by Cari Quinn
His laughter was bitter. “Right. The fact that you were pregnant and wanted to run home to your husband had nothing to do with it.”
“I saved your ass,” she repeated quietly. “You call them and stir all that up again and you’ll only hurt yourself. You’re lucky they even gave you another chance.”
“I’m lucky? What about what I’ve given them?”
Diana waved her fingers. “You did your job well, but no more impressively than any number of others could or would have. Others who weren’t known as potential troublemakers.” When he said nothing, she leaned forward. “You knew that you’d always be trying to redeem yourself in their eyes. But you always had that damn chip on your shoulder. You’ve always been out to prove something.”
“I was out to do my job,” he said in even tone. “That’s all.”
“Oh I know. Believe me, your focus is well-known. It was probably pretty easy for people to see what you wanted from me, Spence. Even I figured it out, after a while. We used each other for what we needed. You, a management position. Me, to get back at my husband for sleeping with his latest secretary.” She shrugged. “It was what it was. But things happened that none of us expected.”
“Yeah, I fell for you. Like a moron. And—”
She tsk-tsked, cutting him off. “A lot was said and done on both sides. Years have passed now. Long enough that maybe I’m starting to wonder if I missed the boat entirely with you.”
Spencer leaned back and drummed his fingers on the table. One way or another, he’d regain control of this situation. “That ship sailed five years ago. The only thing I’m concerned about now is getting what’s due me.”
“What’s due you?” She let out a tinkling laugh. “Spence, honey, they’re my parents. If I want to be involved again, they’re happy to oblige me.”
“Oh and I’m sure they know all about your extra added bonus if I stick around to do your bidding, right?”
Again she shrugged. “No, but if it made me happy, they probably wouldn’t object. You may hate hearing that, but it’s true.”
He didn’t doubt it. As the Sinclairs’ precious only child, Diana had had them wrapped around her diamond-encrusted pinkie since birth. But he had no intention of being another stud on her ring.
“For years, everything between us has been based on a handshake,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “That’s been the store’s whole fucking policy. Family straight down the line. Now you’re telling me I’m out in the cold because I didn’t demand papers for what we both know was agreed upon?”
“Family is family, business is business and if the two cross, blood wins.” Her voice gentled. “You’re only in the cold if you let semantics keep you from coming to Virginia with me. You’ll still be running the prototype store. You’ll still have your vaunted control. And you’ll be compensated handsomely.”
After a pause, she reached across the table to run a nail up the sleeve of his jacket. “You’ll also be able to enjoy whatever other…perks you’d like as well. Things were amazing between us, Spence. You remember.”
“Oh yeah, I remember.” Steel lined his tone. “Believe me, you’re clear as a bell in my mind.”
“You too, honey.” Her gaze dropped, as if she was focused on a spot below the table. It didn’t take too much imagination to guess where her attention was located. “I’ve missed you terribly.”
“What happened to your husband?”
For the first time, her expression darkened. “We divorced a few years ago. You don’t understand what I risked and lost because of you, Spencer. You thought you were the only one hurt by what happened.” She lifted teary eyes. “I lost a baby.”
Spencer sucked in a breath and braced his elbows against the edge of the table. So much for control. His was just about annihilated. “Well, I can’t say that, because I don’t know if your baby was mine. But I sure as hell grieved as if it was. So if you think throwing the word baby around will garner you any sympathy with me, you’re more of a fool than I ever gave you credit for.”
“And you’re stupid, period, if you think you can just dismiss what was between us out of pride.”
“It’s not pride.” Not only pride. “We were together a lifetime ago. Do you really think any of this is even relevant anymore?”
“Yes, I do.” She reached across the table to grip his wrist, the soft skin of her palm disarmingly warm and somehow so familiar. “Give me one night, Spencer. I just need to know if there’s anything still there.”
A year ago, he wouldn’t even have questioned what he had to do. Walking away from the store wasn’t an option. He’d made some stupid choices, granted, but he still had this hand to play out and he wasn’t ready to fold. Pride didn’t have a place in business, not when you were bargaining for everything that mattered.
Not everything. Not anymore.
“So you’re blackmailing me,” he said flatly.
“I prefer to see it as encouraging you to listen to reason about what’s best for both of us.” As if she sensed a change in him, her voice became more entreating. “If we’re not what we were before, then all agreements stand. You’ll be the RM of the Virginia stores as planned and I’ll work under you. One night. That’s all.”
Turning his head away, he forced the images out of his mind. Of kissing Kelly, of holding her.No. He wouldn’t think of her or his betrayal. Promises had never been made, but it didn’t matter. Doing this might cost him the brightest part of his life but this was the most expeditious solution to his problem. Most sensible. And hell, Kelly would be better off without him.
It wasn’t just about his role in the store. Actually, for once his position wasn’t first on his agenda. No, right now he cared a hell of a lot more about Kelly—and finding a way to keep her in his life—than he did about fighting for something he’d clearly never really had.
