by Lucy Monroe
He poured the remaining coffee in his cup down the sink and headed for the door. Ronnie re-mained in the kitchen in frozen silence while Jenny watched him with assessing eyes.
He stopped at the door and spread his gaze between the two women. "But the point is that I do want your sister."
Chapter Eighteen
"What in the h-e-double toothpicks is this?"
Allison flicked her gaze to the piece of paper in George's hand.
"I believe it is self-explanatory." It was her resignation with a request to be released from employment as soon as a suitable replacement could be found or two weeks from yesterday, whichever one came first.
She'd spent the night before considering her future and coming to the conclusion that it would not include George Kline. She respected herself too much to be any man's sexual fix, and since that was all she was to George, 3he had to get out of his life.
"You are not quitting over that dumb-ass argument we had yesterday."
"No, I'm not."
That stopped him. "Then what is this about?"
"It's about respect. You respecting me, which you don't, and me respecting me, which I do. Too much to continue working for you."
He crossed to her desk and pulled her out of her chair. His hold wasn't harsh, but it was firm. "I'm not letting you go."
Being this close to him was killing her, but she stuffed her emotions… like she always did in the office. "I realize it will be inconvenient for you to hire and train another PA, but it can't be helped."
"Am I supposed to train another lover too?" he asked, his tone biting.
She winced. "Yes."
He shook his head. "It's not going to happen. You aren't leaving me, lady. You belong to me, you got that?"
"An employment contract is not a slave agreement. I can move on to another job if I like."
His face went ashen. "This isn't about your job, darlin'; this is about us."
He'd never called her darlin' in the office before. Why had he waited until today to do it? It-might have meant something before.
"My job is the only role you really care about me playing in your life. You proved that yesterday. I'm not staying and you won't seduce me into changing my mind."
"Why didn't you answer the phone last night?"
"I unplugged it."
"Did you unplug the buzzer for your apartment building too?"
She shook her head, her throat clogged with emotion. She'd ignored the multiple buzzes, just as she'd ignored the pounding on her door when he'd obviously gotten another resident to let him in.
"I hurt you yesterday."
"You think?" Sarcasm wasn't her thing, but sometimes it was all that would do.
"I didn't mean to."
"I don't care."
He dropped his hands and stepped back. "I never suspected you of the espionage."
"You didn't tell me about it."
"That was me being independent and dumb."
George admitting fault? Unbelievable. "It doesn't matter."
What they had was over.
"It matters all right. I'm not letting you walk out of my life. I can't force you to work for me, but I'm not giving up on us, and you can take that to the bank, darlin'."
Then he kissed her. Right there in the middle of her office, where anyone could see. And it wasn't a quick kiss either. It was long and slow and sensual.
When he pulled back, she was swaying.
He gently propelled her backward until she landed in her chair. "You belong to me and don't you forget it."
He kissed her again, hard and fast, and walked back into his own office.
"I still can't believe you didn't tell me that you and Marcus were an item." Sandy's voice rose in chagrined condemnation as she walked with Veronica toward the cafeteria.
Coffee had sounded good to Veronica's sleep deprived brain. How was she supposed to get even a partial cycle of REMs with the prospect of marriage to Marcus dominating her every waking thought,waking being the key word?
Still, she almost wished she'd refused the lure of caffeine if it meant dealing with Sandy in a thwarted mood. And her gorgeous blond friend was feeling very thwarted that morning.
"I mean, can you imagine how I felt when he told me you guys were dating? Here I'd just made a play for my friend's boyfriend? It was so embarrassing. " Sandy didn't look embarrassed. She looked aggravated.
"You didn't have anything to be embarrassed over," Veronica tried to say soothingly, but she realized her voice had come out sounding a tad annoyed.
It wasn't as if Sandyneeded another conquest. The woman had more than her fair share of men.
"You didn't know Marcus was interested in me."
"You could have told me. Idid ask ."
Remembering the message Sandy had left Monday morning, Veronica felt the stirrings of guilt. "I didn't call you back because I got busy. And you asked if I knew if he was involved with anyone, not whether or not he was involved with me."
As explanations went, it wasn't very good.
"Oh,please ," Sandy replied, with obvious exasperation.
Okay, so she could have called Sandy back. She could have told her friend that she and Marcus had gotten serious, but she'd been so confused and beset by guilt about Aaron that she hadn't wanted to discuss Marcus with anyone, least of all another woman interested in him.
"Look, Sandy, Marcus is… He's…"
"What?" Sandy asked, her voice impatient. "Are you trying to say the interest only goes one way? If you don't want him…"
Sandy's voice trailed off, but her expression turned from one of irritation to pleased contemplation in a heartbeat.
