The Billionaire's Boss's Forbidden Mistress Read online

  ‘I could take you,’ came his immediate offer.

  ‘Absolutely not!’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘I don’t like to be the object of office gossip.’

  ‘But you’re resigning. Or so you say,’ he added, a slightly cynical edge creeping into his voice.

  Leah bristled. ‘I always mean what I say. I am resigning, and there’s nothing you can say or do to stop me.’

  He stared at her, his head cocking slightly on one side. ‘Why are you afraid of me?’

  Leah stiffened. ‘I am not afraid of you.’

  ‘Oh, yes, you are. Yet you shouldn’t be. I don’t mean you any harm, Leah. I like you. No, that’s a rather colossal understatement. I’m extremely attracted to you. I’d love to take you out.’

  ‘You’d love to take me to bed,’ she snapped, the words tripping off her tongue with a flash of venom.

  His smile was her undoing. Because it was so damned honest.

  ‘That, too,’ he admitted. ‘But is that such a crime? Look at it from my angle, Leah,’ he went on persuasively. ‘I’m a single man. You’re a single woman.

  Without a current boyfriend, I’m told. Yes, I also admit to asking around the office about you. That’s what men do when they’re interested in a woman. And I am very interested in you.’

  ‘Why?’ she threw at him.

  He looked rattled for a moment.

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Do you have a current girlfriend?’ she quizzed him.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Now why do I find that hard to believe?’ she scoffed.

  ‘I did have a girlfriend till recently. We split up a couple of weeks ago.’

  How typical, she thought. Out with the old and in with the new. Men like him were never long without a woman on their arm, and in their bed. Good-looking women. Never plain ones.

  ‘Come out with me tonight, Leah. Get to know me. I’m not what you think.’

  But you are, Jason’s conscience jeered. You’re not interested in a real relationship with this girl. You don’t want to marry her, or have children with her. She’s dead right about you. You just want her in your bed, at your beck and call.

  A measure of guilt flooded in with this admission. But it wasn’t as strong as his desire, a desire that had become almost obsessive this past week. He’d had extreme difficulty putting his mind to the takeover of this company, his thoughts constantly distracted by her physical nearness. He kept making excuses to walk by reception, just to see her, and to reassure himself that the chemistry between them was mutual.

  It was. He knew it was.

  He’d delayed interviewing her, in the hope of calming her concerns about him.

  But that hadn’t worked. She was going to resign.

  Exasperation joined his desperation. ‘If you’re not afraid of me and you’re going to resign, then there’s nothing to stop you coming out with me tonight. Is there?’ he ground out.

  ‘Maybe I just don’t like you,’ she snapped back. ‘Or hasn’t that occurred to your highness?’

  Jason’s teeth clenched hard in his jaw. Damn, but if that desk wasn’t between them, he’d sweep her into his arms and kiss that saucy mouth of hers into total silence.

  As it was, all he could do was glower at her.

  She glowered right back.

  If only he knew why she was fighting the chemistry between them. Her employment file hadn’t helped him all that much. She was still one big mystery.

  The arrival of the cleaners gave Jason the opportunity he was looking for.

  ‘We need to talk,’ he pronounced firmly. ‘In private. Come with me.’

  Leah threw a frantic glance at the two cleaners who steadfastly ignored her.

  Other than making a scene, she had no option but to do what he asked.

  Grabbing her handbag, she followed him down to the function room, thinking to herself that it would be ages before the cleaners got down there. She would be alone with him for far too long without any hope of interruption.

  ‘This is all nonsense,’ he declared after he banged the door shut behind her.

  ‘Your resigning is nonsense. That is nonsense,’ he said, waving an impatient hand in her direction.

  ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ she retorted, though she suspected he was referring to the way she was clutching her handbag in front of her, like a shield.

  He began to pace about the room, raking his hands through his hair and muttering to himself. When he reached the far side of the boardroom table, he ground to a halt, his eyes stabbing across the room at her.

