Chapter 2: Chapter 2 - Beginning to Sweat

Cadence tried not to stare at her boss as she arranged her cardigan on the back of her chair. She had mostly gotten used to his good looks by then, but there were still days he took her breath away. He had dark wavy hair, fair skin, a strong jaw and intense green eyes. "Good morning, Mr. Oliver" she said, trying to gauge his mood. James simply stood in the middle of the reception area for a moment looking pensive and agitated. They both glanced at the thermostat then back at each other before saying "80 degrees" in unison. Jinx, Cadence thought privately, but wouldn't dare say out loud. Mary had been right. Cadence was amazing at her job; so much so that she often knew what James was going to say before he said it. She had a knack for anticipating his needs as well and all of it was starting to take it's toll on her. Due to the nature of her work, she'd completely lost herself in James Oliver. It seemed her whole being revolved around him and his desires. Living exclusively for someone else was exhausting and honestly, a bit depressing. Some days, she wasn't even sure who she was anymore. Everything was about him. James sighed deeply while taking off his suit jacket and handing it to Cadence. His broad shoulders and strong biceps were practically on display now in his close fitting white dress shirt. She promptly hung up the jacket within a discreet closet near her desk, catching the scent of his cologne as she did so. "Mmm" she heard James murmur, before his door closed. She knew that sound generally meant he was at least marginally pleased with something. He'd barely had time to do anything, which meant he must be relieved to see the fan she had placed in his office.

She smiled slightly at his pleasure, before the ding of the elevator interrupted her self-congratulations. Thank fuck, she thought crudely as a delivery guy headed her way with several giant iced coffees. She usually didn't curse, even within the confines of her internal monologue, but the heat was getting to her. Cadence stood up to check the order and sign the receipt. She noticed the deliverer didn't seem to want to leave. "Was there something else you needed?" she asked politely with just a touch of edge to her voice. The young man had been checking her out during their brief interaction, and perhaps thought about asking for her number. However, one look at her unamused and impatient facial expression seemed to extinguish whatever confidence he walked in with. "No, ma'am. Thank you ma'am!" He walked out awkwardly, having barely left any impression on Cadence at all. She pressed a button on her phone and simply said "I've got iced coffees if anyone's interested". In moments, a small herd of office professionals practically sprinted from the shared office down the hall and arranged themselves neatly around her desk while she passed out some much needed caffeine. She knew the heat was going to make today brutal, so she felt it was the least she and her company credit card could do.

————————————————————

James finished sifting through his email and glanced at his calendar for the day. Luckily, Cadence had the foresight to reschedule most of his meetings as soon as she realized the air conditioning wasn't working properly. The fan she placed in his office didn't match the otherwise sleek and professional atmosphere, but he didn't really care. None of his meetings would be on his floor today anyway. Cadence had sent him a text first thing this morning warning him about the temperature, but he hadn't imagined it would already be so warm. It was just after 9am, and he would usually be having coffee by now, but just the thought of drinking something warm made him a bit nauseous.

He stepped out of his office with a mind to grab an energy drink from the vending machine in the employee break lounge, but stopped when he saw the crowd around Cadence's desk. A nervous chorus of "good morning Mr. Oliver" erupted from the already quickly retreating assistants, each armed with an iced coffee. Cadence stood and walked around her desk to offer him one of his own. James held up a hand and said "I don't drink those". She merely raised a questioning eyebrow. "What?" he asked. "I saw an empty iced coffee cup in your car two weeks ago when you had me take it in for maintenance" Cadence responded matter-of-factly. "So? That could have been my girlfriend's." James was met with yet another raised eyebrow. Defeated by her perceptiveness, James merely narrowed his eyes at Cadence and brusquely took the drink back to his desk with a soft grunt. He took a sip and couldn't help but be pleased that she had seemed to know exactly what he wanted - a half sweet brown sugar latte over ice with an extra shot of espresso. After a moment's thought, he realized she had most likely looked at the order on the cup in his car those few weeks ago and mentally filed the information away for a time like this. Damn, she's good, he thought.

Suddenly, the image of her arranging her cardigan on her chair that morning flashed in his mind. The skirt on her seemed new. At least, he felt he would have remembered her wearing it. He had never given much thought to Cadence's figure, but this was likely because she usually dressed so conservatively. Today, though, it was impossible not to take note of. He sipped his coffee and leaned back in his chair with his eyes drawn low. He was soon lost in thought considering the dark grey fabric of Cadence's skirt stretched over what turned out to be a firm and shapely ass. The effect was enhanced by the dark blouse tucked into the high waist of her skirt, creating a luscious hour glass figure. He remembered her straightening up to greet him, allowing the fullness of her breasts to properly vie for his attention. He mentally snapped himself to reality when he realized this train of thought was making him hard.

James wasn't normally prone to raunchy daydreams during work and attributed the temporary lack of decency to the temperature in the room (which seemed to be rising steadily). Heat had strange effects on people. He pushed Cadence's shapely figure from his mind and focused on getting as much work done as possible before his first meeting.

—————————————————

Cadence hustled through her morning tasks, occasionally having to blot the perspiration from her brow and nape of her neck. She tried not to muss up her bun in the process, but could eventually feel tendrils beginning to escape. She had a few minutes before having to accompany James Oliver to his meeting with the shareholders, which included his grandfather, Charles Oliver. The last thing she needed was to look unkempt in front of such an influential person. Just as she was releasing her hair from it's elastic holder to redo it, James opened his office door. He paused in seeming confusion at her appearance. Cadence had set up a mirror, brush, and travel sized can of hair spray to aid her. She worried that these items were coming across as vapid, cluttered, and unprofessional to her boss. She mentally chastised herself for not just using the restroom mirror but she new it was even more unbearably hot in there. To his credit, James made no comment and simply asked if he might have a spare dress shirt in the office. "Of course, Mr. Oliver. I had Amanda coordinate with Mrs. Garcia to have a couple brought over from your home this morning. I have one ready for you" she said, opening the small closet she had previously hung his jacket in. Cadence handed James a crisp white shirt virtually identical to the one he was already wearing, with the exception of it not being soaked in sweat. She also grabbed a small toiletry kit from her desk that his housekeeper, Mrs. Garcia had prepared, which included deodorant and cologne. "Mmmm" was all he said in response as he took the items and gave her one last surveying glance before heading back into his office.

————————————————

Shit, thought James. Is she doing this on purpose? He took a deep breath and tried to shake away the image of Cadence's long dark curls cascading down her neck. He never even realized her hair was curly. She always wore it up in a neat bun. He imagined burying his hands in her sultry mass of hair while pulling her in for a deep kiss. Fuck, he thought, mentally chastising himself. His cock had begun to harden once again and he quickly moved to stand in front of the fan. He needed to cool off and reign in whatever effect Cadence was having on him. "Damn heat" he whispered to himself.