Читать книгу It Started With... Collection - Miranda Lee - Страница 40

WORK the following Friday came to a halt by lunch-time, at which point the males on the staff pitched in to transform the main office floor into party land. Several of the central cubicles were dismantled to provide a more than adequate dance floor. Desks were cleared and decorations and disco lights went up.

Peter—who apparently loved playing DJ each year—set about filling his area with his latest hi-fi gear, whistling Jingle Bells as he worked. Kane and Karen took charge of stocking up the temporary bar, whilst Margaret roped Jessie and Michele into helping her with the food, which they spread out, buffet-style, on several desks pushed together. A local catering company had supplied a wide selection of cold meats, seafood and salads, with some delicious cream-topped cakes for the sweet tooths, plus loads of snacks.

Jessie thought that there was way too much to eat and drink for their small staff, but when she remarked on this to Michele, she was informed that their office party was so popular that loads of other people in the building came, along with clients, past and present.

‘And everyone’s other halves usually drop in as well,’ Michele added. ‘Tyler’s sure to be late, workaholic that he is, but he’ll make an appearance at some stage, even if only to see me safely home.’

Tyler, Jessie knew by now, was Michele’s husband.

‘And speaking of other halves,’ Michele said after a glance over at Kane, ‘yours is looking very bright-eyed and bushy-tailed tonight. What have you been doing to him, girl?’

Absolutely nothing of what Michele was implying. There’d been no actual lovemaking, despite their spending every evening this week together. Kane didn’t seem to mind stopping at a goodnight kiss. He’d even promised he wouldn’t press her for more in any shape or form here at the party tonight.

‘He does look yummy in black, doesn’t he?’ Jessie said with that swirl in her stomach that always occurred whenever she looked at the man she loved. It had been difficult controlling her own desires these past few days, but it had been more important to her to know that Kane’s love was not just sexually based than to indulge in some passing pleasure.

‘You haven’t told anyone else here about our being engaged, have you?’ she added swiftly. She didn’t mind Michele knowing. They were fast becoming firm friends and she just couldn’t keep her good news totally secret.

Still, it was good that Kane hadn’t bought her a ring yet. That way he couldn’t be annoyed with her for not wearing it at work. Jessie was still worried over what the other people at Wild Ideas might think.

‘No. I haven’t told anyone else,’ Michele said with a sigh. ‘But if you keep looking at each other the way you do, people will begin to suspect something is going on.’

Kane turned his head at that moment, and their eyes connected. His smile carried so much obvious love that Jessie could see what Michele meant.

‘OK, everyone!’ Kane announced to the room. ‘Everything’s ready for the party. Time for the girls to go and put their glad rags on. The guys too, if you’ve brought something more colourful to change into.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘At three o’clock, the doors will be thrown open and it’ll be all systems go. Though speaking of systems, please make sure that your computers are safely turned off, passwords hidden and all important files discreetly locked away. I don’t want Harry coming home and finding that all your wonderfully wild ideas have been stolen, or sabotaged. OK?’

‘OK, boss!’ they all chorused, Jessie included.

How proud of him she felt, this wonderful, gorgeous, sensible-thinking man who loved her.

Twenty minutes later, she was nervously viewing herself in the full-length mirror that hung on the back of the ladies’ room door. Her cocktail dress was brand new, and very sexy. Black silk with turquoise swirls on it, it had a halter neckline, a wide, extremely tight waistband and a swishy skirt.

Her shoes were new, too. Turquoise, in the currently fashionable slip-on style, which showed off her pretty ankles and scarlet-painted toenails. This time she’d been able to afford fake tan, so her bare legs and arms glowed a nice honey colour. Her hair was down for once, and not too bushy, courtesy of the more expensive hair products she could also now buy and which tamed the frizz somewhat. She was wearing more make-up than she would usually wear in the office as well, and considerably less underwear. No bra for starters and just the briefest thong underneath.

‘Wow!’ Margaret said when she saw her.

‘Yes, wow!’ Karen agreed.

Michele just raised her eyebrows in a knowing fashion.

Kane’s reaction when he saw her was not quite as enthusiastic. He wasn’t too pleased, either, when Jessie was subjected to instant male attention. The men flocked around her, getting her drinks, constantly asking her to dance and pretending to be devastated when she refused.

Jessie suspected Kane was jealous, but if so, why did he keep his distance? Why didn’t he come and ask her to dance? She wouldn’t have said no to him.

Finally, after the party had been raging for over two hours, he walked over to her, his expression tight.

‘Could I have a private word, Jessie?’

‘Of course,’ she replied, and threw her circle of admirers a bright smile. ‘Won’t be long.’

Kane’s grip on her elbow was firm as he steered her away from the party and along the corridor towards his office. Jessie quivered inside at his forcefulness, but it was a quiver of excitement, not nerves. A few glasses of champagne had dispensed with her earlier worries, replacing them with a deliciously carefree attitude.

‘I said I wasn’t going to do this, remember?’ she remarked blithely, all the while quite happy with the prospect of being ravished on Kane’s desk.

‘I haven’t brought you here for sex,’ Kane snapped as he banged the door shut behind them.

