Abrielle's Fool

Abrielle's Fool is my first Hot-Shots story with Total E-Bound!

Here's the blurb for my short sexy FREE read:

Abrielle always harboured as secret crush for Lance. He's ultra smart, reserved and sexy as hell with his gorgeous green eyes. As head of IT, Lance is known for his lack of tolerance for small talk and has unknowingly earned the nickname, "Super Nerd."

When a computer crisis requires Lance's expertise, Abrielle's forced to rely on him to save the day and is mortified when he learns about his office nickname by mistake. To make things right, she'll have to answer his question truthfully and her response sparks a steamy escapade they'll both never forget!

Excerpt:

Abrielle walked through the office, not surprised to see it deserted. No one stuck around this late on a Friday night unless there was some issue to contend with. The vending machine in the break room beckoned her forward. She gave her dollar and waited for the bottle to fall before she reached into grab it. The first sip soothed her parched dry mouth, but did nothing to melt the huge lump in her throat.

You don't have to ask him out.

True. But, a big part of her wanted to. There was something about him that drew her in. She wanted to get to know him outside of the workplace. Her heart thumped wildly against her chest as she walked back to her desk. She was going to do it.

Abrielle rounded the corner and bit the inside of her cheek as Lance glanced up from her computer to watch her approach. The look on his face made her pause for a second. He looked pissed off. "Lance, is something wrong?"

The hard look he gave her made stomach tighten.

"Your computer is fine. I'm running a system diagnostic to make sure everything is operating as it should."

There was something wrong. He was normally aloof, but what she was sensing from him now was downright chilly.

"Oh, okay. I want to thank you again for getting our department out of a bind." Abrielle studied his face, noting the flash of annoyance in his eyes before it disappeared behind a blank stare.

"Like I said, I was just doing my job. Have a good weekend."

Her phone vibrated and she tore her eyes away from Lance's to see her phone lit up. She had gotten a text message while gone.

Lance brushed passed her as she grabbed her phone to see the message in vivid block letters on the rectangular screen:

            Seriously, Super Nerd is totally do-able...don't cha think? :)

Abrielle grinned. Hell yeah. She looked up at her computer screen and froze. Stacey has sent the message to both of her email addresses. Her friend's message had popped up on her computer. There was no way Lance hadn't seen Stacey's text.

Damn!

Without thinking, she got up and strode over to Lance's desk. The floor was quiet as she got closer to his workspace, confirming that they were the only two left on the floor. She found Lance with his headphones on, clicking away on his keyboard. "Lance?"

He didn't respond to her. She watched him furiously pounding out keystrokes as she stepped closer to his side. He glanced up at her and in an instant, Abrielle was certain he'd seen the insulting text.

"Is there a problem?" he asked taking his headphones off.

"No...I mean...I dunno."

"What?" He frowned, his face a mixture of subtle irritation and polite indifference.

Fix it, Abrielle, fix it.

"I'd like to buy you a beer for coming to my rescue this evening."

"Not necessary." He went back to typing on his keyboard, a clear dismissal sign.

"You really helped me and the design team tonig-"

"Look, you're appreciative, I get it. You don't have to pretend like you really want to buy me a drink."

Abrielle froze, shocked by the harshness of his clipped words. She blinked, trying to organize her thoughts to respond as Lance leaned back in his chair. He laced his hands behind his head and stared at her. "You saw the text message."

"It popped up on your screen, kinda hard to miss."

A moment of silence passed between them. His hard gaze raked over her and Abrielle felt her already racing heart beat a little faster. For a second, she was certain she saw a glint in his eyes that hinted more towards male interest than annoyance, but she couldn't be sure. "How do you even know that text was in reference to you?" The bold question flew out of her mouth, as she straightened her shoulders in an attempt to diffuse the situation.

Lance laughed, surprising her again with a rare glimpse of his unguarded handsome face. "Do you think I'm a fool?"

"What? No!" Her palms felt sweat as he stood up, making her lift her face to his.

"Are you telling me I'm wrong?"

Abrielle rubbed her hands on her skirt as she drew in a breath.

"Come, Abrielle, tell the truth."

A flash of heat rushed through her as he waited for her response. Something was happening to her body as he held her gaze. She was embarrassed and nervous, but there was no denying the steadily building current of arousal coursing through her blood. Her reaction didn't make any sense, but the longer her stared at her the hotter she felt.

"I know what you guys call me around here." He took a step forward, narrowing the gap between them.

"I'm sorry you saw that tex-"

"I don't want you to apologize." He crossed his arms and fabric tightened around his biceps.

"You don't?" She couldn't get a grip on what was happening.

Lance shook his head. "No. I want to know your answer to Stacey's question."

Abrielle's heart skipped a beat. "Excuse me?" He hadn't physically moved and yet he was crowding her personal space.

"How would you answer her question? Yes or no? Tell me the truth."

"Lance-"

"C'mon. It's the least you can do. I did save your butt after all."

His wicked grin sent another tremor of awareness through her. She had to turn the tables, gain back control of the situation. "Yes you did."

"So..."

"Yes. My response to Stacey would have been yes." Just admitting the truth released a flood of wetness between her thighs. She watched his green eyes darken as his gaze dropped down to her lips.

Lance shifted his attention from her mouth to meet her eyes. "Say it aloud."

"Say what?"

He took another step forward and only a few inches stood between them. "Say out loud what you would have texted back to Stacey."

Abrielle dropped her face from his as she cleared her throat. "Are you serious?"

"Very."

How could she have pegged him as the quiet, passive type?

Abrielle's Fool is a FREE read available now with Total E-Bound for your reading pleasure!