by Carol Rose
She thought she felt his hand at her back, urging her closer.
“Goddammit! Damned crazy elevator nearly killed us!”
The sound of Doug’s swearing brought reality splashing back. Kelsey reluctantly looked away from Jared to where Doug knelt. Turned away from them, still clinging to the elevator hand rail, he jabbed angrily at the emergency button.
“Kelsey!” Doug said, turning toward her with concern. “Are you all right?”
“Yes,” she said, the hesitation in her voice as much from her close encounter with Jared as from the elevator’s malfunction.
She let herself glance at him, still kneeling on the floor beside her.
Jared stood. He extended a hand to help her up, his expression matter of fact again, although she could feel the energy bouncing off him.
“Are you okay?”
“I think so.” Kelsey let him pull her up, aware of the strength of his hand around hers.
“Damned stupid death trap,” Doug ranted beneath his breath as he stood up, still punching at the elevator buttons. “End up in the basement…kill someone someday.”
Before Kelsey could do more than tug her short skirt down and smooth a hand over her dark chin-length hair, the elevator started moving again. Whisking up two more levels, the capricious contraption stopped on her floor and popped the doors open as if it had been behaving itself all along.
Kelsey felt herself being propelled from the elevator into the agency’s foyer. Her knees wobbled beneath her as Jared’s hand remained firm at her back.
“Are you okay, Kels?” Doug asked, following solicitously, concern on his face.
With the floor solid beneath her feet, she said, “Yes. There doesn't seem to be any harm done.”
“You could have broken a bone, hit your head and gotten a concussion, the way that thing dropped,” Doug sputtered.
“Why don't you find the maintenance people and get them working on the problem,” Jared suggested, nodding toward the other elevator. “I'll meet you in the ground floor lobby in a minute.”
Doug hurried to the other elevator.
“Of course.” Doug glanced doubtfully between Kelsey and his boss. “I'll drop by your office later for a visit, Kelsey.”
“Good. See you then,” she murmured, still suffering reaction from her near meltdown in Jared's arms. It was something of a shock to realize how susceptible she was to the guy’s undeniable physical attributes.
Looking up, Kelsey found Jared watching her, hands slung into his pants pockets, a smile playing on his lips, the ever-present challenge in his eyes.
“Thanks for breaking my fall,” she said calmly despite her quaking nerves. Sometimes she got the feeling that Jared enjoyed rocking people off their balance and she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing the sensual riot his embrace caused in her.
“My pleasure,” he assured her, his straight face belied by the smile in his eyes. “We’ll have to do it again sometime soon.”
On her way back to her small office, Kelsey reminded herself of why she shouldn’t get involved with Jared Barrett
He was a client. Although, heaven knew that didn’t create an insurmountable barrier. In the carnivorous business of advertising, what the client wanted, the client got.
No, the biggest reason to turn away from the invitation she saw in his eyes was the man himself. Kelsey played the dating game by certain rules and Jared struck her as being a man who made his own.
She might enjoy being clasped to his manly chest, breathing in his intoxicating scent, but she couldn’t see the wisdom in risking her peace of mind by getting close to the man.
CHAPTER TWO
A light tapping on her office door the next morning made Kelsey look up.
Doug stood in the open doorway, as neat as ever in his conservative suit, a smile on his boyish face. “Busy?”
“Always. Come in.” She’d spent the last twenty-four hours thinking about Amy and Doug and her own blindness to their feelings.
Doug glanced back down the hall. “Jared’s checking with J.T. about the dates for the new campaign. He’ll be right here. We thought maybe you’d have time to go over the proofs for the magazine layouts.”
“Certainly,” Kelsey smiled awkwardly, suddenly self-conscious about every gesture. How did a woman convey to a man that he was an important friend, but not feed his hopes of something more? “Just move the stuff out of those chairs while I dig out the proofs.”
