One Sizzling Touch

by Tina Folsom

  He was only a yard away from her now and stood there, legs wide. “Yes, I. Is this how the SEC operates these days? Is this how you plan to prove I committed insider trading? By sneaking into my bed?”

  “I’d be careful with those accusations,” she warned. “I’m here in an official capacity. If I find out that you seduced me last night, because you found out about the impending investigation, there will be consequences. To try and influence an SEC agent is a crime.”

  Zach let out a bitter laugh. “You want to warn me? Don’t throw stones when you’re sitting in a glass house.” He jammed his index finger into her shoulder. “You were in my territory; I wasn’t in yours. And I didn’t know that the SEC was going to investigate me, nor did I know you were going to be the agent in charge. Therefore, explain to me how I could have known to target you. Let’s be clear. You’re the one who’s in the wrong. You tried to influence me.”

  He could see in Rochelle’s eyes that she was contemplating his words. While she remained silent, his gaze dropped to her chest, which rose and fell. Unfortunately that movement reminded him of their lovemaking the night before. How she’d submitted to him. How she’d climaxed. How she’d sucked him with such ardor.

  Despite his rage, he couldn’t get the pictures out of his mind and felt his body heat with desire. He wanted to toss her onto his desk and fuck her until she told him the truth, until she admitted that she’d come on to him knowing full well who he was.

  “It was an unfortunate coincidence,” Rochelle finally snapped. “You could have damn well told me your last name.”

  “You didn’t tell me your last name either.”

  “I’ve done nothing wrong.” She took a deep breath. “So let’s talk business.”

  “No wonder you didn’t want to give me your telephone number,” Zach continued, ignoring her comment, because he wasn’t ready to talk business, not for a long time.

  “As if you would have called me! Do I have NAIVE tattooed on my forehead? Don’t think I’m stupid. It was clear from the get-go that you only wanted sex. And now you want to make me believe that you would have called me? Please! I wasn’t born yesterday.”

  “You’re wrong if you—”

  A short knock at the door interrupted him. Both he and Rochelle fell silent. A moment later, Jessica entered carrying a tray with coffee and pastries.

  “Where to?” Jessica asked and eyed him cautiously as if she knew that something was going on.

  “In the seating area, please,” Zach instructed.

  While his assistant placed the tray on the low table between the sofa and the two large leather armchairs and set out the cups and plates, Zach motioned in her direction.

  “Miss Wright, I apologize. Where are my manners? I haven’t even offered you a seat yet. I’ve been too fascinated by our conversation. Please.” He pointed to the sofa and armchairs once more.

  With a clenched jaw, Rochelle nodded. “Thank you.”

  “Would that be all, sir?” Jessica asked.

  “Thank you, Jessica. And please make sure we’re not interrupted.”

  His assistant nodded. “Of course, sir.”

  Then he addressed Rochelle, “Sugar for your coffee, Miss Wright?”

  She met his eyes. The smile she forced onto her lips was clearly only for Jessica’s benefit, who now turned to the door. “No, thank you.”

  “Really? No sugar?” Zach asked and glanced at the door, which finally closed behind Jessica. “And there I thought you liked things sweet. At least that’s the impression I got from last night. With all the sugary-sweet crap you were feeding me.”

  Rochelle shot up from the couch. “That’s enough!”

  7

  Rochelle’s entire body trembled with outrage. How dare Zach accuse her of having faked everything that had passed between them last night? Every moment had been real—far too real. Nothing had been pretense, neither the raw passion that she’d felt with him, nor the sober awakening this morning when she’d regretted not giving him her phone number. Because she had wanted to see him again.

  But not under these circumstances. Because now they stood on opposing sides. And she knew exactly what that meant: she couldn’t get involved with Zach. If she did, she would jeopardize the entire investigation. In addition, her own job would be at risk. If her boss found out that she and Zach had been intimate, he’d suspend her immediately. Without pay! And she couldn’t afford that.

  No matter how much she hated being caught in a situation like this, she had to make the best of it. And to do that, she needed Zach’s cooperation.

  She took a steadying breath that she hoped would help her calm down, but instead she inhaled Zach’s aftershave, which made mincemeat of her efforts. The scent reminded her all too vividly of the night before and sent heat waves through her body.

  Damn it! How could a woman think clearly with a man as tempting as Zach so close to her? He’d jumped up, too, and they were facing each other now with only the coffee table between them.

  “Zach,” she started slowly, “it’s a shame that you got the wrong impression about last night. I was a civilian. I had no idea who you were. If you don’t want to believe me, then that’s your problem. But I haven’t done anything wrong.” She nervously flattened the wrinkles in her skirt. “So, if we could please talk about business—”

  “Give me a reason to believe you,” he interrupted.

  There were all kinds of reasons why he should believe her. She’d surrendered to him the previous night, without reservations, without holding back. She had trusted him with her body. But she didn’t think she wanted to point this out to him right now. Neither Zach nor she needed to be reminded how passionate their lovemaking had been. To be reminded of it made the entire situation uncomfortable enough, to talk about it would make it unbearable.

