Accidental Rivals_An Office Romance Read online

  “I can’t wait anymore. I’ve got to taste you,” he mutters thickly, as his powerful hands curve under my butt and lifts my hips up to his mouth. His tongue pushes deep into me, hot, velvety, and insatiable.

  My spine arches as I stroke around the hood of my clit ever so softly. I want to make this last, but I can feel the waves of pleasure getting stronger. Starting from where his mouth works hungrily to the tips of my fingers and toes. Oh, but it is glorious. When my fingers accidentally brush against my clit, I jump at the intense sensation. Despite it all, there’s an empty sensation inside me.

  Zack lifts his head and looks at me, his beautiful eyes, dark with passion.

  Tingles dance across my skin. “I can’t last much longer. Get inside me,” I whisper.

  He stands, grabs my ankles in his hands, and pushes them all the way forward until my body is almost folded in half as my pussy and ass are both completely exposed to him. The look in his eyes is electric. With a dark chuckle, he presses the tip of his thick cock at my slit and looking into my eyes, pushes down.

  I plunge my fingers into my pussy as deep as they will go and thrust them in and out of myself faster and faster following the rhythm set by the image of Zack’s dick slamming into me. Slower, faster, it all feels fantastic.

  “I’m going to come inside you,” he roars.

  That’s enough to send me over the edge. An intense orgasm grips me hard and shakes me, the reverberations making my body convulse. Water sloshes out of the tub and my head flips back and smashes the taps behind me.

  “Owww,” I groan, rubbing the back of my head, and coming down with a bump in the foggy bathroom. That’ll teach me not to fantasize about that creep again. Still, it was a really powerful orgasm.

  Sienna

  “Well, well, well,” I whisper, leaning in to get a closer look at the stats on the listing. There have been over two hundred and fifty hits on that specific page since it went live yesterday afternoon. Less than twenty-four hours ago. Not bad.

  Twenty-three of those visitors dropped a line via the site’s comment form. Another good sign. I’ve been around long enough to know that most visitors who click on a listing such as this one are just looking around for fun. Fantasizing about what they’d do with a house like that. Printing out the photos for their vision boards, I don’t know.

  For nearly ten percent of my visitors to ask for more information is good news.

  I just might pat myself on the back.

  But not yet. Not until I have a signature…in ink.

  Now’s the time to start wading through the messages, figuring out which ones look to have potential and which ones clearly don’t. I find that the people who take the time to ask pointed questions, such as exactly when they might be able to come in and look at the house, are the ones who are the most serious. They want a time, they want a date, they’re busy and they respect that I’m busy, too. I like those people.

  The knock at my door is nothing but background noise. “Yes?” I murmur, only half paying attention.

  “Good morning, partner.”

  Oh. Him. I guess it was too much for me to hope he had mysteriously disappeared off the face of the Earth overnight. It’s a good thing my face is turned to the monitor, or else he’d see the unpleasant red my face has become.

  I take a deep breath and wipe my expression of all reaction before turning to him, blocking the view of what I’m working on. “Good morning. What can I do for you?”

  He blinks, a little startled. It’s a minor victory I can’t help silently rejoicing over. Otherwise, he’s the picture of calm composure, the way he always tries to look. I’ve seen him shaken already. I know it’s possible.

  And it’s way too much fun to watch his mask slip a little. I can’t help it.

  “What do you think you can do for me?” he asked, sliding right back into his slimy act.

  I’m starting to wonder if it’s an act at all. Maybe this is just who he is. I hope not, for his sake. I manage to hold my temper back, but just barely. “You’re the one who came in here and disturbed me. You’re the one who obviously wants something. What is it? I’m very busy.”

  “Yes, I’m sure you are.” Rather than getting down to business, he leans against the waist-high filing cabinet that sits along the far wall. His biceps bulge and strain against his sleeves when he folds his arms.

