Business and Pleasure (Lavender Lace, Book One) Read Online Free

dangerous.
    He needed to remember that.

Chapter Two
     
    I’ll do whatever I need to do to get the job done.
    That line repeated in Marci’s mind again and again while she tried to work. It had been an innocent statement. She was sure Keefe hadn’t meant for it to sound sexual. But as soon as he said it, an image of rumpled sheets and sweaty bodies had flashed through her mind.
    It hadn’t helped her overactive imagination that Keefe had those incredible Black Irish looks. There wasn’t a trace of an accent in his voice, yet his black hair and blue eyes were excellent indicators that his ancestors had come from the Emerald Isle. Of course, the last name Donegan was about as Irish as a name could get.
    Keefe had stood about three inches taller than she in her two-inch heels, so must be around five-eleven. The perfect height for dancing, kissing…making love.
    Damn the man for being so handsome and having such a great body. He was her employee. Plus he was six years younger than she. Those two things meant he was completely off limits.
    Still, she could enjoy looking at him, feel that flutter of desire low in her belly. It had been more months than she could count since a man had affected her so quickly.
    Maybe she should fire him before he ever got started. No employee, no problem. She could ignore the age difference long enough for him to fuck her senseless.
    With a sigh, Marci turned her chair and stared out the window at the Olympic Range. Mother Nature had blessed Seattle with a sunny day instead of the clouds that usually filled a September sky. Looking at the mountain range helped her relax so she could think. Marshall Media had no rule about employees dating. She knew several of the one hundred people in the company who dated now, or had dated, fallen in love and married. Marci thought that was wonderful.
    It was different for her. As president of the company, she couldn’t let her emotions rule her. Gossip ran rampant in an office. She knew that from her affair with Ben Windsor eighteen months ago.
    The thought of what he’d done still made her cheeks flame with embarrassment.
    A soft knock on her door drew Marci’s attention away from the majestic Olympics. She swiveled her chair around to face her desk. “Come in,” she called.
    Peggy Sharples breezed into the room. Marci smiled. “Hi.”
    “Hi.” Peggy crooked her finger in a “come here” motion to Marci and headed for the sitting area. “Time for a break.”
    Marci made a sweeping gesture across her desk. “Do you see all these piles? I don’t have time for a break.”
    “Take one anyway.” Peggy sank into a corner of the loveseat. “And bring me a Pepsi.”
    Sometimes Marci wondered if Peggy should be the president. She was certainly bossy enough. “Shall I order in donuts too?”
    Peggy grinned. “Nah. Too late in the day for donuts. Cookies would work.”
    Chuckling, Marci rose from her desk. Only Peggy would tease her boss the way she did. Marci did her best to be kind and friendly to every one of her employees, but she called few of them her friends. She and Peggy had clicked the moment they met. Marci knew whatever she said to Peggy in this room would never be repeated.
    She took two cold Pepsis from her small refrigerator and joined Peggy on the loveseat. She slipped off her heels and drew her knees up on the cushion.
    Peggy popped the top on her soda. “So, what do you think of your new vice president?”
    “I’ll have a better opinion after I see his work.”
    Peggy rolled her eyes. “Stop being a president for a minute and be a woman. The man is a hunk. Surely you noticed.”
    “His looks don’t matter to me, Peggy. I want performance.”
    “I’ll bet his performance is just fine.”
    Marci chuckled at her friend’s double entendre. Peggy had married her high school sweetheart and was still madly in love with him after twenty years. “What would William say if he heard you raving about another man’s looks?”
    “The