I blinked at him for a full minute before my mind was finally able to push his words aside and recall the details from my talk with Barry earlier.
“He got excited over the prospect of an ‘inside scoop’ with us being together.” Every muscle in Maddox’s body tensed, but I quickly set his mind at ease. “But I set him straight and told him where to shove his job if he expected me to exploit my personal relationships within the team.”
Rearing back, a flicker of surprise flashed through his eyes before pride replaced it. “How did he take it?”
A victorious grin crept onto my face. “Believe it or not, I think I earned a little bit of respect from the guy.”
“So . . . you still have a job?” Maddox hedged.
I shrugged. “For now.”
“That’s amazing. Look at my girl standing her ground, taking no prisoners.”
My girl.Two simple words had my pulse accelerating.
“Getting ahead of yourself, aren’t you?” I teased. “That’s a pretty serious claiming statement you just made.”
He flashed me that deliciously cocky smirk. “Are you going to pretend you haven’t been mine since the first night I took you home?”
My head tilted, and I raised an eyebrow. “If memory serves,Itookyouhome.”
“Semantics.” His nose teased the side of mine.
“You sure you still want me, now that it’s no longerforbidden? That was part of the thrill, wasn’t it?“ I had to be sure because I was dangerously close to falling for him, and my fragile heart wouldn’t survive another break so soon after the last one.
A low chuckle reached my ears before he gripped my hand, bringing it to the front of his track pants, where they were tented by his erection. With his hand over mine, we palmed his length as he rasped, “Does this feel like I don’t want you?”
“Mmm.” I curled my fingers around him, relishing the sound of his throaty groan.
His hands gripped my waist, and I squealed when he lifted me without warning. Setting my feet on the floor, he spun me around, forcing my chest onto his desk until my cheek rested against the cool wood surface.
Maddox’s weight pressed into my back, and his lips grazed the shell of my ear. “I answered your question, so I think it’s only fair you answer mine.” He paused, his heavy breathing the only sound in the room. “Think you can be quiet, love? These walls might not be thin, but they’re no match for the sound of your screams when you come.”
My breathing hitched, and I nodded wordlessly.
“Good girl,” Maddox praised, and the dull ache between my legs became an insistent throbbing, desperate for relief.
He moved behind me, skimming a hand down my back, over my ass, and along the outside of my leg until he reached my ankle.
“You know, I’ve been wondering for months about these stockings.”
What? He has?
“Every time you walked past, I pictured them as a different type—pantyhose, thigh-highs, perhaps the kind attached to a garter belt. It drove me insane not knowing. Today, I’m finally going to find out.”
Tapping the inside of my ankles, he indicated that he wanted me to spread my legs. Thankfully, the pencil skirt I wore was a stretchy material, and I was able to force my feet to stand shoulder-width apart.
Maddox hummed his satisfaction at my obedience before sliding one hand up the inside of my calf, pausing at my knee to tease the inside of the joint with his thumb. He was drawing out the anticipation. I wasn’t sure if it was for himself or for me, but it was working—I was on fucking fire, my hips grinding against the edge of his desk.
His fingers continued their upward trek, only an inch away from where he would discover that I wore lace-edged thigh-highs, when there was a knock on the door. I gasped, and Maddox stood suddenly behind me.
“Yeah?” Maddox’s husky voice addressed whoever awaited on the other side.
“Maddox, you have a minute?”
Fuck. I knew that voice. It belonged to Jared McCall, the Speed’s general manager.
It was one thing to come clean to my editor, quite another to be caught alone with Maddox in his office by his boss. There would be blowback on Maddox since I wasn’t supposed to have access to this floor.
