by Lucy Monroe
"Well, I've got aone o'clock , so I'd better go. It's been a real pleasure getting to know you, Marcus."Sandy extended her hand toward Marcus, who had stood when she did.
He shook it and said good-bye before reseating himself at the table.
Veronica looked at her watch pointedly. "I've got things to do this afternoon, as well. Stop by my desk when you're ready and I'll show you your office."
"Okay, honey."
"Please don't call me that. I'm hardly your honey and I wouldn't want my coworkers to get the wrong idea." She sounded like a spinsterish schoolmarm from the 1950s.
Why couldn't she carry things off withSandy 's easy sophistication?
Marcus cocked his head to one side and studied her. "Just what exactly would be the wrong impression, Ronnie? That we once meant something to each other? That there's more to our relationship than the surface connection of Kline Technology?"
'There isn't more to our relationship. Not anymore." She realized it was the wrong thing to say as soon as the words left her mouth.
They sounded too much like a challenge and Marcus was too darn competitive to ignore it.
He gave her a wolf's smile. "Have dinner with me tonight."
This was it, then. The moment of truth. Did she have the guts it would take to call his bluff?
She didn't really have a choice. If therewas a corporate spy, she had to de-tooth Marcus's threats to tell Mr. Kline about her past. She opened her mouth to say yes, but Marcus forestalled her by speaking.
"You owe me."
Shocked, she blurted out, "I don't owe you anything. "
His blue eyes narrowed, deepening to the color of aquamarine. "I was your lover; you betrayed me."
The idea that he would have felt personally betrayed did not sit well with her. She had enough guilt to carry without adding that burden.
"I betrayed Alex and CIS, not you. TheHarrison deal was his baby."
"You left me. You didn't even say good-bye."
She stared at him, her mind grappling with his words. "We didn't have a formal enough relationship to break off. Remember? No ties. No commitments."
He ought to remember the rules: he'd set them.
He leaned across the table until their faces were inches apart. She could see her own reflection in the black depths of his pupils. Her gaze lowered to rest on his firm, male lips. Did they still taste as intoxicating? Would they soften with desire if she gave into her insane urge to lean toward him until their mouths met?
"We were sleeping together almost every night of the week. I'd call that pretty damn formal, baby."
She shook her head, denying his words while trying to break the sensuous spell he'd woven over her.
"We never slept together. Not once. You didn't do the morning after, remember?"
Part of her, the rational part, was still conscious of their surroundings and could not believe they were having this conversation in the employee cafeteria. No one was sitting within hearing distance, but she still felt conspicuous with his body leaning so close to hers.
She could have moved away. She should have moved away, but she didn't. Because having Marcus this close to her felt too good, even if it was only due to his desire to set her straight.
"Stop arguing semantics here, Ronnie. You left me. You didn't say good-bye."
She watched his mouth move as he spoke, getting a peek at his straight, white teeth, the tongue that used to drive her wild. It took her rapidly melting brain a second to make sense of the words that had come out of that mouth.
"I left the note so Alex wouldn't suspect you," she couldn't help pointing out.
It had cost her a lot to leave that note. It was as good as a confession and had been a huge risk if Alex decided to prosecute. She'd taken the risk, though, because she couldn't stand the thought of Alex possibly suspecting Marcus of leaking the information toHarrison .
It was only later, when her mind had cleared a little, that she had realized her disappearance would have been confession enough. By then, the damage had been done. She'd written the note, confessing her sin to Marcus, and had left forFrance with her gravely ill sister.
She didn't find out what Marcus would have said in reply to her reminder because at that moment Jack walked up. "Hey, you two. Is this a high-level planning session or can anyone join?"
Marcus sat back in his chair, the soft fabric of his signature Hawaiian shirt—a different one from the day before, but just as garish—flowing against the muscled wall of his chest. His movement was both graceful and casual.
He didn't invite Jack to join them but smiled at her red-haired boss. "It's not a planning session at all. Ronnie and I were just talking about old times."
Jack's eyes widened and he spun to face her. "Old times?"
Irritated with Marcus for implying a personal relationship between the two of them yet again, she nevertheless felt compelled to answer. "I used to work with Marcus at CIS."
Jack's smile was all masculine speculation. "I see. Is he by any chance the reason you've turned down my invitations to dinner?"
"I turned down your invitations to dinner for the reason I gave you. Kline Tech discourages personal relationships among members of the same department."
Not to mention the fact that she had other things to do with her off-hours time than spend them with Jack. She had a baby son and younger sister to take care of.
Of course, as a charming but fairly egotistical man, Jack would have a difficult time believing she just hadn't been interested in him.
