He leaned down, until his mouth was next to her ear. “You’ve no idea how much I’d like to pull you to the end of your chair then part your legs, remove your panties, and lick you until you scream my name.”

“Yes—please,” she babbled in an aroused daze.

Mark gave a sexy chuckle that sent shivers down her spine. He sucked the sensitive skin of her neck, whispering, “Would that be considered a booty call, Angel? If I had you on my tongue, and then fucked you on your desk—is that what it would be to you?”

“Who cares?” she groaned, wanting to experience exactly what his velvety-smooth voice was describing.

His hand dropped to her thigh, stroking the smooth skin exposed by her dress. “I do, baby. When Denny tells me that you feel demeaned because of the way I handled last night, then I figure we need to clarify a few things before I have you again.”

“O . . . kay,” she managed to answer as he continued to drive her crazy with his maddening touch.

“Listen to me carefully, Angel,” he instructed. When she nodded her agreement, he said, “You were my first choice. I waited for you to arrive as planned, and then when you blew me off, I came to you.” When she opened her mouth to protest, wanting to point out that she’d had an upsetting evening, he tapped his finger against her lips. “No talking yet. Just give me a nod if you’ve heard and understood what I’ve said so far.” She did as he asked and was rewarded with a “Good girl. Now, as I was saying, we agreed to spend the evening together, so I just made sure that happened when you didn’t follow through. Although I’ll admit that I didn’t handle your revelation about your ex well.”

Crystal gathered her wits enough to say sarcastically, “Ya think? If you’ll recall, you kept questioning me. I didn’t just start unloading everything without encouragement.”

Suddenly, he pulled from her the chair and into his arms. “I know, Angel,” he admitted. “I’m sorry about that. I’m just—not used to something like that happening.”

“Like what?” she asked absently as she snuggled closer, subtly inhaling his spicy, masculine scent. She wasn’t sure if it was cologne or Mark’s natural scent—but it was delicious.

He sighed. “I know this will sound bad, but I’ve never really cared what’s going on in the life of the woman I’m having sex with.” When she went stiff, he rubbed her back soothingly. “You know that I don’t have relationships—at least I haven’t until this point. What I’m trying to say—and I’m making a mess of it—is that everything about you and our time together is new to me. I’ve never had to deal with feelings such as jealousy. Apparently, it turns me into a bit of an asshole.”

Her eyes widened as she stared up at Mark’s rueful expression. “Really? You were jealous? I mean, the girls thought that you might be—but I didn’t believe it. I mean you’re—DeStudo.” Why, oh, why must I say one stupid thing after another? Crystal thought to herself as Mark started laughing.

“We need to pause this conversation until later on this evening, Angel. I’m afraid it’s very close to getting out of hand, and I don’t know how Jason Danvers will feel about your vocal explosion during office hours.”

Wrinkling her nose, she asked, “My what?”

He kissed her briefly, before setting her away from him. “When you come, your voice hits levels that would put an opera star to shame, Angel.”

Before she could reply, there was a knock on her door and Lydia stuck her head in before Crystal could call out to stop her. “Wanted to let you know I was back,” the woman said before her voice trailed off as she noticed Mark. Crystal smothered a grin behind her hand as Lydia straightened, and then brushed a hand over her hair. “Hi, there,” she said in a breathy voice. Apparently, even her boss wasn’t immune to Mark’s considerable charm.

He extended a hand to her. “I’m Mark, and you are?”

“Oh, I know,” she whispered dreamily, before seeming to get a grip. “I—um, I’m Lydia. Nice to meet you.”

“Lydia’s my boss,” Crystal said. “I believe she’s met a colleague of yours, Jacob.”

Mark looked at Lydia curiously. “Jacob’s my right-hand man.” Shooting Crystal a pointed look, he admitted, “He’s doing a lot of my travel now as I’ve found—well, something that’s keeping me home more.”

“Tell him I said hello,” Lydia said brightly before a mortified expression crossed her face.

“I’ll do that.” Mark smiled easily, then turned to Crystal. “I need to get back to my office. I’ll see you at my house tonight around six?” It was phrased as a question for Lydia’s benefit, but Crystal knew it was anything but. He didn’t expect a repeat of last night—nor would he tolerate it.

“Okay,” she accepted. “See you soon.”

When he was gone, Lydia shut the door behind him and held her hand up. Crystal slapped it in a high five, and they both did some juvenile dance moves. “I swear, don’t take this the wrong way, but sweet Jesus, that voice, those bedroom eyes—he’s Mr. Big come to freaking life at Danvers.”

“Calm down, girl,” Crystal said soothingly before a giggle escaped. “I had no idea you were such a pervert. This is a whole other side of you, and I’m kind of digging it.”

“Well, honey, you were a bit repressed when we started working together, and I was kind of screwed up over losing Brett, so I didn’t bother to rock the boat. But now you’ve gone from sitting on the shore to swimming with the sharks, and I’m finding that I’m thrilled to live vicariously through you. Heck, I’m even acknowledging my lust for Jacob. Maybe this year we’ll both shake off the past and do something that makes us happy. Or at the least, have a lot of meaningless sex along the way.”