“I guess you had a reason not to trust so easily.” She’d never admitted that before. Never even let it enter her head. In every scenario that ran through her mind, she was the sole victim in Eldrick’s schemes. But now she saw that wasn’t quite true.
“Don’t give me an out, Abby.” His fingers slipped lower then. Right next to her shoulder. Brushing against it in a soothing gesture. “I’m a grown man. I was done playing Eldrick’s games but that doesn’t excuse leaving you here to deal with him.”
“He bolted soon after.” She had been so happy that day. Happy every day since when he stayed gone.
Spence shook his head. “That’s not my point.”
She lifted her hand and covered his. Let their fingers tangle together. “I know.”
They sat there in silence. Images ran across the television screen. She’d turned the sound off when the doorbell rang and hadn’t turned it back on. Now they both watched the show, some detective thing with a lot of running, without any noise or talking.
She tugged him a bit closer. Felt the cushion dip when he slid over and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. The sex had been so good. Not smart, because she hadn’t insisted on a condom and at some point they needed to talk about that, but hot and right and almost cleansing in the force of it. But this felt pretty great, too. The silence. The calm.
Her fingers slipped over the remote, but she still didn’t turn on the sound. She didn’t want to break the mood. Not when she could concentrate on the way his breath blew over her forehead, and how every now and then, he would turn his head to place a chaste kiss on her hair.
“I know I need to earn back your trust,” he said into the quiet as darkness fell outside the windows behind the couch. “I just want you to think about giving me the chance to do that.”
Hope soared inside her and her heartbeat kicked up. The traitorous thing. The answer yes screamed inside her head but she didn’t say it out loud. Not yet. Not when Eldrick was still in town and Spence’s propensity to flee hadn’t been resolved. And she still needed to deal with Jeff Berger and whatever stupid thing he had planned for her.
She glanced up at Spence. Let her gaze wander over his lips. “I actually am hungry.”
A smile broke out on his lips. This one genuine and warming. “What do you want?”
She turned just a bit under his arm so she could see him better. “You mean you can cook, too?”
“I order things.” He suddenly looked so serious. “I’m really good at ordering.”
The joking almost did her in, but she held on to her control. This would take time to fix. “You just ruined my image of you as this big domestic guy who could do anything in the house.”
His eyebrow lifted. “Oh, I have skills. When you’re feeling better, I’ll show you.”
Her heart jumped. “Interesting.” Man, it so was.
“But for now...” He lifted his hips and slid his phone out of his back pocket. Started clicking on the keys. “You’re getting soup.”
It was the right answer but she wrinkled up her nose at the suggestion anyway. “I want a burger.”
He shot her a side-eye. “I’ll buy you as many as you want as soon as you’re feeling better.”
“That’s a pretty good incentive to get well.” So was he, but she didn’t mention it.
“Then soup it is.” He dropped a quick kiss on her forehead. “We’ll get back to the good stuff soon enough.”
For the first time in months she believed that. “You’re on.”
Ten
The next week passed by in a happy blur. They didn’t get naked again, which Spence regretted, but it was the right answer. He was willing to give Abby as much time as she needed and hoped the answer wasn’t forever.
She was feeling better and back to work, having missed only one day. Her so-called easier schedule quickly gave way to long meetings and even longer workdays. They went to dinner, talked, watched movies on her sectional, and then he went home each night after a lingering kiss. That was the new cycle.
Since Beth had dragged Eldrick right back out of town after the scene in the Virginia estate library, it was easy to ignore his calls. Even easier to ignore the stupid envelope with his To Do list for keeping the business. It sat unopened on the dresser in the bedroom Spence still used in Derrick and Ellie’s house. She was still resting but up more. Keeping Carter entertained and Derrick smiling.
It was all so normal. Well, normal for other people. Spence didn’t know what to do or what to think. He stayed on edge, waiting for the bad news to come. Because it always did.
In her second week back, they had a morning status meeting, covering several projects, and then Abby had a business lunch. Something she’d been putting off and moved on her calendar twice. He didn’t know what it was but he trusted her. They were...dating. He guessed that was the right word, but who knew. He wasn’t about to ask, because he didn’t want to scare her away. Not when things were going well.
Right now she was sitting in a conference room chair, pummeling Rylan with questions. “When will the report be done?”
He shifted the papers around in front of him on the conference room table. Abby had insisted on scheduling them for the big room. The one with expensive artwork hanging on the walls and the blackout curtains. It spoke to the company’s success and provided a level of intimidation.
The whole thing was wildly enjoyable for Spence to watch.
“I need—”
“Rylan, I am done playing with this.” Abby leaned back in her chair. “You know I am.”
Something had changed in the relationship between Abby and Rylan. It had always been professional, respectful and still was, but Abby’s patience had seemingly expired. There was a charged energy in the room. Gone was Rylan’s flirting and Abby’s gentle coaxing. She was going in for the kill.
“I finished,” Rylan said in a flat tone. “You set a deadline and I met it.”