But there were no guarantees. If he threw away this chance to hold on to the store, he might not be able to keep her in his life anyway. He wasn’t long-term relationship material and they both knew it. And if he walked, Diana would disregard his hiring decisions and the people he cared about would lose. Marcia wouldn’t move into his job. Kelly wouldn’t move into Marcia’s position. Regardless of their importance in his life, they’d earned those advancements.
He had to see this through. All the way. If he suffered, too bad. He’d made his bed. He’d fucking sleep in it.
“It’s never all, not with you,” he said, his internal war making his tone brittle.
“I’m telling you it will be, Spencer. You have my word.”
This didn’t mean anything. It was just business. Maybe he could work things so he could keep both Kelly and his job. If he played his cards right, this would never have to touch her. Or them.
And maybe delusions were all he had left.
“You’ll sign papers this time.” He might as well write a pact in blood with the devil, with his body as the price. “There will be no wiggle room. No do-overs.”
Diana nodded, her features glowing in the flickering votive candle that sat between them on the table. “Whatever you wish. Just give me tonight.”
* * * * *
“First time you’ve called in sick in three years. Guess my brother wore you out last night. Nice perk fucking the boss, huh?”
“God.”
Even twelve hours later, remembering Marcia’s taunt made Kelly’s hackles rise. She glanced around the romance section, wondering how she’d managed to work with that stupid comment whirling around in her head.
And if there was another reason besides the nearly finished reorganization she’d come back to work this late—such as waiting for Spencer to return from his business dinner—well, that was only because she needed to talk to him about Marcia’s very valid observation.
She glanced down at her outfit and fought a smile.After.
He’d dropped her off at home on his way to his late dinner. Since she’d already put in a full eight hours, he’d assumed she was done for the
day.
Assumptions rarely worked out the way people thought.
Putting together tonight’s outfit had taken some work. She’d had to borrow Alana’s skirt. As her friend was a bit shorter and curvier than Kelly, creative cinching of the waist had been required. Their height difference had actually turned out to be a good thing, because the hem barely skimmed midthigh. Combined with her tight white blouse and red lace see-through bra—and pigtails, of course, because she knew he liked those too—she looked like a Catholic schoolgirl gone very wrong. All part of her plan to send her boss off on his trip in a way he wouldn’t forget.
After she’d gotten ready, she’d stopped by the comedy club to hang out with Nicky and Alana for a while. Poor Nicky had ended up as the de facto bouncer when one too many guys tried to touch her ass. But Kelly had loved every minute.
She’d spent a lot of years as the girl no one noticed. Even better? She now knew Spencer would probably go cardiac the minute he saw her. Or so she hoped.
Luckily she had the last few tweaks to the romance redesign to play around with while she waited for him. She still wasn’t happy with the arrangement of the endcaps and she had new books to shelve. Mindless duties were just what she needed tonight.
She knew he planned on returning to the store to finish his last few remaining tasks and she’d figured he’d be gone a couple hours, tops. But now that it had been almost four since his dinner had begun, she was starting to worry.
Unlike him, she had no problem acknowledging it either.
What kind of business dinner went way past midnight? Was there more going on here than she realized?
“Shocker,” she muttered.
Maybe he’d gone home? He’d been keeping a brutal schedule lately. But he’d mentioned earlier that he still needed to accomplish a few things before his trip. Sleep never ranked before work with Spencer.
She rose and paced to the door. The parking lot was still empty, save for her small sedan. For a moment, she actually considered calling him. As if he was her boyfriend and she had a right to be concerned.
But it wasn’t her place. This was business and she’d better get used to him being gone a lot longer than a few hours. She was damn lucky he’d even been around so much lately. His absences from the store were frequent, but he always came back.
Until the day he doesn’t…
Kelly shook off the thought and made herself get back to work. She wanted to have the section finished tonight. Another going-away present of sorts.
She grinned. Hell, if she kept it up, she might as well buy him a dozen roses and a stuffed bear that said Be Mine.
She was so involved in what she was doing she barely heard the door open and close a while later. She set down her dustrag and cocked a hip as she listened to the sound of footsteps disappearing down the hall.
He had to have seen her car. He must’ve known she was there yet he hadn’t stopped by to say hello. Or even “go home”.
A quick glance at her watch had her eyes widening. Holy fuck, it was past two. Where had he been all night?
And with whom?
Her heart sped up in time with her breathing. He wasn’t a liar. If he said he had a business dinner, that’s what he’d had. Spencer’s word meant something to him. Beyond that, they didn’t have a commitment to each other. She hadn’t spelled anything out as far as what she would and would not tolerate.
Even so, her senses were on high alert. If she’d ever felt less like crawling all over a man, she couldn’t remember it.
She headed back to his office as slowly as her legs allowed. It was hard not to rush but she wasn’t about to look desperate. Right now, being made up like an overeager bimbo was bad enough.
He’d closed his door.Nice. As if that could keep her out. She turned the knob without knocking, unsure of what she’d find.
Spencer sat hunched over his desk—tie unknotted, jacket off, shirt half-unbuttoned and head in his hands. Shocked into silence, she stood in the doorway and worried her lower lip.
“You don’t know when to leave well enough alone, do you?”
The smart-assed question normally would’ve pushed all her buttons. When delivered in a jagged voice she’d never before heard from him, her ire had no chance.
