She watched him, her breathing deep and fast.

“You wanna know what I was thinking?” he asked.

“What?”

“That I wanted to undo every one of these buttons to find out what you were wearing underneath this dress.” He undid the second button, then the third.

“Is that right?”

“Yeah.” The fourth and fifth button went next, and he made his way down all the buttons until he pulled the dress apart to reveal the sexy matching purple bra. He decided right then that purple was his favorite color.

“This is pretty.” He skimmed his fingers over the swells of her breasts, then flipped the front clasp to open the bra, releasing her breasts. He used his thumbs to draw circles around her nipples.

Mia gasped and he felt the tightening around his cock.

“Do you have any idea what you do to me?” he asked. “What it does to me seeing you half-naked and sprawled on your desk with my cock buried inside of you?”

Mia reached out and skimmed her nails over his forearms. “I can feel what you’re doing to me, feel your cock swelling inside of me, grinding against me every time you thrust. It makes me want to come.”

She moved her hand to her sex and began to rub her fingers back and forth.

Hell, he was going to come so hard if she kept doing that. Just watching her work her body, the scent of sex filling the air around them, and watching his dick pumping in and out of her pussy, it was all he could do not to come. It was taking every bit of restraint he had to hold on.

But he would, because he was waiting for Mia to come first.

“That’s it,” he said, needing to coax that orgasm out of her. He gripped her hip and drove deeper. “Make yourself come. I love watching you touch yourself.”

“I’m going to come, Nathan.”

“Fuck yeah. Do it.” He felt her pussy tighten around his cock, felt the spasms grow stronger.

And when she began to buck against him, when she cried out with her orgasm, he cupped his hand around her butt to draw her close. He leaned over her to kiss her, to take her mouth in a deep kiss as he came, too, groaning against her lips and shuddering with his own orgasm.

He softened the kiss, taking them both down from that euphoric high. His fingers were cramping under her butt so he eased them out and raised Mia from the desk.

She blinked, then traced her fingers over his jaw. “That was . . . exceptional.”

He grinned. “I thought so, too.”

She had a restroom connected to her office, so they went in there to clean up. Mia glanced over at him and smiled as she buttoned up her dress.

“What?” he asked.

“Who knew little white buttons were such a turn-on for you?”

He shrugged. “What can I say?”

“I’m filing that away for future reference.”

He laughed, then pulled her against him for a deep kiss. When he let her go, he said, “I’m hungry. How about you?”

“Ravenous.”

“Good. Let’s have dinner.”

He waited while Mia packed up her things into her bag, then they headed out.

“You want to talk about what was bothering you earlier?”

She looked over at him while they waited for the elevator. “Nope. Not at all.”

“Okay, then.”

But at some point, they were going to talk. Mia had something on her mind, and it had to do with him. And he was going to make sure they discussed it.

THIRTY-ONE

MIA SWALLOWED PAST THE GIANT LUMP IN HER THROAT and tried her best to appear calm, even though she was anything but.

“You look like you’re about to attend an execution,” Monique said.

“I do?”

“Yes. And you’re pale. Their makeup team did a stellar job on you, and you still look like you have the flu. Here, let me touch you up a little.”

They were in Monique’s office while the magazine team set up in Mia’s office for the interview and photo shoot. Mia would have preferred to just dive in and get this over with, but apparently these things took time. And while she waited, she grew more and more nervous.

Monique applied blush to her face, then squinted as she surveyed the results. “A little better, but try to avoid appearing as if you might vomit at any second, okay?”

“I’ll try.”

Zelda, the magazine’s production assistant, stuck her head in the door. “We’re ready for you, Ms. Cassidy.”

“Thank you. I’ll be right there.”

Mia shot a helpless look at Monique, who gave her two thumbs-up in reply. “You can do this.”

She went into her office, which had been transformed into something that didn’t look like her office anymore. It was filled with a lot more color, with orange and purple pillows on the sofa, a rug on the floor and different chairs.

They’d told her they were going to have to accessorize the office to photograph well. She’d said she was fine with that.

She was fine with whatever. She just needed to get through this. She could get through anything.

Andrea, the editor who was going to interview her today, came over and smiled at her. “Are you ready?”

Mia nodded.

“How about we sit on the sofa to start?”

“Sure.”

She took a seat on the sofa and Andrea sat with her. Mia folded her hands together in her lap so Andrea wouldn’t notice her hands were shaking.

Get a freakin’ grip, Mia. This isn’t your first interview.

She’d done an interview with one of the San Francisco newspapers when MHC first opened. She’d been totally together. So what was the big deal here?

Andrea started out with a few innocuous questions about Mia’s educational background and where she’d grown up, no doubt icebreakers to keep Mia relaxed. Which was good because it was working. They gradually made their way into the reasons for Mia starting her business, and how things were going. They discussed the athletes MHC had signed so far, and what the company’s plans were for the first year and going forward.

Once Mia settled in and started talking business, she relaxed. Andrea was an engaging interviewer, and Mia found a rapport with her.

“And what about your personal life?” Andrea asked. “Any boyfriends? Girlfriends?”

“Oh.” That question hit her like a ton of bricks. “Not really.”

“Surely someone as successful as you knows it’s important to have a social life. I mean, it can’t be all about work all the time, right?”

“Of course. I date. But no special guy in my life right now.”

She wanted to take the words back as soon as she’d said them.

“That’s understandable. It’s good to be social, but of course you’re building a company from the ground up. I can totally relate to not wanting any heavy involvements in your life at the moment.”

“Yes. Right. That’s it, exactly.” She so wanted this interview to be over with.

“Okay, I think that’s enough for now. Let’s take a few photographs.”

They took some photos of her leaning against her desk, and sitting at her desk, and brought in a few of her staff, Monique included, to mimic her doing some meeting-type work. That didn’t take too long. Andrea thanked her and told her they’d have the article up on the magazine’s website within a week, and in next month’s print magazine.

The staff returned her office to its previous state, décor wise, in short order.

She thanked Andrea and the entire staff for their time, and walked them all to the elevators.

Then she exhaled and leaned against the wall, feeling incredibly drained. She could drink an entire bottle of wine right now.

With a straw.

Monique came down the hall.

“How did it go?”

Mia pushed off the wall. “Fine, I guess.”

“You guess? It was either good or bad. Was it bad? How was it bad?”

“I don’t know.” She turned to head down the hall to her office.

Monique followed. “There’s something you’re not telling me. What are you not telling me?”

When they got back to Mia’s office, she went to the mini fridge and grabbed a water, opened it and took a long swallow, then headed over to one of the chairs in front of her desk and slumped in it.