Her New Boss: A Rouge Erotic Romance (11 page)

Zoe didn’t know what to think of the admission. Jackson shoved deep, growling loudly behind her. Her breasts rubbed the worktable and her nipples ached for better stimulation. His finger stayed on her clit, pressing down hard. Grunting, he pumped his hips, increasing his speed until he plunged in and out at a furious pace.

‘Ah! Shit,’ he swore, breathing raggedly. ‘Damn it, you feel so good! You should see this, your body taking me in, my cock glistening each time I pull out.’

Zoe made a weak noise, helpless to do anything as he controlled the whole situation. She couldn’t gain leverage to thrust back, so instead she let him ride her. The tension built and she came, her muscles contracting violently as he continued his frantic pace. His hand didn’t let up on her clit as he forced her orgasm to draw out.

‘Fuck! Fuck!’ he cried, almost desperately. He jabbed forward, harder. ‘You are so fucking sexy like this. I want to take you home and tie you up so I can do this whenever I want.’

Suddenly he tensed, finally coming. His grip on her tightened and he jerked his release. Gradually he pulled out, releasing his hold. Her body weak, Zoe pushed up from the table, unable to believe what had happened between them. His passionate words spun in her head, making her dizzy. No one had ever said such things to her before.

‘Wow,’ he said under his breath. ‘I must have had more to drink than I realized. My brother is getting married and we were out celebrating.’

Zoe pulled her pants up and adjusted her tank top. Disappointment filled her as she realized everything he had said was just drunken sex talk. He hadn’t actually meant any of it. The words were a heat-of-the-moment thing. She told herself not to dwell on it. It wasn’t as if he had declared love for her. Affairs strictly of the flesh were new to her and she needed to remember these things didn’t work the same way relationships did.

The smell of burning food broke into her thoughts and she gasped, rushing to the stove. The trout was ruined and she took it off the heat, pushing it aside. Jackson’s arms wrapped around her and he kissed her neck.

‘Leave it until tomorrow.’ His lips brushed her ear and he bit her lightly. ‘I want you to come and stay with me tonight.’

The tension crept its way back into her limbs and she shook her head in denial. ‘I can’t. I have to be here early. The meatloaf isn’t going to make itself. Sheryl made a point of laying the old chef’s recipe out so I wouldn’t mess it up.’ Jackson laughed, his breath tickling her neck. Zoe artfully wriggled out of his embrace. ‘I should lock up.’

‘All right.’ The slow words made her glance at him. Jackson frowned, his gaze piercing her as if trying to read her thoughts.

The lights in the main lobby were already turned off, so she picked up her chef jacket and the keys off the back desk. ‘Good nigh –’

‘I’ll see you home,’ Jackson interrupted.

Her desire to run away from him was only slightly outdone by her relief not to be out walking alone in the strange small town. The city streets didn’t worry her. She was used to them, but being alone in these darkly lit,
abandoned
streets, so close to the woods? The thought made her tremble in fear.

‘Thank you. I appreciate that. I’m not used to the quiet. Even the air feels … less charged.’ Zoe didn’t like leaving a mess behind, but she didn’t want to stick around to clean it up either. Jackson grabbed the trash bag and Zoe held open the back door for him. Locking it, she waited for him to throw the trash in the dumpster.

There was no fast way to the front of the building, so they walked down the gravel alley. Moonlight guided their steps. Zoe played with the keys in her hand, letting them hold her attention so she didn’t keep looking at the man next to her.

Jackson didn’t know what to think. Zoe was unlike anyone he’d ever known. She fell passionately into his arms, yet acted as if nothing had happened as soon as they reached climax. Had he gone too far when he talked about his obsession with her? He did want to take her to his home, did want to keep her locked away there until he could force her to notice him, to feel a tenth of what he did when he was around her. She did something to him, turned him around, confused everything he knew to be true about relationships. More than a one-night stand, she was less than a girlfriend. It wasn’t the way he wanted it, but it was the way she made it through her actions.

He felt himself falling into a deep pit that he wasn’t sure he would ever escape from. A big part of him wanted to connect with her, wanted to know her, but the only time she ever opened up was when they talked about food. Even that first night in the bar, she’d only given him the time of day because it could help her career. Yet there was something about the way she looked at him, a shyness, that
didn’t
seem characteristic of a career-driven woman. She lacked a certain ruthless quality.

