His to Possess #3: Perfect Storm Read Online Free PDF Page B

with haunted eyes. “I was just concerned about him.”
    “And he wasn’t in there alone after all?”
    “That’s right. He was with a woman and…” She leaned in closer and lowered her voice. “They were doing it.”
    Jessica bit her lower lip. “Oh, my God. Did you see who it was?”
    Melanie shook her head. “No, all I saw was a little of her backside, but I’m sure it’s someone who works at the company.”
    Relief surged through her.
    “You poor thing. That must have been really embarrassing.”
    “It was. That’s why I needed to get out of the office. I’m not even sure how to face him.” Her hands clenched into fists, her pink-polished nails digging into her flesh. “Oh, damn, I wish I hadn’t walked into his office. He’s going to be so angry about that.” She stared at Jessica. “Do you think he’ll fire me?”
    “Oh, no, Melanie. I’m sure he won’t. Don’t you think he’s just as embarrassed as you are?”
    She stared at Jessica in amazement. “Really? You’ve met the man. Do you actually think he’s even capable of embarrassment?” She shook her head, toying with the plastic lid on her coffee. “No, moments later he walked out calm as you please and sent me on an errand, no doubt so he could sneak the slut out of his office.”
    Jessica’s stomach clenched. “Is it really fair to call her a slut?”
    Melanie’s head jerked up and her eyes narrowed. Then they widened.
    “Oh, my God, it wasn’t you, was it?”
    Jessica’s gaze jerked away from her friend’s. Oh, damn. Why couldn’t she have kept her mouth shut?
    “Was it?” her friend prodded.
    No matter how much she wished otherwise, she couldn’t lie to Melanie. But she couldn’t say the words either. She just gazed at her friend with a guilty expression.
    “Oh, Jessica. That’s a really bad idea.”
    “I know. You already told me what you think of office liaisons.” She couldn’t bring herself to say office romances because that’s not was she and Dane had.
    “But Mr. Ranier? Oh, Jessica.”
    “Melanie, look, it’s not the same as with you and Rafe. I’m not in love with him. And I made it clear that I don’t want anything more than a physical relationship.”
    Melanie shook her head. “I can’t believe he would go along with this. Having sex with someone who works for him. It’s such a bad idea.”
    She wrapped her hands around her coffee cup. “Well, I didn’t work with him the first time we did it.”
    Melanie jerked her head to stare at Jessica with wide eyes. “What?”
    “You remember he gave me a ride when I came here for the job fair?”
    “Don’t tell me you had sex in his limo?”
    “No, we wound up having dinner together that night and we hit it off. That led to us going to my room together.” She shrugged. “I’d never had a one-night stand before, but I was really attracted to him.”
    “So it must have been a total shock when you found out he was your boss.”
    She remembered those heart-pounding, stomach-fluttering moments when she’d first walked into her new boss’ office only to see Dane sitting there.
    “The biggest shock of my life. I almost walked away.”
    “Your instincts were right on, but,”—Melanie bit her lip—“I’m glad you didn’t turn down the job.” She shook her head. “So this has been going on since you got here?”
    “No.” She really didn’t want Melanie to think that. “When I told him I couldn’t work for him … because, you see, I was worried he’d hired me because of the sex, you know?”—and she didn’t want Melanie to think that was true—“he said he really wanted me to work here and that we could keep a business-only relationship if that’s what I wanted.”
    The look of disappointment in Melanie’s eyes faded a little. “I hope you’re not worried that you don’t deserve this job, or that you were hired for the wrong reason. You are exceptionally qualified for this position, and you’re doing an excellent