Crossing the Line Read online

  Noah

  Blood is pumping through my veins. I give a simple nod. “I’m excited to be here and work with you all.”

  I can’t remember a word from the speech I practiced a few dozen times. All I’m thinking about is her blue-lace panties and killer thighs.

  I’ve worked for ten years to earn this role, and she stole my moment with her crotch chaos.

  “Don’t throw a party quite yet. I’ll still be around, but as you all know, this gray hair isn’t from stress,” my uncle Bennett jokes as the room fills with chuckles.

  Well, everyone is laughing except her.

  She shifts in her seat, her face is a bit red, and her long, shiny, curly brown hair is frizzing.

  I reprimand myself as my dick pulses against my pants.

  My uncle continues, “Noah’s expertise in merger and acquisitions is going to add some new life around here. Piper, I am reassigning you to work side by side with him on these projects, and I’m going to ask that you stay back after the meeting.”

  I jerk my head at Bennett in surprise. He did not assign her to me. Shit!

  Do not stare at her.

  Against my will, I turn my head and we leer at each other.

  I expect her to back down, to try and make it up somehow for sitting next to me with her tits pushing through her blouse and lower body exposed, but she gives me no indication that she wants to make nice.

  Bennett talks a bit longer, and the meeting is adjourned. After I have personal introductions with the different managers, directors, and VPs, I turn to Piper, who’s sitting still, with her padfolio on her lap.

  Reaching out to shake her hand, I throw a dig at her. “No need to stand up.”

  A sexy, faint blush creeps through her face. Glaring at me, she reaches out.

  I expect a dainty shake, but she grasps me firmly. “Welcome,” she almost sarcastically says.

  Her skin is soft, and as her fingers grip my hand, I hold on just a few seconds longer than I usually would.

  As I pull my back, my uncle pulls out the seat next to her. “Noah, sit down. Piper is not only our youngest director ever but a level-four director and on track to hit VP in the near future!” Pride gushes out of my uncle as he boasts about her accomplishments.

  Youngest. How old is she? She could be twenty-four. I almost ask but don’t, knowing asking any employee’s age is a no-no in today’s corporate environment.

  “Congratulations.” I will myself not to gape at her tits again.

  “Thank you,” she replies with no emotion in her voice.

  “Noah, sit down.” My uncle motions to the chair.

  Sighing, I sit down next to her, inhaling her scent. I’m pretty sure she isn’t wearing any perfume, and that intoxicating smell is just her skin. I almost groan from the mere thought of it.

  Uncle Bennett sits next to me at the head of the table. “I’m so excited to put your brains together! This is really going to be great!”

  I’m trying to think about what to say to get out of working with her when she chimes in, “Bennett, I’m so grateful for all the opportunities you’ve given me, but I’m in the middle of sixteen different projects. I think there might be a better person for this one.”

  Bennett gives her a big grin. “Now, don’t you worry about that. I reviewed all the projects you’re on, and I’ve already reassigned them. Those are small potatoes compared to Noah’s projects. You need to be where the real action is.”

  She smiles at him. “I just don’t feel right, not completing my work—”

  He cuts her off. “Oh, shush! This is where you need to be, and I won’t have it any other way.”

  Piper takes a deep breath. “Okay, Bennett. If you think this is the right thing.”

  “It is. So, you two take a bit and get to know each other. Noah, fill Piper in on what you are currently working on.” He stands.

  My mouth goes dry. He’s going to leave me alone in a room with her?

  “Maybe we can do this another time? I have some deadlines to meet,” she protests.

  I turn and give her a little scowl. She shifts in her seat, as her padfolio moves a bit, but she readjusts it.

  Bennett waves her off. “Piper, your projects are all transferred. There are no more deadlines. Getting to know Noah’s projects are your only priority. Do you understand?”

  She nods. “Yes, Bennett.”

  Bennett steps out of the room and shuts the door.

  Swiveling in my chair, I lean back and check her out some more.