‘Oh…’

‘Look, I know you’re worried about the rest of the staff thinking you weren’t hired on your merits. And I’ve tried damned hard tonight not to embarrass you by staking my claim on you publicly. But you are my woman, Jessie,’ he pronounced firmly. ‘Mine. And it’s time everyone out there knew that.’

‘Oh…’

‘I’ve asked you to marry me and you’ve said yes. You should be wearing my ring.’

‘But…’

‘No buts. I’m tired of your buts.’ With that he drew a blue velvet box out of his jacket pocket and flipped it open. ‘I hope you like it.’

Jessie stared down at the solitaire diamond engagement ring, then swallowed. Oh, God, she was going to cry. ‘It…it’s beautiful,’ she stammered.

‘You’re beautiful,’ he said thickly, and taking the ring out of the box, he put the box back in his pocket, then came forward and picked up her left hand.

‘I love you, Jessie Denton,’ he said as he slipped it on her trembling ring finger.

Her eyes flooded, then tears spilled over, running down her cheeks. ‘And I love you,’ she choked out.

He wiped the tears away with his spare hand, then bent to kiss each wet cheek. ‘That’s nothing to cry about,’ he said with a soft smile in his voice. ‘At least, I hope not.’

‘Oh, no,’ she denied hotly. ‘Never!’

With a rush of sweet emotion, Jessie wound her arms up around his neck and pulled him close. ‘You mean the world to me!’ she proclaimed.

His hesitation was only slight before he kissed her. Soon, there was no hesitation, only passion. His kisses were fierce, his clasp so tight around her back that her breasts were totally flattened against his chest.

His sudden wrenching away came as a shock.

‘Sorry,’ he ground out. ‘I promised I wouldn’t do that.’

She loved it that he cared enough about her to stop. But the time for testing him further was long over.

‘It’s all right, Kane. I want you to make love to me.’

‘What? You mean…here?’

‘Yes, here. Now.’

He watched, gaze smouldering as she kicked off her shoes then reached up under her skirt to peel her panties off. That done, she untied the bow at the back of her neck, letting the straps fall so that her bare breasts were exposed.

When Kane sucked in sharply, her stomach quivered and her already erect nipples tightened further.

‘I’d better lock the door,’ he rasped.

He did so, then took her hand and led her over to the nearby Chesterfield. There, he drew her down onto his lap, kissing her and playing with her breasts till she was breathless and shaking. Only then did he slide one hand up under her skirt.

‘No,’ she protested. ‘No, I don’t want that, Kane. I want you. With nothing between us.’

‘But…’

‘No buts. It’s all right. It’s a safe time in my cycle. And if I’m wrong, what does it matter? I love you. You love me. We’re getting married. A baby would be just fine.’

Kane could not believe the impact of her words. She must really love him and trust him, if she didn’t mind conceiving his baby before they were married. He could not ask for more.

How he wanted her! His lovely Jessie. His woman.

He groaned at the first contact of their naked bodies, then moaned when his flesh began to enter hers. The look on her face as she sank all the way downwards told him she felt very much what he was feeling. When her hands cradled his face and she looked deep into his eyes, it took all of his will-power not to weep.

‘I love you,’ she whispered, and began to rise and fall upon him in a voluptuously sensual rhythm. ‘I love you,’ she repeated, pressing tiny kisses all over his face at the same time.

Kane closed his eyes in defence of the emotion that ripped through him. Never in his life had he felt anything like what this woman could make him feel. He could not wait to marry her, to promise to love and cherish her till death did them part. Because nothing short of death would destroy their union. They were as one, not just in their bodies but also in their minds. She was going to be his soul mate. His best friend. The mother of his children.

When he took her hands from around his face and held them to his lips, she stopped moving to stare at him with glazed eyes.

‘I…I never thought it could be like this,’ she said in a voice that betrayed some lingering bewilderment over their relationship.

‘I don’t think it is very often,’ he returned. ‘We’re very lucky.’

‘Yes,’ she agreed. ‘Very.’

‘We’re going to go back to the party afterwards and announce our engagement,’ he commanded, taking full advantage of the moment.

Jessie nodded. ‘Yes. All right. But Kane…about tomorrow night…’

Kane frowned. ‘What about tomorrow night?’ She and Emily were supposed to be coming to sleep over at his house. It was Christmas Eve. He’d already bought a Christmas tree. A real one. And loads of decorations, which he planned on putting up with Emily. Not to mention more presents than was wise.

But how often did a man fall in love and get an instant family, one that probably hadn’t been spoiled as he intended to spoil them, if he was allowed to?

‘Don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind about coming!’

She laughed a wicked little laugh. ‘I’ll be coming all right. Tonight. But Kane…about tomorrow night. I know it’s probably old-fashioned of me, but I won’t sleep in your bed with Emily in the same house. Not until we’re married.’

Kane wasn’t going to argue with her. Not at this precise moment. ‘Fine,’ he said. ‘But I give you the right to change your mind again.’

‘I won’t change my mind this time.’

‘We’ll see,’ he said, taking hold of her hips and urging her to start moving again.

When she cried out in naked ecstasy, Kane suspected he was in there with a pretty good chance.