He lifted her hand to his lips, and she closed her eyes at the tenderness in the gesture. “To meet a woman like you.”
It should have sounded like a line, but it didn’t. And the same feeling resonated inside her. She had always wanted to meet a man like Rick. Fun but intelligent. Sexy, with heart.
“Hey, what happened?” he asked, his hand touching her foot.
Haley glanced down and saw a trickle of bright red blood on her toe. “I must’ve stepped on something, maybe a rock.” She shrugged. “It doesn’t hurt. It’s no big deal.”
“Band-Aid and antibiotic ointment,” he said firmly, pulling her to her feet.
“There’s no need to make a fuss,” she protested.
“If you end up with an infection, you’ll really be fussing. C’mon. I’ve got the supplies in my room. It won’t take but a minute.”
As they took the elevator to his room, in some corner of her mind, it occurred to Haley that it might not be prudent to be anywhere near a bed with Rick. The temptation to do more and go further had been simmering between them for days, and tonight it was stronger than ever. But she knew Rick wouldn’t force her into anything. This was just a first-aid mission, not a seduction scene.
He motioned her toward the sofa as soon as he unlocked the door, then flicked on a light and opened the door to the balcony before he disappeared into the adjoining bedroom. He returned with a washcloth, a tube of ointment and an adhesive bandage. Haley extended her hand to take the supplies from him.
He shook his head. “I’ll do it.”
“I can put on my own Band-Aid.”
“Don’t deprive me of a legitimate reason to touch your feet.”
She smiled as he cleaned the sand from her foot. “You don’t have a foot fetish, do you?”
“No, but you have very cute feet.”
She curled her toes. “They’re long.”
“Like your legs,” he said, his voice laced with rough approval.
“I always thought I was too skinny in high school.”
Wrapping the toe in a bandage, he gave her body an appreciative glance. “Baby, you have filled out very well.”
He made her feel as if she’d kept her nose stuck in the books entirely too long. What had she missed by focusing almost exclusively on her studies? Her college buddies had insisted she take this trip to Mexico for some fun, to hook up with a guy and be spontaneous for once. Everyone close to her knew she worked hard to keep her grades up so her scholarship wouldn’t be threatened.
She was the first in her family to get a college education, and she never forgot how lucky she was to get to study photojournalism. She hadn’t allowed herself to get distracted. She couldn’t, but something inside her was pushing her toward Rick. The push was so strong it felt like a storm surge. Haley didn’t know whether to fight it or let it take her....
“Thanks for the complimentary medical treatment,” she said with a smile that she hoped covered her mixed emotions. “Are you sure you’re not a med student?”
Chuckling, he helped her to her feet. “No chance of that. Take a look from the balcony. It’s a nice view even at night.”
Following him out to the balcony, she drew in a breath mixed with sea air and the subtle scent of his aftershave and looked at the reflection of the stars on the ocean. “It looks like magic.”
He looked back at her. “Magic,” he echoed. “I don’t think it’s the ocean. I think it’s you.” He dipped his head and took her mouth in a kiss that made her feel things she’d never felt—heat and need so intense she trembled with it.
He pulled back slightly. “You’re shaking. Are you cold?”
“No,” she said, swallowing over the lump in her throat. “I don’t want this time with you to end.”
He nodded slowly and slid his hands through her hair. “I feel the same way. I can’t get close enough to you.”
In the warm, strong circle of his arms, she felt the heavy beat of his heart and the urgent evidence of his need pressed against her. Her own need surged inside her, overriding years of good sense and restraint. She had never felt like this about a man before. She didn’t want to miss him, to miss being with him. Something inside her broke free and she arched against him.
“How close do you want to be?” she whispered.
Time stopped between them, and Haley had the odd sensation of being in the eye of a hurricane.
Rick slid his hand to the small of her back to guide her more intimately against him. “As close as we can get,” he murmured, then took her mouth again.
Heat roared through her. She loved the taste of him, and he touched her as if he knew exactly what would take her breath away and make her heart pound. She felt the strings of her sundress slip to her shoulders. Rick’s mouth traveled down her throat to her chest, then he took her nipple into his warm, avid mouth.
A delicious combination of shock and desire coursed through her. She didn’t have time to react before he skimmed one of his hands up her leg to her panties. She could have stopped him. If she’d wanted to stop him.
His fingers slid into her secret, damp swollen place, and he groaned. “I want all of you, Haley.”
Her heart hammered in her throat. She knew she was at the point of no return. “I don’t have any—” She swallowed. “I don’t have any protect—”
He cut her off with one finger pressed to her lips. “I’ll take care of you.”
And she knew by the look in his eyes that he would. In every way a man can intimately care for the woman he wants. She closed her eyes for a second, scared, yet full of wanting, then opened them and met his gaze. “I want you.”
His eyes lit with dark fire, and he took her mouth, took her body and took her heart. He made love to her with fierce gentleness, seducing her response. He kissed her mouth and throat, caressed her breasts to turgid points of desire. Then lower still, he pressed his open mouth to her belly and thighs, then between her thighs.
