Red Hot Games: A Steamy Older Man Office Romance Read online

  Shit.

  3

  Ian

  I’m going to straight to hell for that.

  I was back in my office after my encounter with Sierra, and I was currently experiencing a very unfamiliar feeling: guilt.

  Sierra Hobbs was my newest employee—I had no business reminding her of that phone call. She was mostly likely mortified about it. I mean, who wouldn’t be embarrassed after talking about their sex life in front of their new boss?

  But from my point of view, she had nothing to be ashamed of. The only one who should be embarrassed was her asshole ex-boyfriend. The way she’d told off him off had been magnificent. She’d cussed him out. Insulted his manhood in ways that were both creative and vindictive. Proven over and over that there was no way a smart, strong woman like her was going to take any more of his shit. She’d been fierce, like an Amazon warrior. She’d stood up for herself. She’d almost made me feel the need to apologize even though I knew she thought she was talking to someone else.

  For days after that phone call, I hadn’t been able to get her out of my mind.

  Therefore, curiosity had gotten the better of me this morning. I wanted to see her again, to find the traces of that fierce Valkyrie in her. Of course, I knew that the strong warrior-woman she’d been in the phone call was likely not the persona she’d be showing at work. Still, I hadn’t been able to resist trying to see if I could spot it in her.

  Had it just been a onetime thing? Or was she really as straight-forward in real life? After a short search, I’d found her in the copy room, talking to one of the other members on her new team. Even from behind, Sierra looked the part of a warrior princess. She was tall, lean, strong. Her long blonde hair flowed over her shoulders to the center of her back. It was wavy and untamed—a word that could very well describe her. And her legs… god, her legs went on for days. I’d always been a sucker for women with long limbs like that.

  For some reason, Sierra had been talking about finding a good man—something she definitely hadn’t managed with her ex—and it had just been too good an opportunity to let pass without slipping in a reference to her phone call. Yes, it made me an asshole. But holy shit, the way she’d whirled around to face me—if she had been a Valkyrie, she would’ve had sword in hand and stabbed me through. Instead, she’d taken a step back and landed flat on her ass.

  And from the brief glimpse I got, it was one hell of an ass.

  Still, it was a shitty thing for me to do, and I hadn’t meant to make her fall. My guilt had almost overridden the flash of arousal I got from seeing her with skirt pushed up her luscious thighs like that—almost. But her getting hurt definitely wasn’t part of the plan. Not that I had a plan.

  I never did.

  Warmth flowed through my fingers as I remembered the feeling of her hand in mine. Of pulling her to her feet. Of seeing her vivid blue eyes as she stared up at me.

  Tall women had always fascinated the hell out of me. Sierra looked to be seven or eight inches shorter than me—a perfect height to kiss.

  I was six foot five, and I’d never had much use for pint-sized women. They were often times timid and shy around me, reverting into blushing little virgins when I came on too strong. Sierra looked like she was made of sterner stuff than that.

  Shit. I pushed my chair away from my desk, going to look out my window. This was not what I was supposed to be thinking about right now. I had a company to run. Obsessing about my newest employee was not on my agenda today.

  As the CEO, it was my job to look out for the well-being of my employees. I should leave her alone. No more teasing. No knowing glances. No toying with her until I could find out what made her tick. Even though I was dying to know—and even though that was what I did with everything I couldn’t understand.

  Yep, leaving her alone was the responsible thing to do. It was the right thing to do.

  But when the fuck had I ever done the right thing?

  I’d started this company by working my ass off and when the right opportunity had come along, betting big. I was impulsive. I went with my gut. And it usually paid off.

  My impulsive side was likely to win out in this case, too. Would Ms. Hobbs be able to handle it? Again, the overriding impression I’d gotten of her was strength—physically and mentally. Somehow, I suspected she would.

  But then again, I also suspected I was going straight to hell.

  4

  Sierra

  I was attending my first meeting on my first day at my first good job, and all I could think about was Ian Callahan.

  How was it possible that the two most embarrassing moments of my life had both been in front of him? The odds of that seemed astronomically bad—yet it happened. Twice.

  The phone call had been bad enough. He’d not only heard every single pissed off thought in my head, but he’d received one hell of an overview of how messed up my last relationship had been. Then only thing more embarrassing would’ve been if I’d accidentally shown up to work naked.

  But then today I did the next worst thing. In the copy room earlier, I’d fallen on my ass, my legs sprawled, my skirt riding up my thighs. I’d even found a small rip in the side later, so I know it had been pushed up during the least graceful landing ever. So now my new boss surely knew that I’d worn black lace bikini panties to work.

  Shit. What a way to start here. I rested my head on my hand at the conference room, unable to focus on what was being said around me. But Brett was rattling on, so that was probably okay.

  My thoughts returned to Ian’s hazel eyes as he surveyed me after my fall. From my position on the floor, he’d looked impossibly tall. And impossibly handsome, too. I must’ve been too nervous at my interview to notice. The CEO was the epitome of tall, dark, and god-like. He looked like he was born to wear designer suits—and he put most other men who wore them to shame.

  Not that I’d known any other men who wore them.

