Which made her all the more refreshingly attractive.
So why was she holding back? It wasn’t like they didn’t know each other. So what that in the past he’d barely got past ‘Good morning’ and ‘Type this up’ on the conversation scale, it wasn’t like they were strangers. So what was her problem? Why should she drag up something he’d said so long ago and use it against him?
He tucked in his shirt and raked his fingers through his hair, feeling a familiar tension curling inside him. He needed a woman, and there was more than one way to skin a cat.
He strode into his office, picked up his PDA and threw himself into his chair. He had a list of phone numbers as long as his arm. He’d find someone more accommodating with no trouble.
He scrolled through the numbers, finally coming to a halt when he found one that halfway appealed. Sonya—all short, sleek black hair and greyhound leanness—she’d do fine. And she’d never been able to say no to him. He was halfway through dialling when he slammed the phone down in disgust.
He didn’t want Sonya. Not when he had a different face taunting him, a different body telling him she didn’t want him, turning him down flat.
And all because of something that had happened years ago.
Damn it! Tina was still finding a way to ruin his life. That damned promise he’d made because of her was coming back to haunt him. As far as he was concerned, it was his vow and nobody else’s. It was up to him if he damn well broke it.
And Morgan had just better get used to the idea.
She’d come around. He’d give her to the end of the week. All he had to do was wait…
CHAPTER SIX
WEDNESDAY dawned bright and sunny all along the Gold Coast—unless you happened to be in Tegan’s head. If only she’d insisted on Morgan coming home when she’d called Monday night, and had not let herself be talked out of it, this charade would be over now. Instead she had another three days of Maverick to endure, another three days of trying to ignore his heated presence, another three days of fighting this inconvenient attraction.
And as the day wore on she waited for him to make another move on her. But it didn’t come.
Instead all Wednesday he hovered like a dark angel, brooding and intense, finding any excuse to leave his office to ask her a question or to drop something on her desk, and watching over everything she did. Watching her until she wanted to scream with the tension.
Five p.m. had never looked so good. She practically fled from the office, but she’d survived.
Thursday his mood was blacker, his efforts redoubled. When he emerged from his office, for what had to have been the third time in the space of ten minutes, she felt like throwing her hands up and screaming, ‘Enough!’
‘What is it this time?’ she asked instead, unable to keep the aggravation from her voice.
But instead of rummaging through her files, searching for some mysterious document before slamming the cabinet shut and marching off discontentedly as he’d done so many times previously, he surprised her by dropping some pages on her desk. ‘Rogerson needs this chart, but we both want some changes made first. Get on to someone in Projects and have them get this back to me on the double.’
He turned as Tegan looked at the project-development chart and Maverick’s handwritten notes and wondered what the drama was. She’d cut her teeth doing such tasks in her previous office job before she’d felt the need to do something more hands on and had joined GlobalAid. ‘There’s no need. I can do this for you right away.’
He looked back at her. ‘Since when have you used project-development software?’
She blinked. ‘Since I did a course. At night. Didn’t I mention it?’
His eyes narrowed. ‘All right,’ he said, his voice heavy with doubt. ‘Get Projects to send you the file. Then I want it on my desk in ten minutes.’
She had it there in seven.
Not that it improved Maverick’s disposition. That and the fact she’d done it all perfectly only seemed to further foul his mood. ‘Well, well, well,’ he muttered, regarding her steadily over the pages of the chart. ‘You appear to have many hidden talents. I wonder what other surprises you have in store for me?’
She swallowed under his leaden scrutiny and made a mental note to enrol Morgan on the next available project-development course.
‘If that’s all, then…’ she suggested, just wanting to escape.
‘No, it’s not all,’ he barked, launching himself from his chair and rounding the desk towards her.
She took a step backwards. It had been two days since he’d tried anything. Two days of praying he wouldn’t touch her, knowing she couldn’t trust herself if he did. Two days of secretly wishing he would.
