Page 22 of His Assistant

“Sofia—”

“He’s furious,” she continues. “He’s embarrassed that I got my boss involved, and furious because he thinks you’re some kind of shady creep that I know owe.”

“Those men would’ve broken his legs if they’d had a chance,” I manage to get in. “That’s who you should be angry at.”

“I am angry at them! And I’m angry at you. You don’t get to throw money at my problems⁠—”

“I paid a debt,” I tell her. “I didn’t buy your life.”

Her face goes pale with fury. I’ve said the wrong thing.

“Are you sure about that?” she asks. “Because I can never, ever, pay you back that money.”

I watch her carefully for a moment before I respond.

“It was a gift,” I say softly. “I don’t expect you to pay it back.”

“You shouldn’t be giving me gifts like that,” she accuses. “You’re my boss, Dominic. You shouldn’t have gotten involved in my personal life. It isn’t your job to take care of me.”

I finally stand, irritation forcing me to my feet.

“You’re so goddamn stubborn, Sofia,” I say. “Don’t pretend you haven’t been running yourself ragged to pay your father’s debt. It’s why you took this job, isn’t it? It’s why you didn’t argue about the bonus I gave you. Suddenly it’s a problem because I did something about it?”

She lets out a frustrated squeal. “You aren’t even listening to me!”

“And you aren’t listening to me,” I shoot back. “Why the hell are we even fighting about this?”

“Because you’re my boss,” she says quietly. “It wasn’t your place to do this.”

I nod sarcastically as I approach her. “Whose place is it, then?”

She looks up at me when I’m just inches from her and swallows hard.

“I don’t know,” she finally admits, all the fire gone from her voice. “A boyfriend? A partner?”

“Do you have one of those?” I ask her darkly.

I don’t miss the way her eyes dart to my lips or the way she licks her own.

“No,” she finally admits.

Good.

“Then who else is going to take care of you?”

She closes the space between us, and I reach for her right back. My hands find her waist and hers wrap around my neck the moment our lips meet. There’s all the heat from our fight in it, but something else underneath, too. An unspoken agreement that this is where we’ve always been headed, maybe. A want that’s finally getting answered.

I turn her around and walk her back to my desk. In one quick motion, I sweep my arm across the surface, moving anything out of the way that might hurt her. Then, I lift her up onto the desk. Her hands tangle in my hair as my fingers start working down the buttons of her blouse.

I kiss the sensitive skin at the base of her neck and nearly lose it at the way she moans my name. When her shirt slides off her shoulders, I take a moment to marvel at her perfect breasts. They’re spilling out of a bra that is just slightly too small. I want to rip it off of her with my teeth. As if reading my mind, she reaches behind her and starts undoing the clasps.

I let out a hiss as the fabric falls to the floor, following her blouse. My God, she is more perfect than I’d imagined. She watches me nervously, like she’s afraid I’m going to devour her. That’s exactly what I want to do. Instead, I kiss her slowly before licking a trail from her neck to her chest.

Her back arches into me as I take one of her nipples into my mouth, gently groping her other breast with my hand. Her own hand reaches between us and disappears underneath the waistband of her pants. Fuck if that doesn’t turn me on.

“Stop,” I tell her. “I want to see you.”

She looks at me with a wicked look in her eye as I slowly remove her pants. One of my hands follows her as she starts stroking herself. I kiss her again as her hand guides mine.