  And what had he seen me wearing in return? Black lace panties. God, how humiliating. Why had I even worn those today?

  But I knew the answer. I’d needed the confidence. Sexy panties always made me feel good about myself. Or at least they used to. My self-esteem had taken a bit hit after I started dating Joe a year ago. I still didn’t remember what I ever initially saw in him, but somehow, I’d fallen for him and let my own personality be swallowed up by his. I’d been so weak.

  The sound of my name made my head jerk up.

  “Does that sound good to you, Sierra?”

  “Absolutely,” I said, having no idea what Brett was referring to.

  Liz looked at me from across the table. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you with it.”

  I smiled back at her, grateful that she would help me with it—whatever “it” was. I needed to pay attention. This was it, my first real job in my major. But my thoughts kept returning to unpleasant thoughts of Joe—ugh—or more pleasant but highly embarrassing thoughts of Ian Callahan.

  I was so pissed at him. Or at least I should be. Really, what kind of boss did that to an employee on her first day? I mean, it wasn’t his fault I tripped and fell, but he’d deliberately reminded me of my rant against Joe. That made him a jerk, right?

  Definitely.

  But… the term jerk was relative, and Joe had set the standard in my book. He’d taken over my life—and me—until there was nothing left of Sierra. There’d only been the dysfunctional couple known as Joe and Sierra. I would never, ever let a man do that to me again.

  Ian didn’t seem like that kind of man to me. From our few encounters, he seemed like a fun, cocky guy without much of a filter. Except for the guy part, the same could be said of me. He’d had a gleam in his eye when he reached his large hand down to help me up after I fell.

  The moment I’d placed my hand in his, a bolt of electricity had shot through me. Had he felt it too? It must’ve been my imagination. I’d been humiliated, and a bit dazed from the fall, and there’s no way that one brief moment of contact should have affected me that
much. But it hadn’t just been his touch. It had also been the look in his eyes.

  I was blonde, tall, and leggy. When I went out, I attracted a certain amount of attention from men. But the look in his eyes had seemed different than the looks I usually got from men. When he’d helped me up, I’d caught a flash of his vivid hazel eyes, and the look in them had been one of… it had almost seemed like admiration. And not, I was fairly sure, just because my black lace panties had been on display.

  It didn’t make any sense. Except for the one interview he’d sat in on, his only impressions of me had been bad ones. The phone call. Me falling on my ass. But yet… I’d got the distinct impression that there was something about me that he approved of.

  A touch on my shoulder made me jump. I looked around. People were getting up and leaving the conference room. Liz stood next to me. “Come on, you look like you could use some coffee.”

  Gratefully, I followed her to the break room. “Thanks,” I said as she showed me how to use the machine.

  “Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself when you fell this morning?” she asked.

  “Just my pride.”

  She nodded sympathetically. “I’m sure that’s not the way you wanted your new job to start.”

  I nearly snorted. If only she knew how horrible my first phone call with my boss had been.

  “If you need to see a doctor, I can drive you somewhere.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “No offense, but you seemed pretty out of it at the meeting.”

  “Yeah… sorry, I know I should’ve been paying better attention. But I was just so embarrassed. To fall on my ass in front of a guy who looks like—I mean, in front of the CEO.”

  Liz’s eyes sparkled. “Mr. Callahan is pretty damn good-looking.”

  “Yeah,” I breathed, sliding into a chair at a nearby table. Liz sat opposite me. “Do you think… I mean, when I fell, my skirt kind of rode up… do you think he saw…”

  “He’s a good boss,” Liz said, her change of topic telling me she didn’t want to answer my question—which was an answer in and of itself. “If you work hard, you’ll go places in this company. I love it here.”

  Ugh, I needed to move past what had happened earlier and get my head in the game. “I’m definitely willing to work hard. But… I’m not entirely sure what my job entails.

  Liz laughed. “Most people don’t know when they first start. But you’ll catch on. We’re part of a team that’s been assigned to a start-up company that provides virtual assistants for busy professionals.”

  “So, like, do we do the marketing for them?”

  “Not really, although there’s some overlap. We work on getting their message across to their clients. There’s a lot of writing involved, copy for their websites, their brochures, etc. It’s usually pretty interesting work. You’ll catch on quickly enough.”

  “Thanks.”

  We talked a bit more and then Liz walked me back to my desk. “I’ll show you where to find the files on the server,” she said.

  “That would be great,” I said, but then I looked at the corner of my desk. There was a paper and a cylindrical object on top of it. Those definitely hadn’t been there before the meeting.

  Puzzled, I picked up the heavier item first. It was a small flashlight. Where on earth had it come from? I grabbed the paper next. It was a hand-drawn map.

  What the hell?

  A few sentences were scrawled across the bottom: Just wanted to give you these to prove that not all men need a flashlight and a map.

  I stared at the message for a long second before a memory surfaced. One of the things I’d screamed at the man I’d thought had been Joe was that he couldn’t find a woman’s clitoris without a map and a flashlight.

  Laughter escaped from my lips before I could stop it. The man was incorrigible, but for some reason, I couldn’t stop laughing.

  Liz looked at me as if I was insane.

