by Marilyn Lee
She shook her head and turned away from her reflection. “When you get back to Philly, you'd better get it together, girl. Instead of seeking him out, you’re going to pretend he doesn’t exist and stay as far away from him as possible.”
* * *
A week later, Clay sat in his office, thinking of Darbi and staring out the window when his secretary buzzed him. He turned and pushed his intercom. “Yes, Jill?”
“There's a Miss Raymond from Calder Technologies here to see you.”
He tensed. “Raymond?”
“Ms. Darbi Raymond.”
“She's here? Now?”
“Yes. I explained to her that you're very busy and might not be able to find the time to --”
“Ask her to come in.” He straightened his tie, and rose as a tap sounded on his office door. “Come in.” He moved around his desk and stopped in the middle of his office.
The door opened and Darbi, wearing a dark blue slacks suit, walked into his office. Her thick, long, dark hair lay around her shoulders in a soft cloud. A light, soft fragrance filled the air.
The sight of her rekindled memories of making love to her. He swallowed and struggled to keep his cock from stirring. He smiled and extended a hand. “Hello, Darbi.”
“Clayton.”
“This is a surprise.”
She closed the door and leaned back against it, ignoring his hand. “I'm sure it is.”
Noting her unsmiling face and narrowed gaze, he shook his head. “It’s a pleasant surprise.”
“Is it?”
Clearly she was feeling combative. Great. He wanted to sweep her into his arms and kiss her until they were both breathless and she appeared to want a fight. Women.
He gestured to the leather sofa along one wall. “Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea? Juice?”
She moved away from the door to sit on the sofa. She crossed one leg over the other and gave him a cool stare. “No, but you can tell me why you didn't give me the courtesy of telling me you were leaving.”
He hesitated before sinking onto the other end of the sofa. “I should have been honest with you, but our sleeping together was a bad idea.”
“Why? Neither of us are married or committed to other people.”
“No, but you work for the competition.”
“So did Sharde, but that didn't stop your trying to get her into bed.”
Her reference to Sharde annoyed him. He was sick to death of everyone tossing Sharde's name at him as if she'd been the love of his life. He rose and moved across the room to sit behind his desk. “For your information, I never slept with her.”
“It wasn't from a lack of trying.”
He tightened his lips. “If we had slept together, it would have been just as much a mistake as you and I were.”
She flashed a cool smile. “So I was a mistake?”
He raked a hand through his hair, but remained silent.
“Sharde was wrong about you. She said you were --”
Sharde again? That did it. He leaned forward, catching and holding her hostile gaze. “At the risk of appearing rude, I frankly don't care what she might have said about me.”
“Why? Is talking about her too painful?”
The frequency with which Darbi had occupied his thoughts for the past week was a clear indicator that he had not been in love with Sharde. “I have no desire to continue this conversation. Can I get the door for you?” He stood up and strolled across his office. With his hand on the doorknob, he turned to face her.
“Aren't you the charming gentleman?”
He clenched his left hand into a fist.
She rose, a hint of red staining her cheeks. “Thanks for your hospitality.”
He stepped back from the door at her approach.
When she reached for the doorknob, he placed a palm against the panel. “Why did you come here?”
She shrugged, not quite meeting his gaze. “Does it matter?”
Maybe it shouldn't, but it did. “Did Calder send you?”
She sucked in a breath and stared at him, an angry look in her eyes. “Did you send your brother to fraternize with me after you ran out on me?”
The thought of her and Damien together angered him. “I didn’t run out on you!”
“What would you call what you did? Why did you leave like that? The least you could have done was leave me a message.”
He swallowed hard. “I did write one.”
Her dark eyes lit up. “You did? What did it say? Where did you leave it? I never found it.”
“I wrote it, but I didn’t actually leave it.”
“What? Why not?”
He shook his head. “Never mind that.”
“Never mind? You expect me to believe you wrote a message and then did what? Took it with you?”
He supposed it did sound implausible. “What difference does that make now? Tell me what happened between you and Damien. Did he ... did you allow him to ...”
“What did or didn't happen between us is none of your business.” She pulled the door open.
He pushed it closed and leaned against it. “Did you sleep with him?”
“You think I sleep with every man I meet?”
“I don't know. Do you?”
Her eyes blazed at him and for a moment, he half expected her to slap him. “How would that be any of your concern?”
“Why the hell did you come here if Calder didn't send you?”
She lifted her chin and stared into his eyes. “He didn't send me! I came because -- because ...”
“Because what?”
“Because I was foolish enough to want to see you again.”
He ignored the warm feeling her admission generated in him. “Why?”
She shrugged. “My batteries ran out and I thought maybe ...”
“When did they run out? Did you sleep with Damien?”
“If I said yes?”
He stepped away from the door and jerked it open. “Thanks for stopping by.”
