Best of Bosses 2008(174)

Tears shone in her eyes and the sight of them undid Logan. Closing the gap between them, he took her hands. ‘Maria’s a poor judge of character. No doubt she thought of you as nothing more than the new girl—a little nobody on the front desk—too terrified to question her.’

Sally rolled her eyes and the action sent her tears spilling down her cheeks. Logan wiped them gently with his thumbs. He said softly, ‘Sally saves the day.’ It was supposed to make her smile. Her smiles were precious. Pure gold. ‘I mean it, Sally. You’ve saved my company, you’ve saved me.’

She rewarded him with a tiny tilt of her mouth. Her lovely, soft, inviting mouth. Which he should not be looking at with shameless desire.

But desire for Sally had become his constant companion lately and now it was heightened by all the other emotions swirling through him—shock, horror, gratitude, elation. ‘How can I ever thank you?’ he whispered and then, to cover the deeper feelings he hadn’t meant to reveal, he tried to lighten the moment. ‘I’m great with flowers and dinners, but what else can I offer you, Sally?’

For ages she stood there, staring at his computer, but when she looked up there was a playful twinkle in her eyes. ‘I think the least you could do is kiss me again.’

Wrong answer. He was supposed to be keeping his distance from this woman. He was her boss and he’d as good as promised that he wouldn’t lay a finger on her.

Sally seemed to have forgotten. And, the truth was, Sally had earned twenty years’ worth of kisses, and it was only fitting that he should be the man who gave them to her. Slowly. Lovingly. Over every inch of her soft, silky skin.

Whoa, there. Straighten your thinking, man.

Logan shifted his focus from Sally’s tempting mouth to the bank of windows. The world outside was pitch-black now. It was time to get her home before he forgot his good intentions. Time to…

He looked into Sally’s eyes again. Major mistake. He felt as if he were drowning, feared he was losing the fight. He was a mere male and how could he resist this tempting saviour? Why should he resist her when she was so clearly inviting him to kiss her?

Lifting his hands, Logan framed her face, knew he had no chance in this lifetime of keeping his distance.

Nevertheless…it was supposed to be a restrained kiss. That was the plan. Cradling her face with gentle hands, he lowered his lips slowly, brushed them softly against her mouth.

And his plan turned to dust as Sally gave a small whimpering cry, wound her arms around his neck and arched into him. Her lips were sweet and eager. She nipped him lightly on his lower lip and made soft sounds of wanting that sent his best intentions scattering into the night.

His kiss turned hard and deep. His hands slid down her arms and cupped her bottom. Oh, God. Her kisses were way beyond sexy. She tasted divine, sent him wild.

He’d never been stirred to this feverish point where physical need and tender emotions were fused in one overwhelming torrent of longing. He had to have this woman. He was on the edge of losing control completely.

No. Hell, no. He couldn’t do that.

Somehow Logan found the strength to break the kiss. Sally’s cheeks were flushed and her eyes were dark and roused. Touching a finger to her lips, he whispered, ‘We shouldn’t be doing this. I gave you my word.’

Her chin lifted and her eyes were a clear blue challenge. ‘Please don’t send me away, Logan.’

‘Oh, Sally.’ He drew her against him, pressing a kiss into her glorious, sun-bright curls. ‘What am I going to do with you?’

‘I thought you were doing just fine.’

He groaned softly, knew that he’d lost this particular battle. ‘Not here.’



‘Where are we going?’ Sally asked as the car purred through the forest of skyscrapers in Sydney’s city centre.

‘My place.’

Logan’s quiet answer sent a jolt through her that almost launched her out of her seat.

‘Is that OK?’ he asked, shooting her an anxious sideways glance.

‘Yes. Absolutely.’ Her voice was surprisingly calm and confident considering that Logan Black was taking her home, almost certainly to make love to her. She closed her eyes as the impact of this washed over her, bringing wave after wave of shivery excitement.

It was so hard to believe this was actually happening. But it felt right—perfectly right. The whole ‘boss’ façade had fallen away this evening and Sally had seen a man facing his greatest fear.

Even if she hadn’t already been totally smitten by his good looks, or touched by the way he’d tried so earnestly to learn to dance, and with the way he bought white roses for his grandmother, and a thousand other sweet things about him, she would have fallen head over heels tonight.