  It’s an effort to pry my eyes from them. And it’s a bigger effort to not let them slide down to the bulge in his pants. “So?” I lean back in my chair, crossing my legs. Two can play at this game—if this is a game at all. I’m still not sure. Maybe it’s just my hormones out of control. I’ve always been able to control them in the past, but he’s a different beast. It must be the way he already manages to aggravate me. My blood is already simmering after just a few moments of exposure.

  He clears his throat. I’m making him uncomfortable. What a shame. “I was wondering how the listing is doing.”

  “You could’ve checked that out for yourself.”

  “Only one person can be signed into the page at a time and you know it,” he says, his icy eyes narrowing. “I can’t check the stats if you plan on hogging them all day.”

  “I would hardly call performing due diligence hogging the stats,” I mutter, my head tilted to the side. “I’m working on a list of interested parties based on requests for information. How is that hogging?”

  “You know what I mean. Get your information and sign out, so somebody else can sign in. Or,” he continues, tilting his head to mock me, “tell me what you’re working on and we can work on it together. After all, we’re supposed to be doing this as a team.”

  My blood goes from simmering to a rolling boil. “Oh, now you want to be a team?” I ask, fighting to keep my voice under control, if not my blood pressure. “After what you’ve done to me so far? You flat-out told me to give you the listing. Then, you tried to bogart the entire meeting with Nick by deliberately scheduling it at a completely different time of day than you originally offered. And I’m the one who has a problem being a team player? How do you keep from laughing out loud at some of the things you say?”

  “Don’t pretend to be so innocent.” He chuckles humorlessly. “You have a few tricks up your sleeve.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Just what I said.” He shrugs. “And I don’t hold it against you. Really, I don’t. You don’t get to be as good as you are, or as I am, without knowing your way around the rules. If anything, I’m thankful to finally have a formidable opponent.”

  “I’m not supposed to be your opponent,” I remind him through clenched teeth. “We’re supposed to be working together.”

  “Which is why you’re single-handedly managing the listing? Which is why I had no say in the wording? And now I can’t get into the backend to analyze the traffic to the page?”

  “You’re the one who set the tone for this entire undertaking. If you’d just gone along with me from the get-go, during dinner, all of this would have gone much differently.”

  “That again.”

  “Yes, that again!”

  A few laughs float our way over the cubicle walls, and I realize I was shouting. My cheeks burn as I duck my head, clearing my throat. The back of my neck feels all prickly and hot, and the top of my head is about to blow clear off. I take a few deep breaths.

  “Feel better?” he murmurs.

  My head snaps up, my eyes burning a hole into his. “Yes. I feel much better. Thanks.” I leave out the part where my hands are practically twitching, wanting to strangle him.

  He arches one eyebrow. “Good. Honestly, if I didn’t know better, I would think you had a bad night last night. Maybe a date didn’t go as planned. Or something like that.” He walks out, closing the door behind him, before I have the chance to come up with a retort.

  What is there to say? My mouth hangs open as my brain struggles to catch up.

  What was that supposed to mean?

  He can’t know about
the showing. Can he? No, impossible. Unless he’s been stalking me. Maybe stalking is too serious a word. Even though I wouldn’t put it past him.

  Is that it? Did he follow me to the house? If so, why didn’t he announce his presence?

  No, no, I’m being paranoid. I’m also biting my nails, which is a habit I thought I broke myself of a long time ago. But I’m nervous. I’m rarely nervous like this.

  Well, what’s the worst that could happen even if he were to find out that I was going behind his back? Nothing, that’s what. I need to get back some of the confidence I had last night, when I was telling myself he was getting no less than he deserved for stabbing me in the back. He started this.

  It’s one thing to be confident when I’m home, in my pajamas. It’s another when I’m face-to-face with him and he’s staring at me with those ridiculous eyes of his and I don’t know whether I want him to keep staring into their crazy-beautiful depths, or swallow glass and die from it.

  I just don’t know.

  There’s one thing I’m still certain of—I need to sell this damn house.

  And fast.

