But the evening had been fun, and Shelley had enjoyed herself more than she had for a long time. The temptation to forget that this man was a business associate and a rather threatening one at that was strong.
She was dwelling on such thoughts as Joel helped her into the car and slid in beside her, filling the leather cockpit with his easy power and grace.
For a time, silence hovered in the intimate confines of the Maserati as Joel sent it back out into traffic. Shelley’s mind continued to spin with the realization of her own awareness of the man beside her and the warnings she tried to issue to herself. Several minutes passed before she awoke to the fact that they weren’t headed back to her office parking lot.
“Joel? My car,” she began uncertainly. “You’ll have to take me back to the office.”
“I’m taking you home first,” he said simply. “My home.”
Shelley swallowed tensely. “I don’t think that’s a very good idea,” she tried to say steadily. She had to remain firm and in command, she reminded herself. Firm and in command.
“I think it’s an excellent idea,” he countered lightly. “Didn’t you hear me tell Steve that accountants were a little like girl friends?”
Chapter 4
“Just one nightcap, Shelley,” Joel went on persuasively as she sat mute in her corner of the seat “I want to show you my home. You’ve seen something of the business side of my life; now I want you to see the other side.”
Shelley considered that, knowing she was tempted. A part of her was deeply curious to see Joel Cassidy in his home setting. “All right, one drink, Joel, and then I must be on my way. Do you understand?” She glanced at him with an anxiety she hoped was concealed. Going home with Joel Cassidy was not the smartest move she could be making, and Shelley was honest enough to admit it to herself.
“I understand.” He flicked her a satisfied smile and then returned his attention to the road.
It wouldn’t have mattered, Shelley realized, what answer she had given him. He had already made the decision to take her home, and it wasn’t likely she could have changed it But she could handle the situation, she told herself firmly. She would have the drink and then insist he take her back to where she had left her car.
That decision made, it became much easier to relax in the white leather seat She had sent Joel Cassidy home on his own last night, and she could deal with a repeat performance, if necessary, tonight. Was she overconfident? Shelley didn’t think so. She knew her own capabilities.
“What are you thinking about over there in the moonlight?” Joel asked softly.
“Capabilities.”
“Your own or mine?” He chuckled.
“Mine.”
“If you’re worried about whether or not you can handle the accounting for my business—” he began firmly.
“I’m not”
He grinned knowingly. “You don’t lack self-confidence, do you?”
She thought about that seriously for a moment “I know the extent of my skills, and I know in which direction I want my career to go. The rest is just a lot of hard work, isn’t it?”
“And a few lucky breaks,” he agreed.
“Like having you walk into my office and toss your business into my lap,” she admitted, smiling. “Or inheriting the Ackerly account”
“Everyone gets a few lucky breaks. What counts is having the courage to use them.”
“Are you speaking from experience?”
“Of course. Look how I’m taking advantage of the lucky break you gave me when you walked into my shop yesterday. There I was, thinking how badly I needed a new accountant, and suddenly you appeared!”
“And the first thing I did was talk you out of the use of a hundred thousand dollars. Not everyone would see that as a lucky break, Joel.” But she was laughing silently in the shadows.
“Not everyone has the skill and experience to look beneath the surface of a situation. And besides, even lucky breaks don’t come free in this world.” The tone of his voice suddenly changed, becoming more aloof. “What did you think of the arcade tonight?”
Shelley lifted one shoulder vaguely. “It looked profitable, and it looked like the kids were having fun. I’ll reserve judgment on the issue of how much you’re contributing toward American education.”
“All the machines aren’t in such innocuous surroundings, you realize,” he went on deliberately. “A lot are in bars and pool halls and bowling alleys.”
“As your accountant, I won’t have to visit every location, surely?” she murmured.
“No.”
“What are you getting at, Joel?”
He was silent for a moment, and then he said quietly, “I make a lot of money, Shelley, but I don’t belong to a country club, and I’m not called on to put on a black tie for social charity functions, and I spend a lot of time in those bars, pool halls and bowling alleys. I can offer you money but not a lot of social status.”
She went very still. What was he trying to say? “But as your accountant, it’s only your money I’m interested in, isn’t it?” she finally managed flippantly.
He laughed abruptly and murmured something she didn’t quite catch.
“What was that?” she demanded, eyes narrowing.
“I said you were a hustler after my own heart.”
“I thought you were learning when to keep your mouth shut!”
“It takes practice.”
It was too late to insist he turn the car around and take her back to the office, Shelley told herself. She didn’t want to be too rude to a man she needed so much. Needed in a business sense, that was. And she had enjoyed herself this evening.
When he eventually parked the white Maserati in the circular drive of a home surrounded by the natural desert setting of an expensive residential area, Shelley found herself suddenly eager to see the interior. Her curiosity about Joel Cassidy was unusual. She generally didn’t care much about a client’s personal life; only his or her financial situation. But with Joel things were different Dangerously different
“It’s lovely,” she said sincerely as he walked her to the front door of the sleek, contemporary home. It was white with a red tile roof and surrounded by a deliciously cool garden.
