Natural Blond Instincts

16

WEARING A BLACK SUIT and looking ready to rumble, Serena pushed her way in when Wes opened the door. “Weston Roth, what the hell is wrong with you? I’ve done everything but tear off your clothes to get you to notice me, but apparently you’re a little slow on the uptake, so let me spell it out for you-Oh.” Her jaw dropped open as she took him in. “Oh.”

Wes winced at his state of undress and the towel he held to the front of him. He hadn’t meant for her to storm her way in, he’d just wanted her to stop knocking and go away. Since he could feel a breeze on his bare butt, he backed to the dresser, and for his effort got a drawer handle in a very bad spot. “I’m busy, Serena.” He’d left the door open in an invitation for her to leave.

“You’re…wow.” She eyed him from chest to toes, then back up again.

“Serena-” He stepped back so hard the drawer handle became his new best friend.

“Wes…” She leaned in. “Did you hear the I want you part of my speech?”

“Yes, Serena, he heard.” This from a grim Josh, who walked into the room.

Wes’s room, which had turned into Grand Central Station.

Josh took one look at Wes and let out a low laugh. “I see you have a problem.” Then he turned back to Serena. He took her shoulders in his hands and hauled her up on her toes, only an inch from his mouth. “And here’s mine-”

“Now, you wait just a minute-”

“Shut up, Serena.” He spoke gently, still holding her. “Now, the way I see it, you have a little attention deficit disorder you never outgrew. You aren’t getting any good hot sex, and it makes you trouble personified. Well, guess what? I’ve got a deal for you.”

“Put me down.”

“Nope.” Josh tossed Wes a look over his shoulder. “You want to give me a minute here?”

“I would, but I have another little problem in the bathroom.”

“Like?”

“Like it’s currently being held hostage, along with all my clothes, by another fairly agitated woman.”

Josh stared at him, then grinned. “Oh man, you always did get all the fun.”

“Could we hurry this along by any chance?” Wes growled.

“Right.” Josh turned back to the squirming Serena, who clearly was not used to being manhandled. “Okay, listen up, we have to put this into high gear on account of my brother and his woman dilemma. You want attention from a man? I’ve got plenty. You want a man who knows where he’s going and what he’s doing? I’m him. You want someone who will be crazy about you, and never, ever, fail you?” He set her on her feet and slipped his arms around her. “I’m that man, Serena.”

She went very still. “What?”

“I think you heard me. I might not be president of the hotel, or even VP, but I have a job with lots of potential and I’m damned smart. And every bit as ambitious as you are. We’re a match made in heaven, baby.”

She shook her head, so bewildered she apparently forgot to keep fighting him. In fact, she fisted her hands in his shirt and hauled him closer. “Say it again.”

“All of it?”

“Yes,” she demanded. “Please?”

Josh’s smile was dazzling. “I’m crazy about you. Now, you say that you think we have a shot and let’s get out of here. My poor brother has issues, and if I’m not mistaken, a dresser attachment disorder.”

Wes fully expected Serena to bite Josh’s head off. Instead she smiled demurely. Sweetly. “I think we could have a shot.”

Josh kissed her hard and long, which might have gone on forever if Wes hadn’t cleared his throat.

“Right.” Josh grinned, and herded Serena out of the room.

Wes locked the door and stormed to the bathroom. “Open up, Kenna.”

She cracked the door. She’d buttoned herself up again, very neatly. A shame. He’d have to undo it again. He dropped his towel and muscled his way in, tugging her out of the bathroom and to the bed.

She went with such ease, he knew it was what she wanted, so he followed her body down with his. With one wrench, he separated the material of her blouse. Buttons flew.

“Um-”

Unclasping her bra, he drew both that and the blouse off her shoulders. “There. That’s a little better.”

She gasped as his mouth came down on one of the breasts he’d bared, then she writhed helplessly under the erotic assault.

He slid off her skirt, then her panties, leaving her as naked as he. “Now,” he said, triumphant, towering over her.

“Do you think Serena and Josh are-”

“Yep. And with any justice at all, so are we.”

She stared at his mouth. “Wes-”

His mouth covered hers because he didn’t want to hear why this wasn’t their smartest move. He already knew, he knew every reason intimately and didn’t care. He wanted to lose himself in the heat, in the need, in the moment, feeling as blindsided by her now as he had the very first day she’d marched into his life.

They kissed for long moments, and he felt the most intense hunger he’d ever experienced. Intending to satisfy that hunger, he slid down her body and kissed her from head to toe until they were both shaking.

“Now,” she gasped.

Condom. He needed one. “Uh…hold that thought.” He staggered into the bathroom, groping through his bag, inadvertently dumping it to the floor. Damn it. Finally, snatching up a little foil packet, he tore it open on the way back to the bed. “Where were we?”

“If you’ve forgotten, you have serious ADD.”

He laughed. He didn’t understand how he could want her so badly his entire body shook, but the wanting filled his very being. Getting the condom on turned out to be a bit tricky, as he could hardly see straight, but he managed, then lifted her hips and finally, finally sank into her body.