  Zack

  Zack

  Right. She lied with a straight face!

  A reluctant smile plays at the corner of my lips. I started the ball rolling, but good to know she’s more than willing to play dirty. Good, because I can now stop feeling guilty. All is fair in love and war.

  I stroll over to the coffee room. The coffee is shit, but it’s a den of absolutely invaluable up-to-date information. Mary Ann Colter bounces up to me. Behind her glasses her eyes are shining. I like her. Not my type, but she has that librarian appeal. I have a feeling she would be a live wire in bed.

  “It’s my birthday on Friday and I’m having a party at my place on Saturday. Wanna come?”

  I hesitate. A birthday party full of people I don’t know doesn’t sound too appealing.

  “I have a friend I’d like to introduce you to. She’s really nice and gorgeous too.”

  Now, I know I definitely don’t want to go. “Thanks for the invite, but this weekend is kinda busy with this sale and all.”

  “Oh! Never mind, maybe next time?”

  “Next time,” I echo with a smile.

  “Right. I’ll text you my address in case you change your mind,” she calls as she skips away.

  Brad sidles up to me. “How it going with QB?”

  Oh, did I mention that is Sienna’s nickname around the office. It stands for Queen Bitch.

  I grin. “Not bad. She’s actually quite fun.”

  “No kidding?”

  I laugh at his shocked expression, then shake my head. “Nope.”

  He frowns. “So should I put money on the bet?”

  “No, don’t do that,” I say hastily, looking around me.

  The guys have a cringe-worthy bet going that I’ll end up in bed with Sienna. No amount of persuasion will get them to drop it. Last time I looked the total was already nearly three hundred dollars.

  Hell, if Sienna finds out about the bet, she’ll throw a fit like the office has never seen.

  Sienna

  Two-thirty.

  Where is he?

  I’ve been waiting to hear from him again. Actually, I’ve been waiting all day, as much as I’d rather not admit to myself that I have been. I’m not exactly proud of who Zack has reduced me to. We’re like two kids fighting on the playground. I’m surprised we haven’t devolved to kicking and hair pulling.

  Then again, it’s only been two days. We still have time for things to go further down the tubes.

  I’m so desperate to find him without making it look like I’m looking for him that I even go to the break room and make a cup of coffee. I hardly ever do this, as the coffee here is swill, the sort that comes out of those pod machines. I have to be frugal to pay off my large mortgage, but I’m willing to shell out a little extra dough for decent coffee.

  He’s not one of the smattering of people gathered around, chatting. He isn’t parading himself through the office like he’s God’s gift to women, which is unusual for him. He’s not even kissing Rodney’s ass in his office. And the few times I’ve casually strolled past his cubicle, it’s been empty.

  Where is the jerk?

  “Forget this,” I mutter, tossing the crappy coffee down the drain and marching out of the break room. So what if everybody who witnessed me doing that whispers to each other, wondering why I’m acting crazy? They probably already think I’m nuts.

  I have a feeling. A very bad feeling.

  He’s pulling his next move. Right now, this very minute. He’s doing something sneaky and thinks he’s going to get away with it. “We’ll see about that,” I whisper to myself, teeth clenched as I punch my arms into the sleeves of my coat and grab my purse.

  Minutes later, I’m on the road, driving to the house. What’s the worst that could happen? I could show up and find it empty, just like I left it last night. No big deal. I’ll simply go back to the office and play nice.

  But I didn’t get as far as I’ve come in this business by ignoring my instincts. They’re screaming at me as I drive down the freeway, grateful for the almost nonexistent traffic at this time of day. I need to get to the house, fast, before he has the chance to do anything I can’t undo.

  It’s a beautiful, sunny day, if slightly chilly, and the mid-afternoon sun glints off the chrome of Zack’s sports car as I pull into the roundabout. “I knew it! I knew it!” I shout, squeezing the steering wheel the way I’d love to squeeze his neck.

  Or maybe a certain part of his body he’d regret having squeezed much more.