When he thrust inside her, she felt the melding of minds, bodies, souls. Even afterward, she clung to him, shaken by the power of their joining. As if he couldn’t get enough of her, he made love to her again and again.... They finally slept wrapped in each other’s arms.
Hours later, the jarring ringing of the phone abruptly awakened Haley. She sat bolt upright in bed, disoriented by her unfamiliar surroundings.
“Yes, yes, it’s me,” Rick said, sliding to sit on the edge of the bed. He stopped mid-movement. “Oh, my God! How bad is he?”
Haley’s stomach clenched at the shock in his voice. She glanced at the alarm clock and bit her lip. Good news never came at two a.m.
“The jet’s already on the way? I’ll go to the airport right away.” Rick paused. “If he regains consciousness, tell him I love him and I’m coming.” He hung up the phone, his body taut with desperation. He took a deep breath then shook his head as if to clear it.
“What is it?” Haley asked.
Standing, Rick looked at her. “I have to leave. It’s my father. He’s had a heart attack.”
Her heart ached for him. “That’s terrible!”
He nodded, pulling out dresser drawers and throwing clothes into a suitcase. “I always thought he was as strong as an ox. I never thought he would—” He broke off, his voice catching.
She wrapped the sheet around herself and rushed to put her arms around him. “I’m really sorry. What can I do?”
Distracted and rightfully so, he shook his head. “Nothing. I just really need to go. I’m sorry. I’ll be in touch with you. Okay?”
Haley tamped down a flood of insecurities. Now wasn’t the time for her to ask for reassurance or declarations. “Okay,” she made herself say. “I hope he’ll be okay.”
Ten minutes later, she watched him walk out the door and hoped with all her heart that it wasn’t the last time she would see him.
Three
Four years later…
“It’s nice of them to let us see the executioner before they send us to the gui
llotine,” Susan Cooper said to Haley as the two of them walked toward the outdoor company courtyard to meet the new owner.
“Do you have to call him the executioner?” Haley asked, fighting her own nerves about the prospect of losing her job.
Susan Cooper shrugged. “That’s how Garrett Winslow operates. He buys and takes over little companies like ours, then cuts away the fat, so to speak—” she glanced down at her plump abdomen and sucked it in “—of the employee workforce.” She tossed Haley a mock scowl. “You don’t have to worry. You’re superslim.”
“I’m in advertising. That can be farmed out or taken over by one of his other companies.”
“But you take great photos and write great copy,” Susan protested.
“I appreciate your loyalty, but I take photographs of computer components. I’m replaceable.” Her stomach twisted with nerves. “I really don’t want to lose this job. The day-care center is right across the street. I can visit Jake just about every day for lunch, and if there’s a problem I can be there in less than two minutes.”
Susan patted her shoulder in sympathy. “You’ll be fine whatever happens. You’ve got your degree. You’ve got a great kid. And if you’ll just cooperate, I could get you ten marriage proposals in no time.”
Susan had been the best friend Haley could ever have since moving to Tremont, Texas, two years ago. A mother of two, married for fifteen years to a terrific husband, Susan worked as the assistant in Haley’s department and had opened her heart and home to Haley and Jake right from the start.
“I don’t need a husband. I just need things to stay the same,” Haley said.
“Hmm. Well, I can guarantee that won’t happen. C’mon, let’s get a look at the executioner. He may hand us our pink slips, but I hear he’s a hunk. He’s a bachelor,” she added with emphasis, then sighed. “But I also heard he has a beautiful blonde assistant who’s angling for another position and making some progress in that direction.”
Haley couldn’t help smiling at Susan’s ability to get the personal scoop on the new owner. “How do you get all this info?”
“I keep my ear to the ground and my nose to the wind.”
“Sounds like a recipe for a crick in the neck.”
“Aren’t you cute?” Susan said with a chuckle.
“That’s what you keep saying,” Haley playfully retorted as they approached the double glass doors, which led to the courtyard. “You go first.”
“Age before beauty,” Susan said with a sniff, then walked outside.
Haley’s stomach twisted and turned as she hung near the back of the large crowd of employees of E-Z Computer Corporation. She wondered if the company would keep its name or become Winslow Computers. That would really mess up the marketing plans.
Her mind turned to her son, Jake. She wondered how he would adjust to a move if she lost her job. She feared the transition could be difficult. She had chosen the job at E-Z Computers because the management had offered flexibility, a great health benefits package, reasonable job security and Tremont, Texas, was the perfect place to raise a son. Now it appeared that her job security would be threatened.
Hearing a flurry of activity behind her, she moved to the side as a small entourage of people walked through the doorway. Haley identified the president and vice president of E-Z Computers, a beautiful blonde woman she pegged as Winslow’s assistant and a tall, dark, handsome man who looked entirely familiar.
Her heart stopped. It was Rick Williams. The father of her child.
Garrett Winslow climbed the steps to the small platform as the president of E-Z Computers introduced him. Looking out over the crowd, he saw a mixture of curiosity and apprehension on the faces of the employees.
Both were understandable. In the past five years, Winslow Corporation had gained a reputation of taking over companies and making them lean and mean. After his father’s death, Garrett had been thrown into a battle to keep the control of the company in a Winslow’s hands. He’d had to prove himself by showing healthy profits from the word go.
