Romancing my Boss

Chapter 29

Hours later, just as I was gathering my things to depart for the evening, the soft, unmistakable cadence of costly Italian loafers clacking against the tile made me freeze

"I'll call you back, Henshaw." The deep timbre of Max's voice was unmistakable.

I glanced up sharply to find him leaning against the doorframe of my office, phone still pressed to his ear as he gazed at me with an inscrutable expression. There was a faint crease between his brows, a tautness around his eyes that hinted at an inner turmoil simmering beneath that impeccable veneer.

My breath caught as he ended the call and slowly crossed the room toward me. The man moved with an inherent grace, like a prowling panther sizing up its prey. My mouth went dry, nerves skating beneath my skin as he came to loom over me.

"Max, what..." The words dried up in my throat as he gently cupped my face, his callused palms cradling me like I was something infinitely precious.

"You asked me before to show you. I want to prove to you that this isn't just another 'dalliance'," he murmured in that devastatingly sexy rasp, his warm breath fanning over my skin and sending a shiver racing through me. "Let me be clear...this is anything but."

Any coherent response I might have mustered was immediately obliterated as Max's mouth slanted confidently over mine. The kiss started soft, almost worshipful, but quickly banked into a searing exploration filled with restrained hunger.

A whimper formed in the back of my throat as Max's tongue slipped past the seam of my lips, tasting and teasing until I was practically boneless in his arms. Heat licked through my veins, stoking into an inferno of wanting that threatened to consume me whole.

"Max..." I gasped against the fevered crush of his mouth. "Anyone could see..."

He shook his head, refusing to relinquish his ardent attention as his fingers slipped beneath my chin to tilt my head into the perfect angle for his devastating possession. "Then they'll know you're mine," he growled with a snap of his hips, pinning me harder against the desk.

The raw, carnal undercurrent in his gravelly vow made me weak in the knees. Oh, how I burned to belong to this man, rationality be damned.

His phone trilled again, the shrill tone serving as a brutal cold shower of reality. Max stiffened, his forehead dropping to rest against mine as he blew out a harsh breath of undisguised frustration, glaring at the offending device as if it had personally betrayed him.

"I'm sorry, Charlotte," he bit out between clenched teeth. "This is important, I have to take it," he rasped, his eyes holding a spark of regretful apology.

Dragging his lips across my cheek in one final, searing caress, he sealed our heated moment with the barest brush of a kiss against my forehead. Then he raked a shaky hand through his tousled chestnut locks as he answered the call with a curt, "Pemberton."

I could only gape after him as he strode from my office, my limbs quaking with a bewildering blend of exhilaration, confusion, and soul-deep yearning. Whatever had been awakened between us, it was clear the shift had been irreversible.