Clara (Corked and Tapped Book 5) Read online

  Clara swallowed the lump in her throat. Landon was so much more than she ever realized. Before tonight, she’d had a crush on him. Now… Shit, now she was half in love.

  Chapter 3

  Clara felt incredibly warm. Was it hot in here? As the room filled with people and she continued to drink with her boss, her core temperature seemed to have gone up a notch.

  She glanced down and groaned inwardly. The faux leather jacket was suffocating her all of a sudden, but there was no way she could take it off. That had never been in the plan.

  “What’s the matter?”

  She lifted her gaze and tugged on the collar of her stupid jacket with one hand. “Nothing. It’s just hot in here.”

  He frowned. “So, take off the jacket.”

  She shook her head. “It would ruin the costume.”

  “I’m pretty sure between the heels, the leather pants, the teased hair, the red lipstick, and the wad of gum, you’re safe.”

  She’d forgotten the gum, and she immediately grabbed a bar napkin and spit it out.

  Landon leaned in closer. “Besides, I’m curious about this 1950s top you’ve got on under that jacket.” His gaze lowered to her chest.

  She self-consciously tugged the top up a bit, making sure her girls were still covered. She was wearing a black strapless bra under the tube top, but the lack of material still unnerved her. She wasn’t the sort to wear something strapless. “Yeah, well, I don’t need everyone in the office accidentally seeing more than they should. Monday would be an uncomfortable day if there are pics floating around of me having a wardrobe malfunction.”

  He laughed, harder than she’d ever heard him before. He was far more relaxed outside of the office. And he shocked her to death when he tugged his hand from his pocket and set a finger on her exposed belly. “You have like one inch of skin showing. I don’t think it’s going to cause interoffice sexting. There are several employees dressed in far less material than you.” He punctuated his words by dragging that finger across her midriff until he tapped her belly button.

  She sucked in a sharp breath, goose bumps rising on her skin. Surely she was reading too much into this banter. He could not be hitting on her. Gah. It was impossible to know for sure. The last thing she wanted was to misinterpret his intentions. It would be extremely embarrassing if she did. And she still had to work for the man five days a week.

  Suddenly, someone grabbed her arm from behind. Maddie’s voice was in her ear before Clara could even turn her head. “I need another drink. Come with me.” It wasn’t a question. It was a demand. And Maddie tugged hard on Clara’s arm as she turned around.

  Clara twisted her neck back to look at Landon, wishing her wine wasn’t sitting on the bar. “Be right back.”

  He nodded, his mouth turned up in a half grin, and then he leaned even more casually against the bar and took another drink of his beer before Clara lost sight of him.

  “I need your help,” Maddie said into Clara’s ear as soon as they reached the door that led to the main bar.

  “Whoa, wait. First, you better explain how I ended up paired with Landon.”

  Maddie shrugged. “It was too easy. All I did was plant the seed. He was the one who decided to go for it.”

  “Uh-huh. He said he overheard you talking about matching me with Dylan.”

  Maddie smiled proudly. “Yep. I couldn’t be sure he would take the bait, but I was hopeful. It worked.”

  Clara narrowed her gaze. “What does that mean? It worked? What worked?”

  “Are you really that dense? I made that man work for it, prove he wanted to be with you tonight.”

  “Are you serious? The only thing you proved is that my boss didn’t want to spend the evening with a stranger because he’s an introvert.”

  “Nope.” Maddie shook her head. “He didn’t have to come at all.” She lifted a brow in challenge.

  Clara considered that. Maybe.

  “Who did you pair Landon with in the first place?”

  Maddie grinned as she nodded toward the end of the bar. “Rose from the third floor. She doesn’t look disappointed.”

  That was certainly true. Clara turned her attention back to Maddie. “Still, Landon doesn’t believe in interoffice dating, so I’m not sure how this arrangement is helpful.”

  “It seems perfect to me.” Maddie grinned like her entire evil plan had panned out.