Veronica wasn't sure of a lot of things, but one thing she did know: she didn't want the blond bombshell going after the man she loved. It was time to be honest, with Sandy at least.
"He's Aaron's dad and I think I'm going to marry him."
"Are you serious?" Sandy was almost shrieking. "Aaron'sdad ? Why didn't you say something right away? Now I feel even worse."
Veronica had no doubt her friend felt worse, but she didn't, for a minute, believe it was because Sandy had inadvertently made a play for an attached man. Veronica really liked the vivacious woman, but she wasn't blind to Sandy's faults and she didn't like to be thwarted in her pursuit of the male of the species.
"I didn't tell you because I didn't think it mattered. "
"How can you say it didn't matter?" Sandy asked, sounding bewildered now, instead of angry.
"I didn't know he'd be interested in getting back together. I thought he sort of hated me."
She'd actually thought that he despised her and that there was no hope of resurrecting their relationship. Heck, she hadn't thought there'd been much of a relationship on his side to resurrect. Apparently, she'd been wrong.
The man wanted to marry her and if she could convince herself it was as much for her sake as Aaron's, she'd probably agree to do it.
"That's not the way he talked on Monday at lunch."
Walking into the cafeteria, they headed straight for the food and beverage bar.
"What did he say?" Veronica couldn't help asking, as she lifted a brown plastic tray and set it on the metal railings.
"I'd just asked him if he wanted to come to my condo for dinner. He turned me down. You know me, I don't take no easily." Sandy's mouth twisted in a wry smile. "So, I asked for another night and he told me that you would be keeping him busy for the duration of his consulting job up here."
"Oh." Was she just being paranoid, or had there been significance to the fact he'd said for the duration of his time in Seattle?
"You said you might marry him," Sandy added, as she grabbed a tray and set it beside Veronica's.
"It's really iffy." Veronica put a napkin and spoon on her tray. She was just getting coffee and a scone.
"But it is a possibility?" Sandy pressed.
"More like a definite probability," Marcus interrupted from behind her before Veronica could answer.
She turned so fast that her glasses slid down her nose. She had to adjust them. "Marcus,what are you doing here ?'
How much had he heard?
"Looking for you."
"Oh." Either the lack of sleep had affected her brain, or her conversational skills had taken a major downward turn in the past thirty minutes.
Or the sight of six feet, two inches of sexually devastating male had melted her brain cells. Just looking at him brought feelings from the previous night, when they'd made love on the floor, rush-ing through her. She had this scandalous urge to wrap her arms around his neck and bring his lips down to her level for a breath-stealing kiss.
He'd probably go for it. The man had no shame. He would also probably think it meant she was giving in on the issue of marrying him.
He frowned and she wondered what was bothering him now.
"So, are congratulations in order, or not?" Sandy asked, batting her lashes in what Veronica was sure was a purely instinctive, flirtatious gesture.
"Ronnie may not feel like celebrating, but weare getting married." He smiled down at her and she felt her facial muscles clench.
He could be so darned arrogant!
She drew herself up to her full five feet, four-inches and strove for a cool expression. "We are not decided on this. I'm still thinking about it. Remember?"
Rather than answer, he grabbed her tray and put it back in the stack, tossing her napkin and plastic spoon in the garbage.
Then he favored Sandy with his most winning smile. "You don't mind if I kidnap Ronnie for a while, do you?"
Sandy smiled back—of course. "Not at all, provided I get dibs on first right to know when Veronica makes up her mind to take a hunk like you off the market."
Veronica's teeth clenched and she bit back a scathing comment about hunks and not-so-subtle man-eaters.
Marcus flashed that megawatt smile again. "Thanks. I'll make sure she calls you."
He put his hand out to her. "Coming?"
She wanted to tell him to take a giant leap somewhere deep, but she nodded.
There would be enough gossip on the employee rumor mill after the things she had told Sandy without adding a scene in the food line to it. Ignoring his hand, she swept by him and out of the cafeteria.
He caught up with her in a couple of steps. "So, what do you say? Should we go to that coffee place down by the water?"
Coffee still sounded heavenly, if not downright necessary, so she didn't demur.
Taking her acquiescence for granted, he led her outside to his car. She let him open the passenger door and help her into the Jag without a word. When he leaned over her to buckle her seat belt it reminded her of his innate courtesy whenever they were together. It made her feel cherished, which was a dangerous way to feel when trying to weigh the decision of marriage with a practical mind-set.