“Thanks,” he nodded, obviously pleased. “I bought it a year ago. I’m glad you like it”
As soon as she stepped inside, Shelley realized that the focal point of the house was the large private patio that swept the length of the structure. Wall-to-wall greenhouse windows took full advantage of the view of lush garden and sparkling, underwater-lit pool. It was difficult to tell where the outdoors ended and the interior of the house began.
Polished wooden steps marked an inviting array of levels inside, leading down to a two-story living room and up to a circular kitchen and dining area, all opening out onto the patio.
The rooms were furnished in cool woods, light natural shades that were well suited to the desert style of living, and here and there was a touch of unexpected drama, such as the gleaming stainless-steel fireplace.
Automatically, Shelley went toward the wall of glass, drawn by the dramatically lit garden and pool on the other side. Behind her she heard Joel go into the kitchen and open a cabinet. “The place is beautifully designed,” she said, turning as she heard him come back down into the living room. “Do you swim a lot?” She almost winced at the trite question. Somehow it was difficult to summon up the lighthearted banter she knew would be more appropriate to the situation.
“Almost daily.” He smiled, handing her a stemmed glass filled with a dark coffee-flavored liqueur topped with thick cream. “Do you?” The blue eyes flared softly.
“Oh, yes, whenever I get the chance,” she said hurriedly, wondering why the conversation, which had been so easy and casual all evening, was now threatening to disintegrate. She turned back toward the window, sipping the potent liqueur through the layer of cream. Joel came to stand close behind her.
“Do you want to swim tonight?” he asked
gently.
Her head came up swiftly as she glanced back at him. “Not unless you happen to keep a closetful of women’s swim suits handy for visitors!” she told him a bit tartly.
“You’d insist on a suit?” he sighed.
“I’m afraid so.”
“I could loan you one of mine,” he said, grinning.
“Thanks, but no thanks.” She smiled, relaxing under the warmth of his humor. That slightly crooked tooth was a most endearing touch in his hard, bluntly carved face, she thought fleetingly. And the steel in those eyes wasn’t a cold metal at all. Instead, it seemed to provide a platinum warmth that could ensnare a woman who wasn’t exceedingly cautious.
“Let’s go out and sit beside the pool to finish drinking these.” Joel slid aside a wide glass door and ushered her out onto the patio. He settled her into a padded lounger and seated himself in the one beside her. For a long moment they sipped their drinks and stared at the pool in companionable silence. The play of shadow and light on the underwater-lit surface was as intriguing as the flames of a fireplace. In the soft darkness it was possible to relax completely, and Shelley felt herself slipping under the spell of the moment.
As she realized what was happening, Shelley paused mentally to hover on some invisible brink. It was suddenly important to make something very dear to Joel Cassidy.
“Joel?”
“Hmmm?” His eyes met hers with a steady warmth.
“What you said about an accountant being somewhat like a—a girl friend…”
He smiled but said nothing, and she went on cautiously, tearing her eyes away from his. “I don’t make a very good girl friend, Joel.”
“Girl friend isn’t quite the right word,” he murmured, lifting a finger to trace the line of her jaw. “It’s a ten-year-old kid’s word. My word, the right word, would be a little different Lover, perhaps.”
Shelley’s fingers tightened on the stem of her glass, and she said, her voice raw, “I don’t make a very good lover, either, Joel.” She stared fiercely at the shimmering surface of the pool, waiting.
“What are you trying to tell me?” he whispered, his fingers sliding from her jaw to the nape of her neck, where they played coaxingly just beneath the curve of her hair.
“I was married for a year, and it wound up in disaster. I’ve been engaged once since then, and the relationship fell apart before we got to the altar. I’ve dated frequently, and none of my dating relationships have ever lasted very long.” Her grip on the glass grew tighter. Why was she telling him all this? It was none of his business, and the subject was far too intimate. But she couldn’t seem to stop herself, and the excitingly roughened fingertips at the nape of her neck never ceased their persuasive, subtle seduction.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning I’m willing to have dinner with you occasionally and willing to do business with you. But I’m not willing to be a temporary lover for you,” she said quietly. “If that’s really what you’re looking for in an accountant, you’d better look elsewhere.”
He ignored that “What went wrong in your marriage?”
She bit her lip, uncertain what to do, now that she’d opened up the subject It was easiest to answer the question. “We were classmates in college. Carl always knew exactly where he was going and what he wanted out of life. I admired that. He was hired into a large corporation, and it was clear from the beginning that he was on a fast-track promotion program. Destined for success,” she added with a hint of bitterness, pausing to sip the drink in her hand. “But it soon became obvious that one of the things he wanted out of life was a corporate wife. Someone who would devote her life to his career and could handle the entertaining, the social functions, the horrible hours, the lack of attention, all without a complaint. I started complaining almost at once. I wanted my own career, and while I was willing to assist in his, I wasn’t willing to give up everything for it. Carl was a man who could make decisions quickly and act just as fast. When it became clear I wasn’t going to shape up as a suitable corporate wife, he divorced me before I could become a liability.”
