Chapter 3

Had she heard right? Sasha stared at her boss. The man she had known for over four years, who never pushed the boundaries too far, was staring at her like he wanted to eat her. In that moment their relationship of employer and employee faded.

"If you would like to finish signing them, I'll mail them out tomorrow. I'll get them ready."

She made her way toward the door wanting away from this uncomfortable mess. Her mother had always warned her that escape was the easiest solution in dealing with problems, and this one was a huge problem.

"Sasha," he said, using that commanding tone that always made her stop and turn around. He stood and rounded his desk until he was in front of it. "You're beautiful"

"Don't cross that line. Please.”

“I crossed that line months ago."

She shook her head. “Norman — ”

"I've been crossing that line since I first met you."

"This is not happening, Mr. Rockwell." She clenched her hands into fists, trying to deal with what was going on between them. Nothing should be going on. They worked together. "I appreciate your kind words,"

"Screw my kind words. I said the truth." He stepped closer to her, and she took a step back. This side of Norman she had never seen before.

"I don't understand what you're doing."

He closed the distance between them and caught her face. “I'm going to do something that I can't stop thinking about."

Before she could say anything his lips closed over hers. Releasing a gasp, she stood with her hand by her sides as he sank his fingers into her hair, pushing beneath the bun she kept locked at the base of her neck. Her hair was long, too long to spend the time brushing it. He licked along the seam of her lips, and she gasped, opening up to him. He plundered her mouth, and she met him stroke for stroke. Her tits felt heavy, her pussy slick. She wasn't a virgin. There had been men in the past few years, but none of them had stuck. She hadn't felt the need to leave her single life behind.

The kiss went on and on, and she didn't want it to end. Norman knew how to kiss. He performed so brilliantly.

Suddenly, he pulled away, and she opened her eyes.

"I want a baby, Sasha."

Out of everything she had heard him say, all the horrible names, the bluntness, she never anticipated him wanting a baby. It seemed completely outrageous.

"Why are you telling me?" she asked.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking, and I want you to be the mother of my child."

She froze. Her lips tingled from his kiss, and she was just amazed at what he was asking.

"Is this really happening?" Sasha had to be dreaming.

Removing her hand from his chest — she didn't know how it got there she pinched her arm, hard, and flinched. "Ouch."

"Yeah, this is really happening. Why wouldn't it be happening?"

"You're Norman Rockwell, and you've just asked me to be the mother of your child, and you kissed me." She was frowning, and it was the fastest way to get wrinkles.

"I've thought about it a lot."

"You had a woman here this morning, and you had sex with her!"

"Months ago. I haven't slept with Diana in a long time. She didn't like that I had lost my interest. She even tried to get me drunk to sleep with her."

“You know this is totally crazy, right?”

"How about we finish up here, and I take you out to dinner, and we talk?"

Dinner? Talking?

"I guess."

"I promise you won't regret it."

Biting her lip, she looked into his dark brown eyes that always seemed so cold, but today they didn't. They were staring at her in earnest. What could go wrong?

He wanted to talk.

He was her boss.

Maybe she just heard wrong.

"Sure. If you continue to sign those papers, I'll get the envelopes and start getting them ready to send."

"Good, great." He moved behind the desk, and he was back to being in charge, in total control. For the next hour they worked on getting the letters finished, and once they were all done, she placed them in the appropriate tray.

By the time she grabbed her bag, he was there, jacket on, and ready.

Taking a deep breath, she followed him toward the elevator, and this time she couldn't help but stare at his reflection. He was a handsome man, she couldn't deny it.

“Do you like looking at me?" he asked.

“You're so handsome. You know that already."

“I didn't know that you knew that.”

She rolled her eyes. "Every woman knows what a catch you are. You're sexy, hot, and you know it. There's no need to do the whole coy thing."

"I'm not. I just think it's hot to know that you're in agreement with me."

Shaking her head, she snorted. “You're my boss, Norman. I'm not going to point out these things. They're not appropriate."

"I just asked you to be the mother of my baby. I think we've crossed that line, and you can now see me as hot stuff."

Before she had a chance to answer, the elevator pinged open. “Saved.”

"What was that?" he asked.

"Nothing. Don't you just love elevators?"

“I'm driving,” he said, gripping her waist, and leading her away from her car, and taking her toward his.

"What about when all of this is over? I don't want to be stuck waiting for a ride," she said.

“You won't be. I'll take you home, and tomorrow morning I'll pick you back up, and take you to work."

She stared at the passenger door, hating how her stomach twisted. When colleagues hinted at her screwing the boss she'd ignored them. There was no chance of it. This was risking the rumors spreading once again, only that this time, it could actually be the truth.

He wanted a baby.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Sasha. I want to have dinner, and talk about this "

Grabbing the door handle, she opened the door and climbed into his car. Norman further surprised her as he leaned in and buckled her in. “I just want to make sure you're safe.”

She smiled. "Okay."

The back of his hand brushed across her breasts, and she tensed up. Had it been on purpose? Was it a mistake?

Sitting back in her seat, she did her best to ignore him as he climbed behind the wheel and started up his car. She glanced over at her own car, and tried her hardest not to pout.

Neither of them spoke as he drove through the busy city streets. Even at seven o'clock at night it was still busy. It was one of the downfalls of living in a city, the chaos. Living here was like living on constant speed.

“Today was a good day.”

"Did your deal go well with Kurtis?" she asked.

"Yes. Of course it did. He just needs to learn some respect. I don't want you alone with him if he ever comes by the office."

"Why?"

"Don't trust him."

"I'm sure he'll be fine. You put him in his place." She had heard him growl at the man. Kurtis had looked so afraid. For a split second she had actually felt sorry for the man. Still, it was no excuse to be a pig of a man.

Respect was something that was earned, and Kurtis hadn't earned hers. Either way, she wouldn't do anything to ruin the reputation of the company, or Norman.

"I won't have him upsetting you. If I'm not there, stay at your desk, and don't bring yourself to be alone with him."

He sounded ... strange.

"I'm going to still be working there then?"

"Why wouldn't you be?"

"The kiss. The whole baby thing. It's, erm, not exactly making for a stable working environment."

"Don't worry about that. I'll never fire you. Besides, I want to talk about it when I can look at you. Face to face conversation is always better than none."

"Sure." She'd be lying if she said she wasn't curious about his little outburst. Norman Rockwell wanted a baby. It seemed surreal. If he said he wanted an extra billion, she would have understood a lot more.

They were silent on the drive to the restaurant. There was no need to be talking. Their silence wasn't awkward either.

She liked that.

Resting against the leather seat, she watched the city go by, wondering what life would be like outside where everything was slower, more enjoyable.

He suddenly pulled outside of a busy Italian restaurant, and the door was opened for her. She smiled at the valet, used to Norman's expensive taste. He liked quality in everything, food, service, wine, women. She gasped as he took her arm and led the way inside. This was really happening. They weren't on the way to meet prospective clients. This was between just the two of them.

She could do this.