He pushed a report across the table. A letter attached to a thick binder with folded blueprints tucked inside.
Abby didn’t touch it. “I thought so.”
“The project has been approved. There are no more impediments to getting started on the work.” Rylan couldn’t have sounded less excited if he were talking about toothpaste.
Spence was pretty sure he’d missed a step. No question the Abby-Rylan dynamic had flipped. Rylan actually looked a little afraid of her, which was probably a wise choice. Abby walked into the meeting looking all professional and no-nonsense in her trim black suit. Rylan usually let his gaze travel a bit. He’d wait until she turned and would sneak a few peeks. Not today.
Spence found the outfit sexy as hell. That little bit of light blue stuck out from the top of her buttoned jacket had sent his control careening into a wall. He’d seen the jacket unbuttoned earlier in her office. He knew the shirt was silky and thin and all he wanted to do was get his hands under it.
He really hoped he earned that right back soon.
“If that’s all?” Rylan stood up before he finished the sentence.
“You’ve signed everything?” Abby just stared at the man, still not touching the paperwork she’d pushed so hard to get completed. “I don’t want any surprises.”
“No, we’re done.”
She nodded. “Good answer.”
A minute later, he was packed up and Spence showed him out the door. Handed him off to an assistant, then stepped back into the conference room. The satisfied grin on Abby’s face suggested she liked how that battle ended.
“Want to clue me in?” he asked.
Her head jerked up. “What?”
“That was a big change in attitude. You were coddling him, letting him take the maximum time to ensure the project got approved. It’s exactly what I would have done since Rylan seems like the type who craves attention.” Minus the flirting, of course
. Spence was pretty sure Rylan wouldn’t have tried that tactic on him. Spence leaned against the table and faced her where she still sat in the chair. “He went from drooling over you and dragging his feet to jumping to your every demand.”
She shrugged. “We had a chat and I made my position clear.”
“Which means?”
“I told him he had misstepped if he thought he had a chance at something with me. Also made it clear I wanted the job done.”
“Uh-huh.” That sounded like half a story to Spence. “Did he actually make a pass at you?”
A week ago that question might have sent her temper spiking. It could have led to a fight, with one of them storming out. But that had changed, too. Spence no longer weighed every word. He was careful but not wary.
She stood up. Let her hand trail over his thigh. Low enough to be decent but with enough pressure to pull his mind away from the office. “Abby...”
“I made it clear that it would be stupid for him to try anything.” She rubbed her thumb back and forth over a crease in his pants.
“Are you trying to prove to me that you can handle him?”
“Didn’t I?”
“You did, but I already knew that you would.” His hand went to her waist and he toyed with one of the buttons holding the sides of her jacket together. “Any chance I can convince you to skip your meeting and have lunch with me?”
By “lunch,” he meant not eating. He’d settle for an actual meal, but his control was wavering. The more he watched her in action at work and cuddled with her on the couch at night, the more he wanted everything. And the more Jackson’s use of the word love didn’t seem so misplaced. Not that he was ready to talk about that, because he wasn’t.
“Derrick would be impressed with your work ethic,” she said.
Spence and Derrick had an understanding. Spence knew his strengths and Derrick didn’t try to redirect those. “My skills tend to be best used in going out and getting us new projects to bid on, or better yet, just win outright.”
“Always the salesman.”
“It takes a lot of time and study.” He stood up, letting his hand linger on her stomach. “Weeks, sometimes months, of reviewing everything to find the right course of action.”
“Are we still talking about work?”
Not really. “Of course.”
She tugged on the bottom of his tie. “How about this. We both be good employees this afternoon, then we’ll meet up for dinner.”
He liked the way her mind worked. “I can make a reservation.”
“At my place.” She skimmed a finger down the buttons of his shirt. “We’ll stay in.”
All the blood rushed from his head. The idea of a night with her, even just holding her, sounded so good. “You sure?”
“I hear you’re very skilled at doing dishes.”
He had to smile at that. She could charm and seduce him into just about anything. “Not to brag but I’m good at a lot of things.”
“I plan to let you prove that to me.”
* * *
With one battle done, Abby moved on to the next one. Last week, as soon as her bad cold passed, she’d called Rylan. Made it clear to him that passing notes to her from other businessmen was both juvenile and a move guaranteed to haunt him. She mentioned filing a complaint. Then she talked about telling Spence about what really happened and how Rylan let Jeff Berger use him.
She’d dropped every threat she could think of to teach him a lesson. Once she had his full attention, telling him he had exactly one week to finish his work and deliver his report had been easy, and he beat her deadline by a few days.
She suspected this meeting with Jeff would not run as smoothly.
They met in a noisy restaurant. One of those impossible-to-get-reservations type in a building that used to be a bank or a warehouse or something. It had soaring ceilings and the bar stretched out along one side with an open kitchen in the back.
