by Carole Dean
His derisive tone irritated Nikki. Easy for him to sneer at her career from where he sat. He was already on top, already a success. He had nothing to prove, no father waiting to see what he would do with his life. Her voice was crisp when she responded.
“I’m not ashamed to be ambitious, if that’s what you mean.”
“Does your ambition leave room for anything else, Nicole? Marriage, children? Perhaps a lover?” Michael’s tone was clinical and his gaze open. He might as well have been asking for her color preferences.
Nikki reddened. “Of course it does. At least the marriage and children part. Having a career doesn’t mean I have to give up those things. Right now I intend to concentrate on my job. There’s time enough for the rest later—and I’ll pass on the lover, thanks.”
“Isn’t a lover a prerequisite for the other two? Or do you think when you have ‘time enough’, as you put it, you’ll get a husband in much the same way you’d pick up a puppy? Husband not to be confused with lover, I presume.”
“You’re twisting my words. That’s not what I mean. I think when the time is right, when I’m open to it, it will happen, that’s all. Right now, I’m not. So it’s not going to happen,” she finished firmly.
“Let me understand this. You think you can organize when you fall in love?”
“If you’re not looking for something, chances are you won’t find it. I intend to put first things first.”
Michael gave her a long look. “And you’re certain you’ll recognize love when it comes along? What if it comes at an inconvenient time? What if it doesn’t fit your schedule.” To say his expression was curious would be understatement.
“Look. Right now ... love isn’t on my agenda.” She felt flustered, cornered. “But when the time’s right, I’ll know, and my schedule, as you call it, will allow for it. It’s done all the time, you know. Career, children, marriage, husband. A woman can have it all if she’s organized. With hard work and good planning there’s no reason it shouldn’t work.” She stacked some papers. “Now shall we leave it at that and get back to work?” she added, doing her best to stare him down.
“Good planning?” He repeated, sounding stunned. “What about passion? Or does that come under the heading of hard work.”
She glared at him and stiffened her spine. “That depends. With some men it’s not only hard work, it’s impossible.”
“Like me, for instance?
“Like you.”
His smile deepened to one of promise and male arrogance. “You’re wrong, you know. It would be nothing like work. Nothing at all.”
When she rolled her eyes, he grinned before turning back to the subject at hand. “So let me get this straight. You line everybody up. Kids, house, cottage in the country, big shaggy dog, and that other necessary evil—a husband—and pick them off one by one to make a neat little package when the time is exactly right?” He raised a questioning brow.
Nikki sincerely wished she had a blunt object in her hand. “I assume you’ve been told that you’re an exasperating, argumentative man.”
“Never.”
“Consider yourself told.” She picked up a file and gave it her full attention, ignoring him and this pointless conversation.
He touched her chin, turned her face toward him.
“You won’t pull it off, you know. I’m not so sure relationships take too well to such hard and fast rules. I know men don’t. And both can be somewhat uncompromising in their needs. A little openness, a little flexibility, might not hurt.”
“So what do you suggest? That women turn back the clock, give their all for love,” Nicole sneered the last three words.
“No. I’m merely suggesting there’s a price for having it all, that sometimes there can be losses.” Michael’s eyes looked deep into her own, and his voice was soft. “And I don’t want you to lose.”
“I won’t.” And in a voice softer to match his own, she added, “I’m not your mother, Michael. That is who you’re thinking about, isn’t it?”
She heard the deep intake of his breath. When he spoke, his words were sure, whispered arrows that arced to her heart. “You. I’m thinking about you. Truth be told, I’ve been thinking of nothing but you since I saw you in that insane hat.” His voice dropped another octave. “I want to love you, Nikki. Will you let me?”
His eyes held her, and he reached out to gently stroke her hair. Nikki’s senses quickened as they always did when he touched her. In a movement that felt completely natural, she rolled her head back into the hand that was now lightly massaging her neck. She closed her eyes as he began a leisurely search for the pin holding her coiled braid in place. He found it and removed it. The heaviness of the braid fell to her back, and he immediately started to undo it.
“Damn.” Michael snarled the word.
Nikki shook her head, straining for the images and shapes of reality. She watched dazedly as Michael went through the door and picked up the phone. She hadn’t even heard it. Slowly she regained her senses, lost from the moment he’d touched her.
“Damn.” Nikki, too, snarled the word. Traitorous tears welled in her eyes. She willed them to stop. The sheer effort of denying the sexual pull between her and Michael made her crazy. And he wasn’t helping the situation, deliberately trying to... to. ...
She brushed angrily at a wisp of hair that tickled her forehead. She wasn’t at all sure what he was trying to do, but she was sure of one thing. Getting out of here—and fast—was her only option.
She put on her shoes and was reaching for her purse when Michael came back. His expression immediately turned stormy, and his voice was dry when he spoke.
“Leaving, or running?”
She looked unflinchingly at him. “Running, as fast as I damn well can. I think I’ll do a better job if I take the report home. I don’t seem to be accomplishing much here.”
“I thought we were doing quite well.”
“We were doing exactly what you wanted us to do. You’re a, a—snake.” She spat the words at him.
