Rhythm of Love Read online

  Rhythm of Love

  J. Hali Steele

  Carter Gates, amateur Latin ballroom dancer, is ready to make a move on his sexy new assistant. Bree intoxicates him and her lithe body makes it hard to keep his hands to himself. But Carter has one rule—hands off the staff. His body isn’t listening.

  Bree’s no better off. She has a taste for her new boss, one she can’t quench. Hiding the fact she’s best friends with his dance partner, she slips into a revealing outfit and his arms…just for one night of sexy, hot competition and a highly erotic tango that gives new meaning to “going up in flames”.

  Bree’s friend has other ideas—she wants to keep Carter for herself. However, after spending a passionate evening in Carter’s arms, and his bed, Bree wants more. And she’s determined to get it.

  An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

  www.ellorascave.com

  Rhythm of Love

  ISBN 9781419924330

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  Rhythm of Love Copyright © 2010 J. Hali Steele

  Edited by Sue-Ellen Gower

  Cover art by Syneca

  Electronic book publication February 2010

  The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of Ellora’s Cave Publishing.

  With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

  Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

  Rhythm of Love

  J. Hali Steele

  Trademarks Acknowledgement

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

  Tanqueray: Diageo Brands B.V. Private Limited Company

  Victoria’s Secret: V Secret Catalogue, Inc.

  Chapter One

  This was a problem. Damn if he knew what to do about it. He’d needed help in the office—bad. He hadn’t counted on a bigger headache. Or the constant hard-on he struggled to hide since the problem arrived.

  Bree Jenson was hot, and Carter Gates was bothered.

  He entered the office to the delicious aroma of her perfume.

  “Hey, bossman,” greeted his smiling foreman on the way out.

  “Morning.”

  The other guys were in and out of the small construction trailer more than usual. Sniffing around, flirting, finding reasons to touch her. He’d had enough and decided to ask her not to wear the alluring cologne. As though that would make a difference, but it’s what his mind zeroed in on today. Now how the hell to say it? He settled behind his desk, shuffled a pile of invoices and swiped at a nonexistent spot of dirt.

  “Ms. Jenson, we work in very close quarters and your perfume is—”

  “I’m sorry, is it too strong? I can stop wearing it, and please, call me Bree.” Her eyes lifted from the papers she held to look at him, and a hand fluttered to her slender throat to touch the spot below her ear she’d probably dabbed with scent. He wanted to bury his nose there, taste her.

  “Thank you.” Too easy. No woman would agree that quickly. At least not the type he’d kept company with. Perhaps now was the time to ask her not to wear the clingy shirts or the skirts that molded to her ass like a second skin and drove him nuts.

  Even though Carter owned the small pre-fab construction company, he dreaded working in his office, never could stay put behind a desk and be the boss. Using his hands and watching a project take shape brought a feeling of accomplishment. The last week he’d been hard-pressed to leave the space, and he damn sure wasn’t getting anything done.

  A willowy, raven-haired vision of loveliness occupied every thought. The nipples of her high, firm breasts peeked at him through her tops and were a constant distraction. The sweetest-looking ass topped long, shapely legs. She had hard, toned muscles like a dancer, the kind he found irresistible as hell.

  Like the men he employed, he had touched her every opportunity he got. Her skin was warm and smooth as silk. Thank God he was sitting, because his cock picked then to come alive. It jerked in his jeans and he did the manly thing—used his hand to rearrange it.

  If only he hadn’t hired her. Too late now. He considered staff off limits and as it turned out, she was the best damn assistant he’d ever had. Already she had the hang of how his office worked. No question about his men liking her. To keep things professional he called her Ms. Jenson, but over the last few days he’d said Bree many times in his mind as he envisioned having her on the desk. His and hers.

  Yeah, this was a problem. Shit.

  The door opened and in walked the foreman. Again. Jeez! It seemed the guy had taken up residence here.

  Carter barked, “Bill, what do you need?”

  “I got mail.”

  “Where the hell is the mailman? He taking the day off like you seem to be?” Christ, he hadn’t meant to sound so sharp. Bill was not only his foreman, but a good friend as well. Both single, they’d worked together a long time and Bill would suspect something if he continued like this. “I’ll take it.” He stretched his arm out to receive the pile of letters.

  “What’s up, Carter? You sound out of sorts. Feeling okay?”

  “Don’t you have something to do?”

  “’Scuse me for being helpful.” Bill eyed him with suspicion, then winked before he turned and left. Bill would keep his hands to himself now. He’d most likely warn the other men too. How had he let this happen?

  “I’ll take that, Mr. Gates.” Jesus, now he was going to have to smell her up close and personal. Watch her gorgeous hips sway from and to her desk. Good job, asshole.

