Savin' Me (A Heat Wave Novel)

by Alannah Lynne

  He moved another step closer.

  She inched backwards and gripped the railing of the gazebo.

  “When did you move here?”

  “Last weekend. It’s been a real whirlwind couple of weeks. I wanted to be here for the open house so I could meet as many clients as possible. I found a place to live, packed, and moved in a week’s time.” Dammit, she was rambling. Wide open silences always made her tense, so she tended to fill them with yammering. Which then made her more uptight.

  And that was without him taking another step closer. “Where are you staying?”

  She’d moved as far away as the railing would allow, so she tried her best not to breathe. When she inhaled she drew in the scent of his spicy cologne, one that perfectly complemented his spicy personality. But his scent, along with his looming presence and the heat radiating from his body, sizzled her brain.

  “Uhhh… ” She forced herself to focus on his question. “A few blocks from here. I’ve moved into an apartment over the old fire station. It has an incredible view of the river and town. I was lucky to find it.”

  “I saw a U-Haul and two guys moving furniture in last weekend.”

  “That was me.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Did someone come with you, or did you move alone?”

  His tone carried the tiniest hint of jealousy, and she pressed her lips together to keep from smiling. She was being petty and childish, especially since a relationship with him was out of the question. But she could live with her juvenile joy. “Just me. A couple friends from Charlotte helped.”

  Taking one last step toward her, he stood so close they might be breaking public decency laws. In a low, menacing voice, he asked, “How good a friend?”

  She managed to hold back her laughter, but a huge smile broke through. “A friend’s fiancé and his brother.”

  He rested one forearm on the column above her head, placed his other hand on the railing next to her hip, and shifted his body so he effectively trapped her. “Why did you leave me like that?”

  She gasped and her stomach tightened at his angry tone. She knew from their night together he was abrupt and direct, but she hadn’t expected him to make the jump to something this personal so quickly.

  His eyes were cold, his facial muscles tense, and the uncertainty she’d sensed in him earlier was back.

  She chewed on her bottom lip and looked into his eyes. Much like the night they met, he compelled her in such a way she found it impossible to deny him anything, especially the truth. “I had no experience with one-night stands.”

  She swallowed the ugly taste in her mouth as she acknowledged what they’d shared as nothing more than inconsequential, meaningless sex. “I didn’t know proper protocol. I thought I was doing the right thing by leaving and avoiding the awkward morning-after thing I’ve always heard about.” Especially since she’d fallen head over heels for him in the span of twelve hours.

  Erik’s eyes flashed with what appeared to be anger, and he leaned down close to her ear. In a low, bone-melting drawl, he asked, “What made you so sure it was only gonna be one night?”

  Her heart stopped momentarily, then picked up a pounding rhythm. “Wouldn’t it have been?”

  “Not as far as I was concerned. But since I had no way of finding you, you took that option away from me.” He drew back slightly and shifted his gaze away. “I’ve gone back to that bar every time I’ve been in Charlotte, hoping to run into you again.”

  He stood too close, making it difficult to think clearly. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, but no words came out. He made it sound as if they might have had something more, if only she’d stuck around and given them a chance. But everything he said that night led her to believe he didn’t do relationships. And what she heard tonight confirmed it.

  But how many nights over the past thirteen months had she lain in bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering what if?

  The muscle in his jaw tightened and flexed, and her fingers ached with the desire to reach out and caress the tic away. Moisture pooled in her mouth as she dropped her gaze to his neck. Would he taste salty if she slid her tongue over his pulse point?

  Her breath became ragged as she struggled with the overwhelming need to launch herself against the massive wall of his body, throw her arms around his slender waist, and feel his arms wrapping her in a tender hug as she rested her head against his shoulder.

  But instead of doing any of those things, she clenched her fists to her sides, ducked out from under his arms, and squeezed her eyes closed. No way in hell would she allow the tears prickling the backs of her eyes to fall. Once she’d regained her self-control, she turned to face him.

  He’d propped his hip against the railing and crossed his arms over his chest. His eyes were filled with unasked questions.

  “Erik, I’m sorry.” She risked taking a step closer and searched his face for understanding. “I didn’t know. I assumed… well… that the whole thing meant nothing to you.” She ignored his flash of anger and continued. “I thought I was doing you a favor by being gone when you woke.” She glanced away from his hardened gaze. “I came back. But when you didn’t answer the door, I knew I’d done the right thing by leaving.”

  He jerked upright and grasped the railing in a tight grip. “What do you mean you came back?”

  “After I left, I sat in my car for about twenty minutes arguing with myself, questioning if I’d done the right thing. I finally gave up and went back to your room. But when I knocked, you didn’t answer.” She shrugged as if wasn’t a big deal. As if her heart hadn’t cracked at the silence that met her.

  He closed his eyes and cursed under his breath. When he opened them again they were shimmering with kindness and his entire demeanor had softened. “When you left, the click of the door woke me. I grabbed my pants to come after you, but the elevator doors were just shutting behind you. I paced around the room for a few minutes and finally decided…” He exhaled and shook his head. “Hell, I let pride get in the way.” He brushed his knuckles across her cheek. “I don’t chase after women, no matter how beautiful and sexy they are.” He dropped his hand to his side. “You must have come back while I was in the shower, and I didn’t hear you.”