  In an almost challenging way, she rotates toward me and tilts her head. “Well?” She picks up a pen and taps it on the table.

  Before it comes out of my mouth, I know I shouldn’t say it. It’s a dickhead move to get under her skin, but I do it anyway. It’s like I have to push her into hating me more. “I expect all my employees to show up to meetings on time and dressed appropriately.”

  She sits back, stunned.

  I don’t know what I expected. Did I want her to cry? Run away and tell Bennett I’m a dick and she can’t work with me?

  Slowly, she licks her lips, pulls the padfolio off her thighs, and puts it on the table. In slow motion, she crosses them, uncrosses them, and crosses them again.

  I swallow hard. My dick pushes against my zipper. Heat bursts through my veins.

  “I think I explained why I was late and what happened to me. A nice person...a good person, would have asked me if I was all right at the very least. Maybe you should take some lessons in kindness from your uncle.”

  I gaze from her gorgeous face to her nipples that stand erect through her blouse to her blue lace panties and down to her toes then back up again. “Glad you pegged me right. I’m neither nice nor good.”

  Piper uncrosses her killer legs, stands up, and steps right in between my thighs. “I think this meeting is over. Is that okay, Boss?”

  With a cocky grin, I reply, “You can go. I’ll let you know when I need you for something. And clean up your knee. It’s going to get infected.”

  After frowning at me in disgust, she turns and storms off.

  I pick up a glass of water and sit in the chair, breathing for a few minutes and trying to relax my hard-on.

  She hates me for sure.

  Good because she’s your employee, and you can’t have her.

  But I want her.

  Pushing my palms into my face, I groan. This is so bad. So very, very bad.

  The door opens. She re-enters the conference room. My head snaps up.

  She strides right up to me, and I think she’s here for me. She wants it, too. She came back.

  I stand, right as she stops next to the chair she had sat in. I tower over her, and she freezes only inches from me.

  Peering down at her, my chest moves quicker from my breathing. My heart beats faster against my chest. Her scent flares in my nostrils. Energy radiates off her, pushing into me, digging into my cells until I am breathing so hard I’m practically panting.

  She leans, and I think she’s going to touch me, but she only brushes against me to get her padfolio.

  Pulling a card from the pocket of her padfolio, she places it in my hand and wraps my fingers around it. “My email is on here. You can send me a memo about what I need to do. You may be my boss, but I’m a fourth-level director in this company, at age twenty-nine. I didn’t have a trust fund that put me in this position. Don’t underestimate my talent.”

  She spins to leave the room, and I grab her by the shoulder and spin her back into me. My face is inches from hers. “Is that what you think? That a trust fund got me here?”

  Piper’s hazel orbs scan mine then my mouth then my eyes again. “If the shoe fits.”

  “Six o’clock, tonight, don’t be late,” I tell her.

  She furrows her brows. “Late, where?”

  “The top floor. I’ll send you the code for the elevator.”

  “What’s on the top floor?”

  “You’ll see. You can go home and change now. Do
n’t worry about wearing work clothes. Feel free to dress casual.”

  Piper glares at me more. “So I’m supposed to drop my plans this evening and work all night?”

  “So you have talent but don’t have work ethic?”

  “You’re an asshole,” she mutters.

  “Grade A.”

  My mouth is so close to hers, I can almost taste it. Holding myself back, I let go of her shoulder.

  “And if I don’t show up?” she tests the waters.

  “What do you think will happen?”

  “Nothing. Your uncle respects me and knows my talent. He wouldn’t want me going to a competitor.”

  I snicker. She’s right, and I wouldn’t attempt to fire her anyway, but she doesn’t know that. “Succession. You understand that means eventually he won’t be here, right?” Once again, the words that come out of my mouth make me cringe inside.

  Crossing her arms over her chest, she challenges, “Maybe I’ll just go to the competition now.”

  Shit. My pulse increases. This isn’t going in the right direction. “So you have talent but no work ethic and no loyalty? Wow. Guess my uncle was wrong about you.”