  His cock began to stiffen like the concrete form he’d poured this morning. When she reached for the envelopes, their fingers touched. He gazed into her sparkling brown eyes and let the electric current flow ’til it landed between his thighs. He stood up, not caring about the swelling in his pants. Her tongue flicked across pink-painted lips, moistened them and sealed his fate.

  He leaned over the desk and was a hairsbreadth from her mouth when he heard the door squeak open. Straightening up, he looked to find another of his employees holding out a package.

  “Mailman forgot this,” he said.

  Bree reached for the small box, took it and hurried back to her desk.

  Hell and damnation, he’d almost had her. He should thank the man who’d saved him from making a huge mistake. One he knew for certain he’d make anyway.

  “Thanks.” The croak from his throat sounded loud in his ears. “Would you let everyone know we’re in a meeting and don’t want to be disturbed?” Nodding, the young man scurried out the door faster than a rabbit diving for cover.

  Carter walked to where she stood at the desk using an opener on the package. It slipped from her hands and the package’s contents skittered across the floor. The checks he’d ordered. He bent to gather them and plopped the pile b
ehind her.

  She glanced up and their eyes met. His skin felt hot, the bulge at his crotch thrummed with desire. Could she read what he wanted in his eyes? Wrong as two left feet, he was going to kiss her. Breasts rose up and down in time with her short, erratic breaths. Warm air brushed his face and her heady smell captured him.

  Not wanting to regain his senses, he gripped her by the shoulders and brought her closer. His lips pressed down on hers. Not hard. He moved slow, giving Bree time to pull away. She didn’t. His tongue pushed between her lips, tasted heaven.

  Her body shuddered beneath his touch. He stopped kissing her long enough to whisper, “I’ve wanted to do that for days.” His mouth covered hers again. This time her arms encircled his waist, her hands carrying fire along his spine as she caressed up and down his back. His muscles jumped and bunched under her fingers.

  A moan escaped her throat, drove him on. He moved his hands from her shoulders and stroked her arms. Reaching around, he grabbed hold of her round, firm ass and pulled her against his crotch. His erection pounded between them.

  She broke the kiss and rasped, “Mr. Gates…”

  “Carter. Say my name.” He’d thought hers so often, he wanted to hear his tumble from her kiss-swollen lips.

  “Carter, don’t stop.”

  That was all the encouragement he needed. He brought his hands up to smother her breasts, tweak the nipples that had baited him from the moment she’d arrived. He groaned with delight against her lips. His tongue stabbed and swirled, exploring the sweetness in her mouth.

  She nudged her pelvis tighter into his groin. His cock leaked as it writhed in his pants, searching for a way out. The pain of it trapped behind the material drove him on as he ground into her stomach. Damn, he wanted to get inside her.

  “God, I want you.”

  “Not here.”

  “No one will come in.” The scared youngster would deliver his message to anyone who darkened the office steps.

  “Are you sure?” The hesitancy in her voice made him nervous she’d stop kissing him. He wouldn’t allow that. One hand was moved to the back of her head and tangled in the mass of soft, dark curls. He devoured her mouth again, nibbled at her lips, sucked them. She quivered against him, his dick grew harder and the ache traveled from his balls to the pit of his stomach.

  Her hands swept his back, stroked his flanks, urging him on. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. He thought of unbuttoning her shirt, sucking on her nipples, but that was for another time. Mentally, he kicked himself for knowing he’d do this all over. Employee or not.

  “I’m sure.” He moved his other hand to the hem of her skirt and inched it up. Heat penetrated the tips of his fingers as he stroked the inside of her thighs. “Christ, you’re hot.” He buried his face in her neck and drew in her scent. He continued to work his way up to the vee between her legs. Her thong was drenched.

  He pushed past the elastic and fondled the moist crevices of her pussy. Slick and wet with desire, she levered herself down on his hand. He found the little nub and rubbed it, teased it with his fingers. Pinching the bump softly, he felt her buck forward.

  “Oooh, please,” she begged, rocking on his hand. The rhythmic motion of her hips was like a dance. A forbidden, grinding motion that grasped and pulled his fingers into her core.

  “Bree…” The sharp jangle of the phone caused them to spring apart. “Shit.”

  She pulled away, straightened her skirt and ran her hands down the buttons of her top. Her face was stained with color. “I should get that.” Embarrassment laced her voice and she wouldn’t make eye contact with him.

  Bree answered the phone and moved behind her desk.

  God damn it.

  Holding the phone tight to her ear, distanced from him, she’d watched as he walked to the restroom. Close. Bree had come so close to losing it in his arms.

  She’d seen him before coming to work in the office a week ago, though he didn’t know her. She was his dance partner’s roommate and best friend. Every day since she’d been hired, she intended to tell him.

  “Bree, you there?” she heard Cara’s nasally voice through the earpiece.

  She waited to make sure the bathroom door shut. “Hi, let me call you back on my lunch break.”