He had succeeded and won the respect of every member on the board. If he’d sacrificed his personal life, then that was just a necessary loss. Maybe someday he would be able to have a life and family outside the confines of Winslow Corporation. But not now.
The employees applauded, signaling him to step up to the microphone.
“Good afternoon. Thank you for coming. I can’t tell you how excited Winslow Corporation is to bring E-Z Computers into our family. E-Z has produced a superior product and marketed it in a highly inventive and effective fashion. We want to take E-Z to the next level.” He automatically scanned the crowd as he spoke, and his gaze hung on the way the sun glinted on a woman’s strawberry-blond hair in the back of the crowd.
He paused. His heart hesitated. His mind traveled backward, to what now seemed eons ago, to a time when his life had been simpler. A sweet time when he hadn’t shouldered the burden of his father’s death and his subsequent struggle to take the reins of Winslow. A time when a woman had wanted him just for him, and not the Winslow name and fortune.
He blinked. It couldn’t be her. In lonely moments, he’d thought of her but never called. When his father had died on his return to the States, Garrett’s life had changed in an instant. There’d been no time for dancing and laughing. There’d been no time for love.
He remembered the bitter guilt he’d felt. While he’d been playing in Cozumel, his father had been dying. Even though, logically, he’d known he couldn’t have prevented his father’s death, he’d punished himself by turning away from thoughts of Haley and drowning himself in work.
As time passed, however, he knew he’d let something precious slip away, and losing Haley had become his greatest regret.
He continued speaking, but his gaze returned to the woman in the back of the crowd. She flipped her hair behind her shoulder, and he got an odd feeling in his gut. If he could look into her eyes, he would know.
He wrapped up his speech and nodded at the applause, then turned to Bob Stevens, E-Z’s president. “Bob, do you know if you have an employee by the name of Haley—”
“Haley Turner,” Bob said with a broad smile. “Great employee. She’s a great photographer, works in advertising. Everybody loves her.”
“I often like to talk with a few of the employees during these visits. I’d like you to put her on the list for this afternoon.” Garrett felt his pulse race but tried to remain outwardly calm. He wondered if he would find the words to explain. He wondered how she would respond to him. He wondered if there was a remote possibility that he could have her in his life again.
Four
“Mr. Winslow wants to see you.” The words echoed inside Haley’s brain as she walked down the hall to see Garrett Winslow. Her heart pounded a mile a minute. Had he recognized her? Was he going to fire her personally? Why her? Why not someone else? Of all the ways she’d fantasized seeing Rick again…Garrett, she mentally corrected. Of all the ways she’d fantasized Garrett coming into her life again, this hadn’t been one of them. Taking a shaky breath, she opened the door to face her past.
The sight of her made Garrett’s heart stop. Haley’s face was pale, her eyes didn’t quite meet his, and when he reached to take her hand, she hesitated then briefly pressed her cold palm against his.
“Take a seat, Haley,” he said, leaning back against the desk.
“Mr. Winslow,” she said with a short nod.
If he hadn’t noticed her pale complexion and slight jitteriness, then he almost would believe that she’d forgotten him. His gut twisted at the notion, but that was what he deserved. “You like it here at E-Z Computers?”
“Yes, I do. I’ve enjoyed the family atmosphere of the company. I hope that won’t get lost in the transition.”
“Family atmosphere is fine as long as it doesn’t hold the company back. Change is necessary to get ahead.”
“That would be your area of expertise. Getting ahead,” she said in a neutral tone.
She still didn’t quite look at him, and that bothered the hell out of him. He missed her warmth. He had missed it for years, but now standing in front of her as she sealed herself off from him like a cold vault, he missed it even more. “You’re afraid of losing your job?”
“Of course. Everyone is,” she said, lacing her fingers together. He could almost remember how her hands had felt on him. “Your reputation precedes you.”
He narrowed his eyes at her words. “What do you mean ‘my reputation’?”
She hesitated, emanating discomfort. “Just some talk I’ve heard.”
“I’d like to know what the talk is.”
“I’m not sure you really want to know,” she said, finally looking at him.
“I do.”
“You’re called the executioner.”
Remembering all the jobs he’d cut during the past couple of years, he nodded wryly. “I can see that. It’s not the only thing I do, though.”
When she didn’t respond, he found himself impatient for the way she had responded to him all those years ago. Ridiculous but true. Her legs were still long enough to give him hot fantasies, her hair sleek and strawberry-blond, and her body held a few more curves than he remembered. He wondered how many men had passed through her life and felt a surprising stab of jealousy. “Are you married?” he asked.
She paused a half beat. “No.”
“Will you join me for dinner?”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “No,” she said with breathless speed.
He leaned toward her. “I need to explain. I need to apologize for never calling—”
She held up her hand. “I don’t want explanations or excuses. I’m not interested.”
Frustration coursed through him. He’d handled a dozen difficult situations better than he was handling this one. “But we had something special, and there’s too much you don’t know. You’re acting as if this is the first time you’ve met me.”
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