The servers shared a similar look. She thought of it as unshaven, hair-in-a-bun male Pacific Northwest vibe. It fit with the decor and the all-black serving outfits. They seemed to know Jeff and hovered around the table, trying to please him. Even called him by name.
She wrote the whole scene off as more of his power-play antics. He wanted to impress her, make her think he controlled everything. Whatever.
What he didn’t understand is she’d already taken on Eldrick and Rylan this week and somehow managed to tame Spence into potential boyfriend material at the same time. Whatever threats Jeff had planned would be just one in a long line she intended to bat down.
She ignored the menu in front of her and reached for the water glass. Taking a sip, she glanced around the main dining room. Saw the plates of salad and bottles of wine being delivered to tables. Heard the clink of silverware as she tried to decipher the mumble of conversation around her.
Jeff’s heavy sigh broke through the action. He slipped an envelope across the table. “Here is an explanation of what we need and compensation for your time. Just as we discussed.”
“We never discussed anything.”
He frowned at her. “Don’t play hard to get.”
The man was savvy. Abby guessed there was a typed note and cash in there. Didn’t matter because she didn’t intend to open it and find out. She slid it back across the table in his direction. “Not interested.”
Jeff made a big show of folding his menu and putting it aside. He leaned in with his elbows on the edge of the table. “Now, Abby. You don’t even know what I’m offering.”
Turned out this meal was exactly what she thought it was about—trying to get her to spy on Jameson Industries. She wasn’t interested in anything from Jeff but she sure wasn’t interested in that.
“A trip to nowhere.” She looked around for the restroom. From there she could make an easy escape. That sounded smarter than risking Jeff making a scene. “No, thanks.”
She turned in her chair and started to get up.
Jeff’s hand clamped down on her wrist. “Sit down.”
She didn’t jerk back or start yelling. Didn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing his touch made her want to throw up the stale protein bar she’d choked down before coming into the restaurant fifteen minutes ago. “Amazing how you become less charming when you don’t get what you want.”
“I tried this the nice way. I offered you a job months ago, and you said no. I just offered you an easy way to make extra money and you pushed it away.” He dropped her wrist and sat back again. “Do you see what I’m saying?”
She refused to rub her wrist to alleviate the burning sensation of his hold. “That you can’t take no for an answer.”
“You’re the problem here, Abby.”
She was just about done with overbearing businessmen. Seeing how others operated made her appreciate Derrick and Spence’s style even more. No wonder Eldrick had thought he could get away with bullying. Apparently, it was the go-to move for many just like him.
But the comment did intrigue her. She gave in to her curiosity. Maybe this way she could prepare for whatever he had planned for the future. “How do you figure that?”
“I’m done losing to Derrick.” Jeff shook his head. “All I need is some information. Not on every job, of course. That would look suspicious.”
In other words, Jeff couldn’t compete on a fair playing field. Good to know. “I work there. Screwing him screws me.”
“You have a safety net in my office in the form of any managerial position you want. I’ll make up a title for you.”
Right, because that’s how this worked. Once she broke the trust in one office, her reputation would be in shambles. No one would hire her, not even Jeff. But that didn’t even matter because she wasn’t tempted. Just because Jeff was that type didn’t mean she was.
He’d made a similar offer at the lowest poi
nt in her business career. She’d been harassed and just lost Spence. Felt vulnerable and convinced she’d be fired. She guessed she’d given off a pathetic vibe. But still, she didn’t bite then. She had no idea why Jeff thought she would now.
“You’re asking the wrong person. I don’t play like this.” She had pride and integrity and didn’t plan to forfeit either.
“You’re going to regret this.” Jeff stared at the untouched envelope then picked it up again. Slipped it in his jacket pocket.
“The lunch? I already do.”
“We’ll see how funny you think this is after...”
After what? She was dying to know. “Goodbye, Jeff.”
She got up and forced her legs to move. Something about his tone and that last comment pulled at her as she walked away. The words could mean anything. But she’d learned early to expect the worst. Now she did.
Eleven
Spence followed her home that night. Abby left about fifteen minutes before he did because he got stuck on a phone call about a problem with a project at the University of Maryland. One of those calls he couldn’t just jump off of because there were ten other bored people in on it who also wanted to get off the line.
The second after he hung up, he raced out of the office. Tried to act professional and nod and smile to everyone he passed in the office hallway but his insides churned. He’d heard the whispers about him dating Abby. Even spoke with Derrick about them. The conclusion was that Human Resources should talk to Abby to make sure she was okay. People dated. He and Abby knew the dangers because they’d already lived through them once. Mostly.
That left a clear line between him and Abby tonight. Except for the ongoing trust issues, his idiot father and the very real sense she was hiding something from him. All of those issues stayed stacked in a teetering tower between them, but Spence was ready to unpack.
He also ached to touch her again. Once had not been enough. The hurried sex in the pantry could only be described as explosive. He wanted to experience the joy of slowly getting to know her body. And that could happen tonight...unless he misread the cues, in which case dinner worked, too.
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