Who was he trying to fool? There’s no way he was going to get any work done. He wanted her more now than he had the night before, which he wouldn’t have thought possible. Now that he’d tasted her, he knew it was only a matter of time before he would have all of her.
A matter of time? No. He wanted her now. Wanted his hands on her curvaceous breasts, wanted his mouth on every single inch of her skin. He was rampant at the image of those long, shapely legs wrapped around him. Muttering a harsh expletive under his breath, he subtly adjusted himself in his chair.
He would have her tonight, of that he was certain. There would be no walking away from her this time.
With that settled, Adam ruthlessly squelched his desire for Trish and forced himself to get down to the business of running his company.
“This has got to be the longest day in history,” Trish muttered as she sat at her desk later that afternoon. She’d been trying all day to forget about the night before, forget about that stunning kiss and focus on her job.
Earlier, she’d actually considered claiming she was ill and going home. But if she’d gone home, she’d just be staring at her four walls and slowly driving herself insane. But being here at the office, so close to Adam and not being able to do anything about it, was driving her batty.
“And just what would you do about it if you could?” she asked herself bitterly. “He doesn’t want you, remember? You were practically begging him to make love with you and he walked out.”
Granted, she didn’t have much experience in making love, or with men in general, for that matter. But she was fairly certain that having the man walk out after the woman said she was all fired up and ready to go was not a good sign.
She cringed at the memory of her puckering up and practically begging him to kiss her before he left her room last night. But no. Instead of kissing her, he’d whispered, “Next time,” then walked out.
What had he meant? Next time? Next time when? Tonight? Tomorrow? Next year? And why did she care? She wasn’t here to be romanced. But in spite of her best-laid plans and against her better judgment, she wanted to be.
Needless to say, she hadn’t slept well at all last night, despite the beautiful room and that plush bed.
Now she wondered, not for the first time, whether she should just quit her job with Adam Duke and deal with the pain of losing her home and her grandmother in some other way. She had to face the fact that the man she’d been seeking revenge from, the man who had ruined her life and destroyed her grandmother’s dream, no longer stirred up the same anger and resentment inside her.
No, that man stirred up something very different inside her now.
“Oh, my goodness,” Trish said, as tendrils of lust radiated through the pit of her stomach. She was in very deep trouble if simply thinking about the man could turn her insides to jelly.
Trish forced herself to remember that she was being paid to work here and that’s just what she needed to do. If nothing else, it would keep her from feeling sorry for herself. There was nothing worse than a pity party for one.
Bouncing up from her chair, she gathered a stack of documents that needed to be copied and carried them to the copier. For the next three hours, she buried herself in work, typing documents and letters, making copies, running to the mailroom. Thankfully, the work kept all her troubling thoughts from circling over and over in her mind.
The next time she looked up from her computer, Adam was staring at her from his doorway. “Do you mind staying late tonight? We’ve got some extra work to take care of.”
“No, I don’t mind,” she said. “I’d planned on it. Shall I order dinner?”
“In a minute,” he said. “Can you come into my office first?”
“Of course.” It would give her a chance to tell him what she’d been thinking about all day.
He sat on the edge of his desk as she approached.
“I want to thank you for everything,” she said tentatively. “Dinner last night was wonderful, the resort is magnificent and, um, I hope you’ll accept my apology for what happened, you know, after.”
Adam studied her for several long seconds, his face an expressionless mask. “No.”
Okay, she hadn’t expected that. Couldn’t he see how hard it was for her to humiliate herself in front of him? Again? As confused as she was by his reaction, she was also a little steamed. For heaven’s sake, she was apologizing to him, the least the man could do was be gracious about it.
“No?” Her eyes narrowed in puzzlement. “You won’t accept my apology? But…you can’t just say no.”
“Yes, I can.” He pushed away from the desk and approached her. He was so close and his look was so focused on her that for a moment, she thought he might kiss her again, right there in his office. And however crazy it was to think it, it was even crazier to hope he would do it. Which made her wonder just how unhinged she’d become.
But instead of kissing her, he took hold of her hand and led her to the sitting area at the far end of his office.
When they were both seated on the soft burgundy leather couch, Adam squeezed her hand. “Are you apologizing for our kiss last night?”
She couldn’t meet his gaze but instead concentrated on an intriguing spot on the wall beyond his left shoulder. “I behaved completely unprofessionally. I can’t even believe I did that. You should probably fire me, but maybe we could just move on and forget it ever happened.”
“If anyone should apologize, it’s me,” he told her, dropping her hand and standing up. “I’m your boss. You don’t owe me anything.”
He pulled her to her feet, took her hands in his and held them tightly. “I should apologize, but I’m not going to.”
“You’re not?” She blinked at him. This wasn’t going the way she’d expected it to.
“No. Because I’m not sorry at all. I really liked kissing you and I’d love to do it again, but I’ll understand if you don’t want to.”
“Oh, but I do,” she said in a rush, then felt her cheeks burn. Very smooth, Trish, she told herself. Burble over him like a high school girl talking to the football star.
“I’ll understand,” he repeated quickly as his mouth spread into a grin. “I’ll be extremely irritable and I’ll have to take a cold shower or two, but I’ll understand.”
She breathed in, then out, slowly. “You’ll understand.”
“That’s right. I won’t like it, but you say no and this is done. Here. Now.”
She pulled her hands away and tried to gather her thoughts. All she had to do was say no. It was up to her. He wanted her, just as she’d hoped. And she wanted him desperately, despite knowing what kind of man he was. Despite knowing it was a huge mistake. But, first, she had to say something.
“Adam, it’s important that you know that I’ve never done that before. That is, I mean, I hope you don’t think I’m…” She exhaled heavily and waved her hand in exasperation. “Oh, you know what I mean.”
He laughed softly. “Are you trying to say you don’t usually kiss the boss?”
She raised her chin and met his gaze. “Of course I don’t.”
He gazed at her with that crooked, boyish grin of his and she felt another unwelcome spark burst into flame in her belly. She reminded herself that she was flirting with the enemy, but it didn’t help douse the flames. She wanted him. She knew better, knew she should stand up and walk out right then, but she couldn’t. She wasn’t going anywhere.
“Say no and we’re done. But if you don’t say it, Trish,” he whispered, lifting one hand to skim her hair back from her face, “then there’s no stopping once we start.”