‘Do you need anything for your kitchen?’ It wasn’t what he wanted to talk about, but any conversation was better than none. They came to the end of the alley and turned toward the main street. A large tree on the corner cast a shadow across her features as they passed under it.

‘Nothing I can’t order. You’ve already done enough giving me the opportunity.’

Now he really felt like an asshole. The whole reason she was in Dabery was because he had got drunk and wanted to teach her a lesson. Now she was here and he wasn’t sure what to do with her. ‘You know, on Friday a group from California is coming to check out some of the Thompsons’ stallions. They’ll probably be at the restaurant.’

‘Is there a special request to go along with that information?’

‘Just thought you’d like to know when you’re planning your menus.’ Jackson glanced up the street to the bed and breakfast, not wanting the conversation to end. ‘Back in New York, you mentioned you had sisters.’

‘Yes, four.’

‘Any brothers?’

‘No, just two brothers-in-law,’ she answered. ‘Megan, the oldest, is a police detective. She’s married to Ryan, a crime scene photographer. Kat’s a photographer married to a bug scientist. She’s pretty well known for her entomology photographs. Sasha has been in college for years, I don’t know if she’ll ever graduate. And Ella is in the navy. We don’t hear from her too often.’

‘And your parents?’ Jackson smiled. It seemed he had found something else her eyes lit up for – family. In that
they
were the same. He wasn’t nearly as passionate about food, but he did care deeply about his family.

‘My father is a retired English professor and my mother is …’ She made a weak noise. ‘She’s, ah …’

‘I’m sorry, is she gone?’ Jackson reached for her arm.

‘What? Oh, no, nothing like that. She’s a flake. She thinks she can read our futures in tea leaves. We can’t do anything without her pulling out the kettle. It’s actually a little embarrassing. She used to make our dates in high school drink a cup and then would try to predict our relationships. Of course, they never lasted much longer after she pulled that.’

‘You think that’s bad?’ Jackson took heart in the fact that she didn’t pull away. As he talked, he slowly moved his arm to hook it into hers. It was a small gesture, but she didn’t complain. ‘My gramma is superstitious as they come. She has so many rules in her house you have to be born into the family to know them all. I swear anthropologists could write a book about the things she says. She believes things like putting a knife under a bed will cut childbirth pains in two and you’ll never get married if someone sweeps under your feet. And, at midnight on New Year’s Eve all the doors in the house must be opened to let the old year out unimpeded. Oh, and a food one just for you, eat black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day to ensure good fortune in the coming year.’

‘My mother once told me the tea leaves said to cut my hair.’ Zoe giggled.

‘Did you listen?’

She motioned to her chin-length style. ‘Apparently, if I didn’t cut it, the locks would have gotten caught in equipment at work and I would have lost my fingers.’

‘How do you know it would have happened?’ He stepped closer to her.

‘How do I know it wouldn’t?’ She looked at him, her expression playful as she arched a delicate brow. ‘I cut my hair and I have all my fingers.’

‘That’s hardly scientific proof.’ Jackson let go of her hooked elbow, only to slip his arm over her shoulder.

‘Do you eat black-eyed peas on New Year’s?’ They stopped in front of Marta’s house. The blue moonlight caressed her face, highlighting her face with a pale, ethereal beauty.

‘Every year.’

‘And how do you know that’s not the reason for your good fortune in business?’ She faced him and his arm slid from her to his side.

He reached to brush a wayward strand of hair from her face, his finger tracing down her cheek to the side of her mouth. Jackson began to speak, but she stepped back before he could get anything out.

‘Good night, Mr Levy.’ She gave the briefest smile and he couldn’t tell if it was genuine or simply humoring him.

As she walked away, he answered in kind, ‘Good night, Chef Matthews.’

‘Kat, I don’t know the first thing about doing this.’ Zoe paced the length of her room, only to turn around and pace the other way when she hit the white, slanted ceiling leading down to the painted white walls. The polished pinewood floor gleamed in the lamplight, reflecting a blurry image of her as she walked around the room. A delicate white lace comforter lay over the king-sized bed. When she left that morning, the bed had been a mess. Marta must have cleaned up after her. ‘I don’t know how to be a mistress.’

‘Zoe, sweetie, just calm down,’ Kat’s tired voice urged through the phone.