  Kat stared at him in shock as an expanding hollowness filled her chest.

  He caught her chin in his fingers and smiled. “But you’re here now.”

  “Nothing can happen now.” Her voice was a high-pitched wail.

  “Why not?”

  “Because,” she threw her arms up in frustration, “I can’t be involved with a client.”

  His mouth lifted and the corners of his eyes crinkled. “There are varying degrees of involvement.”

  “Erik, I’m serious. My involvement with a client cost me my last job. I’ll never make that mistake again.”

  Completely unfazed, he persisted. “Never say never, Kat. Besides, I’m not asking for a long-term commitment, just a few dates.” His smooth, rich voice heated her from the inside out, and the way he stroked his fingers along her cheek as he spoke was hypnotizing. “We can work on discovering a few more of those erogenous zones. C’mon, don’t tell me you’re not interested in finding a few more hot buttons.”

  Of course she was interested. What living, breathing female wouldn’t be? But she couldn’t. She wouldn’t. Not when her job was on the line. Again.

  Resolve firmly in place, she squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. “No, Erik. I’m sorry, I can’t.”

  And before she shed her resolve, and her clothes, in favor of more frenzied sex with the hottest man she’d ever met, she turned away from him and all but ran toward the safety of the office door.

  As she rounded a magnolia, she heard him say, “We’ll see about that.”

  ***

  “Dammit,” Kat growled as she threw her pencil on the desk, then ground her palms into her eyeballs. Trying to proofread technical data sheets before they went to press was tedious on a good day. The type was small,
the words were boring, and reading something this detailed required a tremendous amount of focus—something she couldn’t find anywhere.

  She had her requisite Diet Coke, plus one; nibbled her way through a chocolate bar, king size; and gotten up to stretch, several times. All to no avail.

  Sexual frustration had become an all-consuming state, permeating every cell of her persistently aroused body and crawling into the deepest, darkest recesses of her mind. She hadn’t had sex with anyone since Erik and, surprisingly, she hadn’t even missed it. Since seeing him, however, she couldn’t seem to think about anything but sex. Specifically, sex with him.

  During the day, she struggled to focus on work. At night, her subconscious took over and held her hostage. The dreams were erotic. The details, vivid. The sex, intense. And she always awoke aroused and aching.

  But last night’s dream had been different, and she couldn’t shake free from the memory, or the feelings it inspired. Rather than a fast and furious get-your-rocks-off fucking pace, the sex had been slow and leisurely. It had been passionate, sweet lovemaking with a complete fusion of their bodies and souls. Never having experienced anything like it in the flesh, the dream left her emotionally raw.

  She rested her head against the back of the chair and stared at the stark-white ceiling. No woman with enough breath in her to fog a mirror could resist Erik Monteague or the intense chemistry between them. If simply seeing him created this many problems for her, she couldn’t imagine how bad it would be had she been forced to work with him. The hormonal stress would’ve killed her.

  She took a deep breath, released it on an “oohhmmm,” and leaned back over the data sheets, determined to get this job finished. She’d just found her place when Rusty stuck his head into her office. “Hey, Kat, got a minute?”

  After another silent Ooohhhmmm, she said, “Sure, what’s up?”

  With one hand in his pocket and a thick manila folder tucked under his arm, Rusty strolled across her office. He drew his free hand down his jawline, then massaged the muscles at the back of his neck. “This new business project I’m working on is monopolizing my time. I’m confident we’re going to pick it up, so in fairness to our current clients, I think I need to turn over several of my accounts. I’ve given Elise two, the jewelry store and the Chamber projects.” He sat in the chair across from Kat’s desk, rested an ankle on his knee, and tossed the folder onto her desk. “But you’ll be a much better fit for this one.”

  Kat took a quick look at the name on the folder and stopped breathing. This had to be a joke. No way in hell was he actually passing the Monteague Boats account over to her.

  But why would he joke about something like this? He didn’t know about her and Erik’s history—at least she hoped he didn’t—and guys didn’t do shit like this to tease.

  She forced air into her lungs and smiled. “Okay. I’ll look over the file, familiarize myself with the account”—freak out—“and give them a call. Is there anything pressing I should know about? Any upcoming deadlines?”

  Rusty’s sheepish look caused the king-sized candy bar and soda to gurgle in her gut. “Erik Monteague is the contact person. He’s head of the marketing department as well as one of the owners. And, he’ll be here in thirty minutes for a meeting.”

  Thirty minutes! She jerked upright and forced the air to keep moving through her lungs… in, out, in, out. “Wow,” she said, forcing a small laugh. “It’s a good thing I’m a quick study.”

  She made a quick mental to-do list—thirty minutes to go over their entire advertising history, see what ads they were currently running, get a feel for their past campaigns, and most importantly, squash out the slut brigade (aka hormones) and their recently launched sexual offensive.

  She was good at her job, and the first three would be easy. The fourth was questionable. She’d come to realize over the past several days that the slut brigade was a formidable foe.