  So she decided to appeal to his good sense. “Please think about it: I wouldn’t gain anything if I sed—” Seduced you, she’d wanted to say, but that word was too intimate. “I mean, if I started something with you either before or during the investigation. It would only question the validity of my work. And if you were honest with yourself, you’d see that, too.”

  She looked into his eyes. Was she getting through to him?

  She held his gaze, but couldn’t interpret his facial expression. Zach was so very different from the night before. Nothing of the witty and charming man, whom she’d met in the bar, was left. He seemed unapproachable. And cold. This realization nearly choked the air from her lungs.

  “Okay, so let’s say it was a coincidence and you didn’t know who I was… How do you expect this… thing to continue?”

  “This thing? Well, the investigation will go ahead as planned—”

  “I’m not talking about the investigation.”

  She swallowed hard in order to push down the lump that had risen in her throat. “B-but…”

  Her palms were sweaty and she wanted to rub them on her skirt, but she stopped herself, knowing such a gesture would reveal her nervousness. And that would put her in a weak position. “You and I… it was just a night.” She cleared her throat in order to lend more strength to her voice. “That was clear from the start. It was anonymous. And it would have remained that way had…”

  “But it didn’t. And that changes everything.”

  Was she detecting a look of satisfaction on Zach’s face?

  “But it doesn’t have to. We just have to pretend that nothing happened.” Because if her colleagues, who were due here any moment, found out what had happened between her and Zach, her gig was up.

  “We don’t have to pretend anything,” he claimed.

  “But my colleagues are coming—” She stopped herself, but couldn’t take back the words. She’d just given him a front to attack.

  Zach tilted his head to the side and studied her for a long moment. Then a smile played around his lips and instinctively, she relaxed. Finally he understood and would give in so that this entire situation wouldn’t get any mo
re embarrassing than it already was.

  “Your colleagues?” he asked politely. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

  “Miss Vasquez and Mr. Esposito will be assisting me with the investigation, taking care of the audit of the electronic files.”

  “I understand,” Zach said and pointed to the couch again.

  She sat down and he did the same.

  “Coffee?” He filled a cup for her.

  She accepted it and took a sip.

  “And your colleagues are on their way here, you said?”

  Rochelle looked at her wrist watch. “They should arrive any moment.”

  Apparently satisfied with her answer, Zach nodded and leaned back in his leather armchair. “Then we should make good use of the remaining time to negotiate the conditions of our truce.”

  She nearly choked on her coffee and coughed. “What?”

  “You didn’t really think that I’d just drop the whole thing without any concessions, did you?”

  “But you just said that you understood.”

  “I understand your situation very well indeed. However, it doesn’t mean that I’ll give in.” He bent toward the coffee table. “Because the way I see it, you’ve got more to lose than I do. Imagine your colleagues finding out that we’re in a relationship.”

  Rochelle’s chin dropped. “We’re not in a relationship.”

  He motioned to the door from where she could already hear the sounds of footsteps coming down the hallway. Had her colleagues arrived?

  “Your colleagues might get the wrong impression.”

  She huffed indignantly. “Because you want to give them the wrong impression.” Her hand trembled, when she set the coffee cup down.

  “They don’t have to if you and I come to an understanding.”

  What was Zach planning? “What kind of understanding?”

  “Here’s how I see this working. You and your colleagues will do your job and I won’t let anybody know that we were intimate. In exchange, you’ll go out with me tonight.”

  Rochelle looked at him, stunned. “You can’t be serious.”

  The telephone on his desk began to ring. “I believe that’s my assistant announcing your colleagues.”

  “That’s blackmail!”

  “Call it what you must.” He rose and slowly walked to his desk. Without looking back, he added, “As soon as your colleagues enter my office, the deal is off, and I will behave like your lover from last night, no matter who’s watching us.”

  Rochelle jumped up. “You can’t do that.”

  Zach stopped behind his desk and reached for the phone. “Last chance.”

  Her lips trembled with rage. If Zach made good on his threat, her boss would suspend her today. And then she’d pay dearly for her lapse in judgment.

  She wanted to curse, but she suppressed the urge. One single time she’d let herself go. One single time she’d done what her heart wanted. And what was the result? She’d maneuvered herself into a situation from which she didn’t see a way out.

  She had no other choice.

  “Agreed,” she bit out from between clenched teeth.

  She had to concede right now, but tonight over dinner, she would clear everything up and appeal to his good sense. Surely, right now Zach was simply too annoyed to think clearly, but in a few hours he’d cool down and be more reasonable. He would realize that he had overreacted.

  8

  Agreed? Had Rochelle really accepted his idiotic demand?

  Zach could hardly believe that he’d even made this suggestion. What had gotten into him? Because for certain it hadn’t been his brain that had made that decision. Because his brain was only just switching on, telling him that to go out with Rochelle was not only stupid, it was irresponsible. Wasn’t it enough that while she was running this investigation, he would have to see her on a daily basis? Why was he signing up for more torture by taking her to dinner tonight?

  Had he lost his fucking mind?

  “Yes, Jessica?” Zach now answered the phone.

  “A Miss Nicole Vasquez and a Mr. Anthony Esposito from the SEC are here to see you.”

