Amy came out of her office and Tom threw his arm around her waist as they headed for the elevators. The door came open just as he was leaning toward her in what would seem like an intimate moment to an observer, which was what Lucas saw as he stepped through the open doors.
“What’s going on here, Amy?” he practically shouted. “Have you forgotten this is a place of business? I’m gone a few weeks and you think you can parade your boyfriends in and out of here? What if I’d been a customer?” The barely suppressed ire in his voice surprised Amy.
Tom smiled to himself, turning so his new boss couldn’t see. He could instantly tell the boss was jealous. Well, this is certainly interesting, he thought to himself. He decided to have a little bit of fun, “Hello, Mr. Anderson. Ms. Harper and I were just stepping out on our lunch break. We already set the phones and will be back in one hour.” With that he pulled her into the elevator and they were gone.
Before Lucas had time to react, the doors shut, leaving him stunned and more than a little angry. He almost followed them so he could drag her back up to the offices. Only years of tightly managed control had him staying where he was. What he really wanted to do was pitch Tom out a window and haul Amy into his arms. He’d avoided her as much as possible in the hope he’d get over his infatuation, but the way she looked at him didn’t help. He could see it was a mutual attraction and they both were fighting their feelings for each other.
He stayed in his office the entire hour they were gone, not getting any work done. He just paced from one side of the room to the other, waiting impatiently.
“You know you let him think we were sneaking off for some illicit affair during our lunch hour. I’m going to catch hell for that,” Amy tried to say as sternly as possible as she and Tom sat down.
“I couldn’t resist. He had such a sour expression on his face at seeing you locked in the arms of my beautiful self,” he chuckled.
Amy had been fighting her attraction to Lucas from the moment she’d met him. She knew he wanted her but she also knew it was a bad idea to get involved with her boss. She wasn’t one of those women who slept her way to the top. She wasn’t even close to being one of those corporate barracuda sharks. She was working hard so that one day she could provide a stable home for the family she’d always wanted.
“You were holding out on me, you know. I had no idea the boss was hot for your body,” Tom continued.
“He isn’t hot for my body,” she said. “He just likes to be in control of everything, including his employees. Just you wait, he’ll be telling you who you can date as well,” she said, starting to see humor in the situation. She knew they would both end up getting over the attraction soon enough and she in no way wanted Tom to know she thought her new boss was stunning and made her breath hitch each time he walked in the room.
“Darling, I can already tell I’m not his type, unfortunately,” he sighed, being over dramatic. “I would love to change him but there are some men who only have eyes for the hourglass. Poor me, I’m destined for heartache seeing that piece of man hunk on a daily basis and never having a shot.”
Tom had successfully pulled her out of her melancholy. She knew she was going to have to put up with Lucas’s bad mood when they got back, but for the moment, she and Tom were having a great lunch.
They laughed and talked between bites of food and before either was ready, they walked back to the office, making sure not to have any physical contact. Amy felt no need to press her luck any further that day. She didn’t want to lose her job because the boss thought she was the office floozy.
Before she could even sit down she was getting buzzed into Lucas’s office. “Ms. Harper, can you please step in here? We have a lot to go over this afternoon and because of your extended lunch we’re behind,” his voice snapped over the intercom.
Amy sighed, knowing her peaceful day was officially over. She gathered her laptop and headed for the door that connected their offices. She did grumble a bit to herself, though, as she’d made sure she didn’t take an extended lunch and had in fact been back about ten minutes earlier than she needed to.
Lucas didn’t look up as she walked into the room. She silently crossed the floor and sat down on the opposite side of his desk. They sat for several minutes in an uncomfortable silence. She began to squirm, which ticked her off even more. How dare he make her feel like a school kid sitting in the principal’s office because she’d been caught necking on campus.
Lucas knew the second she entered. She didn’t make a sound but her scent engulfed him. His eyes were locked on the computer screen while he blindly punched buttons on the keyboard, having no clue what he was doing. For all he knew, he could’ve given away millions of dollars.