by Shayla Black
Noah hesitated. “But I don’t think it’s me she’s objecting to. I think it’s the idea of relationships in general. And I don’t get it.”
“Because clearly, you’ve never had your heart broken.”
“I wouldn’t say that.”
To say Lauren was shocked was a huge understatement. “You, broken hearted? I can’t picture it.”
“Try. I’m not impervious or immune. I’ve been hurt. Sometimes, it still hurts.” He glanced away for a second, then shrugged. “That’s never stopped me from dating and trying to move on. It’s frustrating that she won’t let her guard down with me. If you were her, what would be stopping you?”
“Aside from your cheerleaders and your reputation?”
Noah leaned forward, into her personal space, and directed her a stare that just about singed her toes. “Aside from that.”
She tried to back away, but in a small restaurant booth, she really had no place to go. “I don’t know this woman…”
“You’re a lot like her, I think. You have a lot in common.”
Lord, Lauren wanted to know who this woman was. And where did he meet her? A bar? A business trip? A bus stop? No telling.
“Look, I don’t know her situation, so I probably shouldn’t—”
“Please. I need your help. I really… This means a lot to me. She means a lot. I think she’s the one.”
Lauren sighed in defeat, grinding her teeth to try to hold in her…no, that couldn’t be despair. She was upset. A little. That’s it. Damn it.
Noah ditching his string of Miss Right-nows in favor of one Miss Right had to happen someday. The timing sucked, but she certainly didn’t need a serious guy, much less another trip down the aisle. Maybe she should give him hints, send him on his way. Their office relationship would be much less strained if he had a serious someone else. Maybe she’d stop fantasizing about him. Someday.
She should help him…but the idea made her want to sharpen her fingernails on the woman’s face.
“Divorce taught me that men always want what’s new and shiny,” she whispered. “With Tim, it was promotions and trips to Rio and Moscow, Paris, Hong Kong, Cairo, etcetera. Fill in the blank. The bottom line was, his work was always more important. He wasn’t even there when Cass was born.”
“I remember. I was there.”
Her anger softened. “I know. It was sweet of you to wear out the carpet in the waiting room.”
Amusement danced in his blue eyes. “Do you think she’s afraid I might be a workaholic?”
“Not you. If she knows you at all, she knows that’s not the problem. Focus, here. Shiny and new. With you, it’s women. And with you, there’s always plenty of those swarming around.”
“I think swarming is a strong word.”
“Yeah, you’ve never been crushed by the horde. Remember that Fourth of July picnic—”
“Ancient history,” he insisted. “You’re telling me you’re convinced it’s because she believes there’d be another woman to replace her sooner or later.”
“Sooner rather than later. Even if she isn’t specifically worried about you leaving her for someone else, it takes a while before a girl wants to risk her heart again. God knows, I’m in no hurry.”
Noah shot her a piercing stare. “But what if, in your hesitance, you’re passing up Mr. Perfect-for-you?”
Lauren paused. That had never actually occurred to her. Clearly, she was too young to spend the rest of her life alone. She might be ready for a steady boyfriend in the next decade. But what about all the opportunities—men—she was passing up now?
“I guess if it was meant to be, he could wait until I was ready.”
Noah shook his head. “What if he’s ready now? Take me, for instance. I’m almost forty. I want a wife and babies while I’m young enough to enjoy them.”
Her jaw dropped so low, Lauren felt sure it dragged on the table. “You want to marry this woman and have kids?”
“Yes.” He stared at her. Right at her.
That stare unnerved her. She swallowed. Here came that nasty imitation of despair again. But boy, it felt like the real thing… “I had no idea you were that serious.”
“Now you do.”
“What about the woman who once broke your heart?”
“Who says this isn’t the same woman?”
Okie dokie. He was serious. Deadly serious. Lauren blew out a deep breath. She could handle the fact Noah had apparently been in love with someone for at least months, maybe years, without crying. Hopefully.