“And the broken engagement which came later?” Joel prompted, apparently unperturbed.
“I broke it off because I realized that I was once again getting involved with the wrong kind of man. It wasn’t fair to him, and I knew it would only wind up in the divorce courts again. I couldn’t stand the thought!”
“What was wrong about him?”
“He was a lot like Carl. Ambitious, successful, motivated. I can’t seem to help admiring those qualities in a man, yet they always conflict with what I seem to need,” she whispered helplessly, not understanding it herself.
“You mean that even though the men you choose have those qualities themselves, they don’t seem to understand and accept such traits in you, right?” Joel asked with a perception that brought Shelley’s head around sharply. She peered at him through the shadows.
“Maybe that’s it,” she admitted, shaking her head once in frustration. “I can have a business relationship with the kind of man I admire, and I can even have a very casual dating relationship. But whenever things start becoming more involved and I start looking for understanding and acceptance from such a man, it all falls apart.”
Joel leaned closer, the fingers at her nape clasping her gently now and holding her still. “The problem is that you just didn’t meet the right man until you met me, Shelley Banning. I understand and accept you completely because you’re a lot like me. I see nothing wrong in making love to a business partner or in doing business with a lover.”
The last word was breathed against her mouth, and in the next instant his lips closed beguilingly over hers. She knew she should be protesting that his attitude was all mixed up, that there was something wrong in making love to a business partner, but Shelley couldn’t find the will to summon up the argument. With a shudder, she relaxed languidly beneath the kiss.
It was slow and delicious, damp and invading, and she realized she’d had Joel’s kiss in her head since the night before. It had nibbled around the edge of her consciousness, sometimes reminding her of its presence forcefully, other times receding patiently into the background, but always there. Always there. And tonight it was there in reality once more.
“Shelley,” he growled achingly against her mouth as he pulled her to her feet “I’ve been thinking about last night all day. Do you understand? I’ve been wanting you all day. When I got to your office this afternoon and found you closeted with Ackerly, I could cheerfully have throttled you!”
“He’s my client,” she protested.
“So am I. Do you kiss him the way you kiss me? Does your mouth open for him the way it does for me? Do your breasts fill his hands the way they fill mine?”
“Joel, stop it!” she begged, crowding closer beseechingly. His hands had moved to cup the soft swell of her breasts as he’d grated the question against her mouth. “I don’t want to talk about Dean Ackerly.”
“Neither do I.”
He shut off further conversation by thrusting his tongue aggressively between her lips, hunting a response as his fingers slipped the white suit jacket from her shoulders and dropped it soundlessly onto the lounger. When she stirred with a strange restlessness, he stilled her movements by finding the shape of her rounded bottom and guiding her close against the outline of his body.
Shelley thrilled to the taut, waiting hardness of him. The scent of him filled her nostrils, musky and clean and all male. Unthinkingly, she began toying with the buttons of his shirt and finally undid them slowly, shakily.
He was with her all the way, and she closed her eyes as he undid the turquoise silk blouse and found the clasp of her bra. Shelley moaned softly into his shoulder as he removed the blouse and the lacy undergarment He was nipping seductively at the line of her throat now, and his teeth tantalized her unbearably as his thumbs moved raspingly across her budding nipples.
“I need the softness of you tonight,” Joel muttered thickly. “I need to
make you mine. Give yourself to me, sweetheart.”
“Joel, I can’t think. I don’t know what I want,” she confessed bemusedly, aware that the folds of the snare were closing in around her.
“Yes, you do. Your body knows what it wants.” His palms grazed the tips of her breasts, coaxing forth the response she could not hide. “Don’t try to analyze this, honey. Just let go and trust me.”
Trust? What a strange word for him to use, she thought vaguely. But her fingertips had discovered the curling auburn hair on his chest and began tracing tiny circles around the male nipples. When he caught his breath and sucked in his taut stomach, Shelley knew an exhilarating sense of power and longing that washed out other, more cautious emotions completely.
Her skirt slipped to the ground, forming a pool of white at her feet. When she stood before him wearing only her panties, Joel ran his hands lingeringly down the curves of her breasts, the contour of her waist and the fullness of her thighs. He groaned passionately into the hollow of her shoulder.
“Finish undressing me, honey. Touch me all over. I want to go crazy under your hands tonight”
Trembling with the force of her excitement and growing need, Shelley fumbled with the elaborate western buckle of his jeans and then slid down the zipper. In a moment, he was as naked as she, wearing only his close-fitting briefs.
The evidence of his arousal was bold and blatant beneath the thin cotton of his underwear, and Shelley gasped a little as he pressed himself close once more. Her nails bit into the skin of his shoulder as he slid his hips against hers with masculine demand.
At the sound of her half-stifled moan, Joel stooped and lifted her high into his arms, finding her mouth once more with his own and holding it captive as he strode to the end of the pool.
“Joel?” she got out questioningly as he started down the steps into the water.
Green Fire Page 6