My eyes slid over the sign up sheet hanging up on the break room door. It was that time of year again, when Walker industries did their annual toys for tots kids drive and the employees volunteered to help hand toys out and do other festive things in honor of the company.
"Thinking of helping this year...?" Mandy a fellow co-worker I talked to here and there questioned me, forcing my eyes from the paper and to her face.
"Possibly, just depends." I shrugged. It was either help, or go to my overly prude parent's house for an evening of family fun.
Mandy smiled, her bright green eyes shimmering in the overhead lights. "That's great, I think I'll volunteer too maybe the same time that Nicolas does." I could tell from the way her voice went all breathy that she was just as attracted to our boss as I was, except I made it about ten time less obvious than she did. Though I knew I wasn't alone in my feelings, nearly every woman in the office had made a statement about him in one way or another.
I chanced a glance at Nicolas's over my shoulder. He was sitting on a desk across the room talking to Perry the accounting director. He was wearing a white button down dress shirt that was tucked into a pair of very expensive dress pants. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up showing very impressive forearms.
Oh how I would love to be wrapped up in those big arms of his.
Nicolas's Walker looked like a model that should be gracing the cover of GQ instead of sitting on a desk in a high-rise office building.
"Is he not the most beautiful specimen of a man you've ever seen?" Mandy questioned her voice just above a whisper as she noticed me watching him from across the room.
"He's..." I licked my lips, nervous for the first time in forever. "Yeah he is, but that doesn't mean he will ever notice women like us Mandy. I've seen the chicks he goes for and they definitely aren't his employees." I didn't want to have this conversation with her nor did I openly speak about how attracted I was to my boss. Not to anyone, not even Mandy even though we had a closer relationship than I did with anyone else here.
Instead I gripped my coffee cup more firmly and brushed past her entering the break room. The pitter-patter of feet directly behind me told me she had followed me.
"Why did you just walk away?" I could see the hurt in Mandy's bright green eyes. They didn't call her the gossip queen for nothing. I had seen this behavior before, and anytime you turned her down for a juicy conversation she got upset.
"I'm not going to openly talk about him when he's sitting a mere ten feet away from us." I scolded her, placing my cup on the counter and pouring some coffee into it. There wasn't enough caffeine in the world to handle today.
"Well, if what you said about him taking notice of us is true then we have nothing to worry about, right?" A mocking smile pulled at her lips.
I rolled my eyes, "Mandy, it still doesn't mean we should talk about..." I stopped mid-sentence as Nicolas himself walked into the break room, his mere presence stealing all the oxygen from my lungs. This man could command a room with a single look, hell he could command me too.
Whenever he was around I was a nervous wreck. My tongue slipped out over my lips wetting them, a heat filling my belly and working its way down into my nether region.
I was like a bunny in a trance, the prey to the big bad wolf. My eyes refused to leave his even as he made his way over to Mandy and I. His large body moving with ease, as if he was as light as feather.
"Mandy. Lucy." His voice was like honey, smooth, and rich, it resonated through me, leaving an everlasting affect on my body.
"Mr. Walker." Mandy's voice wobbled. Oh how I envied her, and the mere fact that she could muster up words. Any words I wanted to say to him were lodged in the back of my throat.
I stared up at the beast of a man wondering for a fraction of a second if I affected him the same way he affected me. Then I shook my head, telling myself there was no way he felt the same way.
His jaw tensed and his sea blue eyes darkened, "I saw you looking at the list on the door for volunteer sign ups for the kids drive, and I wanted to ask you if you would be interested in being my elf assistant."
My chest constricted, and my insides melted into a pile of mush. I was completely taken back by his question and almost wonder if it was Mandy he was asking even though his eyes were clearly on me.
"Are... Are you talking to me?" I adjusted my glasses on the bridge of my nose as I stuttered over my words.
A grin the size of Texas pulled at his thin lips, "If your name is Lucy then yes." My heart pounded in my chest, beating frantically against my rib cage. Was it possible to pass out from being asked a mere question from your boss?
"Uhh. Yeah, sure." I smiled, agreeing to whatever he wanted me to do. The world could stop spinning for all I cared, just as long as Nicolas kept talking to me.
"Okay, come with me then. I have an elf outfit for you. We should really try to get down to the mall early tonight." I blinked, my teeth sinking into my bottom lip as I tried to remember if there was anything I had planned for this evening.
Before I could even speak, he was walking out the break room door. My feet moved to there own accord, carrying me to his office without a single comment. It was as if my body knew what my heart did.
I pushed past the large frosted glass doors, and entered into his office a place I had never been before. He was standing in the center of the room, where a large leather sofa sat. His entire office looked warm, and very inviting.
"Don't be afraid Lucy. I won't bite... to hard." My eyes shot to his. Did he just flirt with me?
"I'm not afraid. I've just never been in your office before, and I also don't think I can help tonight as I have family stuff going on..." I tucked a few stray strands of my strawberry blonde hair behind my ear. I was lying but I just wasn't ready for whatever it was that Nicolas had planned. I needed time to digest the fact that he talked to me let alone asked me to work with him.
Nicolas watched me like a lion stalking its prey. I could see the sinful things he wanted to do to me in his eyes and I wondered for a second if all of this was a dream that I was going to wake up from any minute now.
"I can tell when you lie, Lucy. I'm your boss, that and I've been watching you long enough to know that when you fidget with your hair you're nervous." He crossed the space that separated us and my entire body lit on fire.
I couldn't move, and I could barely breathe. It made me think, if it was, this intoxicating just being in his presence what would it be like to have sex with him?
"I'm not lying." I lied again, praying to the all mighty God above that he wouldn't see through my bullshit. I just needed time. The man was raw, and consuming. Being with him now was almost too much for my fragile heart.
"Do I make you nervous Lucy? Because I think I do. I only asked you to be my assistant so that I could get to know you better, inside, and out."
Oh holy hell.
Sweat formed against my palms. What could I say to that? I cleared my throat, wringing my hands together. "I think maybe if that's the case you should find someone else to be your assistant?"
Yeah I wanted Nicolas but I was on the verge of a panic attack just from being in the same room as him. He did crazy things to my body, and made all logic fly out the window. Working with him let alone sleeping with him would be pleasure, but devastating.
"Are you denying me?" Nicolas questioned, his fingers gripping my chin forcing me to look him straight in the eyes as he spoke. I couldn't tell him no could I? My body begged me to say yes and give into whatever it was that he wanted, but my mind was smarter, paying attention to the pain that could come from all of this.
"Tell me this, why have you never noticed me before." Somehow, someway I found my voice even if it was slightly weak and wobbled a bit.
Nicolas's thumb traced against my bottom lip, his eyes sliding up and down my body as if he was surveying the meal he would have later.
"Oh I've noticed you Lucy. I watched you, and I've waited for you to make the first move but you never did, which is why I'm now doing it for both of us." The feeling of his skin on mine even if it was just his thumb eased the anxiety in my body. How could such a large, burly man calm me?
"Okay." I mumbled. That was all the approval I needed. I had wondered if he was watching me from time to time but always blew it off as my imagination because honestly who wanted a curvy, blonde with glasses?
"I've wanted you since I first laid eyes on you Lucy. I'm just smart enough not to mix business with pleasure. Except now I can't wait any longer. I want you, and I always get what I want." Before I could move or dodge out of the way his warm lips were on mine sealing our fates together.