“And you’re just going to take another chance on this same woman, even though she hurt you the first time?”
“Lying to myself about what’s in my heart isn’t going to make me happy.”
Lauren had to give Noah credit. That made sense. “Have you told her how you feel?”
He shook his head. “If some guy told you he wanted to waltz you down the aisle and was hoping for a quick trip to the maternity ward, would you run screaming in the other direction?”
“Totally.”
“There you go.”
Lauren sighed. Damn, he was smart. A master strategist in all areas of life and damn good at it. She wondered if the woman would even notice that he’d planned her life for her until it was too late. Noah was also good-looking, fun, rich, and she’d heard, great in bed. He’d catch this woman eventually. While Lauren knew she’d still be alone.
She pushed that thought aside.
“If you remarried, hypothetically, would you have more babies?” he asked into her maudlin silence.
Good question. Even though the thought of Noah having babies with his unnamed divorcée bitch made her want to crawl into a gallon of Häagen-Dazs and never come out, Lauren wanted what was best for him. “Probably. I love kids, and if this hypothetical marriage took place soon, my little ones are still fairly young, so all the kids would likely play together. Does this woman already have kids?”
Noah never answered. The food arrived, and he set into his with a fork and a vengeance.
“Good stuff,” he said after the first mouthful.
Lauren took a bite and wished she could agree. But in her mind, she could only see some nameless, faceless centerfold-type hanging on Noah, wearing a huge diamond on her left hand, with two perfect kids trailing behind, not a hair out of place.
Utterly depressing. She really had to snap out of it and be happy that Noah had finally found someone he wanted to spend his life with. It was probably better that Lauren had no idea who this paragon of femininity was. She could hate the woman without feeling an ounce of guilt.
They finished the meal in relative silence. After Noah paid the bill and refused to let her buy her own lunch, they stood. He anchored his hand in the small of her back again as they crossed the restaurant, to the parking lot.
“Thanks for the talk at lunch. You really helped me to understand.”
She nodded and tried to smile. Confessing her misery over the fact Noah was plotting to marry another woman was not an option. “Glad to help.”
Wow, it was a miracle she didn’t choke over that lie.
“You confirmed all my suspicions.”
“Suspicions?”
“Clearly, I need to convince this woman that I’m for real.” He glanced down at her with a mischievous smile. “And I’ve already got ideas.”
Lauren wished his centerfold divorcée luck. Personally, she didn’t think the woman had a prayer in hell of resisting.
* * * *
Back at the office, Lauren and Noah arrived just in time to see a deliveryman set a huge bouquet of multicolored roses on her desk. Red, white, pink, yellow. What the…?
Noah stood propped against the wall, arms crossed over that wide chest of his, watching with a quirked brow. “Wow, you must have rocked Mr. Mysterious’s world.”
She shook her head. “There has to be some mistake.”
Surely Mr. Mysterious hadn’t sent these. Why not? a voice in her head asked. He’d delivered hi
s other notes here.
“I don’t think there’s any mistake, sugar. Read the card.”
With trembling fingers, Lauren plucked the little sealed envelope from its plastic fork. Damn, having the man she lusted after—and whose heart was apparently now taken—watch as she read a message from the man who’d screwed her into the mattress and rocked her world was deeply uncomfortable.
Lauren extracted the card and read, her eyes widening with every word.
I loved making love to you. There’s a bloom here for every time I’m going to do it again this week…
She blinked, stared at the bouquet, and took a quick count. She stopped at eight, realizing she was just over half through. The man thought he was going to make love to her a dozen times this week?
No. Oh, no. A dozen times with that man, fueled by fantasies of Noah, and her body would be sore, her mind mush, and her heart… She shook her head, refusing to think about it.
“What does it say?” Noah asked, sauntering over and reaching out to snatch the card from her.
“You’re nosy. Give that back!”