  Clara glared at her. “What? Not perfect at all. I don’t have a clue what’s even going on. He’s acting all weird. He even told me to take off my jacket.”

  Maddie’s eyes widened. “Girl, he’s hitting on you for sure. This is your chance.” She started tugging on the jacket.

  Clara swatted her friend’s hands away. “Stop it. I’m not taking this off.”

  “Why? Because you don’t want anyone to see your shoulders? Nobody cares about your exposed neck, Clara. You have to take it off so you can find out if Landon cares about your bare skin. It’s the only way.”

  The only way to avoid a scene was to let Maddie pull the sleeves of the jacket down until it was gone. Clara shivered and tugged upward on the stupid tube top again.

  “Your tits look amazing. You’re fine. Now, I need you to do something for me.”

  Clara swallowed. She knew exactly what Maddie was talking about, but she had hoped Maddie wouldn’t drag her into her own personal evening drama. “What?” she asked, trying to appear ignorant.

  “You know I don’t drink wine or beer.”

  “Yeah.”

  “So, I’ve been going to the main bar to get my elixir, and you would not believe this.”

  Try me. “What?” Clara worked hard to keep her face blank.

  “There is a man at the bar dressed as the Phantom of the Opera.”

  “Seriously?” Clara asked, hoping her expression showed surprise.

  “Not kidding you. What are the chances that some guy would be in Corked and Tapped tonight dressed as the Phantom on a night I happen to be dressed as Christine?”

  “No shit. What are the chances?” Pretty darn high, actually, but Clara didn’t say anything. She wanted Maddie to figure things out on her own. Maddie wasn’t the only one between the two of them who could play matchmaker. In fact, Clara felt a bit less aggravated with her friend for making her remove the jacket and face Landon. After all, Clara had not played fair tonight either. “Is he hot?”

  Maddie threw her hands in the air. “How should I know? He’s got a full mask on.”

  Clara had never seen her friend this flustered. No, that wasn’t true. She had, several times, over this particular Phantom. That’s why he was here tonight. Clara pursed her lips. “Maybe you should hit on him. Use this coincidence to your advantage.”

  Maddie’s eyes bulged. “Who are you, and what have you done with my friend? Are you kidding me? You know I’ve sworn off men for a while. One-night stands make me cringe. I’ve had enough of them. I’m done.”

  Clara shrugged. “Maybe this guy is different.”

  “Uh huh,” Maddie responded sarcastically. “And I suppose you intend to get laid tonight too?”

  Clara swallowed. “I could get laid if I wanted to.” She was totally lying. Her sex life was the most boring in the entire office. If someone did take pics of her and share them with the rest of the employees, it would be the closest thing she’d had to sex in two years.

  Maddie rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll make you a deal. If you pull out all the stops and flirt your ass off with Landon, I’ll drink ten amaretto sours so that I have to keep going back to the bar to lean over near the random Phantom.”

  “Fine, but if I end up getting fired because of you…”

  Maddie’s voice rose. “What if I end up with some creep who just happened to show up here in a Phantom costume?”

  “It is Halloween, you know. You don’t have to sleep with him, but swearing off one-night stands doesn’t mean you can’t flirt with the guy, right? Besides, that’s not the most unusual costume in existence.
Use it. Flirt. Go.” Clara opened the door to the main bar and all but shoved her friend through the entrance.

  That was the easy part.

  Now, she needed to go face Landon.

  Chapter 4

  Clara took a deep breath as she returned to the bar. Landon hadn’t moved. In fact, she thought he might have actually watched her the entire time.

  “I wasn’t sure how much of your clothing Maddie was going to strip off you,” he teased with a smirk.

  Clara rubbed her arms, feeling decidedly naked. “I would consider killing her later, but there’s a good chance she will beat me to it when she finds out what I’ve done.”

  “Oh.” He lifted a brow as he handed her the wine she’d left behind. “What have you done? I’m intrigued.”