Need flared low in her belly. So much for thinking her concerns had killed her desire. Even when she shouldn’t give in, wanting him left no room for anything else. As his dark eyes smoldered into hers, she knew he fucking knew it too.
Her throat convulsed as she stepped closer and smelled the expensive perfume all over him. It clung to his clothes, his hair, his skin. As if he’d been up close and personal with the owner.
She walked around the desk, already unbuttoning her blouse. Once upon a time—last week—she never would’ve reacted this way. She didn’t know where he’d been or who he’d been with. If she asked, most likely he wouldn’t tell her. And she accepted that, because she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
What she needed to do was to demand the truth. Not make excuses to herself about alternatives to the most likely explanation. But she couldn’t demand the truth, not when she knew there was a chance it would make her leave him. Easier to think she was paranoid. God, she just wanted to be wrong.
Dysfunctional relationship had once been a term she heard on daytime TV. Now it was her life, and she still wasn’t backing away.
In her own way, she was still making plans. Still taking calculated risks. Despite evidence to the contrary, the one thing she couldn’t deny when it came to Spencer Galvin was her gut. And that told her not to believe everything her skittish heart warned could be true.
She stopped beside his chair and waited until he looked her way before she untied the shirttails of her blouse. Confronted with lots of bare skin and her scarlet bra, his gaze met hers, his brows low over eyes that were impossible to read.
Did he want her here? What if desire had her all twisted up and he really had slept with another woman? Maybe he hadn’t even recovered yet.
One quick glance at his tented pants answered that question. Still, what was she doing? Had she really sunk so low that the promise of a man’s possibly sloppy seconds soaked her panties?
Yes and yes, at least to the wanting and the soaked panties. He wanted her. The relentless bulge in his pants testified to that as he swiveled in his chair. And she wanted him, as proven by the complete saturation of her barely-qualified-as panties.
In the war between her head and her emotions, her libido won. At least she knew where she stood there.
His ravenous gaze roamed over her as if he were starving and she were the only sustenance left on earth. “What the hell are you wearing?” he grated.
“I do believe they’re called clothes.”
She flicked open the clasp to her bra and let the cups fall away. Air swept over her feverish skin and pebbled her nipples into tight buds. His eyes darkened until his pupils blended with his irises, further proof of his desire.
“Do you want me?”
“You fucking know I do.”
His belligerent answer only aroused her more. Her fingertips traced her areolas until his breathing quickened, becoming audible in the tense silence.
“I may have failed to make something clear,” she murmured. “While you’re sleeping with me, I’m it for you.”
She leaned down, one hand still cupping her breast as her other hand encircled his rigid length through his trousers. “I’m not asking what happened tonight. I don’t want to know why you smell as if you rolled around in some,” she gritted her teeth, “woman’s sheets. You want me to, I can see it all over your face. You want me to fight you every step of the way so it’s easier for you to walk.”
“You’re so sure you’ve got me all figured out.” His voice was little more than a growl.
“No, I’m telling you how it’s going to be. The line’s in the sand.”
He stared at her, his face strained. He didn’t make promises or apologize. The carnality of his expr
ession said it all. Want to know how much I want you? You’re about to find out.
He yanked her closer, his hand wrapping around hers on her breast to bring it to his mouth. She gasped at the first strong pull of his tongue and teeth. To gain her balance, she propped her knee on the chair, opening herself for his hand to dive between her legs and rip aside her panties. She stiffened, expecting him to push his fingers inside her. At the moment, she welcomed the intrusion. But his thumb was gentle against her throbbing clit, swirling through her moisture and dipping into her opening to coax out more. When she wavered, he released her breast and reclaimed her hip, steadying her while his gaze traveled from her face to her cleavage and back again.
This wasn’t going at all like she’d planned. She’d set out to seduce him. She’d banked on his release splashing her tongue, not hers coating his palm as he thrust two fingers deep and sent her spiraling into a hard orgasm.
Too quick, too overwhelming. She wasn’t prepared. Couldn’t breathe. Her heartbeat drummed in her ears, so loud only his harsh pants cut through the din as he drove her back, forcing her toward the loveseat.
She shook with needing him and didn’t care what that made her. A fool. A desperate woman borrowing her own heartbreak. Even one who deserved it. She ached to be joined with him, even if it was just for this one last time.
No. Why did she think that? This wasn’t the end. Not yet.
God, please not yet.
She thought he’d shove her down, spread her legs and thrust inside her. But he didn’t shove her down. Instead he let her go. Surprised, she flopped on the loveseat, her gaze rocketing upward as he backed up and turned away.
“We’re not doing this,” he said in that same cut-glass voice, causing her to shake for a new reason altogether.
She hated that he had such a hold on her emotions but she didn’t know how to cut the cord. Didn’t want to. He made her feel so alive. Even destructive emotions were more than she’d felt for a man for too long. And love wasn’t wrong. She wouldn’t believe that, no matter what he said or did.
Loving him was right. If he misused that love, didn’t value it for the gift it was, she still wasn’t wrong for feeling the way she did. Dear God, why had it taken her so long to realize that?