He came to a halt in front of her, his wide shoulders blocking out the vista, his gunslinger dark looks becoming the view, and she trembled in anticipation.
His eyes scoured her face, settling on her mouth. His own lips looked like an invitation, parting slightly as she waited.
Then he offered her the papers she hadn’t realised he was still holding. ‘Fax this to Rogerson right away.’
On Friday she was over her momentary weakness. Friday had never felt better. It didn’t matter that Maverick had been in the worst mood he’d been in all week, a bad mood that seemed to have gotten progressively darker by the minute, because in just sixty short minutes she’d be out of here, out of the office for ever and away from Maverick. No more brooding tension; no more putting up with long, loaded looks; no more repressing urges that longed to be satisfied.
And Tegan couldn’t wait.
She’d made it. She’d lasted an entire week with Maverick without him suspecting a thing. Morgan’s job was safe, and any and all debts she owed her sister were now well and truly paid in full.
She was humming to herself when Maverick emerged from his office, a stack of paperwork in his hands. ‘What are you so happy about?’
She looked up at his scowling face, and once again felt that jolt that hit her every time she looked at him. She also felt something like a stab of disappointment. Life would be a lot simpler from now on but she was going to miss the electricity. Likewise, she’d miss the sparring and the heat. But those things didn’t stop her smiling now, not when she was so close to achieving her goal.
‘It’s Friday.’
Maverick’s scowl deepened. ‘And?’
Like she was going to explain it? She shrugged, belying the sheer intoxication of it all. Success fizzed like champagne in her veins. ‘Everyone loves Fridays.’ Especially me, she thought, especially today.
‘You have plans?’
Just picking up my sister tomorrow from the airport and reclaiming my life! She couldn’t help but smile up at him, despite his scowl. Or maybe because of it. ‘Just the usual,’ she said.
He made a sound like a snarl and headed back to his office.
Maverick had never seen her smile so much. He threw himself into his chair and regarded his desk solemnly. Instead of warming to him like he’d planned, in the last few days she’d kept her distance, keeping any and all contact with him to a minimum, her hazel eyes chilled to ice chips. For days she’d never sent so much as a smile his way. Now her face was lit up brighter than a Christmas tree.
And he had the uncomfortable feeling she wasn’t smiling with him—she was smiling at him.
And he didn’t like it one bit.
His computer registered incoming email. Half-heartedly he glanced over, sitting up in his chair when he recognised the sender. He opened the mail and read.
‘Yes!’ he yelled, slamming his fist onto the desk before picking up his phone and dialling.
She’d closed down her computer and cleaned up the desk. Her glance moved over a wad of papers sitting in the filing tray and Tegan smiled to herself. Welcome home, Morgan.
She pulled her handbag strap over her shoulder and sighed, a long, cathartic ‘glad to be done’ sigh. It was over. All that remained was to say goodnight to Maverick and she’d
be gone. She’d never have to see him again. She’d never have to put up with his dark gunslinger good looks or hot and heavy glances. She’d never more have to endure his heated magnetism.
She’d never have to endure another kiss.
Something squeezed down tight inside her. Who was she trying to kid? His kisses had never been something to endure. Instead they’d been like an awakening. And now, for ever, she’d be left wondering how it might have been if things had been different and she’d been in a position where she didn’t have to reject his advances, where she could have allowed Maverick to awaken every last part of her.
Now she’d never know.
She took a deep breath. It was for the best. She knew that. Taking care of her sister’s job for the week had never included taking care of her boss.
It was time to go. She headed through the anteroom to say goodnight and slammed into a wall coming out.
‘Morgan!’ She felt his big hands steady her momentarily, before feeling herself lifted from the ground and spun around in his arms. He set her back down without letting go of her, leaving her breathless and dizzy, and looked down, his dark eyes glinting, his mouth curved into a wicked smile. ‘Giuseppe Zeppa’s regained consciousness and demanding to know why the deal hasn’t been stitched up. He’s giving them hell over there.’