  When her friend told her Carter needed an assistant, Bree applied immediately. Her last position ended with the cutback of office staff. She hadn’t expected it, and she found herself job hunting.

  “Don’t forget.” Cara was becoming more and more obnoxious and pushy. She’d suggested they not tell Carter the truth until Bree had proved how indispensable she was. She didn’t like it one bit and wanted to get it out in the open.

  The men were rambunctious in the beginning, but Bree handled it. She’d emphatically let them know she didn’t fool around on or off the job. Yet every time Carter entered the room, her insides melted, leaving her panties wet.

  Pitch-black hair hung to his shoulders when it was loose. A little gray in the temples softened the hard line of his jaw, which always seemed to be covered with a five-o’clock shadow. She swooned over his sensuous lips each time he opened them and her nipples puckered at the idea of being drawn into his mouth.

  She’d caught him looking at her sometimes and she’d looked back once or twice. Not a good situation to be in—attracted as hell to the boss. Not when you really needed the job. The sexual tension in the air tied her stomach in lustful knots and caused Bree’s body to react whenever she was near him. Determined to remain professional, she called him Mr. Gates. But oh lordy, she loved the way Carter rolled from her tongue when she allowed herself to whisper it, wondering how his sensuous lips would feel pressed to hers.

  She hadn’t felt so alive in a long time. Today she’d planned to come clean about who she was. She didn’t like the deception hanging between them. He’d treated her professionally and with respect. Bree liked him.

  Then the kiss happened.

  It was what she’d wanted since the first time she’d seen him, the day Cara left her sitting in the car while she ran in to talk to Carter about missing practice. Her roommate always swore nothing had happened between them but Bree knew her friend, given the opportunity, would jump at it. She’d use Carter in a minute to further her career.

  She’d watched them come out the door of the office she now worked in. She could tell they were arguing and his mouth was drawn in a tight line. His lips, even when he was angry, were to-die-for sexy.

  The restroom door opened and she peeped over her computer to see Carter walking back to his desk.

  Nervous, she licked her lips. “I’m going to pick up a sandwich from the corner deli, Mr. Gates. Would you like me to grab something for you?” She felt silly as hell calling him that now.

  “No, I’m fine, thanks.” He never looked up and the breath she’d been holding in slipped out on a sigh. Shoot, now the tension was even worse. She had to tell him or it could mean her job. She phoned Cara on her way to the deli.

  “What’s up, Cara?”

  “I’m teaching a class this evening and I need you to tell Carter I called to cancel. I don’t want to hear his bullshit.”

  “Cara, don’t do this to me.”

  “I need the money, Bree. Just tell him I called and left a message while he was out or something.” Her appetite was suddenly gone and she slumped against the wall of a building. “Damn it, do this for me,” pleaded Cara. “Please, I won’t ask again.”

  “I’ve got to tell him I know you.”

  “Not yet, give it a few more days. Look, hon, I gotta go. I’ll see you tonight. Don’t forget.” The click of the disconnection sounded loud in her ear. She turned and headed back to her office.

  Carter stood talking to the foreman and looked up when he heard her heels clack across the pavement. His brow lifted quizzically but he didn’t say anything as she walked by. She entered the trailer, closed the door and leaned against it to catch her breath. This had to end. She couldn’t keep up the pretense of not k
nowing who he was much longer.

  She went to the restroom to splash cold water on her face, hoping it would revive her. Coming out, she bumped into Carter. When had he come in? Bree scolded herself for not paying better attention. She worried he’d know she was lying if she told him now that Cara had just called. Oh hell.

  “Umm, Cara called. She wanted me to let you know she can’t make it tonight.”

  “Thank you.” Did he look at her strangely? He stared at her a long time, too long, before he turned and went out the door. Bree had to tell him. Cara had been a bitch lately but this was the final straw.

  Her plan to get it all out in the open never happened. Carter didn’t come back to the office.

  The next day, he called and said he’d be off-site for the day. She went through her daily routine like a robot. Glad he wasn’t there—wishing he was.

  * * * * *

  The following morning she arrived and he was already talking with the foreman. She sat at her desk and took care of the mail, checked invoices and typed routine correspondence. She placed the work on his desk and turned to find him coming through the front door.

  It was now or never.

  Carter’s gray eyes pierced her as he walked to where she stood. Bree knew the look in his eyes, and her body trembled in anticipation. “Carter, I need to tell you—”

  “I need to tell you something. I thought about you, the smell of your perfume, all night. Don’t stop wearing it.” His fingers stroked her face. “You work for me, it’s wrong, but damn, I can’t get you out of my mind.”

  He pulled Bree into his arms, and when his lips touched hers they were demanding and hot. His tongue slipped sweetly into her mouth and she moaned, throwing her arms around his neck.

  She was nudged back against the desk and he raised her butt onto it. He ground between her legs, his jeans-covered cock pushing against her, setting her on fire. Every rational thought left her mind.