“You seemed to be enjoying what I was doing before we were interrupted.”
“I was—I don’t know what I was ... hypnotized maybe. Snakes have a way of doing that.”
“Are you trying to tell me you were reacting to me against your own will? Come on, Nikki, be fair.”
“Fair! You call it fair when you keep touching me, reaching for me? You haven’t been playing by the rules and you know it. You said you wouldn’t pressure me.” She glared at him.
Michael stood in the doorway and didn’t move. Nikki took some satisfaction from the look of confusion on his face. For once she’d got the better of him. A happy condition that lasted about ten seconds.
“You’re right. I haven’t been fair. Unless you accept the old adage, all’s fair in love and war. So, how about new rules?” His voice deepened. “I want you, and I think you want me. So for the next month, I’m going to pursue you nonstop. If at the end of the month, you are not in my arms, I get on a plane and fly out of your life forever.” A slow smile claimed his lips. “How’s that for fair?”
Nikki paled. “You’re not—” She couldn’t speak, couldn’t think, couldn’t believe what she was hearing. This was a nightmare. First he gave her a promotion, then he gave her the conditions on which she could keep it. She wasn’t fool enough to believe if she spurned his advances there’d be no penalty.
As if reading her mind, he added. “None of this, by the way, will affect your position at Prisma,” he said calmly “You have my word on it.”
“Your word? Hah!”
“Business is business. You’re the best person for the job. Nothing will interfere with that. On the other hand, the fine art of seduction requires a different talent.” He cocked his head, stared down at her as though she were a rare and indecipherable specimen.
“And you’re an expert, I presume.”
“I have my moments.”
“I’ll bet you do. A moment here, a moment there. Depending o
n what city you happen to be in. The executive with a girl in every office. You should have been a sailor, Michael. Saved on air fares.”
Nikki watched his face. A muscle pulsed on his cheek, and he tapped one hand stiffly against his upper thigh.
“I didn’t think you held such a low opinion of me—or yourself,” he said. “By the sound of it, you’ve had some prior experience with an office Lothario. Did he hurt you badly?”
“He didn’t hurt me—” She stopped, wishing for a dull knife to cut out her tongue.
“I see.” He said the words with a knowing smirk.
“You see nothing, and you know nothing, so don’t go making a bunch of false assumptions.”
“I see a naive young woman who makes permanent, life-affecting decisions based on single incidents. If one man hurts you, they’re all bad news. You rebel against popular stereotypes when they apply to women, but accept them when it comes to men. It seems to me you have your own double standard.”
“I told you. He didn’t hurt me. At least not in the way you think. If you must know, his clumsy groping cost me years of work and a job I was happy in.”
“I assume the man was your boss?”
She nodded.
“And this was back home in Denver?”
She nodded again.
“Tell me about it.”
Nikki stared at him. Maybe she should tell him. Maybe then he’d understand why she’d never let anything like it happen again. She stiffened her spine. And he definitely should know what to expect if he persisted.
“It’s quite simple. He made my promotion dependent on—” She gave him a cruel gaze. “How about you guess what he made it dependent on? My bet is you’d get it in one. When I refused him, he fired me. Bosses can do that, you know. They do hold all the cards. It was an ugly, humiliating experience and I never—repeat, never—want it to happen again. Clear enough?”
Michael appeared unmoved. “There are laws against sexual harassment. You know that. Why didn’t you sue him?”
“I thought about it. Even consulted a lawyer. In the end, I decided against it. It wasn’t worth it.”
“Why, for God’s sake. The law was on your side.”
“Because he was a friend of my father, and I knew his family, that’s why. I taught his two daughters how to ski. I’d had Sunday dinners with them as a family. They weren’t tucked away somewhere so I could ignore the pain it would cause. I was too close for comfort. There was no way I could disregard their feelings.”
“Did you tell your father?”
“No. He wouldn’t have believed that I—”
“He wouldn’t have believed your side of it? Is that what you were going to say?” Michael looked surprised, then angry, as if he couldn’t conceive of a father not listening to his own daughter.
Nikki nodded. “Let’s just say that Brent Marshall had a way of shading the truth. They’d been friends for years. I couldn’t risk my father’s ...” The words trailed away.
“Your father’s what?” Michael prodded, his voice soft.
“Disappointment.” She snapped the word out. “I told you, he’s ambitious for us. I didn’t want to let him down.” Suddenly weary of it all, she lifted a shoulder, let it fall. “Maybe I was stupid. Maybe I should have sued, but I didn’t. I let Brent Marshall get away with it because I was young and scared.” Looking directly into Michael’s eyes now, she added, “But I’m not young and scared anymore. And no way would I be so easily dismissed. Like you said, the law is on my side.”
“Is that a threat.”
“It’s a statement of fact.”
“I’m not Brent Marshall.”
“Maybe not, but I work hard. I deserve to be recognized for what I do. I don’t want my work negated by some man’s leaping libido.”
“Ouch.” Michael held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I don’t know what hurt the most: being referred to as some man, or the leaping libido part. How about uncontrolled passion? ‘Leaping libido’ I refuse to accept.” He smiled.