  Clara took a sip of the wine. “She spent the last two months planning this party. I know for a fact she played matchmaker for several people in different departments. She spent long hours making sure everyone had one or two people to spend the evening with, ensuring they would have a great time.” She held up a hand, thumb and pointer parted just a fraction. “I might have intervened just a little to fix her up too.”

  He laughed. “Good for you. Who is it?”

  “Not someone you know. He doesn’t work for Jacoby. He’s out in the main bar.”

  “Let me guess. He’s dressed as the Phantom of the Opera.”

  “Yep.” She took another drink.

  “Does she know the guy?”

  “Yep. But she won’t realize it’s him. His mask is good.”

  “Love it.”

  “I’m a little worried about Rose from the third floor, though.”

  “Why’s that?” He looked confused.

  “You messed up the entire flow of the plan,” she joked. “She’s stuck with Dylan for the evening.”

  His eyes widened? “Is that bad? I thought Dylan was a pretty good guy.”

  She nudged him playfully with her hip against his thigh. “He’s a great guy. Maddie says they are hitting it off just fine. I was kidding.”

  Landon’s hand snaked out and grabbed her around the waist, hauling her suddenly closer. He’d never touched her so intimately in the two years she’d known him. “See, I’ve learned something else about you. You have a sense of humor. You’re usually pretty serious at work.”

  She sucked in a breath as her body reacted to his touch. His forearm pressed against her bare lower back while his fingers now rested on her opposite hip. Knowing her nipples had also reacted to his touch, she glanced down. Hopefully her bra was padded enough to hide her arousal. It wasn’t as if she could pretend to be cold in this overheated room.

  “Your top is fine. Stop worrying. I promise I’ll inform you the instant it isn’t.”

  She swallowed, resisting the urge to tug on the tube top again. If she kept doing that, eventually her breasts would be exposed—from the bottom.

  Landon’s thumb grazed her exposed skin, and her breath hitched. She met his gaze. “Am I imagining things? Or are you hitting on me?”

  He let that thumb slide farther. “I guess I better be honest with you.”

  “I’d appreciate that.”

  “I am hitting on you.”

  “Are you drunk?” She glanced at his beer, fairly certain he was still nursing the first.

  He chuckled, his deep voice vibrating through her body. “No. I promise. I didn’t tell you the entire truth earlier. I didn’t just trade with Dylan because it would be easier to talk to you or because I thought we should get to know each other better.”

  She licked her lips. Was she dreaming?

  “I did it because I wanted to stop being a coward and make a move on you. Also, I didn’t like the idea of Dylan doing so.”

  Clara nearly choked. She was speechless.

  “Honestly, I might not have had the balls to go through with this if I had found out you’d been paired with a woman or a group of people.” He tugged her closer. His lips were near her ear, hiding his expression, as he spoke again. “Nor would I have had the guts to approach you like this if I hadn’t known how you felt about me.”

  Her heart stuttered. “What?”

  He leaned back a few inches, meeting her eye to eye. “Yeah. I heard you talking about me one day with Maddie. You were in the break room getting coffee. I heard you mention my name, so I listened. I shouldn’t have eavesdropped. It was wrong. But I couldn’t stop myself.”

  She couldn’t breathe at all. Finally, after a brief standoff, she cleared her throat. “What did you hear?” Anything was possible. She’d spoken to Maddie about Landon many times, but she thought she’d always been discrete. Apparently not. How mortifying.

  “Basically, Maddie was urging you to put yourself out there and tell me how you felt. It wasn’t a big deal. I swear. It was mostly Maddie speaking and you telling her she was crazy.”

  The blood drained from Clara’s face. “How long ago was this?”

  “About six months.” His brow furrowed in an apologetic scrunch. “I should have said something then. Hell, there are about a dozen things I should have done, but I didn’t because I wasn’t sure how I wanted to react.”

  Her heart raced. “You don’t believe in interoffice dating.”