She pressed her lips together, cast a quick look towards the ceiling, sighed, and then pushed the door closed. “I didn't sleep with him.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Yes, because I have no need or reason to lie to you.”
“Unless you thought it was necessary to get what you want.”
She laughed and shook her head. “You think you're so ... hot I'd lie to get to see you again?”
“Would you?”
She moistened her lips. “I do want to sleep with you again, but I'm not lying. What makes you think I’d even be interested in sleeping with your brother?”
“Because he’s a younger version of me. If you found me attractive, why wouldn’t you find him even more so?”
“Is that what this is about?” She placed a hand on his chest. “Granted, he’s gorgeous -- like you. And that’s the problem, Clay. He looks like you ... he sounds almost like you ... but he's not you.”
He swallowed and stared at her in silence. Why did he want to pursue a relationship with her when common sense urged otherwise?
“Am I wasting my time as well as embarrassing myself here, Clay?”
He lifted her left hand from his chest and brushed his lips against her fingertips. “There's no reason to be embarrassed.”
“Isn't there? Are you that used to women tracking you down and coming onto you?”
He shrugged. “It's happened once or twice.”
“I'll bet it has.” She sighed. “This is getting more embarrassing by the second.” She tugged at the hand he still held. “I'd better go before I really say or do something to --”
He retained her hand. “Before you do, I think you should know that I'm flattered that you did come.”
“But it was a waste of time. Wasn't it? I should have taken the hint when you ran out on me in the middle of the night.”
He opened her hand and pressed his cheek against her palm. “For the last time, I did not run out on you in the middle of th
e night.”
She stroked his cheek. “Yes, you did. When you left, you knew perfectly well that I was expecting to see you in the morning.”
He sighed. “Okay, I admit I knew that.”
She withdrew her hand from his face. “Then why didn't you tell me you wouldn't be there?”
“I didn't decide to leave until after you fell asleep.”
“Why didn’t you wake me?”
He laughed and shook his head. “Are you serious? Had I awakened you, it wouldn’t have been to tell you I wouldn’t be there when you woke up again. It would have been to fuck you until you couldn’t walk.”
So. No more games or pretending he’d wanted to make love to her. “If that’s the case, why did you decide to leave?”
“You are a beautiful, sexy woman.”
“But?”
“But I'm not looking for a relationship at the moment. If I were, I'm sure I'd be very interested in one with you.”
She sighed. “She hurt you, didn't she?”
“Who?”
“Sharde.”
“For the love of God, Darbi, not her again!”
“Isn't she part of the reason you left? You really wanted her, didn't you? Did you just want her or were you -- are you in love with her?”
“Whatever I might have felt for her has no bearing on this conversation or why I left L.A.”
She reached for his hand and linked her fingers through his. “So what we shared didn't mean anything to you?”
“What we shared? We spent a few hours together when we shouldn't have.”
She withdrew her hand from his. “Is that all it felt like to you? You said it was incredible.”
He hesitated. “Look, Darbi, I didn’t say anything to you that I didn’t mean. Nevertheless, it's not as if we had ...” He allowed his voice to trail off, unable to try to trivialize something that had touched him so deeply he was still carrying around the letter he’d written to her.
“Fine. You've made your point. I won't keep you any longer.” She pulled open the door and walked out.
He closed the door behind her and leaned against it, closing his eyes. Idiot! A sweet, sexy, beautiful woman tracks you down and you behave like a moron. You want to have sex with her. She wants to have sex with you. What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you creating problems? Why are you allowing her to think that night meant nothing to you when it did?
He took several deep breaths before yanking the door to his office open. “Darbi ...”
She glanced briefly over her shoulder but kept moving across the outer office.
He followed her out of the office and into the hallway. At the bank of elevators, she turned to face him, a wary look in her eyes. “I don’t think we have anything else to say to each other.”
He slipped his hands into his pant pockets. “I'm sorry. I behaved like a jerk just now.”
She shrugged. “You behaved like a man who's not interested.”
“You can't really believe that.”
“You haven't given me any reason not to.”
“I am interested.”
“Sure you are.”
“I am. And I did write a letter.”
“Yeah. I know. You wrote it, but didn’t leave it. Tell me another one, Clay.”
“It’s the damned truth, Darbi!” He pulled out his wallet, removed the folded, crumpled hotel stationery, and gave it to her.
He watched several expressions -- surprise, pleasure, and annoyance chase each other around on her face as she read his note. When she looked up at him, he spoke before she could. “It's been difficult to dismiss thoughts of you since we met.”
“Why didn’t you leave this, Clay?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I intended to, but at the last minute, I didn’t.”
“If our night together was something you wanted to cherish, why make me track you down and why humiliate me in your office?”
“I'm sorry if you felt humiliated. That certainly wasn't my intention, but I'm just not interested in anything other than a strictly sexual relationship at the moment.”