  There’s a car parked beside his. Not as flashy as Zack’s, but very expensive and foreign. The kind of person who could afford a pile like this. After taking a quick glance at myself in the rearview mirror and forcing my face into more pleasant lines ‒ nobody ever sold a house by charging in, looking like an escapee from the loony bin ‒ I step out of my car and stride confidently up to the front door.

  “Hello?” I call out, my tone light and pleasant.

  A pair of footsteps echo off the marble floors as Zack and another man come in from the library. I’ve often heard of a person looking like they were caught with their pants down, but I’ve never quite seen the expression on a person’s face until just now. He literally looks as though I caught him doing something dirty.

  Because I did.

  “I thought you were busy this afternoon,” he says, immediately putting on an act for the client’s sake. Charming, good-natured, a real team player.

  It’s enough to make me want to throw up all over the marble beneath my feet.

  “My appointment had to be rescheduled,” I inform him, flashing a brilliant smile to rival his. “And I knew you’d want me to meet this gentleman. Hello. I’m Sienna, Zack’s partner.” I walk to him with my head high and my hand extended, still smiling.

  He smiles in return, his eyes flitting over me in a quick, practiced maneuver before locking onto mine. He’s skilled in the art of appreciating women, I can tell. And although he’s a bit old for me, maybe in his late forties, I wouldn’t kick him out of bed for eating crackers. Thick, gorgeous salt-and-pepper hair, brilliant green eyes, a warm smile and a suit that looks as though it was made with him in mind.

  This will be easy.

  Zack clears his throat. “Sienna, this is Kent Holloway. I’m glad the two of you are getting the chance to meet up.”

  Oh, I’ll just bet you are. I’ll just bet you’re over the moon with excitement. “So am I,” I murmur, never taking my eyes from Kent’s. As far as I’m concerned, there’s only one man in the room. In the entire world, for that matter.

  At least, that’s what I’ll let him think.

  I can’t help but notice an absolutely mouthwatering aroma in the air. “Mm, what’s that wonderful smell?” I ask, looking from Kent to Zack. Is it my imagination, or is Zack blushing just a little bit? No, it can’t be. Men like him don’t blush.

  “Oh, som
e places just smell good. You know how it is.” Zack chuckles.

  I turn to Kent. “I don’t suppose you’re wearing cologne that smells just like freshly baked apple pie, do you?”

  “Not lately.” He grins. “Though, I could be convinced, if that’s the sort of thing a lady like you enjoys.”

  “Oh, you!” I laugh, tossing my hair over one shoulder. It really is too easy sometimes. “I suppose it’s better on the old waistline than an actual slice of pie, though. Well. You look like a busy man. Let’s get down to business, then, shall we?”

  “By all means. I enjoy a lady who knows how to take charge of a situation.”

  We share another laugh—really, the things a woman has to put up with sometimes—and then we get started. “I don’t know about you, but I do love this entry,” I muse, looking up. “The spaciousness of it. The light the window above the front door allows in, reflecting off the chandelier.”

  “Beautiful,” he agrees.

  I don’t think he’s looking at the chandelier when he says it, but I pretend not to notice. “I don’t know if you had time to check out the library yet…?” I deliberately avoid Zack’s pointed stare as I lead the way.

  “We didn’t have much time to explore,” Kent explains. “Besides, I would love to get a woman’s viewpoint on it.”

  “Oh?”

  He nods, shrugging. “I find that women have a little more imagination when it comes to what a home can become.”

  “You know, that is so true,” I concede, nodding slowly as I pretend to think this over. “We have the vision. At least, that’s what I’ve always heard.”

  “And who have you heard that from?” Zack asks, standing behind Kent, so I’m the only one who can see the look of utter fury on his face.

  “Plenty of people.” I shrug, pretending not to notice or care that his head is close to exploding. “Anyway, here you can see what the previous owner used as a library-slash-music room, but it has potential to be used as a study, a family room, whatever the owner’s heart desires.”