Jack turned his attention to Marcus and gave him a man-to-man look. "She could transfer to a different department if she really needed to, but I doubt Kline would even notice."
And why should she be the one to transfer? Men could be so arrogant when it came to relationships.
"I like my job and at times I even like you, Jack. But I don't appreciate this conversation."
She also didn't like the look of gathering doom in Marcus's eyes. He hadn't liked her saying she liked Jack. Not one bit. Why was not important. She figured it had something to do with him seeing his prey possibly moving out of reach. If she had a relationship with Jack, Marcus couldn't very well blackmail her into his bed.
He never played around with women in committed relationships. It was a rule he adhered to just as strictly as the one about no commitments.
Jack shrugged and took a sip of his coffee. "Don't sweat it, Ronnie."
The subtle emphasis he placed on the shortened version of her name was not lost on her, nor on Marcus, judging by the narrowing of his gorgeous blue eyes.
He stood up abruptly, his jaw tight, then picked up her tray and his own. "You said you had things to do this afternoon, honey. I'll walk you back to your desk."
She nodded, getting to her feet. Now was not the time to take him to task for his abrupt manner. She might as well show Marcus his cubicle while they were at it.
Jack jumped up too. "Hey, I'll walk with you."
Veronica tried hard not to grind her teeth. The last thing she wanted was to walk to her cubicle with two testosterone-laden men vying for one-upmanship. She knew Jack's use of her nickname had been a deliberate ploy to show Marcus that he had as much claim on her as he did.
When in truth neither man had a claim on her at all. And neither wanted one either. This wasn't about her; it was about male competitiveness and she wasn't having any part of it.
Marcus returned from dumping their lunch trays. "Let's go."
She drew herself up. "You two go ahead. I need to stop by the design team admin's desk. She and I have some scheduling issues to work out regarding an upcoming meeting."
Issues that would be handled more efficiently on the phone with each admin having her department's calendars in front of her, but it was the only excuse she could come up with on such short notice.
"What about my office?" Marcus asked.
"It's kitty-corner to mine. There's a temporary nameplate with your name on it on the cubicle wall outside. Y
ou can't miss it." She smiled with smug triumph.
She had taken care of walking upstairs with the two men and given herself a reprieve from seeing Marcus again. All in all, she'd handled the situation pretty well, if she did say so herself.
Marcus's eyes narrowed. "I guess I'll see you tonight then. Let's saysix o'clock at the same restaurant we met at on Friday. Maybe this time we can actually get around to eating dinner."
Chapter Six
Marcus watched Ronnie follow the hostess to his table with a sense of relieved anticipation.
After his parting comment that afternoon, he hadn't been entirely sure she would show. Storm clouds had already been gathering in her eyes when he'd decided to set Jack straight about Ronnie's availability.
However, he knew for a fact that if he'd made such a suggestive comment in front of Alex two years ago, the last place she would have shown up for dinner tonight would be a restaurant he had practically ordered her to meet him at.
The thought that she'd only come because of his threat to tell Kline about her past gnawed at his conscience.
The hostess led Ronnie to the seat across from him at the small table, giving her spiel about the night's specials as she did so. Ronnie listened with grave politeness, saying nothing even after the hostess took her leave.
"I didn't think you would show."
If he moved his legs just an inch or two forward, his knees would be touching hers. She had worn a skirt tonight and it was a tempting thought.
Those too-serious gray eyes fixed on him. "I didn't think I had a choice."
His jaw clenched. "We all have choices in life, Ronnie."
She'd made hers eighteen months ago when she sold out CIS and abandoned her lover.
"You're right," she surprised him by saying. "But sometimes our choices are all bad for us and we have no alternative but to pick the lesser of two evils."
Was she just talking about tonight, or was she trying to explain her actions down inPortland ?
"Is having dinner with me really such an evil?" he couldn't help asking.
She looked at him, her eyes unfathomable pools of gray. "I don't know. I'm not sure of anything right now."
Her honesty surprised him, but then it always had. She'd never played emotional games with him. That was one of the reasons her actions with CIS and Hypertron had gutted him so completely.
'Tell me about your choices, honey. Make me understand."
The words surprised him, but they seemed to shock her even more. She picked up her napkin-rolled cutlery and carefully undid the bundle, laying each utensil in its proper place on the table before placing the burgundy cloth in her lap.
"I didn't realize you would want to. I guess I just somehow assumed you'd decided you hated me and that would be the end of it."
Didn't she care if he hated her? "And it didn't matter to you how I felt?"
She looked at him as if trying to read his mind. Finally, she spoke. "It mattered a great deal."
