Erin McCarthy - Bad Boys Online

Jared stepped away, taking his heat and masculine scent with him. "Jesus."

Candy forced her eyes open, and dragged in a shuddery breath. Wiping her wet mouth with her thumb and index finger, she watched him, wondering if he would stammer or apologize.

She should have known better. Jared was no stutterer.

"See, I told you I like you." He straightened his tie, but kept his eyes trained on her.

Candy felt her cheeks burn. She had to admit, that was a much better answer than a muttered apology would have been.

None of this was working out the way she had planned it. Her original idea had been to have Jared ask her out, then seduction would ensue.

This was wilder, more uncontrolled, almost dirty . They had been making out in their boss's office. And she liked it.

"Maybe you do," she agreed. Then with an acting ability she hadn't known she possessed, she sauntered past him, catching her arm on his as she approached Harold's desk.

Jared sucked in his breath. Candy didn't look back.

She bent over in front of Harold's desk again and propped her chin up with her hand. "So, how long have you… liked me? As a friend."

Jared pried his eyes off Candy's legs and wondered what game she was playing now. His feelings of friendship had nothing to do with that kiss. That kiss was based on two months' worth of stored-up lust.

Friendship had just come into the picture in the last half hour, and he had to assume he'd just about blown that with his grab-her-and-mash-her kiss.

He found he actually regretted the idea that he might have shattered the growing rapport between them. Maybe if he retreated now, he could salvage some kind of friendship between them.

Dropping into the chair so he wouldn't be tempted to touch her, he cleared his throat. "We haven't really talked to each other a whole lot, but I respect the work you do. You're very efficient, always on time, and your presentations are professional and thought provoking."

He sounded as if he were giving her a yearly productivity review. But better that than saying what he really thought.

Which was that she had an adorable smile and said funny things that made his heart squeeze. Not to mention she had a body that made him wish he were a sponge so he could rub all over it. Wet.

She made a noise with her teeth. "That's not what I mean. I'm talking about liking me."

He was drowning in this conversation. Since he had prom-ised to behave himself, he would not repeat a single one of the R-rated ideas running through his head, all focusing on how much he could like her.

Instead he said, "That's what I was talking about too."

There was a pause, and her finger hovered in front of the screen. "Look, question nine fits right in with what we're talking about."

What were they talking about? Because hell if he knew.

"What do you like the most about your partner?" Candy was still propped up on her hand, leaning over the desk.

Her legs were straight, her curvy little behind back in front of his face, way too close for comfort. Her hair was tumbling over her shoulders, and she had pulled her lip into her mouth and was making little sucking noises with it.

Then, for some unknown reason that probably involved nefarious plans to torture him, she spread her legs. Just widened them a bit so that her feet were planted a foot apart. Her skirt inched up under the strain.

It could be she was getting more comfortable. Or it could be that she knew the effect spreading her thighs would have on him.

He was an arm's length from her. He studied the smoothness of her stocking-covered legs. They were perfect. Narrow, yet muscular, they climbed up to her skirt, double doses of torture.

One lean forward, one hand out, and he could be touching that thigh. He could be sliding up that skirt, not stopping until he hit paydirt. If she wore garters as he suspected, there would be no stockings protecting her panties from him.

And there was nothing to stop him from pushing aside whatever scrap of lace she was wearing and touching deep inside Candy.

"This is a fun question," she chirped on cheerfully, unaware he was battling with the forces of good and evil.

Evil was pulling ahead by a nose, which was quickly lengthening into a mile.

"I like a lot of things about you, Jared. You're a hard worker, you don't gossip, you dress really well, and you're intelligent."

He barely heard her. He was moving. Leaning forward, edging closer and closer to her, until he could smell her scent.

She was wearing a light floral perfume, mixed with something berry, probably a lotion she'd rubbed on after her shower. It pulled him closer, drawing him in, his breath hitching in anticipation. He was there, just behind her, straining to control himself.

He was not going to touch. He wasn't. He was just taking a better look.

Candy's knee bent a little. Her skirt lifted. And he saw it. The edge of her stocking, and the little hook that connected it to the garter. Above the hook was a strap of lace, contrasting against the flash of golden peach skin next to it.

His breath caught and he tilted his head. His own legs were spread, and he was resting his hands between his knees as he bent down a little lower until he found what he was looking for.

A narrow, dark view up her skirt. His eyes trailed past the garter, past the creamy thigh above it to her panties. They were black lace, of course, and shifted a little to the right so that he had a clear shot of the curls covering her soft mound on one side.

"Jared?"

"Hmmm?" He licked his lips. His hands itched and jerked restlessly. There was no possible way he could stop looking. She was so beautiful and lushly feminine, and he wanted her the way he had never wanted another woman.

Candy twisted a little. "Where are you? What are you doing?"

He couldn't see her face as she wiggled around. Swallowing hard, he kept his eyes trained right on her inner thighs. Unable to force a lie past his aching lips, he said in a low voice, "I'm looking up your skirt."

"What?" Candy jerked forward, robbing him of his view. She hit the desk, then whirled around, half leaning, bending her legs in at the knees.

He didn't say anything. There was really nothing good to say in a moment like this. An apology would probably be in order.

But hell, he could not truthfully regret one second. And she would know he was lying. The drool at the corner of his mouth would give him away.

Candy clutched her hand to her chest. She gaped at him. Then slowly, the tension eased out of her. Her hand fell back to her side and her eyes went wide.

The knees unbent. Her voice was fascinated. "Did… did you like what you saw?"

He sat back in his chair so hard it wobbled. "Oh, yeah."

A delighted smile crossed her face. "What else do you like about me? You never did answer."

Candy didn't look angry with him. She looked intrigued. It made him even harder, if that were possible.

As he watched her, all blond and gorgeous, leaning against the desk with a speculative and pleased gleam in her eye, Jared found himself saying things he had never imagined he would ever say to a woman.

"I like your smile, and your laugh. And I like how you talk, like your sentences don't know when to stop. You're smart, sweet, and funny."

To him, it sounded like the biggest load of crap he'd ever uttered in his life, even though it was all true. But Candy seemed to like it, if the softening expression on her face and the fluttering hand at her breast were any indication.

A little embarrassed, he added gruffly, "Anything else you want to know?"

"Yeah. Why hasn't some woman snapped you up and run off with you?"

"I haven't met a woman yet who thought she wanted to live with me."

It had never bothered him either, not until now. The thought of his overpriced roomy condo didn't please him for the first time since he had bought it.