  “Send them in,” he advised her and disconnected the call.

  When the door opened a moment later and Rochelle’s colleagues entered, he walked toward them and greeted them.

  “Miss Wright already informed me that you would be joining us.”

  “Good morning, Mr. Ivers,” the young woman said and shook his hand. “Nicole Vasquez.”

  Zach nodded and addressed the man, whose skin color hinted just like Miss Vasquez’s that he was either from Mexico or Latin America. “Mr. Esposito, nice to meet you.”

  Then Zach looked to the door, where Jessica still waited. “Jessica, could you please bring two more cups?”

  “Sure. Oh, and Mr. Ivers…” She motioned him to approach. “About the shareholders…” Her gaze drifted to the SEC staff.

  Shit, he’d totally forgotten about them amidst all the commotion.

  “Security downstairs has already announced them,” his assistant whispered. “What shall I do with them?”

  “Is the large conference room available?”

  Jessica shook her head. “The accounting department is using it.”

  A soft ping coming from the direction of the elevator sounded. Crap! The shareholders couldn’t find out that the SEC was investigating him for insider trading, or they would withdraw all their support for the project he wanted to discuss with them today.

  “Stall them. Tell them I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  As Jessica rushed outside, Zach quickly pulled the door shut before the elevator doors opened, and turned back to his visitors from the SEC.

  “So, how can I help you?” He smiled at Rochelle.

  Rochelle had joined her colleagues and now looked at him. “If you could please give my colleagues access to your computer, it would really make our work here much easier.”

  “Of course.” He marched back to his desk and sat down. “Is it sufficient if I log you in, or would you like me to write down my password for you?”

  Miss Vasquez approached. “Logging us in is sufficient.” She placed her briefcase on the edge of the desk and opened it. “I’ll go over the list of files with you, which we’d like to look at in order to…”

  Zach waved her off. “That’s not necessary. I’m sure you know what you’re doing.” He rose and pointed to the comfortable leather office chair. “Please, take a seat.”

  Then he rounded the desk and walked to Rochelle. “Oh, Miss Wright, since you’re the one in charge of the investigation, it might be good to get your cell phone number so I can get in touch with you.”

  She patted her jacket pockets. “Oh, what a shame. It looks like I’ve left my business cards at the office.”

  Zach reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his own business cards. “No worries. Why don’t you just write it on the back of this one? You have a pen, don’t you?”

  He waited while Rochelle reluctantly pulled a pen from her briefcase and scribbled her number on the back of his card.

  From Jessica’s office, Zach could hear voices that seemed to be getting louder.

  “Well, then everything is settled,” he said and took the card from Rochelle. Much lower he added, “I’ll be in touch about tonight.”

  Before Rochelle could answer, the door was ripped open.

  “You know how much I hate waiting,” a woman with a high-pitched voice proclaimed. “Of course Zach has time for us. We’ve got a meeting scheduled.”

  With a smile pasted on his lips, Zach turned toward the door. “Emily, impatient as ever,” he greeted her.

  A wave of expensive perfume instantly permeated the room as Emily Grover, the rich and three-times-divorced heiress of a grocery store chain swept into the room. No had never been part of her vocabulary and it appeared that Jessica’s explanation that he was busy hadn’t gotten into Emily’s spoiled brain.

  Behind her the portly Max Da
venport and the spindly Chris Leech entered the office.

  Zach noticed how Emily looked in the direction of his desk, where Miss Vasquez and Mr. Esposito were hovering over his computer.

  “Oh, you actually are busy,” Emily said and gave her diamond-studded wristwatch a pointed glance. “And we’re not even too early.”

  Zach forced his face into a friendly smile. “The IT department is installing a few new programs. Why don’t we leave them to their work?” He nodded to Davenport and Leech. “Max, Chris, nice to see you.”

  Before the agents of the SEC could make any comments to his claim, Zach tossed Rochelle a meaningful look.

  “Thank you, Mr. Ivers,” she said quickly. “We’ll make sure that your data will be safe.”

  “Thank you, Miss Wright.” He turned to the three shareholders. “I figured I’ll show you how the renovations on the 45th floor are taking shape, while we talk about the new project.”

  Zach motioned to the door. As the three shareholders left his office he almost felt like sighing with relief and pulled the door shut behind him.

  “Three people to install some computer programs? Isn’t that overkill?” Leech asked, forehead furrowed.

  “They’re training a new person,” Zach answered quickly. “And as you know very well, I like to support training young staff.”

  “Excellent,” Davenport grunted his approval. “Like to see that.”

  “And the third person? That’s a waste of money,” Leech added. He’d always been a penny pincher. And that would probably never change, even though he could call a large fortune his own.

  Zach motioned to the elevator. “Shall we?” With an inviting gesture he ushered the three toward it and pressed the button so the doors opened instantly. As they filed in, Zach looked over his shoulder to address his assistant. “And Jessica, can you please make a reservation at Clementine’s for tonight?”

  “For how many?”

  “Two.”

  “Would seven thirty work?”

  “Perfect, thanks.” He entered the elevator and typed his access code into the pad next to the door, then pressed the button for the 45th floor. Access to the floor under renovation was restricted.