he prompted when she stopped speaking, looking at him as if that explained everything.

“
And
…I don’t do casual relationships.”

“And I don’t do formal ones.”

She was more hurt by that comment than she wanted to be, but shrugged anyway. “So we’re at an impasse, even if I weren’t dating someone already.”

He shook his head. “You aren’t dating anyone.”

“Gary…” she started to say, but he put a long, lean finger over her mouth which stopped her comment immediately.

“Shhh….you can’t have a relationship with a man who isn’t here. And even if he were here, you can’t care about him as much as you profess and still react to me the way you do.”