Secretary's Secret

Nick Bateman lay in bed in the honeymoon suite of the hotel, pretending to be asleep, wondering what the hell he'd just done. Instead of spending his wedding night with the woman who was supposed to be his new wife--the one he'd left at the altar halfway through their vows--he'd slept with ZoË, his office manager. He would have liked to blame the champagne for what had happened, but two shared bottles wasn't exactly enough to get him rip roaring drunk. He'd been too intoxicated to drive, no question, but sober enough to know it was a really bad idea to sleep with an employee. And even worse, he considered ZoË one of his best friends. He rubbed a hand across the opposite side of the mattress and could feel lingering traces of heat. The scent of sex and pheromones and her spicy perfume clung to his skin and the sheets. He heard a thump and a softly muttered curse from somewhere across the room. She had been slinking through the darkness for several minutes now, probably looking for her clothes. His only excuse for what he'd let happen, even if it was a lame one, was that on the night of his failed wedding he'd been discouraged and depressed and obviously not thinking straight. Instead of sayingI do, he'd saidI don'tand skipped out on his fiancÉe. His second, in fact. Could he help it if it had only occurred to him just then the terrible mistake he was making? That his desire for a wife and family was clouding his judgment? That after a month of courtship he barely knew the woman standing beside him, and she was in fact--as his friends had tried to warn him--only after his money. What a nightmare. He would never forget the look of stunned indignation on Lynn's face when, halfway through their vows, he had turned to her and said, "I'm sorry, I can't do this." He could still feel the sting of her fist where it had connected solidly with his jaw. He'd deserved it. Despite being a lying, blood-sucking vampire, she didn't deserve to be humiliated that way. Why was it that he couldn't seem to find the right woman? It had been five years since he decided he was ready to settle down. He'd figured by now he would be happily married with at least one baby and another on the way. Nothing in his life was going the way it was supposed to. The way he'd planned. After the abrupt end of the service, ZoË had driven him to the hotel where the honeymoon suite awaited and the champagne was already chilling. He'd been in no mood to drink alone, so he'd invited her in. She'd ordered room service--even though he hadn't been particularly hungry--and made him an ice pack for his jaw. She always took care of him. And damn, had she taken care of him last night. He wasn't even sure how it started. One minute they were sitting there talking, then she gave him this look, and the next thing he knew his tongue was in her mouth and they were tearing each other's clothes off. Her mouth had been so hot and sweet, her body soft and warm and responsive. And the sex? It had been freaking fantastic. He'd never been with a woman quite so...vocalin bed. He'd never once had to guess what she wanted because she wasn't shy about asking. God, he'd really slept with ZoË. It's not that he'd never looked at her in a sexual way. He'd always been attracted to her. She wasn't the kind of woman who hypnotized a man with her dazzling good looks--not that she wasn't pretty--but ZoË"s beauty was subtle. It came from the inside, from her quirky personality and strength. But there were some lines you just didn't cross. The quickest way for a man to ruin a friendship with a woman was to have sex with her. He knew this from experience. Thankfully, he hadn't done irrevocable damage.As much as he wanted a family, ZoË wanted to stay single and childless just as badly. Unlike other female employees he'd made the mistake of sleeping withCelmer, Michelle is the author of 'Secretary's Secret ', published 2007 under ISBN 9780373767748 and ISBN 0373767749.