She rummaged through the piles on her desks, reflecting that she’d had plenty of experience in getting rid of men she wasn’t interested in. That was fairly simple. But telling a friend and possible future brother-in-low to get lost just wasn’t an option. Doug wasn’t the usual mindless predatory jerk she generally ran into. She didn’t want to hurt him. She just wanted him to see the light.
“I-I tried to call you last night,” Doug said. “Did you go out?”
As if her ears had suddenly been opened to a whole new range of sound, Kelsey heard the studied casualness in his tone, the delicate question. It was as if Amy’s words had opened her senses to reality. She felt like crying. How had she been so blind?
“Yes,” she said with a bright smile. “There was an opening at a new gallery.”
“Who was your lucky swain this time?” Doug asked, the pleasantness in his voice not reflected in his eyes.
“James Buchanan,” Kelsey said. “He called out of the blue yesterday.”
Doug frowned. “I thought you said he was a jerk and you didn’t want to see him again.”
Kelsey shrugged, wishing she’d remembered that when James called. As it was, she’d been so distracted by the Amy and Doug problem that she’d agreed to go out with the guy even though they hadn’t spoken for several months. For good reason. His arrogance bored the heck out of her.
“The gallery sounded interesting,” she extemporized.
“More photogravure?” he asked, mentioning an old photographic technique that was enjoying a resurgence.
“No, some artist who got a decent review in the Times.”
“Really? We’ll have to go look at his work together sometime,” he said, hope and excitement shining softly in his blue eyes.
“It wasn’t that good,” Kelsey said hastily.
Just as Doug opened his mouth—to question her further, she knew—Jared appeared in the doorway.
“Good morning. How’s my elevator buddy?” Jared’s dark eyes gleamed with amusement and a lingering warmth.
Kelsey stood up as he came in, ignoring the tingle of excitement that his presence always brought. “No lasting damage.”
If she didn’t count the hot, sexual dreams that had disturbed her sleep last night. Who’d have thought elevators would rank so high on her list of erotic fantasies?
Those few moments locked in his arms had left an impact she was trying to ignore. Having him this close in her tiny office wasn’t helping, either. His delicious, male smell, the warmth from his body seemed to pervade the room. She’d thought pheromones were supposed to be subliminal, but at this moment, her every nerve ending was on alert. There was nothing unconscious about her attraction to Jared.
His smile held the faintest impression of a dare, as if he knew she was trying to resist her attraction to him.
“I’m glad you weren’t hurt,” Jared said, his gaze lingering on her face for a moment before he glanced at Doug. “Have you looked at the proofs?”
The next fifteen minutes were filled with talk of work, much to Kelsey’s relief. Between guilt over Doug and hot flashes from Jared, she was glad to focus on anything impersonal at this point.
“Kels,” Doug said to her quietly as his boss made some notes for changes in the ads. “What time shall I pick you up for the awards dinner tomorrow night?”
“What?” She sat bolt up-right in her chair. Oh, heavens, she’d forgotten!
“The dinner,” Doug reminded her playfully, “where they give out awards for advertising.”
&nbs
p; “Uh….” She scrambled furiously trying to think what to say. Damn her, she had assumed Doug would take her, just as Amy said. And he’d just as easily assumed the same. Guilt clutched at her. She had to do something about this, had to find a healthy balance with Doug and give him room to have a life of his own.
Doug frowned. “You’re not going with James, are you?”
“No!” Kelsey blurted out, last night’s torture still fresh in her memory. It took about half a second of watching Doug’s expression clear, before she realized he’d offered her the perfect out. And she’d blown it.
“Well, then…,” Doug said.
“I have a date with…someone else,” she declared in a panic.
“Who?” The faint frown was back on his brow.
“You don’t know him,” she said, quickly. “Listen, you don’t always need to worry about me. Take a date of your own. Someone you enjoy.”
“I always enjoy you,” Doug said, his voice low and soft.
Kelsey winced. How could she have been so selfish all these years, so glad to have a constant, steady friend in her life that she’d missed seeing what was right under her nose?
