Perfect Partners

long.”
    Letty was incensed. She stared at his bent head. “Joel, for heaven’s sake, this is not a joke.” She hurried over to his desk, went around behind it, and grabbed his shoulder. “Listen to me. This is a moment of enormous humiliation and embarrassment for me.”
    Joel raised his head, his eyes thoughtful. “It is?”
    “Well, of course it is. We don’t do things like this back where I come from. And if we do, we do them discreetly.”
    “We’ve been discreet, Ms. Thornquist.” Joel smiled faintly. He pushed his chair back from his desk. His fingers closed around Letty’s wrist, and he drew her down onto his lap. “Look on the bright side. We don’t have to be so damn discreet anymore.”
    Letty’s eyes widened as she sat down abruptly on his knee. “Joel, I don’t think you realize the gravity of the situation. There’s a question of office morale here.”
    “Morale, huh?” Joel started to nuzzle her throat.
    “Absolutely. This sort of romantic liaison is frowned upon.”
    “Who frowns on it?” His hand closed around her hip. His fingers squeezed gently. “I sure don’t have any problem with it.”
    “Joel, stop that.” She batted ineffectually at his hands. “I’m trying to have a serious conversation here.”
    “Keep talking.” He slid his hand down her thigh and started to move his fingers up under the hem of her skirt. His mouth was warm and persuasive on the curve of her neck.
    Letty tried to keep herself focused on the main issue, but a sense of excitement was already unfurling within her. It was always like this when Joel touched her. She felt his fingers high up on her inner thigh and she shivered. “This is another management crisis. We need to decide how we’re going to handle this, Joel.”
    “You don’t like the way I’m handling it?” His fingers had reached her panties. They began moving in lazy patterns. “I’m sorry to hear that, Ms. Thornquist. As your chief executive officer, I know it’s my duty to handle these upper management problems for you, and I certainly want you to be satisfied with my performance.”
    “Joel, you are impossible.” Letty could feel herself growing damp at his touch. She stirred against him, parting her legs a little in spite of her ambivalent emotions.
    “I ask you to have faith in me, Madam President.”
    She wriggled on his knee, and somehow his fingers slipped under the leg band of her panties. “Oh, my God.”
    “My sentiments, exactly. You feel so good, honey.” He nuzzled her ear. “I’m so hot for you right now that I’m seriously contemplating taking you here on my desk.”
    “
Joel
.”
    “In fact, I think that as your CEO it is my duty to recommend that course of action.” His arms curved around her, and he started to rise up out of the chair.
    A scene flickered into Letty’s mind, a scene she would never forget. It had haunted her for weeks. All of a sudden she knew how to exorcise the ghost.
    “Wait,” Letty said urgently.
    Joel slowly lowered himself back into the chair. His eyes were filled with a lively combination of laughter and passion. “Losing your nerve, Ms. Thornquist? Pity. But later tonight I suppose we can always carry on where we just left off.”
    “No, I’m not losing my nerve.” She licked her lips as she glanced toward the closed door. “It’s just that I think I’ve got a more interesting idea.”
    His eyes narrowed speculatively. “And what would that be?”
    “Well, I was just thinking. There’s something I’ve been wanting to try lately.”
    “You’ve been reading articles again, I take it?”
    “No, not exactly. This is something else.” Letty blushed. Her eyes met his and then slid quickly away. Her pulse was pounding with the excitement of the outrageous and the forbidden. She eased herself down off Joel’s knee and knelt between his legs.
    “Well, damn,” Joel murmured when she fumbled with his belt buckle. He looked down at the top of her head. “Ms. Thornquist, you amaze me.”
    “I’m amazing myself.” She touched the heavy bulge in his jeans with light, tentative fingers. “Do you like it like this?”
    “I’ll be honest with you, Ms. Thornquist.” Joel’s voice was suddenly very husky. “I have never before done anything quite this exotic in my office. Professional decorum and the company image, you know.”
    Letty was afraid she might burst into nervous giggles as she slowly and cautiously lowered his zipper. There was a rasping, metallic