He ignored her. As he read the card, she closed her eyes and vowed to buy an industrial paper shredder and drag it into her cubicle so he wouldn’t read anything else her stranger wrote for her eyes alone.
Noah’s gaze lifted from the card, then drifted over the bouquet with a whistle. “Ambitious guy. Think he can follow through?”
Wishing a vast hole would open and swallow her whole, but knowing it wasn’t going to happen, she closed her eyes, swallowed, and nodded. “Yeah.”
“Hmm. You went from red to green, back to red again. Hot and bothered, I get. But sick?”
“I’m not green. I’m fine.”
“Yeah? And I’m the Easter Bunny. Why does the idea of being with Mr. Mysterious make you sick?”
“You may be in the mood to discuss your love life. I, however, am not. Can we drop it?”
“Sugar, if you don’t want this guy, the next time you see him, there’s one word that will take care of him. It’s no. Just say no.”
Lauren felt the red recede in favor of the green again when her stomach flipped. How could she explain this? “It’s not that simple. I—He…” She blew out a breath. “He’s very…skilled.”
He chuckled. “Newsflash, Lauren. Sex is meant to feel good. If he’s skilled and it’s hot between you two, be happy. But if he’s hurting you—”
“No. He’s not hurting me.”
“What’s the problem?”
“You’ll laugh.”
“I won’t. Promise. Lay it on me.”
She shook her head. “That’s okay. Maybe we should check in with your assistant to see if the rest of the owners’ committee has come to a decision.”
When Lauren started to walk away, Noah grabbed her elbow and pulled her back to him, so close she could see the blue and gray swirling in his eyes as he stared down at her, feel the heat of his body. She gazed at his firm mouth like a half-drooling idiot and wondered what it would be like to kiss him.
“You helped me at lunch,” he reminded her. “Let me help you.”
He looked so sincere, Lauren didn’t know how to say no. Maybe he could help her. Heaven knew he had more than enough experience in the bedroom department, if rumors were true.
Lauren sighed. Why not go for broke? “Being with him…it messes with my head,” she whispered. “He forces me to feel things I—I’ve never felt. We connected.”
“That’s not a bad thing,” he assured softly.
“I’m not ready.”
“You didn’t say that last week when you reminded me that you and Tim split up almost two years ago. You’ve got to jump into the dating game sometime.”
“With a man who won’t tell me his name? I’ve never seen his face even. Gary offered to take me to dinner and a movie. That’s more my speed.”
Noah’s expression hardened. “No, it’s not. That gives you too much opportunity to put up barriers. Mr. Mysterious is getting to you. It’s uncomfortable, but if you do it Gary’s way, you’d be old enough to collect Social Security before you ever let a man back in your heart.”
As much as it made her want to scream, Noah was right. “I don’t want another man in my heart.”
“Lauren—”
Noah’s leggy, thirty-something assistant, Jennifer, approached them. Lauren would have been annoyed at his choice of secretaries if it wasn’t a well-known fact that Jenn had been very happily married for almost fifteen years.
“Mr. Reeves, Ms. Southall, the committee is on the phone. They’re asking to speak to you. Oh, and I dropped off your cleaning at your house.”
Lauren’s stomach did a flip-flop as Noah nodded. Uh-oh. The moment of truth. This project meant so much to her—the first big one Noah had assigned to her since she’d joined the company. She wanted to prove to her detractors that she hadn’t been hired out of nepotism. And prove to Noah that he hadn’t made a mistake.
“Thanks. Hang onto the key, just in case.” At Jenn’s murmured assent, Noah went on, “We’ll take the call in my office. Hold everything else for now.”
Lauren’s belly did another flip. She’d be well and truly alone with a man who, with a single thought of him, could get her hot. Now she wasn’t sure if she was more anxious about that or the committee’s decision.
Noah guided her to his office. That innocent little touch set off all kinds of receptors in her body. Geez, she survived without sex for two years, but the minute she got some…she only wanted more. Pitiful.