Doug had always been there when precious few people had. For some women, that might be reason enough to marry the guy. But Kelsey looked up at his earnest, sweet face and knew she could never do that to him. He deserved a woman who loved him to distraction, a woman who'd at least give him four or five years of wedded bliss if not a chance at that lottery love.
Not knowing what to say, Kelsey turned quickly to where Jared sat, a faintly satirical look on his face as he penciled notes on the copy. “So, any more changes?”
“I think I’ve got it all,” Jared said, handing her the pad.
“The text changes, anyway. I’d still like us to go over the photo layouts.”
“Of course,” Kelsey took the pad.
“Doug,” Jared said. “Why don’t you run those changes down to J.T. while Kelsey and I work on the rest of it. If J.T. has any questions, you’re more qualified to answer them.”
“Thanks, Jared.” Doug took the pad, a flush of pleasure on his face. “See you later, Kelsey. Just call me if your date has a problem or something comes up.”
Kelsey watched him go, a sinking feeling in her stomach. It didn’t matter to Doug that she had a date with someone else for the awards banquet, she realized. How many boyfriends had he waited through? Doug was made of tougher stuff. She couldn’t help but be impressed by his commitment to his ideal, even though she was sadly aware that his devotion was sorely misplaced.
Somehow, she had to convince him that she wasn’t the woman for him…and she had to do it before her sister moved to London.
***
She thought she was so tough. Jared glanced up from the proofs he’d been studying, his gaze lingering on Kelsey as she made a phone call.
He’d gone to get himself a cup of coffee and returned to her office to find her absorbed in a series of phone calls, her back turned to the door.
He’d rarely met a more attractive, fascinating woman, all hip-girl on the outside, soft and sweet somewhere inside. She didn’t willingly show that more vulnerable side, but Jared guessed it was there. He’d learned to trust his instincts through the years of building Barrett, Inc. from a small hotel chain to one of the more profitable luxury resort enterprises in the country. Business was all about being able to read the other guy…or girl.
“That’s okay, Raphael,” Kelsey murmured, the sweep of her dark, smooth hair blocking her expression. “I know it’s late notice. Yes, of course. Sometime soon.”
She hung up the phone with a muttered, “Damn.”
Jared didn’t lie to himself, Kelsey was a big part of the reason he’d decided to stay actively involved in the ad campaign for The Meriton’s expansion. The New York market still had room for one more haven for the very rich, and if he found a fascinating woman while attending to business, so much the better.
She picked up the receiver, flipping through a small address book and dialed again. Turned away from the door, she was clearly unaware that he’d stepped back into her office.
His instincts went on full alert when she was near. He was the last man to fall in love impulsively, but he trusted his gut and he knew Kelsey, with her intelligence and wry outlook, had significant possibilities.
He wanted a wife. A woman to have children with, to build a solid foundation for the family he envisioned. Kelsey’s caution and her veneer of hip, city girl did more than peak his interest. She challenged him, her cool attitude getting his hunting blood up and racing through his veins. The woman was spunky, meeting his teasing with quick retorts. He liked that in her, the willingness to stand up for herself.
Doug had once let slip that Kelsey and her sister’s family background was rocky and she was, therefore, wary of commitment. According to Doug, Kelsey didn’t think love lasted.
She might doubt marriages could last a lifetime, but that was all Jared would settle for, when he did marry again. For the six months of their acquaintance, he’d been pondering the woman, considering the possibilities she offered him, more and more convinced they had a strong attraction. Just those few moments of holding her in his arms when their elevator dropped had confirmed the chemistry. But getting her to commit would call for careful handling.
He’d grown up in a happy family with parents who were married for a lifetime. Having already failed once at marriage due to his own youthful carelessness, he was determined not to screw up again.
