1 Chapter 1: The Invitation
"I’m sorry. What did you say?” Nyrissa asked when her voice worked again.
Her boss leaned against the desk, stretching his long legs in front of him. The black material of his trousers was tight across the perfectly formed muscles of his legs. He crossed his arms over his expansive chest, and Nyrissa had to look towards the floor before she started drooling.
Nyrissa always had a hard time not staring at Mr. Malcolm. Up to this point, however, she had managed to refrain from outright ogling up to this point. It took all of her willpower not to start now. Especially when her boss had just sideswiped her with a dinner invitation.
She had worked for Ryan Malcolm since she had gotten out of college at the tender age of 24. In the last six years, she had worked her way up from an intern to one of the leading assistants to the CEOs of Malcolm Advertising and Publishing. Or MAP, as they all call it playfully... when the bosses weren’t around.
Ryan wasn’t the only boss in the building. There was his best friend Quentin Kirkland, who was just as tall and gorgeous as Ryan. Together the two men were known to attract women of any age to spend a few more minutes in their presence.
Nyrissa herself had been known to become a bit frazzled when they were around. Not that she would admit that to anyone, much less acknowledge it when the thoughts came uninvited to her mind.
No, since the moment she had been hired on, she had done her best to pretend she didn’t notice these men's powerful allure. With all that was at stake, she was not about to risk her job or steady finances when she had to save as much money as she could to fight to get her sister back. The best thing for Nyrissa to do was to keep both men at arm's length and don’t let anyone know that she was insanely attracted to them. Not to mention the most important rule of all: avoid being alone with them as often as possible.
Despite all her efforts, she was currently sitting in his office trying to figure out if he was joking or trying to pull a prank on her.
“I was wondering if you would like to join Quentin and I for dinner tonight. We have some things we wish to discuss with you,” Ryan repeated, his lips turned up in a small half-smile.
Nyrissa let out the breath she was holding and shifted uncomfortably on the couch as she realized that he wasn’t making a move on her. She called herself a hundred times the fool as she straightened her back. He was just asking her to dinner so they could discuss work.
“Do you want me to order something and bring it back here?” she offered to be helpful.
“No, we want you to come by the house, and we’ll have dinner ready for you. You don’t have to worry about anything but being on time. You know how Quentin gets when he doesn’t have his dinner by eight o’clock,” Ryan replied, chuckling at Quentin’s expense.
Nyrissa gave a light laugh nodding in agreement. “Very well. I will be at your place promptly at eight so Quentin doesn’t expire from hunger.”
There was a brief look of triumph in his deep brown eyes. Ryan quickly wrote something on a piece of paper and then handed it to her.
“Here is the number for the gate. The staff leaves at seven, so you’ll have to let yourself in,” Ryan explained.
Their hands brushed as she took it from him, and her heart jumped from the brief contact.
Settle the fuck down. Nyrissa growled at her hormones as she put the note in the pocket of her pale-blue blazer that she wore over a white blouse.
“Thank you,” Nyrissa said, standing up and gathering her stuff.
When she straightened, she noticed Ryan staring at her with a dark hooded look as she moved. Ryan's eyes pinned her to the spot and caused the heat in her body that seemed to be simmering on low the whole time to grow even more.
She felt her panties grow damp and shifted from one foot to the other before clearing her throat nervously.
“I-is there anything else?” Nyrissa asked, trying to ease the tension that was difficult to ignore.
Ryan straightened up for a moment, and Nyrissa had an inkling that he might advance on her like a hunter stalking his prey.
But he turned away and shook his head.
“No, Nyrissa. We’ll see you tonight,” he said in a bland tone that made her almost wonder if she had done something wrong.
However, her courage failed her, and she rushed out the door, back toward the safety of her desk. She wasn't sure if she wanted the answer to that particular question and figured it was best to leave it be.
Nyrissa had just taken her seat when Quentin Kirkland walked in. The other half of the dynamic duo that never failed to keep her tense and needy.
Quentin walked purposely up to her desk with a twinkle in his green eyes and a flirty smile across his lush, kissable lips. Just the sight of him made Nyrissa glad that she was sitting down, or her knees might be too weak to hold her up.
“Hey, sugar,” he said in his deep, flirty, sexy tone that always made her blush.
She looked away, trying to pretend she wasn’t affected by him. “Good afternoon, Mr. Kirkland.”
“Ooossshh, always so formal. When are you finally gonna call me Quentin?” he asked, giving her a grin that perfectly matched his tone.
Nyrissa forced a light laugh. “As my boss, I feel it is extremely unprofessional to be so informal.”
Ohhh, but if he only knew how many times she had whispered his name in much more intimate settings... by herself... while she was letting her mind and hands run wild. However, that fantasy always ended the same way, with both Quentin and Ryan in her bed.
Nyrissa couldn't figure out what part made her feel even more guilty, fantasizing about her bosses or fantasizing about them both at the same time.
She swallowed hard and looked away from him. Nyrissa was really starting to think she needed to get laid.
Now.
When was the last time she had sex? She had to think really hard about it. But the incident had been so bland and boring that she barely remembered anything beyond the awkward goodnight kiss as he left the room.
That had been... two... maybe three years ago.
Nyrissa quickly realized that she desperately needed to get herself a man, at least for one night. Her life was much too busy for more than that, but one night of wild, carefree hot sex would do.
But even as she thought it, the men she was desperate to ignore were the only ones that came to mind. Between her forbidden fantasies, the power of Quentin's gaze, and the heat rising in her body, Nyrissa felt as if she was going to melt in her chair.
“Nyyriiissssaaa,” Quentin called to her in a low tone.
Nyrissa quickly blinked her thoughts away and tried to stem the blush that swept through her cheeks again, having been caught daydreaming about sex.
Quentin gave her a sultry wink as if he knew exactly where her mind had been.
“Sorry. Lost in thought,” Nyrissa mumbled in embarrassment.
Nyrissa straightened her spine and tried to adopt the calm, cool facade that had always been apt at chasing men away.
“Did you need something, Mr. Kirkland?” She asked as professionally as she could.
Quentin’s flirty smile drooped a bit, but he recovered quickly and placed his palms on the desk in front of her so he could lean in closer.
God, he smelled good.
Nyrissa forced herself to take slow, shallow breaths to limit the amount of delicious scent she took in. However, she felt like she was drowning in him no matter what she did. Nyrissa wanted to move away, but she was afraid he could tell he was affecting her.
“Did Ryan speak to you about tonight?” Quentin asked in a low tone, obviously not wanting to be overheard.
Nyrissa gave him an odd look at the eager tone he had. It was becoming obvious whatever they had going on was huge... and secret.
Nyrissa nodded. “I will be there."
The flirty smile on his face grew wider. “Gooood,” he replied, stretching the word out as if he was tasting each and every letter.
She gave him a quizzical look hoping he would explain what was going on that had them so excited. However, if he understood her look, he ignored it as he straightened away from her.
With another wink, Quentin walked into Ryan’s office, leaving her a little frazzled and somewhat confused… and very turned on.