  ‘What in hell’s wrong with you?’ he demanded to know. ‘You say one thing, but your eyes keep telling me a different story. Are you or are you not attracted to me?’

  Leah swallowed. A direct interrogation was the last approach she’d expected.

  She’d been worried he might do something more physical.

  ‘Don’t give me some bulldust answer, Leah. Tell me the truth.’

  She drew herself up as tall as she could, doing her best to maintain her dignity, whilst all the while thinking he was devastatingly attractive when he was angry. The passion in his eyes and his face was extremely flattering, and incredibly seductive. Because it was all for her.

  ‘You are a very handsome man,’ she said, shaken by the dizzying waves of desire which started washing through her.

  ‘Handsome is as handsome does,’ he returned sharply. ‘What I want to know is do you want me as I want you, damn it?’

  ‘I…I…’ She could not go on. Could not say another word. Not yes. Or no. Nothing.

  Her mouth had gone bone dry. Her mind went blank.

  Her inability to answer thrilled Jason. Then aroused him. He had to touch her.

  Had to kiss her.

  When he strode around the table towards her, her eyes blinked wide, her lips falling slightly apart.

  But she didn’t turn and run.

  Jason didn’t know why she’d been afraid of him. Or if she still was. But he was beyond caring. All that mattered at that moment was what her eyes kept telling him.

  She was standing there, waiting for him, wanting him as he wanted her.

  Disposing of that silly handbag took less than a second. Pulling her into his arms even less.

  He groaned as his mouth took possession of hers, his arms folding her close, then closer still. Technique seemed unimportant in the face of the emotion that threatened to overwhelm him. Triumph mingled with the most intoxicating pleasure. The kiss went on, and on, and on. Not foreplay, but an experience in itself, satisfying him with the way her body melted against his, her soft moans music to his ears.

  Jason knew, long before his head lifted, that she was his. He didn’t need to rush things now. A quickie in this office was not what he’d been thinking about and craving all week. He wanted her in his bed. Tonight. All night.

  And that was only for starters.

  ‘You are so beautiful,’ he whispered against her hair, his arms holding her close, close enough to feel the instant stiffening of her muscles.

  What had he done wrong now?

  She wrenched out of his arms, her face flushed, her eyes tormented as she stumbled back from him.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she choked out. ‘But I can’t do this. No, don’t touch me again!’ she threw at him when he took a step toward her. ‘If you do, I’ll scream.’

  He froze, his body as frustrated at his mind. What on earth was the matter with this girl?

  ‘You’re crazy, do you know that?’

  ‘Yes,’ she replied with a funny little laugh. ‘Yes. I think I must be.’ And she bent to scoop up her bag from where he’d dropped it on the floor.

  Panic filled his heart that she would go and he would never see her again.

  Without thinking of the consequences, he reached out and grabbed her on the arm.

  ‘You can’t just leave without explaining yourself.’

  The emotional distress in her eyes wa
s instantly replaced with a defiant fury.

  ‘I don’t have to explain myself to you,’ she spat as she shook his hand away.

  ‘I’m going home now and I strongly suggest you don’t try to stop me.’

  His mouth opened to demand she tell him if she would be here on Monday. But she was already out the door, fleeing from him like he was the devil himself.

  Jason had never felt so helpless before. Or more frustrated. Logic told him to just let her go. Clearly, the girl had some serious problem where men were concerned.

  But then he remembered how she’d felt in his arms and he knew that he could not follow his own advice.

  This wasn’t over yet. Not by a long shot.

  Chapter 7

  As Jason neared the address he’d found in Leah’s employment file, he tried telling himself once again that this was not a good idea.

  But it was no use. Common sense was not directing his actions, the same way it hadn’t when he’d bought Beville Holdings.

  On that occasion, he’d felt compelled by a silly dream. This time, his dark side seemed to have taken complete control, driving him on to pursue Leah Johanssen tonight, regardless of her earlier rejection.

