Illicit Affairs by Holly Dixon
Seven
The last thingNate needed or expected to see was his personal assistant upon her hands and knees, presenting a rather sumptuous and plump derrière to him first thing in the morning—especially after the night he’d had. But alas, as he walked through the empty department, hesitating as he saw his office lights on, he turned the corner into his workspace and dropped his jaw as his wide eyes fell upon Ms. Archer.
Her skintight dress stretched over her peach, the silver zip running from her nape to tail appearing to be at breaking point as it held the material intact around her tight little body. She was quite literally a piece of liquorice just waiting to be unwrapped.
The young woman looked to be tidying something up beneath his desk in a rush, but he wasn’t in a hurry at all, not when he had a view of two black lines running up the backs of her creamy thighs, her suspenders holding up her sheer black stockings.
Damn, if I wouldn’t sell my left nut to see her crawl towards me without that dress on right now—shit, no! Head in the game, Brooks!
“Good morning, Ms. Archer,” Nate announced, not wanting to devour the sight of her in that state for too long since his recently satiated member was stirring beneath his grey work slacks, and for fear of labelling himself a pervert. However, he couldn’t blame himself for stealing a look—he was a hot-blooded man after all.
A high-pitched squawk left Ava’s lips. She shot upright, startled from the presence behind her, the top of her head banging against the corner of the desk.
Nate hissed in empathy for her, watching the young blonde rub at her crown and curse under her breath. Normally, he detested such profanities, but when she did it in that fruity accent, it was endearing.
“A hand?” Nate asked, extending his hand for her to take, his lips in a bemused smirk as he peered down at glaring eyes.
God, this kitty has claws.
“Thank you,” Ava chided, her tone cold and full of pride as she carefully put her hand in his and slowly rose to her feet. Warmth engulfed her small hand as his large paw wrapped around her. Her eyes landed upon his, which were surprisingly soft for once, two pools of honey for her to swim in.
“Are you alright?” he asked, his tone laced with genuine concern as his thick brows knitted together and his eyes traced her face for signs of distress.
“I’m perfectly fine, thank you very much,” she replied, reluctantly pulling her hand away from his as she brushed down the creases in her dress and placed the pencil holder back in its rightful place.
“If you don’t mind my asking, why exactly are you in my office?” Nate asked, his level of bemusement at Ava’s flustered face evident in his tone.
With a dent in her pride, Ava was becoming increasingly ticked off by the cocky smile upon her boss’s mouth, even if it was sexy in an arrogant kind of way. She noted that he wasn’t in a hurry to take a step away from her, their bodies standing a little too close for comfort.
“I was getting you a coffee.”
“Ah, so you saw the latest addition to the office, hm?”
“Yes,” Ava hissed, slowly crossing her arms, refusing to be the person to take the first step back. Her eyes dipped to his crisp linen shirt, the first couple of buttons undone and exposing his angular collarbones, noticing a small freckle on the right side of his clavicle as though a drop of chocolate had landed there for her to lick.
“Do you like it?” Nate asked teasingly.
Ava’s eyes snapped up as though she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, and stealing a glance at his sun-kissed skin, she wondered if his flesh tasted as nice as it smelt before she squawked, “Do I like what?”
“The coffee machine!” He laughed, a deep, rumbling noise that resembled rolling thunder through dark clouds.
“Yes, I guess it’s one good addition to this department,” Ava sneered, still not keen on her new boss’s arrival, nor did she particularly enjoy his teasing attitude this morning.
Before he could test her patience any further, she turned on her heel and made for a quick exit, a small smile twitching at her lips the second her back was to him.
Nate couldn’t help the grin flashing onto his face when his assistant left him stood there, chuckling at her smart mouth and shaking his head. Ava Archer was a definite firecracker.
The day had draggedon as Nate attended meeting after meeting, his eyes wandering to an unsuspecting assistant of his. He couldn’t pin what it was about her that got under his skin; was it her bratty mouth that needed to be tamed, her obvious beauty, the fact she was off-limits, or was it as simple as her being the only woman not giving him the eyes in this department that drove him wild? There was just something about Ms. Archer that irked him and kept his mind drifting back to his erotic dreamscape that morning.
It had been years since he found himself so infatuated with a girl—no, a woman. Years since he had felt the bite of desire, years since he found himself wanting someone to take a chunk clean out of his soul. Such thoughts were detrimental to everything he had amassed.
Ava thought Fridays were meant to be the easiest day of the week but with Mr. Brooks leading the department, it would appear that Friday was just another day to grind down the workload. By the time late afternoon came around, Ava was gladly logging out of her computer, about to slip one arm into her coat when the beep of the intercom sounded on her desk, her eyes turning glacial as she stared at the red dot on the machine.
“Ms. Archer, my office, now,” his commanding voice summoned, making her sigh as she shrugged out of her coat and strutted into his office.
“Yes?” she said with a feigned positive smile, her eyebrows raised as she popped her head around the door frame, hinting that she was in a hurry to leave.
“Come in and close the door,” Nate ordered, sat at his desk and not peering up from his computer, his face as frosty and composed as ever.
Ava’s brows creased together as she hesitantly shut the office door behind her and took a seat in front of Mr. Brooks. As always, her boss was his usual dark and mysterious self, oozing authority as he rose from his chair and prowled around the large mahogany desk and stood in front of her, leaning back with his hands on his desk.
“Ms. Archer, as you know, the Forbes negotiation is fast approaching and is taking up a lot of man-hours in this department. The problem is, however, that I alone am running two firms at once and trying to lead this high-profile case, which just isn’t practical.” Nate sighed, a part of him wishing he had someone to offload his busy and crappy week to. Every day he had skipped lunch to hold a call with his Manhattan branch; there just weren’t enough hours in the day. “I appreciate your father did the bulk of the work here and that you acted as more of a clerical assistant to him, however, I require you to be on the front line with me for this case.” Truthfully, he did need her help but it was more than that. He felt a level of guilt for punishing her so harshly on their first day together, especially when she worked so hard to support his every need. She deserved a medal for what he had put her through.
Ava’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Even as her father’s legal secretary, her old man had never once given her a front-row seat to the nitty-gritty of the war zone. Coming to think of it, he barely ever gave Ava the responsibility to handle any of the trials that passed through here. She never had a chance to shine. Everything she did was in the background, running the show to a degree.
“Of course, what do you need from me?” Ava asked, trying her best to hide the glee inside her belly, but she had a feeling that her excitement was showing when Mr. Brooks gave her a small admiring smile, one that made her belly do a flip-flop.
“Well, first things first, Ms. Archer, if you are to be working this case behind closed doors with me, I need you to sign this,” Nate answered, reaching behind him and holding up a document.
“And what exactly am I signing here?” Ava squinted up at the file, watching the smirk climb up the side of Mr. Brooks’s handsome yet nefarious face, feeling as though she were about to make a deal with the devil himself.
“This, Ava, is a non-disclosure agreement.”