Blackmailing The Billionaire(7)

The ride took a long time, with the elevator seeming to stop on every  floor. She breathed a sigh of relief when the last of the occupants  stepped out on the twentieth floor. She was glad to get a few floors  alone to compose herself, but she arrived much too quickly.

The bell chimed, announcing her arrival to the twenty-fourth floor and  she stepped out to utter silence. She looked around the spacious area  and felt her stomach tighten as her nerves overtook her even more. Where  was the hustle and bustle of people like she'd seen in the reception  area? Where were the hordes of people who should've been there? She  looked at the empty reception desk where a secretary should've been  sitting.

Cassie glanced at her watch, noting that it was a quarter after eight.  She'd been told Max was usually there by seven in the morning, and the  rest of the team was there no later than eight, so she couldn't figure  out where everyone was. Perhaps there was a team meeting, or a  conference.

She made her way past the reception desk and down a large, lighted  hallway. Office after office remained empty, causing her already nervous  stomach to tighten more. She knew she was in the right place. Joseph  Anderson had told her exactly where she was supposed to go.

She felt like a spy and expected security to jump out at any moment,  demanding to know who she was and what she was doing in the offices. She  made her way to the end of the hall and found Max's door to her right.  It was slightly ajar so she pushed it open and took a step inside the  dark room.

Cassie's overactive imagination took over and she felt like she was in a  horror flick for a moment, about to be attacked by a robber. She got  Goosebumps even thinking about it. She rubbed her arms as she peaked  around the dim room. The windows were tinted, allowing privacy.

She knew Max was less than happy to have her shadow every move he made,  but a deal was a deal and he better not have left her behind. Of course,  there wasn't a whole lot she could do about it if he had. Her first day  wasn't going according to plan so far.

Cassie scanned the room and jumped when she noticed a figure sleeping on  a couch tucked away in a corner. Her heart picked up speed as her fight  or flight response kicked in. She couldn't imagine anyone being able to  get to the offices who wasn't allowed to be there, but even if the  person were allowed to be in the room, didn't necessarily make them a  good person. She heard of horrible things happening in the corporate  world. The stories were buried in a mountain of paperwork and the  victims never got to voice their troubles. The executives were just too  powerful. She'd only heard positive things about the Andersons, but that  didn't mean bad things couldn't happen.

She took a closer look at the person, determining it had to be a man  from the way he was dressed and the size of him. He was lying on his  back with his arm flung over his face. He was sleeping soundly, wearing a  dress shirt, half unbuttoned, and a pair of slacks. His bare feet were  sticking out beneath a thin blanket only partially covering his body.         

     



 

Since it was Max's office, she was assuming it was him, but why would he  be asleep on the couch, and all the other employees be gone. None of it  made any sense. She knew many executives worked so late into the night  they often slept in their offices, but she didn't take Max as the  typical corporate shark, which is why she'd wanted to interview him so  badly. He was a mystery to most of the world.

"Time to wake up," Cassie said loudly. She watched him struggle to wake,  slightly groaning, then he just flipped over so his back was to her and  she listened as his breathing deepened and he started softly snoring.

Cassie was tired of standing around on the empty floor, and found it  very incredibly that Max wasn't waiting for her. He knew she was due in  that morning, and he could've had the courtesy to call her if something  came up. Not that she would've listened had he called. She knew he  didn't want to do the interview and she would've thought he was making  up an excuse.

She walked over, leaned down and placed her hands on his shoulders. She  started shaking him, which did nothing, so she pushed harder and watched  as his body tensed. She tried to move back, since she had seemed to  accomplish what she'd set out to do, but he suddenly moved faster than a  snake striking, and his hand shot out, grabbing her, knocking her off  balance.

She tumbled straight down onto his chest before she had a chance to  recover. Before Cassie could so much as breathe, she found herself  flipped over and suddenly pinned to the couch cushions, which were  surprisingly plush, with Max's body holding her captive.

His eyes were wide open now, and staring into hers. She stared back in  wide-eyed surprise, too stunned to protest her compromised position.  Suddenly, a wicked glint came into his eyes and his head started to  lower toward hers. She felt the protest on her lips but never had a  chance to say anything.

Max's lips came down on hers in an intoxicating kiss. She pushed against  him for a moment, and then forgot every reason why she shouldn't be  kissing the mysterious Max Anderson, and allowed him to seduce her.

His lips went from almost punishing, to soft and seductive, in a matter  of seconds, and she felt a pressure unlike anything she'd ever felt  before start to build in her stomach. His tongue slowly caressed her  bottom lip, demanding entrance into the soft folds of her mouth. A  shudder rippled through her as her mouth slowly opened.

He discovered every hidden recess of her mouth as his tongue tangled  with hers. Her hands glided up his neck, holding him close, afraid of  him pulling away. He didn't seem to have any desire to break their  contact, though.

His hands caressed her hip, and started sliding up her blouse, caressing  the sensitive skin on her stomach and side, causing more intensity to  build inside her. When he reached the underside of her breast, she cried  out. As his hand started to drift over the soft mound, she somehow  gained some will-power. She was shocked at how badly she wanted that  hand to cup her breast and relieve the aching of her tightened nipple.  That shock helped her to start squirming beneath him. It took him a  moment to realize she was trying to get away, and not writhing in  pleasure. He slowly lifted his head and the passion glazed expression in  his eyes was nearly her undoing. She wanted to say to hell with  responsibility and simply allow him to keep working his magic.

She pushed him again, just for good measure and he finally sat up,  allowing her to scramble out from beneath him. She scooted to the far  edge of the couch, not trusting her legs to hold her up if she tried to  stand. She'd never had a man kiss her before without her permission. She  was surprised by how much she was turned on by his boldness.

"Well, Cassie, I must say that you can wake me up anytime, if it's like that," he said with a dangerous smile on his lips.

"Who do you think you are?" she said, a bit breathlessly. She wanted to curse her traitorous body.

"Don't go acting like a victim. You were enjoying that kiss as much as I  was. I have to admit I've wanted to do that from the first moment I  walked in the hospital and saw you licking your lips. They're very  tempting," he said, his eyes looking down at her swollen mouth. Her  stomach tightened even more.

"You can't just go around kissing people whenever you feel like it," she  huffed, but she knew he was right. She hadn't protested.

"Mmm, now that's an appealing thought," he said with an even bigger grin.

"Whatever. Where is everyone?"

"What time is it?" he asked, ignoring her question.

"It's after eight in the morning. The rest of the building is full of people but this floor is completely empty."         

     



 

"No wonder I'm so tired. I only got a couple of hours sleep," he  muttered as he ran his fingers through his already mussed hair. He got  up and made his way over to his desk, where he sat down in his oversized  chair. He scooted it back and propped his bare feet on the large top,  scattering a few papers in the process. She had to hold herself back  from quickly going over and picking them up. If he wanted to be a slob  it wasn't her problem. She was surprised by how alert he was, especially  considering he'd only slept a couple hours.

"You never answered my question. Where is the rest of the staff, or do  they just take time off whenever they feel like it?" she asked while  pulling out her iPad and getting ready to take notes. His eyes narrowed  at her accusing tone. His staff worked incredibly hard and he didn't  want her writing anything negative about them.

"Before you get any ideas to start making up gossip you should check  your facts, Ms. McIntyre. My staff and I were up all night working on  some last minute changes for a new business venture. The employees here  are incredibly loyal, hard workers, and I won't have you saying anything  negative about them. I gave them the day off. They'll be back, hard at  work, tomorrow morning."