"But not enough." It hadn't stopped her from betraying him.
Her eyes filled with a wealth of sadness. "No, not enough."
His heart twisted and the pain he felt at her words was physical.It haan't mattered enough ,. Whatever they had had together hadn't been important enough for her to give up her plans to make a fast buck.
"You said you gambled with the money."
The thought sickened him, only increasing his inner turmoil. He'd been closer to Ronnie than any other woman in his life and she'd given him up to make a gambling stake.
"I did. I gambled for my sister's life."
He didn't know what he would have said and was glad for the interruption right then by the waiter. The pimply-faced kid identified himself as Jason and proceeded to go through the entire list of specials again.
Marcus caught Ronnie's eye and winked. Her lips tilted and he knew she was biting back a rare giggle. Man, he wished she wouldn't. He'd love to hear her laugh again.
He and Ronnie gave their orders and the waiter disappeared, only to reappear moments later with their drinks. Marcus realized that any further private conversation would be impossible.
"I want to finish our discussion, but not here," he told her.
She bit her lip and then nodded. "Okay."
Looking for a less volatile subject, he said, "Alex told me you called him once."
"Yes."
"You didn't call again." So much for less volatile. His voice sounded accusing and he couldn't do anything about that.
"I didn't see the point. He said he'd forgiven me and wasn't pressing charges. I told him I was sorry and thanked him. I didn't know what else there was to say."
"You didn't ask about me." Damn. He might as well write his feelings in neon and let her know just how much her desertion had hurt.
She rearranged the condiments in the middle of the table. "I didn't want to hear how much you hated me. If I didn't ask, I could go on pretending you believed in me enough to know I'd had a good reason to do what I did."
"Did you?"
She sat up straighter in her chair, looking around the dimly lit restaurant and then back to him. "You said we'd talk about this later."
He bit down on his frustration as the waiter approached their table, two plates of salad in his hands. "Right. So, what do you want to talk about?"
She surprised him by contemplating his question much longer than he would have expected.
She tucked the soft brown strands of her hair behind her ear. "I don't know… Why don't you tell me about CIS and how things are going there, or Alex and Isabel, or last year's Rose Festival."
He stared at her, struck by how much she must miss it all. She'd once told him she considered CIS like a family. The sentiment had really surprised him considering how unemotional she was in the office. He was beginning to see it would take a powerful motivator to send her away from the familiar. She'd said she gambled on her sister's life. That would definitely have been a strong enough motivation to leave.
"I'm a partner at CIS now."
"You are?" She smiled, clearly pleased for him. "I'm not surprised. You and Alex were always more like brothers than coworker*."
"That's what he said when he made me godfather to his daughter."
Her eyes filled with shock. "He and Isabel had a baby?"
"Yes."
"How old is she?"
Marcus had to think for a second. "About ten months, now. Hope's a doll. She just started walking. She's early. I told Isabel she'll probably be early at everything else too. She's a smart baby. I had to childproof my whole apartment after she started crawling."
"You baby-sit?" She sounded appalled by the possibüity.
"Yeah. I'll never forget the first time Isabel dropped Hope off at my place. She said she wanted to surprise Alex with a couple of hours alone." He didn't know why, but it felt right talking to Ronnie like this, telling her stuff he hadn't told anyone else.
"Hope was about two months old and still breast-feeding. When I brought that little matter up, Isabel produced a bottle, a diaper bag and her assurances that everything would be fine. I was terri-fied, but by the time Isabel and Alex came later that evening to pick up Hope, I was in love. I get second dibs right after Priscilla."
Ronnie's eyes had opened wide as he spoke and now she stared at him as if she didn't know him at all.
"Second dibs?" she asked faintly.
"Yeah. As grandmother, Priscilla gets first dibs on baby-sitting privileges, but as Hope's pseudo-uncle and godfather, I get second."
Ronnie made an obvious effort to pull herself together. "That's Alex's mom, right?"
"Yes. She's also CIS's new secretary."
He waited to see her reaction to that piece of news and wasn't disappointed as two flags of color slashed across her lovely cheeks and her pretty gray eyes narrowed.
"Alex's mom is the new secretary?"
He smiled, feeling smug about the way he'd played her that morning.
She hadn't liked hearing ab
out the new secretary at CIS and he was glad. He sure as hell didn't like knowing Jack was on the make and Ronnie was his prime target. He really didn't like feeling possessive about a woman who had betrayed and left him. It made him feel a little better to know that she might have left, but she still cared on some level at least. Cared enough to be jealous.
"Like I said, she's not quite as organized as you are, but her loyalty is unquestionable."