Stolen:The Billionaire Deception(11)

Still holding onto my hands, he swung me around like we were dancing. My   back was facing the wall and Seth's chest was at my eye level. He bent   his head down so that we were eye to eye and then he said, "I should   have kissed you, Erin. I'm going to kiss you right now to make up for   it, as long as you don't object."



I thought about objecting, I really did. The words ran themselves across   my brain but for some reason they didn't reach my tongue or my lips. I   was strangely okay with that. The only thing I wanted on my tongue or  my  lips at that moment were his tongue and his lips, so instead of   speaking I tilted my head back further. Seth took a step forward and   with his arm wrapped around my waist, he pressed my body against the   wall. I felt like I couldn't breathe and that fire he'd lit in my belly   the night before was now burning hot in my chest. He leaned down and   swiped his lips across mine. It was like he was testing me out to see if   I was going to object. When I didn't he brought them down again, this   time to cover mine and I heard myself moan slightly as my lips fell   open. He slid his hot tongue in between them and found mine. I felt his   hand slide down and grip my backside and lift me up off my feet while  we  kissed. I was completely engulfed by this man I purported to hate  and I  loved it.



After several minutes he broke the kiss. We were staring at each other   and panting, both of us wondering what the hell we were doing making out   at work like a couple of teenagers no doubt. I thought he was going to   pull back, but instead he took out the comb I had holding my hair up  at  the back and let it spill down across my shoulders. Then he wrapped  his  hand up in my curls and used them to position my head where he  wanted  it, and he kissed me again. The first kiss had been passionate;  this one  was erotic. By the time we came up for air again I was so  satiated I  felt like I'd had sex. As I struggled once more to catch my  breath he  said, "Wow. I knew I'd missed out by not kissing you last  night but  damned if I knew how much until now." My plans to avoid or  ignore were  gone, just like that. I was staring at him, still trying to  slow my  breathing a full minute later. He finally grinned at me and  said, "Are  you okay?" I nodded. "Are you upset with me for kissing you  here at  work?" I shook my head. "Are you mad at me for disturbing your  neat  little bun?" I laughed.



"No," I said at last. "None of the above. That was just … "



"The best kiss you ever had?"



Definitely. "I was going to say, unexpected."



"Sometimes unexpected makes it sexier, don't you think?" I could hear   talking in the hall outside my door and suddenly remembered where I was   at. I stepped around him and started twisting my hair back up into its   bun. He watched me with those cool blue eyes and once I was satisfied   that my hair was back in place he said, "I like you Erin, a lot. I'd   like to see you, socially."



I sat down behind the desk and said, "I'm just not sure that's such a good idea, Seth."



"Why?"



"Because of work, of course." I wasn't lying. It was all about work. He   just didn't know the depths of my intentions. "It's not really   appropriate, I guess is the word."



He moved back around to the other side of my desk and sat down in the chair there. He gave me a serious look.



"Do you like me, Erin?"



"Of course I do, but … "



"Are you attracted to me?"



"Obviously I am, but … "



"Do you want what you do for a living and what others think of you to dictate your life?"



It always had. "No of course I don't, but … "



"Then there are no buts."



I laughed. He was at least not going to hear one out that was for sure.   "What about the other executives? What about the employees? What is   everyone going to think?"



"I don't care," he said, simply.



"Have you dated other employees here?" I'm not sure why I asked him   that, it just came out. I had wondered about it. He seemed like a player   to me, although I had no direct evidence of that.



He leaned forward onto the desk and said, "No Erin. I don't date women   who are employed by the company. At least I didn't, until now."



"Why would you change the way you do things all of a sudden?"



"Because I can't stop thinking about you."



"That's it?" I said, with a little smile. "That's all it takes to change your convictions?"         

     



 



He laughed, "It wasn't a conviction. It was a rule that I followed in   order to protect myself and the company. I don't want to be accused of   sexual harassment someday and risk everything my father has worked for   being taken away." As soon as he said that my mind froze on that single   sentence, "Everything my father worked for."



"What makes you think I won't take that from you?" I asked him, dead serious.



"I could be wrong, but I just don't see you as that type. Besides, some   people are worth the risk. I've never been so infatuated with a woman  in  such a short time. I have to explore that …  if you'll let me."



The ice packed around my heart with the Hunters' name engraved on it   began to melt. I knew I was in big trouble but there was a part of me   that still wanted to say getting close to him could be about helping my   cause and if he ended up collateral damage then so be it. There was   another part of me, an even bigger part that had no desire whatsoever to   hurt this man. Everything I wanted to do to him and with him was just   the opposite of hurt.



"So?" he said, after I had obviously been lost in my head for way too long.



Impulsively I said, "Do you ride horses?"



With a little confused chuckle he said, "Excuse me?"



"Do you ride?"



"Um …  yeah, I mean of course I have …  it's been a while. Why?"



"I thought since tomorrow was Saturday and it was my turn to pick the date, I would take you horseback riding."



"Your turn?" he said, with a slow smile. "I guess that means we're dating then?"



"We'll see how you do on a horse first," I told him. "I'll pick you up   at nine a.m. Just write down your address for me. Then, you will need to   leave my office. I have a ton of work to do and my boss is a tyrant."



Seth picked up a pen and wrote down an address on one of my new business   cards. He winked at me before he left the office. It never failed to   amaze me how incredibly sexy I found his arrogance sometimes.









CHAPTER EIGHT









I went out to dinner with Grant that evening. I did my best to avoid the   subject of Seth at all costs. We went to a cute little Basque French   restaurant in SoHo and as they brought out way too much food one course   at a time, we talked about Grant's new love interest. Yes, it had only   been a week since he'd broken up with the last girl, but that was my   Grant.



"So what is this girls' name?" I asked him between spicy bites of my curry chicken.



"I don't want to tell you."



I laughed, "Is it that bad?"



"You're going to poke fun, but I really like this girl."



"Okay, so we'll put the name aside until I know more about her. What does she do?"



"She's a waitress at La Boulogne."



"You did not!"



"I did not, what?"



"You did not meet this girl the night that you took Bethany to that restaurant?"



"I may or may not have gotten her number after I tucked dear Bethany into a cab. I had to go back in for my jacket."



"She saw you there with Bethany and she went ahead and gave you her number?"



"I told her it was a first date and it didn't work out."



"Oh my goodness. You are such a player."



He grinned. For some reason that term didn't hold negative connotations for men the way it did for women. "I really like her."



"So you've been out …  twice?"



"Sort of. The first "date" was just a cup of coffee on Sunday afternoon, and then on Thursday we had dinner."



"Thursday? Wasn't that the night you were …  never mind."



"The night I was giving you a hard time about Seth? Yes, that was the same night. I got home right before you did."



"Oh, so how old is she?"



He grinned again. "You're trying to steer me away from him. That means that you didn't break it off, doesn't it."



"We were talking about …  What was her name again?"