  She swallows hard. “You’re the biggest dickhead I have ever met in my entire life.”

  I grin. “You can call me Mr. Parker.”

  She shakes her head at me and turns to leave.

  “Six. Don’t be late. And put on some fucking clothes,” I call out to her as she storms out of the conference room.

  As the door slams, I unclench my fist that is still holding her business card. My insides go giddy when I notice her cell number is on it.

  Without thinking, I take my phone out of my pocket, program her info in it, and send her a text message. “Bring your laptop tonight.”

  Several minutes pass. My phone displays a delivered message. I drum my fingers on the table as I wait. Finally, she replies, “Who said I’m coming?”

  “Is that your no-work-ethic-self talking?”

  “Says the trust-fund CEO.”

  She seriously thinks I didn’t do anything to deserve my spot here.

  “You seem a little jealous about my trust fund.”

  Another great dickhead comment by yours truly. And I don’t even have a trust fund.

  “Go fuck yourself.”

  No, honey, that’s what your job should be. Ugh! Stop it, Noah! She’s your employee.

  “The code for the elevator is 68524. Do not tell anyone else the code.”

  Nothing good can come of this evening. I knew it when I told her, and I know it now.

  “No one would care about the code if it has to do with you.”

  Ouch.

  “Sushi, tacos, or pizza?”

  She doesn’t respond.

  Minutes feel like hours. I get antsy. “Okay, you can work all night and starve. Suit yourself.”

  “Thai.”

  Thai? I quickly google to find Thai restaurants that can deliver. There are about twenty and, being new to the area, I don’t know what is good and what is bad.

  “Pick a place and what you want.”

  “You’re still assuming I’m going to show up.”

  My heart beats in my throat again. It’s best if she doesn’t show up. You’re playing with fire. This is already totally inappropriate and over the corporate line.

  “Pegged you right. Zero work ethic.”

  “Thai Spice, Shrimp pad thai, medium.”

  The restaurant she chose is a hole in the wall. Her meal costs $5.28. I’m surprised, I thought she would pick the most expensive place.

  Another text message comes through. “Cold water.”

  Cold water. My mind spins. I head for the elevator and punch my code into the keypad. The elevator takes me up to the penthouse almost no one knows I own.

  My uncle sold it to me before I moved to Chicago. Not knowing the city, I figured it would be good since it gave me quick access to work. I had it remodeled before I moved in.

  Once inside, I double-check to make sure nothing is out of place, although I already know it’s in pristine condition. After I assess all my common areas, I go into my bedroom and change the sheets.

  Why are you changing the sheets? Nothing can happen. The last thing you want to do is dip it in the company ink.

  After making the bed, I go into my kitchen and open the fridge. Great. I’m out of water.

  Scrolling through my phone, I find a delivery service that can bring a few cases of water out to me before five o’clock. I’m placing the order when the phone rings.

  “Noah, your two o’clock wants to meet fifteen minutes earlier. Is that okay?” Ginger, my secretary, asks.

  Glancing at my watch, I figure I can accommodate the request. “Sure.” I hang up and go back downstairs then pick up my folders for my meeting.

  “Your meeting is going to be in conference room five,” Ginger tells me.

  “Thanks.” I walk down the hall, reading notes in my file while I enter conference room five.

  “Fuuuuuck.” It’s a painful mumble through gritted teeth. Piper is sitting in a chair with the first aid kit, trying to clean her wound, her skirt once again up to her panties, her face slightly green.

  Legs meant to torture a man, that’s what she has.

  Caught off guard, I freeze.

  She slowly turns her head toward me and snaps, “You enjoying my pain?”

  Sighing, I shut the door and approach her. Her knee is full of dirt, and blood is still oozing out of it. It’s swollen and bruised.

  As she dabs at the gash, wincing.

  “What are you doing?”

  She hurls back, “What do you think I’m doing?”

  “Trying to get an infection, from the looks of it.”

  “You’re such a jerk.”