  No, not rejection. More of a defection. When he’d been kissing her, she’d very definitely been kissing him back. But something had happened to make her freeze up, and flee. Some thought had come into her head. Some fear. Underneath her panic, she had still wanted him. He was sure of it.

  Or so he’d like to convince himself.

  The clock on the dash said it was nearing eight as he turned the corner into her street. The battle between his conscience and his desires had already taken a couple of angst-filled hours, but, in the end, his desires had won, hands down.

  And here he was in Gladesville, every pore in his body aching with the need to have her in his arms once more. The effects of the cold shower he’d had when he’d first arrived home that evening had long dissipated. Wanting her had become a need almost as essential as breathing.

  He would not rest until that need was satisfied. He would use every means at his disposal to win her. Every method of persuasion. Every tactic. Every weapon.

  A measure of surprise hit Jason as he slid his car into the curb outside the number that housed his prey.

  This was not what he expected.

  He’d known Gladesville had gradually moved from strictly working class to a more trendy suburb over the past decade or so. But most of the apartment blocks in the area were still plain brick buildings, built half a century ago, unlike the cream, cement-rendered, very modern building he was currently staring at.

  On top of that, this building sat directly opposite Sydney’s inner harbour.

  Waterfront addresses of any kind in Sydney were prized, and added heaps to the price of any apartment. Jason could also see a smartly dressed security man seated in the large, well-lit foyer, which indicated an exclusiveness associated with top-line addresses.

  No way could Leah afford to rent such a place on her own. Not on the salary Beville Holdings paid her, anyway. Maybe she shared with a couple of other working girls.

  Jason hadn’t thought of Leah as having flatmates, let alone a security man barring his way in.

  Suddenly, his showing up here like this seemed a very bad idea. And doomed to failure.

  Yet going home with his tail between his legs didn’t appeal, either.

  Damn, but he wished he knew more about this girl. Asking around about her at Beville Holdings hadn’t revealed anything worthwhile, other than her apparent lack of a boyfriend. Her employment file hadn’t provided much help, either.

  Her past history was chock full of holes. He would love to know what she’d done with her life from the time she’d left school till she started work at Beville Holdings last year at the age of twenty-five. According to her resumé, not a thing, other than a brief creative writing course.

  Maybe she’d lived at home whilst she’d tried to make it as a novelist, wherever home was. The section on her job application form where she was supposed to list her next of kin had been left suspiciously blank.

  Maybe she was an orphan, or a runaway. Maybe she’d been a very bad girl at one stage in her life, doing things you didn’t include on your resumé.

  No…no, a bad girl would not have bolted when her wealthy boss came on to her. A bad girl would have done anything he wanted.

  He didn’t really want her to be a bad girl, anyway, did he? Not down deep. He’d felt nauseous at the thought of her having sex with Jim Matheson. He liked her not having fallen at his feet. He liked her character and spirit. What he didn’t like was not knowing what had made her run from the obvious chemistry between them. It didn’t make sense. It was crazy, like he’d said.

  What to do, Jason? Go home, or take a chance and ring her? He had her phone number, just as he had her address.

  His cell phone was in his hands in no time flat. Because there really wasn’t any contest, was there? He could not go home without at least trying to find out the truth.

  Leah tied the sash on her silk bathrobe before carrying the glass of Chablis back into her kitchen and pouring the lukewarm contents down the sink.

  Now what? she wondered.

  When Leah had first arrived home from work, she hadn’t been able to settle to anything. Eating was out of the question. She was too churned up to eat. She’d paced her apartment for ages, calling herself all sorts of names, from a fool to a coward. She’d taken herself out on to her balcony and stared at the water for ages, but it hadn’t soothed her, as it usually did.

  In the end, she’d run herself a hot bath, poured herself a glass of wine and lain there in the perfumed bubbles for ages, clasping the undrunk Chablis till it went warm and the water was stone cold, all the while trying desperately not to think of how it had felt when Jason kissed her.

