Naomi struggled with the chaos that was twisting inside of her. She wanted to unsee what she had seen; she wanted it to not matter to her that she had seen Susan holding him, but something deep in her could not deny that it hurt her. Somehow she found strength at her core and she grasped it tightly.
"Jonathon, your father is on the phone and he asked me to interrupt you and let you know that he wants to talk with you." She kept her eyes averted from Susan's blazing scowl at her, and she turned on her heel and made herself walk out of the room.
"Naomi!" Jonathon called out after her, but she disappeared around the corner out of his sight. He turned swiftly toward Susan and glared hotly at her. "You had no business speaking to her that way. She was doing her job, and nothing that she does is any of your concern. You need to leave, now." He set his mouth in a firm line.
Susan gasped softly and pushed her lower lip out dejectedly. She narrowed her eyes and tried to take a step toward Jonathon, but he pointed at the door. "Now."
Insulted, she spun in place and stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Jonathon went to his phone and plugged the cord back in and then picked it up.
"Father, I'm not able to talk right now, I'll call you back when I'm finished here," he said shortly, and then he dialed Naomi's desk line.
"Yes?" she answered quietly.
She was wiping at her eyes, trying not to let her emotions get the better of her. Frustration and irritation coursed through her as she wrestled with her heart over the idiocy of being jealous of Susan. Naomi reminded herself for the millionth time that Jonathon was her boss and her friend in that order, and that no matter how she felt about him in her heart, there was no place in the office or in her career or even her life for the longing and desire she felt for him.
She felt utterly foolish at having caved to her wanting rather than remaining removed emotionally and being the model employee she had promised herself that she would be. She had let herself down, and in that failure, there was no forgiveness. She was bitterly disappointed in herself and it had created a sharp edge in her that threatened to take her over.
"Come in right now, please." He requested firmly but gently.
Hearing his voice and his request made her whole body tense and her heart beat faster. She was sure that he was going to be angry at her for interrupting him for the phone call that his father had made. She knew better, but she had been told by the owner of the company to do it, so she did. Now she was going to have to face Jonathon in answer for her action, as well as feeling the surge of aggravation in her own heart and mind.
She hung up the phone, closing her eyes as she drew in a deep breath, and went to Jonathon's office. When she walked in, she saw him leaning against the front of his desk with his arms crossed and worry stung her.
He stood up and walked toward her a few steps, and she walked toward him, meeting him partway.
She tried not to think of what had happened in his office with Susan, and instead focused on what he had called her into his office to discuss. She refused to let herself feel humiliated about her jealousy in front of him. It was unthinkable to her. She would have to hold it back as best she could so that he would never see how miserable she was over it and how much of a struggle she was twisted with inside. She stopped just a couple of feet in front of him and lifted her chin, looking up into his eyes, ready for whatever he had to say to her.
He pursed his lips and hesitated, trying to read the dark stormy look in her eyes and the hard set of her mouth. "Naomi, I wish you hadn't come in when you did-" he began, but she closed her eyes and dropped her head just a little, and stopped him short.
"Jonathon, believe me, I wish I hadn't come in when I did, too, but your father demanded it, and you and I both answer to him, so I wasn't about to tell him no! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt you and your girlfriend, I just had to tell you-" She squeezed her eyes shut as tears threatened to spill out of them, and she pressed her full lips together.
"You didn't do anything wrong!" he insisted adamantly.
"I walked in on you and your girlfriend and interrupted you at such a bad time!" she gritted her teeth in frustration.
Jonathon's eyes grew wide and he shook his head vehemently. "Susan is not my girlfriend. She's about the furthest thing from it! She wants to be, and that's why she was here, but it's never going to happen. She is a friend of the family and that's all she is. There is nothing even remotely romantic going on between us!" he insisted.
His words softened the pain in her heart, but they didn't erase the image in her mind of Susan with her arms wrapped around his neck. She bit her lip, trying to hold her emotions in check.
Jonathon watched Naomi, tormented in his heart over her, knowing that something was very wrong. His eyes searched her face, but she was closed off to him. She turned away from him, her eyes still shut as she tried to swallow her tears, but she drew in a sharp breath and when he heard it, it seized his heart, and he reached his hands out to her shoulders, grasping them firmly and turning her toward him.
She opened her eyes and a tear fell from each of them, rolling down her cheeks and betraying her emotion to him. He sighed and shook his head almost imperceptibly, and as he saw her sky blue eyes look up at him, he saw everything in her, and he could not hold himself back from her any longer.
Jonathon pulled her to him and lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her insistently as he held her tightly. Her eyes flew open wide for an instant, and she breathed in swiftly, but his lips moved over hers and pushed her mouth open, and when his tongue met hers, twisting and turning over it, she felt herself melt into his embrace, wanting nothing more than that moment with him and losing herself in it.
Her gasp became a soft sigh as electricity ignited all through her, and her arms found their way around his back to his shoulders. She let go of all of the anxiety in her, not sure at all what was happening between them, and positive that whatever it was, she didn't want to change it. She held him close, and as their kiss began to heat up, he paused a moment and looked down at her, his words strained with emotion and need.
"Naomi … " he breathed softly on her cheek as he held her tight, "I mean it this time. I'm not going to apologize to you for this. I want this with you … more than you know … and if you don't want it, this is your chance to stop it. If you kiss me now, I'm not letting you out of this room until I have explored every part of you that I've dreamed about so many times. If you want to leave, do it right now." His arms around her loosened and he moved his body back from hers ever so slightly, and looked at her.
His heart was beating so fast she could hear it in his breath. She could not move or think; she could barely breathe, and somewhere in the back of her mind there was the hollow echo of the voice of reason. All she could see was his beautiful face so near hers, his hungry eyes held to hers, and his arms around her. His s hands on her waist were tight and inviting, and she felt herself shaking her head just a little, and lifting her chin to bring her mouth to his.
"I want this too." She whispered, pressing her lips and kissing him softly, folding her arms back around his neck. She couldn't believe that it was happening with him. It seemed so surreal that he could want her as he did, and with as much intensity as he did, but she felt the hunger in him as he kissed her, and she felt just how powerful was the need that he was holding back.
Nothing in her life had ever pulled her to another man with the same magnetic desire that she felt for him, and she had never wanted anyone more. The few remaining thoughts in the back of her mind that might have made her hesitate, seemed to disappear like a cool morning mist beneath the blaze of the hot sun, and she gave herself over to the passion that had begun to consume her body and make it ache for him.
His heart and mind were stopped for a moment as she returned his embrace and fervent kisses, and he felt himself stunned by the realization that she wanted him back; and not only did she want him, but she wanted him just as much as he wanted her.
Her fingers tightened on his shoulders and the grip made everything in him tense with equaled desire. . His mouth moved over hers with an increasing urgency as his hands closed tightly on her hips and his fingers curled into the material of her dress, clutching it as he pulled her even closer to him.
Her breath caught and she felt such a wave of passion welling up in her that she was overcome by it, and she had to break their heated kiss, dropping her face onto his chest and pressing her cheek against it.