Sidestepping Noah, she made her way to his office. Her heart suddenly double-timed as he shut the door behind them.
“Ready?” His eyes danced with mischief.
Staring at his expression, it wasn’t hard to imagine he was asking if she was ready for something thoroughly wicked. The answer was hell yes. Totally pitiful.
“Sure. Let’s hear the decision.” She sank into the chair in front of his desk.
Walking behind the desk, Noah eased into his own chair and pressed the button on his speakerphone. “Reeves here. I’ve got Lauren with me. Go.”
“Glad you’re both available,” Danson said. “Lauren, you did a great job today.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“You brought up points that Noah didn’t mention Sunday afternoon when he took me aside to persuade me after wiping the basketball court with my ass.”
“I didn’t wipe the court with your ass,” Noah argued. “I pressed my height advantage.”
Noah was easily six-foot-three. Danson might be five-eight on a good day.
“Yeah, and you used it to wipe the court with my ass. Anyway…” he huffed good-naturedly, “…we’re green-lighting the project research. Four focus groups each in the three demographics we discussed. They’re welcome to come to any of the locations and order anything on the menu, as long as they come at the appointed time and answer questions directly afterward. I know you wanted them to come during the weekends and dinner hours, but we can’t let this disrupt our usual business.”
Lauren clenched her fists and pumped one in the air. Victory! The dining time was a small setback, but easily worked around.
“Thank you. To all of the committee.”
“You know I was your toughest critic,” Martin chimed in. “But the income projections you provided, coupled with the low-cost location modifications to support a family environment you researched, convinced me to give it a try.”
Exactly as Noah said. She was so excited, she was nearly bouncing in her seat.
“Yes, sir. I think you’ll see the restaurant-goers in that area will love the idea of casual elegance in dining that does its best to include the kids. I suspect the extensive wine list will be a big hit, as well as the additions of Sunday brunches.”
“Get us hard data and we’ll look at it again.”
“I’ll get started right away. I have the plan for the focus groups in place. We can have everything completed in the next few weeks.”
“Great, Lauren.” Danson again. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks to all of you. I won’t disappoint.”
After a quick round of good-byes, Noah clicked the speakerphone button and stood. Silence spread over the room as he stood and looked at her with an indulgent smile. She couldn’t stand the excitement another minute. She bounced out of her chair and darted for him. Thrilled as hell, she grabbed his shoulders and raised on her tiptoes to place a kiss on his cheek.
At the last second, he turned his head and her lips pressed right against his.
Lauren froze. Her heart stopped. She didn’t pull away. She should, but… His lips were soft yet firm as he paused over her mouth, warm but unmoving. Unable to resist, she leaned in. A heartbeat passed, then another. Heat swamped her. He didn’t pull away, and she moved her lips over his, brushing, then fusing them together, dying for a taste of him.
An electric jolt charged her, slamming her brain, her breath. Lauren jumped away. Shock hummed, sudden arousal buzzed.
What the hell had she done? Her mouth hung open, and she was dimly aware of gaping.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to… I was just excited.”
A naughty smile lifted the corner of his wide mouth. “I’ve never had a woman apologize to me before for being excited. Please don’t be the first.”
“I meant about the project results.” A raging blush swept up her chest, neck, all the way to the roots of her hair. She felt the heat climbing up, and again cursed her fair-skinned features.
“Okay.”
Lauren couldn’t tell whether he thought she was lying or just poking fun at her mortification to lighten the moment. She pressed her hand to her chest and stared at him in horror. “You’re my boss, and that was so unprofessional.”
“We’re friends, too. I hardly minded. It was a peck.”
Noah was playing this cool. Why couldn’t she?
“True. Just a peck.” With enough power to light up Times Square—and everything else in a ten block radius. “It won’t happen again.”
“Oh, don’t restrain yourself on my account.” He smiled and winked.
Did he really mean that? He couldn’t. But if he did…what about the woman he wanted to marry?