  “When Erik gets here, I’ll make the introductions and get you started.” He stood and headed for the door, then paused. “I think you and Erik will work well together; it’ll be a good fit.”

  Yeah, that’s the problem. Erik and I are a perfect fit.

  After closing the door for privacy, Kat stared out the window at the park and boardwalk across the street and the expansive Pamlico River beyond it. She was quickly coming to appreciate the river and the calming effect it had on her. Since her backyard oasis had been tainted—she’d never eat there again without smelling Erik’s scent or remembering the way his heat had surrounded her—the park would make a great substitute refuge.

  Several moms pushed strollers along the boardwalk and watched their children play in the park. A toddler snagged Kat’s attention as he threw pellets of food in the air, then jumped up and down, clapping his hands as seagulls swooped in to catch the offering. Even at this distance, his delight was contagious and Kat felt herself begin to smile.

  Dark, unruly hair whipped around his head as he ran back to his mother for more food and Kat found herself thinking, That’s what Erik would’ve looked like at that age.

  Dammit. Her shoulders slumped as she thunked her forehead against the cool glass of the window. She had to stop picturing Erik in every scenario. She’d done it to a small degree before seeing him at the party last Thursday night, but it was quickly growing into a habit and a constant source of irritation, like wet sand in a bathing suit.

  She turned from the window and glared at the offensive folder on her desk, thinking back to the night she’d met Erik, when she’d been drowning in a pathetic sea of failure. Would he question her ability to handle his account?

  No, he seemed like a fair and reasonable person, and she didn’t believe that would be a concern of his unless she gave him reason, which meant she needed to put her personal feelings aside and go into that meeting prepared and focused. She was a professional, dammit, and it was time to pull herself together and act like one.

  Chapter Three

  As Erik pulled his boat into a slip at Riverside’s public marina, he couldn’t wipe the stupid-ass grin off his face. The sky was Carolina blue with a few puffy clouds. A light breeze pushed small ripples across the water, and the temperature and humidity were low. It was a perfect spring day.

  He tied off the boat, then gave his best four-legged friend, Little Bit, the command to stay, before making his way down the dock to the park. Of all the places he could’ve been born, Erik was tremendously grateful he’d been plopped down in this little coastal haven.

  Although renovations had recently been completed to improve the boardwalk and waterfront park, the town remained much as it had been for the past two hundred years. As he made his way across the park toward SMG, he considered the love-hate relationship the town had with the great Pamlico River. The river served as a lifeline to many of Riverside’s residents, and prior to becoming industrialized, it had been necessary for the town’s survival.

  But a hurricane could turn the river into an angry and violent monster that destroyed everything in its path. The relationship between the town and the river was like a relationship between two people. When things were working, it was a beautiful thing. When they weren’t, it could mean total devastation.

  Something he’d be well served to remember as he damn near skipped across the street to SMG and Kat. Keeping things in perspective was going to be crucial.

  Since his night with Kat, he’d gone out a few times, but he always found himself unfairly comparing each woman to her, and the dates ultimately imploded. Meeting with Kat would give him the perfect opportunity to charm her into agreeing to pick up where they’d left off, so they could enjoy a few wild romps, and he could get her out of his system once and for all. Afterwards, they could continue on as friends, and he could get back to his regularly scheduled programming.

  The self-preservationist—the part of his mind he normally always listened to—waved his arms and sent out warning flares at Erik’s poor planning and faulty thinking.

  It se
emed to believe any involvement with Kat would end up about as serious as a man could get, but Erik held firm to the notion he was simply in it for sex. What was the worst thing that could happen, an orgasm overdose?

  For the first time in ten years, Erik chose to ignore the self-preservationist and slammed the door shut on that part of his mind.

  As he pushed through the front door of SMG, Luanna, the young, perky receptionist, smiled broadly. “Good morning, Erik. Here to see Rusty?”

  The stupid grin he’d been wearing since receiving Rusty’s phone call widened. “I don’t know about Rusty, but I’m definitely meeting with Kat.”

  While Luanna rang Kat and double-checked with Rusty about his participation, Erik relaxed in one of the lobby chairs. He was staring at the floor, lost in thought, when a pair of three-inch heels crossed his field of vision.

  Lord have mercy.

  He took a deep breath and oh so slowly raked his gaze up the pair of long legs he knew fit so nicely around his waist. Rusty’s pounding footsteps on the balcony above and his quick appearance on the stairs halted Erik’s visual meandering at the hemline of her short black skirt.

  “Hey man, how’s it going?” Rusty called out as he descended the steps.

  Up was the first thing that came to Erik’s mind as he stood and shook hands with Rusty. However, despite his raunchy reputation, he wasn’t that crass, so he responded in an appropriate manner. “Great.” Releasing Rusty’s grip, he turned to Kat and smiled. “How are you this mornin’?”

  She clutched a file folder to her chest with her left hand while offering her right for a shake. Her smile was tight, her demeanor stiff, obviously not as happy about this meeting as him. “I’m good. Thanks for asking. And you?”

  When he extended his hand, she gave him more of a slap than a shake, and he bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. No prolonged touching on her part… He’d enjoy working to change that.