She shrugged and pushed the elevator call button. “What makes you think I want anything more than that from you?”
He considered her in silence for several moments. Why would she be willing to settle for a strictly physical relationship? “You're not interested in anything more permanent?”
“Yes, but I'll be ... blunt. I'm tired of toys. I want the real thing. I’d like to have it with you -- until I meet someone I can fall in love with.”
He narrowed his gaze. “And of course you couldn't fall in love with me?”
She folded his letter and to his surprise, slipped into her shoulder bag. “You're one of the sexiest ... you are the sexiest man I've ever met, let alone slept with, but when I'm ready to get serious, it will be with a man whose tan is permanent.”
What the hell was her problem? She intended to keep the letter he’d written her and she couldn’t spread her legs fast enough for him, but he wasn’t good enough for a serious relationship? “So you just want to use me for my body until then?”
Although annoyed by her attitude, he liked that she didn't blush or look away from him as she nodded. “There's no need to make me sound so ... self-serving. I thought we could use each other.”
He shook his head. “I don't know if I like the idea of being your real life sex toy.”
“It's not as bad as you're making it sound. I wasn't in that hotel room by myself. You were there too. You know how ... good it was between us. It was more than good, Clay.”
He nodded. “That doesn't mean I'm prepared to be used.”
“You’re making too big a deal out of this. You said you weren’t interested in anything but sex with me. Yet when I tell you that’s all I want, you get bent out of shape? What do you want me to do? Pretend it was love at first thrust?”
“It happens.”
“Maybe so, but not in our case.” The elevator door slid open. She stepped in. “I'll give you some time to think about it and then I'll call you to see if you're interested.”
The elevator doors closed and he returned to his office and sank down into his chair. Determined not to spend any more time thinking about her, he turned on his computer and concentrated on work.
Two hours later, his intercom buzzed. He reached over to answer it. “Yes, Jill?”
“Ms. Raymond is on line one.”
“Thank you.” He picked up the receiver and pushed line one. “Darbi?”
“You've had enough time. Are we going to be lovers or do I need to look elsewhere?”
He sat back against his chair. “This is your idea of giving me time to think about it?”
“I want to sleep with you. How much clearer can I make it without totally embarrassing myself?”
“I've already told you there's no need to be embarrassed. I find a sexually unrepressed woman highly interesting.”
“That's easy for you to say. You're not the one doing the chasing and tracking down.”
As he sat with his eyes closed, with a picture of her beautiful face imprinting on his eyelids, he realized that had she not tracked him down, he would have pursued her. “Our seeing each other would not be a good idea.”
“I see. In that case, I won't take up anymore of your valuable--”
“Hey! Wait a minute. It’s not a good idea, but I am interested ... more than interested.”
She released a quick breath. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“How much more than interested?
“A lot more.”
“Good. So let's just lay down a few ground rules and go from there.”
He laughed and shook his head. “Do you always take over like this?”
“No. Of course not. I've never run a man down and I've sure never begged one to be my temporary lover. So let me say what I need to before I lose my nerve.”
“You don't need to be nervous or embarrassed with me, Darbi. I'm finding yo
ur sexual candor exhilarating. Go on. Have your say and then we'll talk about dating.”
“Dating? We're not actually going to be dating, are we? We're both adults and I can't see any reason why we shouldn't just admit we want a sexual relationship with no strings or complications attached. I don't have to pretend I don't want to sleep with you and you don't have to pretend I mean anything to you.”
“Damn, you're blunt, aren't you?”
“You'd rather pretend?”
“No, but I'd rather you didn't sound as if you expect me to treat you like a piece of ass.”
“Isn't that what you plan to do?”
“No, it's not. Just because I'm not interested in trying to fall in love with you doesn't mean I'm going to treat you like my personal whore either.”
He heard her catch her breath. “Good, because I'm no one's whore.”
“Now we have that out of the way, can I buy you dinner tonight?”
“You don't have to --”
“Look, Darbi, just because I said I only wanted a sexual relationship doesn't mean the only time you're going to see me is when I want sex.”
“No?”
She sounded surprised, but pleased.
He smiled. “No. I'm looking forward to slow dancing with you and then having sex with you.”
She laughed. “I'd like that.”
“So would I. So then we'll have dinner, slow dance, talk, and then have sex.”
“Yes.”
“We'll have lots of sex.”
“Yes, please. Lots of it.”
Chapter Five
Darbi hung up the phone, closed her eyes, and pumped both fists in the air. “Yes!” She opened her eyes. And now that she'd run him down and they were going to be lovers, it was time to tell Sharde. She sighed, hoping Sharde was completely over him.
She left her office and slowly walked down the hall separating her office from Sharde's. She'd briefly occupied the office when Sharde had left Calder Technologies for several months. When Sharde and Jefferson had reconciled, Darbi had gladly returned to her former job, which included the traveling she enjoyed.
