Seven Minutes of Seduction - "Nice"
Excerpt
Copyright © Afton Locke, 2011 - All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing,
Inc.
When her office phone rang, Eliza groaned because it ended her
after-meeting recovery break. But instead of the business call she’d expected,
it was her friend and former coworker, Margo Villiers.
Eliza watched the minutes pass on the bottom-right corner of her
computer monitor as they talked about the latest sexy dress Margo had bought.
“I wish I could chat longer but I’m swamped,” she finally said.
“You’re always swamped,” Margo complained.
The exaggerated inflections in her friend’s rich voice made Eliza
smile. “Some of us have to work for a living, you know.”
“If you’d come to my parties more often, sweetie, you could find
a rich man of your own,” Margo replied. “I highly recommend the work-free
lifestyle.”
The idea of getting rid of all the stress did sound
tempting. Ever since Margo had married a rich businessman, her life had been
one of shopping, leisurely lunches and entertaining. But Eliza knew herself.
That kind of life would bore her eventually. She needed to work, just not like
this.
“In fact, I’m having one of my special mixers tonight. I called
to invite you,” Margo added.
“Mixer” was a mild term for it. Since Margo’s biggest hobby was
matchmaking, she invited successful singles for drinks, conversation and—if
desired—hot, creative sexual escapades.
Eliza sighed. “Thank you, Margo, but I’m just too exhausted to do
anything after work lately.” Watching sexy heroes in old movies in her bunny
slippers while eating ice cream was the closest she got to sex these days.
“Your new boss is still the slave driver, eh?”
“I’ll say.” Eliza grabbed her pen and squeezed hard, surprised by
her impulse to snap it in half. “You wouldn’t believe what the man— Never
mind.”
“He must be sexy.”
Eliza dropped the pen. “What? Why would you say that?”
Margo laughed, a lovely, musical sound. “I can hear it in your
voice, sweetie. You want the man.”
“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. I can’t stand
him.”
So why were her panties getting damp again?
She almost told the other woman she’d received a job offer but
didn’t have time to answer the questions that would surely follow. Besides,
until she confirmed the job, she was afraid something might jinx it and leave
her stuck with Zach forever.
Margo just laughed again. “You must come to the mixer tonight. I
insist.”
Eliza looked at the time display again. She had to get off this
phone but knew arguing with Margo would eat up even more time she couldn’t
afford to lose. It would be easier to just make an appearance at the party.
“What time?”
“Half past nine, and don’t be early,” Margo said.
“Why not?” Suspicion knitted Eliza’s brow. “You’re not trying to
fix me up with somebody again, are you? I told you I don’t like blind dates.”
“Of course not. I just have a lot of preparations to do before
the guests arrive.”
Whatever. “All right. See you tonight.”
Eliza hung up the phone, wondering why she had accepted the
invitation. If standing close to Zach hadn’t stirred up her hormones, she
probably would’ve turned it down. Oh well. It was just a party.
How bad could it be?
* * * * *
Zach stared into space for a couple of minutes after watching
Eliza walk out his office door. He loved the conservative straight skirts she
wore and the way they hinted at the sweet curves of her ass underneath. She
didn’t dress provocatively but didn’t need to.
He drummed his fingers on his desk. His cock ached. Hell, it had
ached during the entire meeting but he’d fought off a full-blown erection until
now. Every time Eliza’s silky brown hair had fallen across her eyes, he’d
itched to smooth it back. And that moment at the end when she’d parted her
lips…
Did she want him as much as he wanted her?
Unfortunately her big gray eyes never told him much. They had
looked stormier than usual when he’d told her the proposals department needed
to step up the pace to keep up with all the RFPs coming at them.
And he’d been sure the new style guide his boss demanded
would shatter that cool, maddeningly calm control she been maintaining
throughout the meeting. To his surprise, she’d barely batted an eye.
Why hadn’t she argued with him today?
He liked the way her cheeks flushed when she argued and the way
her upturned breasts heaved with her sighs. It made him want to rip off her
high-necked blouse, slip, bra—and whatever else she armored herself with—and
get down to the heart of the matter.
Even when she wasn’t arguing, he wanted to sample her bare
skin with his hands and mouth. At least she never fawned or acted subservient
like the rest of them. The woman just simmered under those conservative
clothes.
Eliza Worth was not an ass-kisser. She was intelligent and
talented and got along well with the rest of the staff. The thought of that
lush bottom lip of hers below his belt made the head of his cock throb. Maybe
he wished she was an ass-kisser…
He was sure he’d caught a glimpse of desire in her eyes. Maybe
the chemistry he’d sensed between them affected her too. He squeezed the
outline of his erection through his pants. If only he could forget about work
and indulge in a few minutes—or hours—of pleasure with her.
The ringing phone pried his thoughts away from his staff member’s
sexy mouth. Seeing his boss’s number on the caller ID killed his erection too.
“Your numbers are down.” Linton Crawford’s cold voice sounded so
clear it was as if he were in the same room, not fifty miles away.
Linton. Who would ever name their kid Linton? Maybe that
explained why the man always seemed to have a thorn in his ass.
Zach reached for a stress ball and squeezed the life out of it.
“Everyone is working very hard. Progress takes time, Mr. Crawford.”
“The fiscal year ends in less than a month. You’d better have
more new customers and repeat business on the books. The targets state—”
Geez. This guy was even worse than his father.
“I’m well aware of the targets.” Zach dragged his fingers through
his hair and pulled the ends. There probably wouldn’t be much of it left by the
end of the year. “You won’t be disappointed.”
After the call ended, he hurriedly glanced over his agenda. The
pace was so fast now he could hardly afford to take a bathroom break anymore.
If he spent many more nights in his office, he might as well move out of his
apartment.
And the Molly Fletcher situation made him feel like a complete
schmuck. Eliza surely thought he was a jerk and, for some reason, what she
thought of him mattered. A broken ankle wouldn’t keep him out of the office but
he realized people did have illnesses and injuries.
Maybe he should reconsider modifying the company’s
no-telecommuting policy, but the thought of confronting Crawford about it made
his stomach churn. The man didn’t compromise on anything.
The phone rang again. What now? Crawford had probably
called back to hassle him some more.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Taunton.”
Zach blinked in confusion at the seductive female voice. It
definitely wasn’t Crawford.
“I’m Margo Villiers and I called to personally invite you to a
little mixer at my home this evening. It begins promptly at nine o’clock.
Please don’t be late.”
“Thank you but I don’t have time for parties.”
He used the same brusque tone he reserved for telephone
solicitors and other people he didn’t have time for. The name sounded familiar,
though.
“Wait!” She must have realized he was already in the process of
hanging up. “This is a special party. Eliza Worth will be there.”
He had time for this.
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