Her body was hot and tight, and he felt his toes curl from just his first thrust. With all his might, he tried to make it last. He thought about the quarterlies, the money he’d lost in the stock market, anything, but with a high, thready sound, Kenna shattered in his arms, and that was it. He shattered, too.

For long moments afterward, he continued to quiver like a baby, and actually, it was extremely possible he’d died and gone to heaven.

But then her arms banded more tightly around him, cutting off his air, making his chest hurt.

Nope, definitely still alive.

He rolled with her so that he lay flat on his back, with her curled at his side, and braced himself for that usual after-sex smothered feeling.

It didn’t come. Something else, another feeling entirely, came instead. It’d happened without his realizing it, but it had happened. He wanted to be with her.

He reminded himself they were too different. She was whimsical, fanciful. Happy to just…be.

He was driven, hungry and ambitious.

And full of crap.

Fact was, he’d never had a good handle on Kenna. She might be fanciful and whimsical, but she worked hard, too. And she had plenty of drive and passion.

He had the Teen Zone memories as proof of that.

So did he…had he actually, maybe fallen-

“Wes?”

“Yeah?”

“I didn’t sleep with you so you’d put our reports together.”

He laughed.

She didn’t.

With a sigh, he looked into her face. “If I’d thought so, we wouldn’t have done this.”

“I just wanted to say it.”

“Well…thank you.”

She sat up. “I’ve got to go get ready.”

But he wanted round two. “So…later, then?”

She looked startled. “Later what?”

“Later…more.”

“Oh. Um…”

He ignored his heart shriveling, along with other parts of him as she bent for her clothes, her cute, edible little butt wiggling as she shimmied into her panties. “I’ll take that as a no.” He got to his feet, thinking he should have stuck to his usual routine after sex and gone to sleep.

She found her blouse, swore when she remembered the torn buttons. Tossing it down, she went into the bathroom and the bag he’d dumped on the floor, rummaging until she came up with one of his shirts. Shoving her arms in, she hauled her skirt over her hips, shimmying a little to get everything tucked in, belatedly finding her bra. That got stuffed in her pocket. “Wes…”

He looked into her eyes and saw a surprising amount of nerves. “It’s okay,” he said. “It’s going to be okay.”

“Are you sure?”

Hell, no. “Absolutely.”

She headed toward the door, in his shirt, for the second time in an hour fully dressed to his being completely naked.

“See you at the meeting,” he said. “I’ll bring the reports.”

She looked back at him. “You don’t have to bring mine.”

“Shut up, Kenna.”

“I just meant that this-” She gestured to the bed. “And that-” She looked at the report she’d left on his dresser. “They’re not all tied up together or anything.”

“Look, I know that this-” He jerked his chin to the bed. “And that-” And then the report on the dresser. “Aren’t tied up.”

She nodded in relief and left.

And then he was alone, wondering how the hell was it that he’d been ditched, when he hadn’t even known he wanted both this and that in the first place.

WELL, SHE’D DONE IT, hadn’t she? She’d finally caved in to the attraction between her and Wes, and what had it gotten her? A perfect orgasm.

Two, in fact.

In her own room she showered and dressed, then stalked downstairs with moments to spare before the board meeting. The conference room was set up with food and drinks, but she’d lost her appetite.

What had she done? She’d mixed business and pleasure, and how. That’s what she’d done. How in the world had this happened? She felt…so misdirected. Lost.

Alone.

Stupid.

“Kenna.”

Whirling, she faced the man who only a little while before had had her whimpering and begging him to finish her off.

He was solemn now, his mouth tight, his eyes tired and tense behind his glasses.

He was holding her report. “You okay?” he asked.

She started to nod, then slowly shook her head. “I feel…a little mixed up.”

“Like you were hit by a truck?”

“Yes.”

“Yeah, I felt the same way. Until I thought about it.” He looked at her for a long moment. “We started out pretty adversarial, didn’t we?”

“Pretty much, yes.”

“But it didn’t stay that way,” he said. “I’d like to think we’ve built a mutual respect, even a friendship.”

“What just happened wasn’t about respect or friendship.”

“But it was good.” He smiled, and her heart tipped on its side.

Thank God she’d finally gotten it right and worn waterproof mascara.

“It doesn’t have to be so complicated, Kenna.”

Right. It didn’t.

He held out her report. “Let’s start here, only because we have to. Are you ready for this?”

“Why? Do I have something to do in there other than be Mr. Mallory’s daughter?”

“You don’t like being your father’s daughter?”

“Sure. Outside the boardroom.”

His gaze caressed her face. “Your report is good. Go for it in there.”

She looked around to make sure no one was listening. “Are you sure that’s not the sex talking?” she whispered.

He looked shocked. “What? I thought you said these were two separate issues.”

“Just checking. I mean, if you say the report’s good, then…you get more sex later, right?”

He grinned. “Would that actually work?”

She had to laugh. “I’m not too ashamed to say yeah, it would work, but tell me it’s not so anyway.”

“It’s not.” He lost the grin and went serious. “Do it, Kenna. Go in there and do your thing. You’re good at it.”

“I am.” She looked at the food spread. There were chocolate doughnuts. Good. She needed one. Two. This was definitely going to be a two-doughnut meeting.