Between The Sheets

Given that take, his new assistant was a wildflower, or maybe a wild violet with her unusual eyes. He could only see her from the waist up, but in a glance, he took in the slender body and slightly too-erect posture, pegged her in her mid-twenties, right about the same age as his youngest sister.

“Hey, Rex,” Dalton Tucker, the VP of sales, said, before turning his attention back to the woman beside him.

Rex inclined his head in greeting, his curiosity piqued by his new assistant. He’d made a career out of evaluating people and translating observations into marketing strategies. Everything about this fresh-faced woman told him she was a fish out of water.

“The man of the hour. Wilhemina brought this lovely lady into corporate to assist you,” the marketing director, Charles Blackstone, said, smiling down at the lovely lady in question. “April Stevens, this is Rex Holt, our independent consultant.”

Charles reached for April’s hand and damned if he didn’t bring it to his lips in a move reminiscent of some silver-screen movie star.

Not to be outdone, Dalton reached over the table to pour a glass of water, which he offered to her. “Here you go, April. You’ll need this. Trust me. These marketing strategy sessions tend to get steamy ever since we started gearing up for the Sensuous Collection launch.”

Squaring off in one corner was Charles, the heavyweight champion trying to hang on to his belt. In the other corner was Dalton the challenger, the hotshot VP of sales—ten years younger, better-looking and a well-liked guy who was a serious threat to the title without any effort.

But Dalton typically went above and beyond the call of duty, which upped the level of competition between these men to include every interaction Rex had ever witnessed. Who was the most competent at his job? Who made the brightest light shine on the company? Who had the most impressive conquest of the previous evening? These two were a regular half-time show.

They’d made every effort to include him in their testosterone war, but Rex had declined the invitation. He did wonder what April thought of all the attention, though. Her smile was in place but she looked breathless.

“Hello,” Rex said, pouring a cup of coffee from the sidebar. More caffeine was definitely in order. “A pleasure.”

She gave him a high-beam smile and he was surprised at just how much that smile did to relieve the tension radiating from her. She was a very beautiful woman. And one who should have had eyes in the back of her head because she slid her chair out just as he circled the table and walked behind her.

He’d meant to put his cup down and then shake her hand, but he wound up scuttling backward instead to avoid a collision, barely avoiding the hot coffee that spilled over the rim.

She shot to her feet in a fluid motion that made him do a double take at all the long slim curves her blue silk suit didn’t hide. She wasn’t so much wispy, as willowy…and embarrassed, he decided, as his gaze settled back on her face.

She obviously realized that she’d almost taken him down, because a blush stole into her cheeks. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

He shook his head and extended his hand, aware that all eyes were on them. “Welcome to the team.”

That high-beam smile returned, despite the blush that didn’t look as if it would be fading anytime soon. “I’m looking forward to working together. Wilhemina told me about you.”

Their hands met and sparks flew literally. Static electricity snapped. April turned to pull away.

Rex didn’t let her go.

She was one jumpy lady but the shock of the moment quickly passed as he guided her slim fingers into his and squeezed reassuringly. “Good things, I hope. I wouldn’t want you to regret becoming my assistant.” He certainly wasn’t.

“Oh, no. I’m counting on learning a lot.”

“We both will, I’m sure.”

He’d already learned a lot today, starting with just how much he’d been ignoring his sex life lately. One look at April Stevens and his mood improved big-time.

Strands of fine hair had escaped from the clip at her nape and she blew them from her eyes before tucking them behind her ear. Rex dragged his gaze from that manicured pink fingertip as it threaded through her hair.

Now if his luck just held, April would be single.

Forcing himself into motion, he set his cup on the table and took his seat just as Jacqui Scott appeared in the doorway. “Good morning, everyone.”

She moved into the office with confident strides that encouraged the notice of every man in the room. An attractive woman with an abundance of curly hair she wore loose around her shoulders, she wasn’t too far behind him in age, probably around thirty.

“What are you doing here, Jacqui?” Charles asked.

“Kaye asked me to sit in for her. She’s on a conference call with the L.A. office. Some crisis with an order.”

Rex had dealt chiefly with executive management during his time in-house at the Luxurious Bedding Company, but Jacqui Scott had been the exception. As the network administrator, she’d crossed his path every time he’d been the unlucky recipient of a suggestive post. And the one he’d received this morning would guarantee him yet another visit.

Her gaze rested briefly on April, but she dismissed his new assistant with the barest smile of greeting before sliding into the seat beside Charles. Her gaze skimmed across the product display boards at the front of the room that depicted the lovemaking couples of the Kama Sutra Sports Set.

“Wilhemina told me you received another post, Rex,” she said. “I’ll need to check out your system after the meeting.”

“Drop by my office.” Drinking his coffee, he affected a slightly bored mien. As usual, the Sensuous Collection and the suggestive posts placed sex front and center.

“So you’re the poor Joe of the day,” Dalton said. “What was it this time? I hope not another suggestion to supply male employees with panty hose so we can develop our sensitivity.”

“You can ditch that idea completely,” Charles said. “Not going to happen in this lifetime.”

“I think you’d look good in a pair of thigh-highs with garters, Charles,” Jacqui said silkily, glancing at the men from beneath her lashes and saving Rex the trouble of managing a diplomatic reply. “But you’ll like today’s suggestion much better. Group sex to improve interoffice relations. Isn’t that right, Rex?”

He nodded.

“As in you and a friend paying me a visit in my office?” Dalton asked Jacqui hopefully.

Jacqui’s gaze shot to Charles before she said, “Or you and a friend visiting me.”

Charles laughed and Dalton cast a sidelong glance at the water glass in front of April, a warning about the oncoming conversation. She only smiled.

“I hadn’t noticed interoffice relations suffering, which makes this recommendation moot.” Rex tried to move them past this topic and give his wide-eyed new assistant a break.

Unfortunately, Jacqui dismissed his attempt with one wave of a manicured hand. “It’s my experience that interoffice relations can always use improvement.”

“Given your managerial experience, we’ll have to take you at your word.” Dalton hoisted his mug in salute. “Rex is a corporation of one.”

“The lone ranger.” Charles laughed.

“We happened to have designed the Rodeo Line for lone rangers,” Jacqui said. “‘Rope ’Em and Ride ’Em with Supple Leather Sheets Made from Doeskin, Calfskin and Suede,’” she recited the slogan, an obvious attempt to inspire images of what roping and riding in bed might entail.

Both Charles and Dalton watched her with glazed expressions. April didn’t say a word, but he sensed she paid close attention to every word of the exchange.

Rex took another shot at interjecting sanity into the conversation. “You seem very well-informed about the line’s marketing and you’re the network administrator. I don’t see much room for interoffice improvement.”

Jacqui frowned. “Spoilsport. I thought you were the man who came up with the slogan ‘Experience the Bed, 1001 Things to Do Between the Sheets.’”

“For the Sensuous Collection,” he pointed out.

“Between our sheet sets and the suggestive posts, everyone is in the mood around here,” Charles said. “Except you, Rex. What’s up with that?”

“I’m here to work.”