Work Wife by Dee Ellis

Chapter Three

Kolt

“Yes. I will be your wife, Kolt.”

The minute Karina looked at me and said those words, I knew I was in trouble. Because once I heard her sweet voice with that slightly eastern lilt say she would be my wife, my heart stopped beating and my dick got hard. Not that either occurrence is that rare when she is around, to be fair.

While my cousins tried to sell me on claiming she is my fiancé or my wife, I let myself think about it. Really consider the two of us faking it for the weekend. Only the two of us and my family knows we’re not together. And there is enough chemistry between the two of us that it would not be a hard sell. But that may be why this could be a terrible idea—as bad as her worst jokes.

Because I know I want her. Have wanted her since she looked up at me with sparkling eyes and told me she was my assistant and would do what she could to “really assist” me. I laughed then, but she stole a little piece of my heart. Every day, hell every moment, since that first day, she has taken a little more of me, too. Doing this could break every rule I ever put in place, but as she looks down at me, I don’t think I care.

Avoiding looking at the soft swell of her breasts in her sweater—her stiff nipples making my mouth water—I keep my gaze on her face. Or I try to at least. Her skirt today is shorter than she usually wears, and I see miles of her silky thighs. Not helping my troubles. I cross my own legs, wincing when my hard-on makes it nearly impossible.

“For the weekend with these people, it might help make me...look more trustworthy. More settled. It is asking a lot of you, I know that. Making you lie,” I murmur, gazing up into her eyes as she leans against my desk, “you can tell me no, Karina.”

When I say that, her green eyes glow jade and I grit my teeth. We joked a few times about her calling me sir. I said I am too young to be sir. Really, her calling me sir just made me want to pin her down and make her moan it in my ear as I filled her with my cock. It is not right to think what I think about my assistant, but I cannot help it.

Her looking at me the way she is now does not help.

“I know I can say no,” her voice is a little shaky and her tongue swipes over her mouth before she grins a little, “it might be fun though. I could help out and get to live the good life for a few days,” she teases lightly but something darkens in her eyes.

Suddenly, I am thinking about exactly that. Living the good life—and not a weekend at my cousin’s fancy estate. But living it with her, all day, and every day. And every night. Waking up to her, touching her whenever I want, calling her mine, and going to bed with her tucked in beside me. Sliding a ring on her finger as she takes my name. Or hell, I take hers, I am not old fashioned.

Whatever it would take to be bound to her.

But as I look at her, I see that darkness is not her getting as carried away as I am. It’s the same kind I see whenever she jokes about my fancy suits or my flashy cars. I realize as we sit there talking about playing husband and wife, I don’t know as much as I want to about her. Surely not enough to be her husband. And that is something I want to remedy right now.

“They need to believe us because I want these partners to trust me. Going about it by lying might sound like a bad idea, but sometimes it's about appearances,” I state, standing up and rounding my desk to stand close to her, “they have to look at us and believe we are married and happy.”

My voice drops until it’s a low hum because she does make me happy. My days are fuller and brighter because of her. She is the first woman to make my thoughts wander and my chest ache with feelings I don’t want to sort out yet. Moving so close to her I can feel the warmth of her bare thighs through my slacks and feel her breasts brush against my chest, I inhale her sweet vanilla scent.

“I understand,” she breathes, her eyes flaring hot as they lock on mine.

Reaching a hand up, I brush my fingertips over her jaw then brush some of her thick, dark hair behind her ear. I let my fingers tangle in the silky locks and I tug gently. She lets out a little whimper and notches herself between my legs. Lowering my head slowly, I brush my nose against hers. It is not the first time I have touched her but never have I been so bold.

“When I touch you, or if I go to kiss you,” I whisper the words against her mouth, so tempted to kiss her I almost can’t fight it, “they have to buy it. They have to believe we want each other like a husband and wife would,” I rasp as I drop my other hand to her hip, my fingers flexing into her soft flesh.

“I do,” she husks before she clears her throat and stutters, “I... I do understand. We have to sell it,” her voice is so velvety soft it makes my dick harder in my slacks.

“You can say no, Karina,” I swear, brushing my fingers over her cheek, “you are just my assistant I should not even ask it of you. I would never take advantage of you or put you in a position you did not want,” I say the words but now I am thinking of all the positions I can put her in. Not the first time I have envisioned bending her over my desk or pulling her down on my lap so she can ride me.

“I know I can say no. We can have fun with it,” she purrs as she wriggles her soft body against me and smirks, “I can be a good wife to you.”

Growling, I tug at her hair and nearly crush my mouth to hers. But I don’t because I know I shouldn’t. Even if I want to and it damn sure feels like she wants me to. I can’t take advantage more than I already am. I am her boss. She works for me. She is sweet and innocent....and now I wonder how innocent and how sweet she really is. Fuck, I am in trouble.

“Oh, I have no doubt,” I husk before I pull back.

Her eyes shimmer in the afternoon sun and her skin is flushed. I want to lick the spot on her throat where her pulse thrums. Or sink my teeth into her shoulder and leave my marks on her creamy skin. I can’t do any of that and it is driving me crazy. It’s wrong and I can’t risk losing her.

“Come to my place tonight, we can have dinner and figure out how we’re going to do this. Get used to be around one another,” my words sound rough, and I realize it’s because they’re wrong. We already know how to be around one another.

“Tonight. And don’t forget, you have a meeting in ten minutes.”

“Thank you,” I say, clearing my throat and backing away.

She doesn’t say anything back and I wonder if she realizes she should not have agreed to this. I am wondering if I should have even suggested it. If not for my cousins, the absurd idea would never have gotten into my head. I am about to call them and curse them out for making me ask her to do something so stupid. But she pauses at the door and looks back at me with a look that shoots that idea to shit.

“See you tonight, husband,” she teases with a smirk that makes my dick leap in my slacks. Wanting to prove what a good husband I can be to her. At least between her thighs. Her eyes drop below my belt, and she lets out a laugh because she knows just what I am thinking.

Good god I am in so much trouble.