WorkIt by Marilyn Campbell

Chapter One
     
    “ Coralee! ”
    Cory Servwell cringed at the sound of her boss’s annoyed
shout. Jeffrey Farmer raised his voice over so many things lately she no longer
scurried into his office to take care of the problem. This time, however, she
knew exactly why he had yelled using her full name.
    She had waited until the end of the day, after the rest of
the staff had gone home, to slip the letter into his inbox. Hoping to delay the
confrontation a few seconds longer, she pressed the intercom button. “Yes?” She
imagined the subsequent pause was needed for him to unclench his teeth before
speaking.
    “Come in here please.”
    “Just a moment. I need to—”
    “ Now! ”
    She disconnected the intercom, rose from her chair and
smoothed her lightweight aqua dress. It was the most feminine thing she owned.
The fitted top showed off her full bosom, the swishy skirt brought attention to
her rounded bottom and the semi-sheerness of the delicate fabric was subtly
suggestive. White, strappy high-heeled sandals completed an ensemble that should have had her feeling quite pretty. Out of habit she glanced at her reflection
in the glass window to make sure her shoulder-length brown hair was under
control. Silly girl. If he hadn’t noticed how she looked by now…
Straightening her shoulders, she walked into his office with false bravado.
    “Close the door.”
    There was nothing unusual about the direction, except for
its abrupt delivery. Closing the office door was his way of ensuring that no
one would interrupt them during their daily conferences.
    The little confidence she had slipped away when she met his
narrow-eyed glare. He looked really upset, maybe even angry. His hazel eyes had
faded to a dull brown and she could tell by how mussed his dark blond hair was
that he’d run his fingers through it in frustration. And yet she still thought
he was the sexiest man on the planet.
    “What is this?” he asked, shaking the paper in his hand.
    Cory swallowed dryly. “It’s my letter of resignation. I
thought it was very clear.”
    He frowned at the one and only sentence on the sheet. When
he spoke again his voice had lost the sharpness and he was clearly bewildered.
“I had no idea you were unhappy. I thought we were a good team.”
    Her heart squeezed in her chest. “I’m not…it’s not…” She
hadn’t expected it to be so hard to lie about her motivation.
    “Have you had another offer? At least give me a chance to
counter it.”
    “There’s nothing to counter. I could never find a job with
better pay or benefits.”
    He scratched his head, ruining the last vestige of his
neatly styled cut. Shoving his chair back from his desk, he rose with a jerk.
“Then it’s got to be something I did. Or is it something I didn’t do? Did I
miss something important?”
    She had to smirk at that. “You? The man who has never
forgotten to have flowers delivered on my birthday or our anniversaries of
working together? Or who sent me to a spa for a weekend after my divorce was
final? Seriously, half the assistants in the building would take a cut in pay
to work for you.”
    He strode around his desk and stopped short a foot away from
her. Her breath caught as the seductive smell of clean male and spicy
aftershave threatened to overwhelm her good sense. He was so close she had to
tip her head back to meet his gaze. As happened all the time, his nearness was
an aphrodisiac that clouded her mind and sent velvety tendrils out to tease her
nipples and slither between her thighs.
    For a moment it looked as if he were about to grasp her but
he shoved his hands into his slacks pockets instead. In their three years
working together, he had never once intentionally touched her. It was totally
respectful and politically correct but it was that same avoidance that had
finally driven her over the edge.
    “Please, Cory. Just tell me what the problem is and I’ll fix
it.”
    Oh how she wished it was that easy. She felt her cheeks
flush as