  “Yep.” The conference room has a small kitchenette attached to it. I open the cabinet and choose a bowl then wash my hands with soap. I sit down in a chair next to her then position the bowl on my chair, next to my crotch. Picking up the hydrogen peroxide and some cloths, I grasp ahold of the arm of her chair and pull her toward me.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Chill out. You’re doing more harm than good.” I pick up her leg and place it over my thighs, so her knee is above the bowl, and pour hydrogen peroxide on it.

  “Shit!” she cries out and tries to move her leg away, but I hold it steady against me.

  And I feel sorry for her because her wound really is deep and nasty. “Sorry.”

  “I’m sure you’re enjoying this,” she murmurs.

  For once, I don’t dig at her. Taking the tweezers, I pull a few rocks and other bits of debris out of her flesh as she turns away and bites on her hand.

  It takes a while to clean the grime out, but I finally finish, spray her skin with antiseptic, and wrap it up in gauze.

  “You need to make sure you reapply this twice a day. Take the bottle with you.” Since working on her knee, I gaze up, past her blue-lace panties that once again put my dick in a frenzy, and stare at her. My arm hangs casually over her thigh, and my fingers are on her calf as I hold out the bottle with the other hand.

  She takes it. “Thank you.”

  Without thinking, I stroke her calf.

  She jumps in her seat.

  Noah! What the fuck are you doing?

  I let go of her leg and push it off me, but the bowl of hydrogen peroxide, blood, and dirt spills all over my pants. “Crap!”

  “Sorry!” Piper snatches the towel, jumps up, and rubs at the wet spot. As my erection grows under her hand, she freezes and slowly gazes up at me.

  Grabbing her hand, I move it away from my cock, but not before her eyes give her thoughts away.

  It’s clear. Piper Cadence wants to fuck me.

  3

  Piper

  After I limp out of the conference room as quickly as possible, mortified from rubbing Noah’s cock, I go directly to my office, get my purse, and leave.

  As soon as I get inside my ap
artment, I go to the bathroom. My horrified expression stares back at me: frizzy hair, dirt, ripped clothes, and a banged-up knee. I am one hot mess.

  Ugh. I can’t believe Noah saw me like this.

  Why do you care? He’s an asshole.

  An asshole who cleaned out your knee.

  He’s still an asshole.

  Quickly, I jump into a hot shower. Not thinking about the gauze, it slumps down my leg. I try to push thoughts of Noah out of my mind but am struggling.

  He’s cocky, rude, and a complete jerk. And totally gorgeous, sexy, and apparently smart, too, because before I grabbed the first aid kit, I googled him. It seems Noah Parker had quickly built a fortune and reputation in the mergers and acquisitions space. He is thirty-four, worth at least a cool billion, and on several “bachelor to snag” lists in New York.

  But his trust fund surely helped him get a substantial head start in his career, and he’s a total dick, too, I remind myself.

  And then he came in, cleaned my knee out with patience and precision, and I rubbed his dick.

  Flushing at the thought of how large and hard he felt, I turn off the water and reach for a towel, but then I stop. Leaving the towel on the rack, I turn the water back on and pick up my razor and shaving cream.

  Why are you shaving? Nothing is happening tonight.

  Continuing to shave my legs and carefully work around my swollen knee, I then shave my womanhood, even though I got a wax earlier in the week.

  What the hell am I doing?

  With one last stroke, I’m done and turn off the water once again. I wince as the towel hits my knee. Great, I forgot the spray, too.

  I assess the damage, and since I have nothing to wrap it in, decide it’s going to be a skirt night because there is no way pants are going near my knee.

  Debating about whether to go all out and spend extra time on my hair and makeup, I decide to put in the effort. But only to make him suffer because it’s clear Noah wants to sleep with me.

  Who are you kidding? You’d love to roll around naked with him.

  Nope! Wearing the chastity belt.

  I bet he’s an animal in the bedroom.

  No sleeping with the enemy...or the boss.

  I’m diffusing my hair when a text comes through.