He didn't move right away after clipping her buckle into place, and his masculine scent surrounded her as he turned his head so that his mouth was only inches from hers. "You're so damn pretty, baby."
She opened her mouth to reply but didn't know what she would have said, and in the end, it didn't matter. His lips prevented her from uttering a word. They moved sweetly over hers for a brief but devastating kiss and then he stood up.
"You've got the sweetest lips." He winked at her and then walked around the car and slid into the driver's seat.
Sweet lips? Pretty? Didn't the man have eyes? Couldn't he see that she wasn't anything special, just an average, everyday wren type?
The heated look he gave her as he turned the key in the ignition said that he didn't see her as a brown little wren at all. In fact, if she was reading the expression in his eyes and curious tension in his body correctly, he saw her as fatally attractive.
Warmth curled in her insides and she found herself smiling at him.
He muttered a curse and leaned forward to kiss her again, this time hard and fast. "Thankyou."
"For what?" For kissing him? For coming with him without arguing?
He brushed the skin of her cheek. "For telling Sandy that I'm Aaron's dad."
She expelled a fractured sigh. "I would have told her sooner, but I hadn't told you yet."
"I can see where that might be awkward." Rather than sounding angry at her admission, his words came out with wry humor and he smiled at her again before putting the car into gear. "I called Alex last night. He congratulated us both."
"On what?" she asked suspiciously.
"Having a son. He wants to know when we're getting married. I told him as soon as I could talk you into it."
"At least you didn't tell him we were getting married as if I didn't have anything to say about it." She could never accuse Marcus of not knowing his own mind, but she wouldn't be at all bothered if he just once acknowledged that she knew hers.
"Do you want me to apologize?"
"To me or to Sandy?"
"Why would I apologize to the barracuda? To you."
He thought Sandy was a barracuda? Interesting. Clearly he didn't think the blonde deserved an apology for losing her coffee break companion or being lied to. Then, Marcus clearly thought he'd been telling the truth.
"Why?"
"It obviously bugs you when I tell people we're getting married."
"Don't bother. You'll probably just do it again."
He shrugged, which she took to mean he agreed with her, and then expelled a heavy sigh. "Believe it or not, I didn't drag you away from Kline Technology to push you into a decision about marrying me."
She snorted. Yeah, right. "According to you, there is no decision to make."
His knuckles turned white where they gripped the steering wheel, revealing that he was a lot tenser about her reaction to his pseudoproposal than he let on. "Let's leave that alone for right now."
Gladly. "Whatever you say."
"So what did you want to talk about?" she asked after several minutes of silence while he drove.
"My investigation. I figure that since you know the suspects on my list, you can give me insights into them."
He had a good point, but it made her feel creepy to be talking about her coworkers in conjunction with an investigation into corporate espionage. "So, who are they?"
He shifted down as they approached a red light.
Lucy Monroe
"Your boss, Jack. Sandy's on the list too. A design engineer by the name of Kevin Collins and an intern, Jerry Parks."
"Sandy and Jack are on the list?" Somehow she had never considered such a possibility.
"Yes."
"But Sandy's my friend."
Stupid. Stupid. Marcus wouldn't allow her friendship with the other woman to cause him to take Sandy's name off his list. After all, he'd lefther name on his list of suspects even though one might term themintimate friends.
'That doesn't mean she's not capable of selling company secrets. She fits the profile and she's had access to all the information that's been leaked."
"What profile?" Strain filled her body and leaked out in her voice.
Maybe she would have rather talked about the marriage thing.
"She drives a flashy car, wears expensive clothes and she has contacts with several competitive companies. She could be up to her ears in debt like the rest of America, or she could be augmenting her income as a technical marketing engineer with a little espionage on the side."
It was all so superficial, but she could see how Sandy might look suspicious to him. "But she was the first one to bring up the possibility of a spy to me."
Marcus made a sudden stop as an old woman carrying a black plastic garbage bag stepped out into the street in front of the car. "She could have been feeling you out. Seeing if you noticed the wealth of information about your company on the market."
"Or she could be innocent."
Marcus patiently waited for the woman to move across the street before putting the car into motion again, ignoring the honks of drivers behind him.
"Maybe." He didn't sound
convinced. "What about Jack?"
She just could not see her boss selling out his company. "He's a real team player, Marcus. And he's got lots of ideas for Kline Technology's future. I can't see him trying to undermine it."
"That could go hand in hand with his deep and not very subtle interest in Kline's supposed plans for expansion. Or he could be very good at making his interest in information not strictly related to him look legitimate."