Chapter One
Oscar let out a weary sigh as he opened his office door. It was his birthday, a fact which he'd chosen long ago to never broadcast. Callahan had brought a cake and Rudy brought a bottle of champagne, which they'd shared, but the one person he'd wanted most to celebrate with had apparently forgotten him. Without Jaime there, Oscar felt he was just going through the motions.
True, he and Jaime had never had so much as a single date, and - at 20 years younger - she was young enough to be his daughter. In fact, he claimed to his collegues that he loved her like a surrogate daughter, but his true feelings were much deeper.
Oscar stepped into his office, turned on the light and did a double-take. Was he hallucinating? Dreaming? No. Stretched out on top of his desk, in a thin satin and lace robe worn open to show the teddy underneath, was -
"Jaime? What -?" He'd always been struck by her beauty, every single time he saw her, but now, with her body barely covered and posed so seductively...for the first time since high school, Ocsar Goldman was speechless.
"Happy birthday, Oscar," she said in a low, throaty whisper. Oscar stood in stunned silence, waiting for the others to come charging in, laughing at the grand joke they'd pulled off. No one did.
"Aren't you gonna unwrap your present?" she prompted.
Oscar moved slowly toward the desk, mesmerized by the sight of her. "My God - you're serious," he murmured.
Jaime laughed. "Would I be dressed like this if I didn't mean it? But if you don't want your present..."
"Uh-uh," he said with a slight growl to his voice. "You are not going anywhere!" He pulled her off the desk, held her firmly in his arms and kissed her the way he'd wanted to since the first time he met her: hard and long, with every bit of the passion she'd just ignited in him. When his tongue began to trace her lips, she parted them and hungrily met it with her own.
With their tongues interlocked and their bodies pressed close together, in one sweeping motion Oscar tossed her robe to the floor, picked Jaime up and carried her to the sofa. Without breaking their liplock, he laid her gently on the cushions. His fingertips very lightly traced the patterns of lace at the top of her teddy and then v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y, he eased the straps down. His lips left hers to trace a blazing trail of fire where his fingertips had just been, nudging the sheer fabric down as he went.
Jaime's breath was coming in ragged gasps, and he knew she was ready for him. Oscar was more than ready, but he was in no hurry. As his hands and lips continued their exploration, Jaime moaned softly with desire and frantically undid the buttons on Oscar's shirt, letting her hands roam freely across his broad, muscular chest.
Oscar's voice was low and husky with emotion and need. "Jaime, the first day I met you, I fell in love with you. And - I've wanted this, wanted you, for so long."
Jaime began covering his neck and throat with soft kisses and leaned forward to whisper in his ear. "I love you too, Oscar, so much...that's why I'm here."
Soon, all of their clothes were on the floor in a heap. As the two of them finally became one, Jaime felt as though their very souls had intertwined along with their bodies. Both knew without a doubt that their lives had just changed - forever.
