Free Driving in Neutral by Sandra Antonelli Page A

wouldn’t be the first time he goofed off and played around on the Internet instead of doing work, it would be the first time he considered looking at adult content in the office. Yet that wasn’t what stopped him cold. The sweaty sleaziness stopped him from clicking the link. Well, sweaty sleaziness and the fact he suddenly remembered he was the boss.
    Her boss.
    An employer didn’t take advantage of an employee, even if she presented herself naked on what looked like…a bed of rose petals. Looking at nude photos or sex videos of employees was unprofessional and probably unethical.
    Annoyed with himself, and more than a little turned on, Emerson closed the page only to have his screen return to the Team Halray website. Olivia, in her red fireproof suit, smiled at him from behind her dark sunglasses.
    The practical, neck-to-ankle safety gear covered her up completely, and it stoked his imagination better than the partly downloaded images, the idea of a naked video, or the memory of how Olivia’s rain-soaked dress clung transparently to her breasts.
    He copied the picture and saved it in a folder on his computer desktop.
    Five minutes later, he was outside her office. She had music playing. It was an old song. The Electric Light Orchestra sang about an evil woman making a fool of someone. He tapped on her half-open office door.
    “Come on in,” she called out.
    Confident he was not about to make an ass of himself, he went inside and tried to think of something appropriately boss-like to say.
    For someone employed in a temporary position, Pete had given Olivia the most elegant and well-equipped workspace. It was huge and had a view that rivaled his. He whistled. “You can see nearly all the way up to the Drake.”
    When she turned down the volume on the music compilation she was listening to, he looked out the window instead of staring at her like he wanted to.
    “Yes, it’s a lovely view,” Olivia said, careful to keep her gaze fixed on images on a flat screen monitor.
    “Is translating that technical stuff difficult?”
    He came to the side of her desk. Olivia felt her pulse quicken. She pulled off reading glasses and set them beside the keyboard. “Not at all.”
    “I wondered because a lot was written in that German script, the one where an s looks like an f and then there’s that weird looking B that’s really a double s .”
    “It’s not a problem.”
    “Is anyone giving you any grief about your underwear?”
    “Not since Timmons and Josh asked if I’d be willing to conduct an experiment to see if a thong could get you into an elevator faster than a bikini.”
    Emerson exhaled in annoyance. “I’m sorry. I’ll have a word with the little tadpoles.”
    “It’s all right,” she said. “We made a deal. They keep their mouths shut and I reward them with a caffeine treat. They’ve responded pretty well since Starbucks is half a block down the street. So, it’s in the past and let’s leave it there.”
    Olivia watched him nod and sit on the edge of her desk. Holy hell he smelled good. No, he smelled lickable.
    Lickable?
    She groaned inside. Now that’s a little over the top, isn’t it Olivia? What is he, a big postage stamp? Pay attention to your work. Ignore the rising tide of middle-aged lust flooding your brain and be sensible .
    “Okay,” he said, “we’ll leave it in the past. Are you having any difficulties with the animation?”
    “Not really. That little guy, the shy one with the orange high tops, came in to explain the software. I guess he didn’t realize I have a pretty extensive technical computer base under my belt. He’s good. Keep him. After he showed me the ropes, he had me demonstrate that I grasped the process as well as the lingo. I know “bones” are the outlined skeleton system used to set up the shapes of the objects. I think he was stunned I picked it up so fast.”
    “Well, Pete knew what he was doing when he offered you the job. He’s good like that. That’s