She couldn’t help but smile back at him, knowing what it meant to him, his excitement infectious. ‘That’s great. I’m really pleased.’
‘And I’ve just been on the phone to Rogerson, who can’t wait to get started.’
His eyes crinkled and he looked her over, taking in her bag at her shoulder. ‘What are you doing?’
‘I’m going home. I was just coming to say goodnight.’
‘Not now, you’re not. This calls for a celebration. We’re going out for dinner.’
She tried to take a step back, but he still had hold of her arms. ‘Maverick, I don’t think—’
‘Rogerson’s expecting you to be there. I promised him you’d come along.’
‘You had no right!’
‘Why? You said you had nothing special happening. What have you got to lose?’
Just my resolve. She looked down at her clothes. ‘I can’t go out like this. I’m not dressed for dinner.’
‘It’s still early. I’ll drive you home and you can get changed.’
Her arms tingled where he held her; every part of her seemed to hum with his proximity, and temptation hung thick on the air. She’d almost escaped. She’d almost been home free, and now she was facing one last evening with him.
But why did the thought of that thrill her more than it should? It was a business dinner—admittedly a celebration, but with Phil Rogerson and the legal and financial teams there what could possibly happen? And yet still she felt a bubble of glee that her time with Maverick need not come to an end just yet.
‘Okay,’ she agreed on an impulse she hoped she didn’t live to regret. ‘Seeing Phil asked me too, I’ll come.’
Maverick was waiting outside the car taking a call when she emerged nervously from the townhouse. She saw him glance up at her and still before snapping shut his phone and standing to attention, the look in his eyes one of unadulterated appreciation.
‘You look fantastic,’ he said, swinging open the passenger door for her and suddenly she halted as warmth bloomed inside her. She felt afraid again, afraid of what might happen, afraid of what she couldn’t deny.
‘What is it?’ he pressed. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘I’m just not convinced this is such a good idea.’
His eyes revealed nothing of the frustration he had to be feeling right now. He tilted his head indulgently at her. ‘Rogerson felt the same way this week. He wasn’t sure whether he should commit to the deal. But you convinced him that sometimes it’s worth taking that risk. Maybe you should take a spoonful of your own medicine?’
She shivered. It wasn’t the same, she wanted to argue. Rogerson stood to gain by taking a risk on Maverick. Whereas she…She stood to lose everything—Morgan’s job, her own sanity and, most of all, she feared, her heart.
Was it a risk she could so easily brush off?
No.
Was it a risk she was willing to take?
Oh, yes.
She shivered as she slipped past him and lowered herself into the car, his eyes doing crazy things to her blood and her breasts at the same time.
Business dinner, she persisted in telling herself, it’s still only a business dinner. But that hadn’t stopped her finding the most feminine dress she could find in her sister’s wardrobe, a soft floral pastel with crossover bodice and pleated waist that gave way to a floaty skirt that shifted when she moved, revealing glimpses of leg. After the dull business suits she’d been wearing all week, this dress felt soft, feminine—and, the way it felt against her skin, even a little sexy.
The way he looked at her made it even more so.
He climbed in alongside but didn’t drive away. Instead he just looked across at her. ‘I’ve never seen you with your hair down,’ he said, touching a hand to the waves that cascaded around her face and over her shoulders, twisting one tendril around his finger, a gentle pressure that had her whole scalp tingling. ‘I like it.’
Their eyes connected and for the space of one hitched breath the world stopped. She drank him in with her eyes, the early-evening light turning his features into a play of light and shadow, of dark depths and rich promise, and she realised that just one evening with this man would never be enough.
She forced her eyes away as a stab of regret lanced her heart. Because one last night was all she had.
With a sigh he let go and started the engine. ‘Do you mind if we make a brief detour on the way? I’ve just had a call and there’s someone I need to drop in on.’