‘I can’t calm down. I don’t know what to do. He kisses me and I lose all rational thought.’ She paced faster, tossing her hands up as she moved. ‘And if I stop sleeping with him now he might fire me, right? But, even if I want to sleep with him, I can’t keep this aloof act up. I don’t know how to act around him so I end up babbling about food.’

‘You always babble about food,’ Kat teased. ‘It’s why we love you.’

‘Do you remember that time I was interviewed for the high-school TV station about mystery meatballs?’

‘Oh, no, Zoe, please tell me you aren’t that bad? Half the school thought you’d been struck down with some sort of weird disease from working in the kitchen.’

‘I know. I made mom burn the tape.’ Zoe took a deep breath, not wanting to remember the embarrassing incident. She’d been so pale and had ended up spouting incoherent sentences for nearly two minutes. ‘Kat, I’m telling you, it’s that bad. So I shut up and say nothing and end up looking like some kind of psycho whore who sleeps with a man and then pretends nothing happened.’

‘OK, calm yourself. First off, I’m glad you’re getting laid. I think it’s about damn time. Second, not all sex has to mean something. The fact does not make you a whore. Third, you’re a smart, intelligent, beautiful woman – wait, you’re being safe, right?’

‘Yes, he has condoms.’

‘You mean, he already had them when you two –’

‘Yes,’ Zoe broke in before her sister could say whatever choice phrase she’d come up with to describe her carnal acts.

‘Now that’s interesting.’ Kat hummed softly.

Zoe froze, catching her pale reflection in the window glass. ‘Why is that interesting?’

‘He planned, or at least hoped that he was going to get you in the sack. Do you know what this means? He’s thinking about you when you’re not around. We know he likes you. He even came on to you in the bar before either of you knew who the other one was. I’ll bet that’s why he brought you to the diner. He wanted a chance to get to know you and I’ll bet he wants you to get to know him. That’s why he brought you to his hometown.’

Zoe shook her head in disbelief, knowing Kat couldn’t see her. ‘I think that theory is a little far fetched. This is what he said it is – a position he had open and a chance for me to prove myself. Even tonight he said that some important ranch clientele from California would be coming down to check out some horses. It’s why he’d need a chef in a diner, to take care of the rich clients when they come. They’d expect more than diner cheeseburgers and greasy fries. It’s my job to make sure they’re satisfied. The rest of the days are just filler cooking for locals to keep the place running.’

‘You should make that creamy ranch for them.’

‘I can handle the cooking. It’s the man I have no clue on.’ Zoe tore her eyes away from her reflection. ‘I think he’s just interested in me because I shot him down at the bar.’

‘Why would you say that?’

‘Because I’m awkward and too skinny and –’

‘Shut your hole right now, Ms Zoe.’ Kat sighed into the receiver, the sound like a stout wind against Zoe’s ear. ‘You are beautiful and men want you all the time. You just never see it.’

Not wanting to get into a debate, Zoe changed the course of the conversation. ‘You know what Megan would say, don’t
you
? She’d say the romance novels I read give an unrealistic view of love and men. Maybe she’s right. I expect them to be this alpha hero who’s utterly perfect, but I’m not some kick-ass heroine who deserves to be with them.’

‘OK, you’re talking crazy now. Megan is hardly one to give relationship advice. She sees too many gone wrong on the job. We both know Ryan’s some kind of glutton for punishment for even being with her.’

‘That is so wrong. He loves her.’

Kat giggled. ‘Yeah, but Megs is a handful.’

Zoe flung herself on the bed, bouncing on the noisy springs before settling. ‘Tell me what to do. How do I handle this?’

‘I don’t know Jackson, but I do know you. Take a chance. Let him see you, let him see beneath all your shyness to the wonderful woman you are deep inside. If he’s worth anything, he’ll notice how magnificent you are.’

‘What if I don’t want him to notice? What if I just want this to be an affair?’

Kat burst into laughter, gasping and wheezing so hard she couldn’t form a coherent sentence.

‘What? I don’t know how I feel about him,’ Zoe tried to interrupt.

‘Oh, Zo, I can’t breathe.’ Kat panted. ‘That was too funny. My eyes are watering, that was so funny. Of course you like him. You slept with him. There is no way you could even kiss a man without really liking him on more than a physical level.’