  Futile exercise.

  It was all she could think about.

  The sensations of his mouth on hers had been amazing. She’d never felt anything like it. She’d been in heaven. Even so, her silly fears had finally overridden her pleasure, forcing her to cut and run.

  Jason had called her crazy and she’d agreed with him. It seemed crazy to turn her back on something so pleasurable, and which promised even more pleasure in the future.

  It felt even crazier now that the heat of the moment had subsided and she could think about the situation more rationally.

  How long was she going to let her fear of humiliation and rejection spoil everything? Did she honestly plan never to have sex ever again in her entire life?

  Leah sighed. She’d made a right mess of things with Jason this afternoon. Now she really would have to resign first thing on Monday morning. There was no other way out. She could not possibly work with the man after this.

  ‘I shouldn’t have let him kiss me,’ she muttered as she walked into the kitchen to get herself a fresh glass of wine. But, oh, it had felt so good.

  The phone ringing brought a burst of frustration.

  ‘Botheration!’ she exclaimed. She didn’t want to talk to anyone. Especially her father. And she couldn’t think who else it might be at this hour on a Friday night. Hopefully, it was a carpet-cleaning company, trying to get some business with some cold calls.

  Not that they would have any success. Her carpets didn’t need cleaning.

  Leah hurried into the living room, put down her glass of wine then swept up her mobile phone.

  ‘Yes?’ she said rather impatiently.

  ‘Leah?’ Leah’s heart stopped. It was him. Her soon-to-be ex-boss. Jason Pollack. Driving her crazy some more.

  Her heart lurched back to life, thudding noisily behind her ribs whilst her head whirled with conflicting emotions. Anger fired her blood. But there was excitement, too.

  He wasn’t going to take no for an answer. What a perversely thrilling thought!

  ‘How did you get my phone number?’ she demanded, her voice literally shaking.

  ‘I looked i
t up in your employment file.’

  Leah sucked in sharply. How utterly conscienceless he was. Like Carl.

  ‘I know I shouldn’t have,’ he went on immediately in urgent tones. ‘I know you could really charge me with sexual harassment this time. But I just couldn’t sleep tonight without finding out what I did wrong earlier.’

  Leah could not help but be impressed by his seemingly sincere tone. Maybe he wasn’t as conscienceless as she imagined.

  ‘You didn’t do anything wrong,’ she conceded tautly. Except perhaps be a far-too-good kisser.

  ‘Then what happened? One moment you were right there with me. The next you were out the door. Were you worried I might push things further right then and there?’

  Leah shuddered with the image of his lifting her up on to that boardroom table, then pushing her skirt up to expose her scarred thigh. ‘In a way…’

  ‘But I wouldn’t have. Not with those cleaners wandering about. I wouldn’t have done that, Leah.’

  Wouldn’t he? She wasn’t so sure, either of him or of herself. The sexual heat they generated together was extremely powerful.

  She’d wanted him. She still wanted him, despite knowing what kind of man he was.

  Maybe not totally conscienceless. But arrogant and ruthless. A taker.

  ‘Tell me what the problem is, Leah,’ he insisted down the line, his tone bewitchingly gentle and understanding. ‘I get the feeling it’s not me personally. It’s something else, isn’t it?’

  Leah wanted to tell him. She really did. Yet still she hesitated. Because if Jason didn’t react the way Carl had, then she would be left with no defences against him at all.

  She wouldn’t be able to resist the man if he still wanted her, despite her scars. She would be his for the taking.

  Leah hated the thought of becoming some rich man’s sexual puppet. She’d battled over the past two years to throw off the legacy of her pampered past and find purpose in her life. To take control of her own destiny. To become a true adult.

  She would not throw away her new sense of independence and self-worth because her body wanted this man to make love to it.

  If she was going to have an affair with Jason—and she really wanted to—it would be on her terms, not his. And only if she truly believed her scars didn’t bother him.