She shrugged. ‘Sure,’ she said, already enjoying the scent of fine leather and an even finer driver, and not in any particular rush to put an end to the sensual pleasure.
It was only when he pulled into the gated car park of the Green Valley Rest Home that her curiosity was piqued.
She looked up at him, her question unspoken.
‘My grandmother,’ he simply said.
‘You have a grandmother?’
He flashed a look at her. ‘That surprises you?’
‘Yes. I mean no. I mean…’ What did she mean—that it seemed incongruous for a man as hard as Maverick to have family, let alone a little old grandmother?
‘Besides,’ he continued, a slight frown creasing his brow as he parked the car and pulled on the handbrake, ‘you knew about Nell—given you’re the one who sends her flowers for her every birthday and Mother’s Day.’
‘Oh, of course, that grandmother,’ she stumbled, feeling her cheeks burn and wishing she were some place else entirely. ‘But you send them, I just order them.’
He was already climbing out, and thankfully oblivious to her gaffe. ‘I’ll be as quick as I possibly can.’
But he wasn’t out the door before a wiry old woman on a walking frame came through the front doors.
‘Jimmy!’ she snapped out in a soft American drawl. ‘What took you so long?’
Maverick didn’t flinch at his grandmother’s use of his childhood name. He just leant down and kissed her sunken cheek. ‘Come on, Nell,’ he said, taking her by one arm. ‘You should be inside now. It’s getting late.’
‘It’s only late if you’re on nursing-home hours!’ she grumbled, pulling her arm out of his hand. ‘I swear it’s a conspiracy to get us to sleep twelve hours of the day.’
‘Okay,’ he conceded, motioning to a park bench nearby. ‘Let’s sit outside and you can tell me what’s so important that you had to see me straight away.’
He waited while she negotiated the few short steps to the bench and got into position, lowering herself down slowly behind her frame, before he sat down alongside her.
‘So what’s the problem, Gran?’
‘Christmas.’
She spat th
e word out like a bullet. He sighed. This was the emergency the staff had called him around to deal with? But still he sympathised. When Nell got something stuck in her head, there was no way to put her off the track.
‘Christmas is over six weeks away, Nell.’
‘I know that. But what are you doing about it?’
He hadn’t given it a thought. They’d probably do the same as they’d done in previous years—he’d book a lunch somewhere, and if she was bright enough on the day they’d eat out together, or otherwise he’d spend a large chunk of the day just sitting with her at the home and taking her to enjoy an ice cream at the beach.
‘What would you like me to do about it?’
‘Well, you might do something about getting the whole family together for a change. If you don’t do something soon, Frank and Sylvia are bound to be booked up again.’
He pressed his lips together and nodded stoically, burying his own feelings. There was no point telling her while she was in this state that her son and daughter-in-law had been permanently booked up for five years now. Instead he hooked an arm around her bony shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze. ‘I’ll see what I can do, okay?’
‘And who’s the girl in the car?’
He groaned to himself. There was nothing wrong with his grandmother’s eyesight, that was for sure.
‘It’s just Morgan, my PA.’
‘Funny name for a girl.’ She chewed on her bottom lip while she peered through wrinkle-rimmed eyes at the car. ‘So she’s the one who sends me all those flowers, then?’
‘Those flowers are actually from me.’
‘Rubbish. I bet you never bought flowers in your life. I suppose I should thank her in that case.’
‘There’s no need—’
She hauled herself up behind her Zimmer frame and regarded him sharply. ‘Why? You’re not ashamed of your own flesh and blood, are you?’
‘No, of course not.’
‘Then what’s stopping you?’ she demanded, waving him away with a flick of her wizened wrist.
He was almost at the car when he met Tegan getting out, her dress waving softly in the breeze, the wave in her hair flicking like it was alive. He smiled apologetically. ‘She wants to meet you.’
One-Click Buy: November Harlequin Presents Page 50