  “This is true, and it’s been my number-one concern. That and ruining our dynamic. You’re the best assistant I’ve ever had. Hell, you’re the best assistant anyone’s ever had. You do everything for me, and I’m beyond aware of your value. You’re irreplaceable.”

  “Thank you, sir.” She was speechless. She knew she was good at her job, but he’d never given her such a raving review. He was always polite and courteous, but many days he spoke very little and didn’t make the eye contact he was making now.

  He growled, shocking her as he tugged her even closer.

  Her face heated now, going from chilled to hot in less than a second, and she wasn’t even sure why. Something about the noise he made. Possessive? So very not in line with the Landon she thought him to be.

  His lips were on her ear again, this time touching her skin. The heat of his breath made her shudder. “Do. Not. Say. That. Again. In. Public.”

  Her belly clenched, and she squeezed her leather-clad thighs together against her instant arousal. His tone. My God. She had no idea what the hell he was talking about. But that tone… “Say what?”

  He released his beer on the bar and reached for her neck, gripping it, angling her to face him. He searched her expression. “You have no idea, do you?”

  Her eyes went wide. “No idea about what?”

  He sighed, lowering his eyelids and setting his forehead against hers. “Let’s get out of here.”

  She flinched. Leave? Now?

  He stood, not waiting for her to respond. The next thing she knew, he had a hold on her hand and was leading her toward the exit.

  Clara twisted around, looking for Maddie, needing to tell her she was leaving and get her jacket. But Landon didn’t pause for either. In seconds, they were out the door, heading down the sidewalk. It was chilly. She shivered. Plus, she had to walk kind of fast to keep up.

  They rounded the building to a large parking lot. Landon finally stopped when he reached the passenger side of a black BMW. He clicked the button for the doors to unlock and then turned toward her. “Shit. I didn’t think about the cold. You’re freezing.” He rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “The car will heat up fast.” He opened the door and ushered her in.

  She didn’t breathe while he shut the door, rounded the hood, and then folded into the driver’s side.

  “Do you have a car here?”

  “No. I came with Maddie.” It was hard to speak. Her words were soft. She was confused, aroused, intrigued, and a little scared about the future. If they slept together or something, then what would happen?

  “Did you have a purse?”

  She shook her head. “No. License is in my pocket. Phone is wedged in there too.”

  “Good.” He started the engine and t
urned up the heat. He also pushed a few buttons that warmed her butt. Nice car.

  As he pulled out of the lot, she fought for brain cells. “Where are we going?”

  “My place.”

  “Why?”

  “So no eyes are on us while we work this out.”

  Work this out…

  He glanced at her. “I didn’t want to have this conversation in public, and especially not at the company party. It’s loud and crowded in there. I’m not really into the bar scene. Plus…” He came to a stop at the first light and turned toward her, his gaze going to her chest. “I can’t resist you another second, and I sure didn’t want to maul you in front of our coworkers.”

  “Oh.”

  He smiled and started driving again. “Yeah, oh.”

  “How long have you been resisting me exactly?”

  “Two years.”

  She gasped. Oh. My. God.

  He took several more turns while she stared at his gorgeous profile. This couldn’t be happening. Things like this didn’t happen to her. And besides, no matter how many times she’d pictured having sex with Landon, she’d always known it would never happen because it would ruin their relationship at work.

  He knew that. He’d said as much on more than one occasion. Not about her, but others. It wasn’t against company policy for anyone to date, but every time someone new hooked up, Landon rolled his eyes. “Bad idea,” he would mutter, reinforcing her need to keep her own feelings to herself.

  Clara scrambled for something to break the silence. “I guess I’ve learned something else about you.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You have bionic hearing.” After all, he’d overheard her chat with Maddie and then later Maddie’s discussion about Dylan.

  He laughed. “Not really. Maddie is just loud.”

  That was also true.

  It didn’t take long for Landon to pull into the underground parking garage for his building. She knew where he lived. She’d even been there several times to pick something up or drop something off. Hell, she had a key. She knew the alarm code.