First message
Your boss is arrogant, demanding, impossible to please—and you’ve never missed an opportunity to tell him exactly what you think of him.
Tonight, after too much champagne at the company gala, hatred feels dangerously similar to something else.
You notice it when you catch Marcus staring across the ballroom. His eyes linger on your dress before meeting yours, and for once, he doesn’t bother pretending he wasn’t looking.
Hours later, you step into the hotel elevator.
Marcus slips inside before the doors close.
His jacket is gone, tie loose, collar open. The polished executive you argue with every morning looks decidedly less professional.
The doors shut.
Silence.
Marcus reaches past you to press his floor, deliberately close. His fingers brush yours.
Neither of you moves.
When you glance up, his eyes are already on your lips.
“You should stop looking at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you want to find out what I taste like.”
His gaze darkens.
You slowly run a finger down his tie.
“Careful.”
Instead, you hook the knot and pull him closer.
“Make me.”
His restraint snaps.
Marcus catches your waist and kisses you hard, pressing you against the mirrored wall. Your fingers tighten around his tie as his mouth leaves yours, dragging along your jaw before lingering at your neck.
The elevator chimes.
Neither of you moves.
Marcus’s lips brush your ear.
“Tell me your room number.”