The Boss's Secret Mistress

Tory wanted to slap him. She longed to. She’d never had such a violent urge before.

‘Oh, think what you like!’ She finally snapped. ‘Only don’t take it out on Alex.’

‘Meaning?’ Dark brows lifted.

‘Meaning: you may fancy me—’ she continued angrily.

A deep, mocking laugh interrupted her. ‘English understatement, I love it. I don’t just fancy you, Miss Lloyd. I want you. I desire you. I’d like to—’

‘Okay, I’ve got the picture,’ she cut across him before he became any more explicit. ‘But that’s not my fault or Alex’s. I haven’t encouraged you. If this affects our positions at Eastwich—’

‘You’ll scream sexual harassment?’ His eyes hardened.

Tory scowled in return. He was putting words in her mouth that weren’t there. ‘I wasn’t saying that.’

‘Good, because I’ve told you before,’ he growled back, ‘I am quite capable of separating my private life and my position as Chief Executive of Eastwich… If I decide to fire Simpson, you can be sure it’ll be for a better reason than the fact he’s currently sharing your bed.’

‘He isn’t!’ Tory protested once more, only to draw a cynical glance that made her finally lose it. ‘To hell with this! You’re right, of course. Alex and I are lovers. In fact, we’re at it like rabbits. Night and day. Every spare moment,’ she ran on wildly. ‘We can’t keep our hands off each other.’

It silenced him, but only briefly before he drawled back, ‘Now who’s being crude?’

‘It’s called irony,’ she countered.

‘All right, so if you and Simpson aren’t lovers…’ he surmised aloud.

‘Give the man a coconut,’ she muttered under her breath.

He ignored her, finishing, ‘Prove it!’

‘Prove it?’ she echoed in exasperation. ‘And how am I meant to do that—set up a surveillance camera in my bedroom?’

‘That would hardly cover it,’ he responded coolly. ‘Some couples rarely make it to the bedroom. I prefer outdoor sex myself. How about you?’

Tory didn’t have to feign shock at an involuntary vision of a couple entwined in long grass under a blue sky. Not just any couple, either.

She shut her eyes to censor the image and heard his deep drawl continue, ‘Not that I was suggesting it as an immediate option. A date will do, initially.’

Tory’s eyes snapped open again. ‘A date?’

‘You know—’ he smiled as if he could see inside her head ‘—boy asks girl out. Girl says yes. They go to a restaurant or the movies. Boy takes girl home. If he’s lucky, he gets to kiss her. If he’s very lucky, he gets to—’

‘Yes, all right,’ she snapped before he could warm any more to the theme. ‘You’re asking me on a date?’

‘That was the general idea,’ he confirmed.

‘To prove I’m not slee—having an affair with Alex?’ Her tone told him how absurd she thought it.

‘It isn’t conclusive,’ he admitted. ‘But if you were my woman, I wouldn’t let another man get too close. I reckon Alex Simpson will feel the same way.’