So he’d waited and watched these last few months, making sure of his own intentions, learning his opponent’s strengths and weaknesses and waiting for the right moment to strike. Maybe Kelsey wasn’t the woman he thought she was, but every indicator so far pointed to her generosity and basic sweetness. Her glossy veneer was just a shield to keep her from getting hurt, he’d realized. She was a princess in need of a prince.
Of course, she didn’t see herself that way.
Jared glanced over the ad layout, his ears acutely attuned to Kelsey’s murmured conversation. He’d slipped into her office quietly, wanting to catch her off-guard.
“…an awards banquet. It’s tomorrow night. Short notice, I know….” She fiddled with an editing pencil, tapping it against her desk.
Watching her, Jared wondered what she was up to. Ever since he’d come back into the room, she’d been busily trying to find a date for the banquet she’d claimed she already had a date for.
He knew she often went out with Doug, so why was this event different? Perhaps, his stirring the pot with Amy was having an effect, as he’d hoped.
Kelsey’s attitude toward commitment intrigued him. What scared her so much about letting a man make her promises? Anything but a wallflower, she shook hands with a firm grasp and met his gaze openly, a faint impudence in her bearing.
Working his way into Kelsey’s arms and life might call for a little maneuvering, Jared knew, welcoming the game.
“No, no, Michael,” Kelsey laughed. “You can’t ask your fiancée if we can go out ‘one last time.’ But I appreciate the offer and wish you two the best of luck. Okay. Bye.”
Still chuckling, she hung up the phone.
Jared shuffled the ad layouts.
Kelsey glanced over her shoulder. “Oh, I didn’t realize you were there.”
“Don’t worry about me,” he replied easily. “I just want to double check the ad. Go ahead with whatever you’re doing.”
She turned slowly back to her address book, reluctant, he guessed, to make personal phone calls in front of a client. Then again, maybe she didn’t want him to hear her angling for a date.
“Go on,” Jared urged her.
“Okay.” Kelsey dialed again. “Is Stan Samuel in? Stan! How are you? Oh, really.”
Jared’s amusement and interest grew as he listened to her work her way through the last part of the alphabet. No doubt about it, if she lived in a smaller town, she’d have exhausted the male population.
A less confident man might have felt intimidated. Jared felt challenged. She intrigued the hell out of him.
“Ron Tompkins…. No, I understand.”
“David Vanagas?”
“No! Bill, if the Wallace family is having a family reunion and your dying grandmother will be there, you have to go.”
“Sam Yancy. Tell me you’re not busy tomorrow night. Not one, but two dates?” Kelsey raised her hand in protest. “No, don’t cancel them for me. Please.”
What Jared couldn’t understand was the fact that she kept coming up empty. A few times, she’d muttered a name to herself and then shook her head decisively. She had standards, apparently, and some of the guys in her book didn’t measure up. Two names even merited her searching for an eraser.
“Is Tom Zmikis there?” Kelsey asked wearily, closing her address book. “Out of town…South Africa for three months? Okay, thanks.”
“No luck?” Jared asked when she put the receiver down.
“No,” Kelsey sighed, leaning back in her chair with a rueful smile on her face. “Ten million people in the naked city and I can’t find a date for tomorrow night.”
“If you didn’t really have a date, why did you lie about it to Doug?” Jared asked, mild curiosity in his voice.
“Because Doug would have insisted on taking me if he knew I didn’t have an escort lined up and my sister doesn’t like being left home alone while the guy she’s in love with runs me around.”
Bingo. Bless Amy. He suppressed a smile.
“I didn’t know Doug and your sister were dating,” Jared said, bending the truth.
Kelsey’s face turned sardonic. "That’s part of the problem. Amy’s really interested in him, but Doug’s not getting a clue.”
“Really. And all this time I thought Doug had a crush on you,” Jared said, letting amusement glimmer in his tone.
A little sympathy and some fresh mocha roast was all it had taken to get the low down from Amy on the situation between Kelsey, her sister and Doug.
An expression he couldn’t interpret flashed across Kelsey’s face. A mixture of sadness and guilt?