Read Online Tempted by Her Boss by Karen Erickson - Free Book Online

volatile their entire relationship had been from the very start. They’d loved passionately and fought just as passionately those first few years they were a couple. He’d felt a sort of adrenaline-filled madness every time he and Lucia were in a room together and she’d experienced much the same. While the arguing had been dramatic and loud, so had the lovemaking. And in those early years, he’d reveled in it. Thought she was what he wanted.
    That desperate sort of madness had slowly ebbed once they were married, until they became so completely dispassionate toward each other, it was difficult to believe they were the same couple. She’d become so cold, distant. To get away from her, he’d thrown himself into his work, their son. When Lucia died, they hadn’t had sex in nearly a year.
    He’d become a shell of a man, unfeeling, not caring for his wife. She didn’t matter. So when she was gone, the guilt that had settled over him had been enormous.
    Paige was the first woman who made him want to feel again. And she was so wrong for him, it was as if the fates had brought her into his life merely to test him. He’d almost failed many times.
    Yet he could let her walk and pass the ultimate test. Let her slip away before he made the fatal mistake of tossing her naked into his bed so he could have his way with her. All night.
    Every night.
    Running his hand over his head, he gazed unseeingly at the television. He didn’t want her to go. He wanted to keep her. Possess her. Make her his.
    It could never be. Not like that. But he’d be damned if he’d let her slip through his fingertips a few days before he left the country. If she made her escape now, he’d never see her again.
    He could hardly stand the thought.
    Quietly, he plotted. And waited for over an hour after Matty finally went to bed later than usual, considering Matty’s renewed burst of barely contained energy. Finally, Paige had calmed Matty down enough to get him into bed.
    All the while, Matteo ran over and over what he would say to her.
    Pretending to watch some horrendous movie in the living room, something he rarely—if ever—did, he was extremely aware of Paige’s presence in his home. And he knew without a doubt she was also equally aware of his presence, and it made her uneasy. She spent most of her time in the kitchen while he waited, he could see her from where he sat on the couch. Packing up portable snacks for Matty for the next few days, like she always did. She then sat at the kitchen table with a notepad, no doubt plotting her desertion.
    Matteo breathed deep and shook his head. Lord help him, his mother was right. She was prone to the dramatics and so was he.
    Finally he couldn’t stand it any longer. After flicking off the TV, he tossed the remote onto the coffee table with a clatter and stood, striding straight into the kitchen toward the table.  
    She glanced up from her notepad, her eyes going wide when she saw him, her expression full of apprehension. “Is everything all right?” Her voice shook, betraying her nerves.
    “No,” he bit out. He thought he could be subtle but the truth was dying to burst out of him. “Tell me why you sent your resume to an employment agency.”
    Her lips parted and the pen slipped out of her hand, falling to the tiled floor and rolling under the table. “Wh-what are you talking about?”
    “Don’t lie to me, Paige.” Breathing deep, he rested his hands on his hips, glaring at her. “You used my computer. You left the browser open and I saw your inbox. I know you sent Pavilion your resume.”
    “I—”
    “Why don’t you want to stay with us?” he interrupted. God, he was an ass, but he couldn’t stop the words from coming. He felt downright betrayed by her wanting to go. “We’re leaving for Italy in a week. Matty needs you.” I need you.
    “It’s best that I go.” Her voice was quiet, cool, void of any emotion. “Being here is hard on…all of us.”
    “What will be hard is how