Bedded by the Boss by Lynda Chance Read Free Book Online

would have to be careful tonight. Be on guard the whole time. Robert Thibodeaux was a threat to her sanity, her person and her whole life.
     
    Her hands were shaking, and he stopped next to her and took the keys from her. He slipped the key in the lock and slid home the deadbolt. Turning, he put his hand to the small of her back and followed her downstairs.
     
    Renee came to a stop in the parking lot and held out her hand for her keys.
     
    He stood and twirled them around his fingers. "How about seafood? Let's drive down to the riverfront."
     
    She continued to stand there, hand out. "That sounds fine. I'll follow you. I don't want you to have to drive all the way back here."
     
    He didn't acknowledge her words at all. Just slipped her keys into his front pocket and started walking over to his car, a low-slung black sports car, the epitome of sophistication. He went to the passenger door and pushed a button on his own keys that deactivated a mechanism that unlocked the doors. He opened the door and watched her hovering nearby, still a few feet away. "Get in."
     
    When Renee continued to stand still, the words became deep and rough. "Get in the car, Renee."
     
    She slowly made her way over to the car, and slid in the seat. He shut the door and she was inside, her nerves frayed. On the outside she was poised, calm and graceful. On the inside she was a mess. Beating herself up for letting him get her into his car. He walked around the front and slid into the driver's seat. His door closed with a subdued click, and she was enclosed in the small space with him. She jumped slightly when the doors automatically locked, and she felt a moment of hysteria from being at his mercy. A feeling of powerlessness washed over her and she took a tremulous breath.
     
    He started the car, and pulled out onto the main thoroughfare. He reached in his pocket, and slipped her keys out. He held them out to her, never taking his eyes off the road. When she slipped her hand over to get them, his grip tightened and momentarily didn't release them. She raised her eyes to his, and he briefly took his attention from the road and looked at her, without releasing her keys.
     
    It was a power play. She recognized it; he was trying to prove something. It was a not so subtle way of telling her he was the one in control. She lowered her eyes from his, and he released his grip on the keys and turned his attention back to the road.
     
    The drive to the restaurant was accomplished in silence. There was an underlying layer of tension surrounding them, and Renee couldn't find the energy or will to try to take the edge off with idle chit-chat. Her nerves were stretched thin, and what started as a healthy hunger soon dwindled away to no appetite at all, induced by stress.
     
    Her mind was in turmoil, her emotions in upheaval. If he tried to seduce her tonight, she didn't know if she could withstand him. And the fact he made sure she rode in his vehicle was telling, a foreshadowing of the evening to come and what she could expect from him. She wasn't ready for it to happen; it was too soon. Physically she was ready. Physically she'd been ready the day she met him. But emotionally and strategically, it was too soon.
     
    While marriage and permanence were far from her mind, she wanted more than a brief affair and the consequences it would bring. It was a gamble, because there was no way she could continue to work for him after an affair between them had fizzled out. She needed to stay out of his bed for a few more weeks. It was probably old-fashioned and even manipulative on her part, but she needed to play hard to get, if she wanted to win in the end. But the problem was, she couldn't. He was too compelling, too sexy, and he went to her head like a fine wine. She needed to be careful.
     
    When they arrived at the restaurant, he parked and walked around to let her out. She had already opened her door when he reached that side of the car, and he reached in and