“I don’t care if you accept it or not. ‘A rose is a rose is a rose.’” Her voice and manner were implacable.
“Not true. A rose can mean more, much more. Coogan used to quote an Irish poet. I can’t recall his name. I think he was much kinder to the rose. ‘Ah, rose! You do endure/in tones so deep and bright./Blood red for passion’s fire/ but white for love’s pure light.’”
The words of the poem rested between them and Nikki found herself caught in the shine of Michael’s eyes. She quickly lowered her gaze. Further conversation was pointless. She’d said what needed to be said. It was time to go.
Nikki wished he’d move away from the door. She wanted to get her coat and the passage looked far too narrow with him lounging in it. She steadied herself and headed toward the doorway. Directly in front of it now. Almost there. One more step.
Michael didn’t move.
“Excuse me. I’d like to get my coat.” She hoped he didn’t hear the thump of her heart.
“It’s in the closet.” He waved a hand indicating the other side of the door.
“I know that,” she said in complete exasperation. “Would you mind stepping aside so I can get through.”
“There’s plenty of room.” Michael made a show of pulling himself against the door to make room for her. “I promise you safe passage.” There it was, that taunting smile.
So that’s the way it was going to be. Fine. She drew herself up straight and started through the door, careful to turn sideways. If he laid one single hand on her she would— Would what? Turn to jelly the way she did every time he touched her? She was not anxious to find out.
The heat and strength of his body were palpable as she sidled through the open door. His eyes never left her face, but he didn’t touch her. Only when she retrieved her coat from the closet did he move toward her, reaching for the garment now over her arm.
“I can manage,” she protested.
He took the coat from her hands. “No doubt you can. You’re a independent woman. You’ve made that clear.”
After he helped her on with her coat, he spun her around to face him. Nikki felt her eyes widen, panic scratching her throat. Could she bear it if he kissed her? If he didn’t? His nearness disconcerted her, made it difficult to breathe. As if sensing her distress, Michael held her back from his body.
“I’m not going to kiss you, if that’s what you’re afraid of.” His hands burned through the sleeves of her coat, searing her arms, and he leaned closer to her. “I still want to, but I’m not going to. Until you ask me to, that is.”
Nikki started to speak. He silenced her.
“I know what you’re thinking, what you’re going to say. Something like ... that will never happen, or when hell freezes over.” He touched her face. “But I say it will happen. You can’t walk away from this. Oh, right now, you may think you want to, but it’s far too important to leave unfinished. In the next month—”
She interrupted, her eyes full of shock. “You’re not going to—” Had the man heard nothing she’d said?
“I’m going to do exactly what I said I’d do. Nothing you’ve said has changed that. A month isn’t much, but it’s all we’ve got. All I’ve got to make you judge me on my own merits and not on the tasteless, small-minded actions of a former employer.” His smile was enigmatic when he pulled her hard to his lean body, leaned his forehead against hers. His next words seemed more for himself than her. “I must be a fool to think I can last even a week without tasting that incredible mouth of yours.”
She pushed roughly out of his embrace, took a half step back. Ignoring her alien-sounding voice, her raspy breath, she said, with all the conviction she could muster, “You’ll have to last a lot longer than that. Try forever! I didn’t ask for this messy business between us, and I don’t want it. I won’t lose this time.” She glared up at him. “I won’t.”
His green eyes glittered. “Perhaps neither of us will lose. Have you considered that possibil
ity?” He kissed her lightly on the forehead, opened the door, and gently pushed her out into the hallway. “I have no intention of harassing you, but I have every intention of romancing you.” He looked down into her flushed face. “And if I read your heartbeat correctly, I don’t think it’s going to be too long before you’re asking for that kiss.”
Smiling, he closed the door quietly behind her.
Chapter Eleven
Nikki couldn’t imagine who would be at her door at—she looked at her watch—6:12 A.M. But the insistence of the doorbell said they weren’t going away. She gave the pillow a punch, threw her legs over the side of the bed, and shrugged into her robe. Muttering under her breath, she stumbled to the door.
“Nicole Johnson?” The young man looked at the package in his hand, then back to the sleep-rumpled redhead standing in the doorway. “General manager of Kingway Skin Care?”
What on earth? Nicole reached for the package. “That’s me. To be exact, it will be me in a couple of hours.”
He smiled and held out a delivery slip for her signature.
Nikki closed the door, turned the thick brown envelope over in her hand, and looked for a return address. There was none. She opened it and found a copy of the product integration plan and other reports relating to Prisma International. There was a brief hand written note.
Nikki
You were in such a hurry to leave last night you forgot your homework. I know you’ll want to prepare for today’s meetings, so I’m sending it along.
I would have dropped them off myself, but I had the sure feeling I wouldn’t be welcome. Given a little time, I hope to change that.
I’ll see you at the office—about nine-thirty, I think. Would you please arrange a staff meeting for ten. I’m anxious to make the announcement about your new position as soon as possible.
Michael
P.S. I hope you slept better than I did.
She hadn’t slept at all. At best, she’d been in a half sleep when the doorbell rang. She was miffed at herself for not remembering the reports. No doubt he thought her a complete airhead.