  “Sorry,” I said, trying to control myself. “It’s kind of an inside joke.”

  She still seemed to think I was nuts. After all, I hadn’t been here long enough to have any inside jokes. But she dutifully sat down at my desk and showed me where to find the files I’d need.

  After she left, I couldn’t stop thinking about the things Ian had left on my desk. My initial assessment of him as a cocky bastard had been correct. But for some reason, I liked his little joke. The thought had been lurking in the back of my mind that he would avoid me from now on because of the phone call and the spill I took at his feet this morning. This proved he wouldn’t.

  And it also proved he was pretty damn clever. I looked at the paper he’d drawn the map on again. It was weird that he hadn’t just printed out some random map from the internet instead of drawing one himself.

  Actually, it looked a bit more like a floor plan than a map. Mulling it over, I glanced around at my surroundings and compared them to the sketch on the paper. It appeared to be a floor plan of this office. The break room was on there and the conference room and a few other things I recognized. There was also an arrow pointing toward the corner.

  Rising to my feet, I set out in the direction the arrow pointed, unsure why I was doing so. But my curiosity had been aroused, and I wouldn’t be able to concentrate until I checked it out. Not that my powers of concentration had been very good so far today anyway.

  In the corner of the office was a large, heavy door that looked like it led to a stairwell. As I walked over to check it out, I nearly crashed into Brett.

  “Hey, Sierra. Looking for the little girl’s room? It’s over there by the elevators.”

  “I’m not a little girl,” I said, straightening my posture and looking him in the eye. He was only about an inch taller than me. Brett looked taken aback for a moment and then opened his mouth to say some other inane thing, but I spoke instead. “What’s on the other floors of this building?”

  “Below us on three is a graphics firm,” he said, appearing to be glad to be back into lecture-mode. “The company on two does online tutoring. A bunch of storefronts share the space on one. There’s a good little coffee house, if you’d like to grab a cup sometime—”

  “And the basement?” On the map, there had been the number 4 and an arrow that pointed downward. It occurred to me that perhaps it meant taking the stairs four flights down.

  Brett frowned. “There is a basement, but I’ve never been down there. There was a company up on five that moved out last year when they got too big for the space. I think they set up some kind of employee gym in the basement for a while. Sounds like a waste of money to me. When you’re at the office, you’re here to work, not work out. As for me, I work out every morning, for at least an hour—”

  “Thanks for the info,” I said, stepping past him.

  Forgetting about him, I peered through the glass panel in the door to the stairwell. Hopefully, it wouldn’t lock behind me. I pushed it open and took the heavy concrete stairs slowly downward.

  The air, while not quite fresh, didn’t smell as old and musty as I feared. It seemed like this stairwell got some regular use, and when I tried the door on three, it wasn’t locked.

  I could hear sounds from the lobby as I descended. When I reached the basement, there was a door leading off to the side. Opening it cautiously, I found a light switch and turned it on. There was a short hallway with an ancient-looking drinking fountain in a niche in the wall.

  Farther down, there were a couple of doors. One was marked locker room. That must lead to the gym that Brett had mentioned.

  I squinted at the map. There was a circle around the number seventeen.

  The door to the locker room opened easily, and a light switch was right inside. A wall of lockers stood across from me. A few had combination locks on them, but most didn’t—including number seventeen.

  The locker was empty except for two things—a note and a chocolate bar. The latter was an expensive-looking Swiss bar with milk chocolate and hazelnuts. My mouth watered just looki
ng at it. Living with an extraordinary baker like Gabi these last few years had given me quite the sweet tooth.

  The note was written in the same handwriting as the map. It read: Sorry I startled you this morning. Hope you’re feeling okay and that you didn’t land on anything important.

  Somehow, I knew he wasn’t referring to me landing on an important part of the copy machine. No, he knew exactly what body part I’d landed on and was teasing me—again.

  Which meant he was even more cocky than I thought.

  So why did I have a grin on my face the entire time as I climbed the stairs back to the office? Yeah, it could’ve been the chocolate bar.

  But I knew that it wasn’t.

  5

  Sierra

  Having made it through the first week at my new job without embarrassing myself further, I figured I deserved to sleep in on Saturday. Unfortunately, my roommates didn’t agree.

  Groaning, I stuck a pillow over my head to try to drown out the sound of Gabi and Kait clomping back and forth past my door. For relatively small women, they sure made a lot of noise. Then again, the house was old and nearly every floorboard creaked.

  Then Kait sent me a text, which I supposed was better than her banging on my door. Just a heads up, Tyler’s on his way over to take a look at the A/C.

  If I had to be up at this hour, that at least was good news. The air conditioner had been faulty for weeks, and up here on the second floor, it got pretty hot. I had two fans circulating air in the room right now.

  All the noise wasn’t enough to keep my eyelids from drooping, and I managed to get another half hour of a sleep before I finally got up, took a quick shower, and got dressed. Since it was hot, I put on jeans shorts and a sleeveless shirt that tied under my breasts. It made me look a bit like a slutty Mary Ann from Gilligan’s Island, but if Tyler was going to be working on the A/C, it would get even hotter when he turned it off. Not that it did much good while it was on.