by Coleen Kwan
“No,” he answered, surprised by her non sequitur.
“Well, I have a brother. He’s six years younger, and we’ve always been close. I was in charge of him a lot when we were growing up, and I guess I’ve continued looking after him even now when he’s an adult.”
“Where is this leading to?” he asked impatiently. “Does your brother work at my company?”
She nodded. “He’s still at college, but he’s also an intern in your IT department.”
“And he was supposed to be on call last night?”
“We-ell.” She shuffled in her seat. “He, uh, just filled in for someone for one night. But he forgot the pager at my place when he came over for dinner. I heard it go off when you sent out the alert, and I responded.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me the circumstances when you called?”
“Because you didn’t give me a chance.” She pressed her lips together. “You said to get there ASAP if I valued my job, and then you hung up.”
“But when you did show up, you still didn’t say anything.”
“Because you were so irate,” she burst out. “Of course I was going to tell you the truth because I don’t have a clue about your IT systems. But when I found out it was just a printer problem, well...” She lifted her shoulders.
“You thought you could get away with it and no-one would be the wiser.”
And what about the flirting and the kiss she’d invited? Had that been part of the plan to distract him? The back of his throat burned at the smart of humiliation.
“I thought it was the simplest solution.” Jacinta hung her head.
“And last night?” A knife stabbed between his ribs. She can’t have orchestrated their meeting at the bar because it had been he who’d tracked her down. But still... “You left before I woke up.” While he slept, she could have gone into his study, opened his files, read confidential information.
Her mouth fell open. “I didn’t go through your things! I left while you were sleeping because the situation was too complicated. After the call out, I never planned to see you again, and that’s the truth.”
“So why did you come home with me last night?”
“I—I got carried away.” Her cheeks burned with color. “I don’t know what got into me last night.”
“You didn’t think to tell me the truth before we had sex?” If she had, what would he have done? He had no way of knowing. All he knew was that right now he felt like total crap.
“I’m so sorry, Lex,” she whispered, almost pleading. “I should have told you last night, and—and just a few minutes ago I was going to tell you everything before Dimarco showed up.”
How could he believe her now? For a while there she’d breached his walls and gotten close to him, but now he knew the truth about her he felt those walls growing higher, his defenses strengthening.
“What’s your brother’s name?” he asked.
She bit her lip before answering reluctantly, “Kevin. Kevin Greene.”
“And the guy he was filling in for?”
“Leon something or other. I don’t know his surname.”
“I’ll find out.” The fury that had seared him at the start had begun to alter and condense into a cold bitterness. He pushed away his untouched coffee, feeling his emotions harden in self-defense.
“You’re not going to fire anyone, are you?” Jacinta’s eyes pleaded with him.
“Any reason why I shouldn’t?”
“Kevin was just doing a favor for his friend, and his friend didn’t know he’d forget the pager. It was an unfortunate error of judgment, but not a sackable offence.”
“That’s for me to decide.”
She sat back, blinking as her cheeks paled. “Just a few minutes ago you told me I was safe with you. You said nothing that happened between us would affect what happened at the office.”
“Don’t twist my words!” He was surprised at how much her attack hurt.
“You want the truth, but, to quote Jack Nicholson, you can’t handle the truth.”
“This isn’t a damn movie.” Why was this happening to him? When Jacinta had entered the coffee shop, he’d felt as if all his Christmases were happening at once. And now everything between them was a load of bullshit.
“You’re right. In a movie the good guy triumphs over the bad guy, doesn’t he?” She lowered her head, the sweep of her hair hiding her face, but not before he caught a suspicion of moisture in her eyes.
The glimpse of her tears turned him rigid. The urge to reach out and fold his arm around her was so powerful his body ached. A moment later, she pushed back her hair and lifted her head to meet his gaze steadily, her profile composed, resigned.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth earlier. If you’re going to fire my brother, I’d appreciate a call first,” she said steadily. “I’ll need to be there for him. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to work.” She rose awkwardly to her feet, picked up her purse, and moved toward the door, her expression tight and somber.
Lex tossed a couple bills on the table before stalking after her. “So I’m the bad guy, am I?” he growled as he fell into step beside her on the sidewalk.
“Why are you following me?” She looked rattled and shaky. “There’s nothing left to discuss.”
He didn’t know why he was doing this. He should let her walk away, out of his life. There wasn’t any reason to see her again. Except for this irrational need in him that defied all logic, a need to be with Jacinta, regardless of how she’d mislead him.
“Am I really the villain?” he asked, keeping pace with her hurried pace, trying not to be distracted by her stocking-clad legs.
He thought she was going to ignore him, but instead her footsteps faltered as she glanced at him uncertainly.
“No.” She sighed. “I made a terrible mistake, and you have every right to be furious with me, my brother, and his friend. It can’t have been easy discovering I was an imposter with Mr. Dimarco looking on.”
The bitterness that had engulfed him lifted slightly. “I’m furious with myself the most,” he admitted. “I don’t know what to believe anymore, especially after last night.” He looked her up and down, and his coldness ebbed away even further. “That’s the hardest part—wondering if I imagined it all, that spark the first time we kissed, and the mind-blowing sex we had last night.”
Jacinta made a choking sound. “You think I was faking those orgasms just to—just to divert your attention?” She let out a gasping sigh. “Wow. Just...wow.”
“So none of it was an act?”
“I—I—” She appeared to be speechless. “No.”
“Prove it. Kiss me again.”
She started, then shook her head vehemently. “No.”
“Let me give you another orgasm, then.”
“No!”
“At least have dinner with me tonight.”
“No.”
“If I promised not to fire anyone, would that change your mind?”
“No. Please don’t ask me anymore.”
But there was anguish in her eyes, and he sensed her confusion, her conflicting emotions. She wanted to say yes, to give in to the pulsating pull of attraction between them, but at the moment there were too many obstacles between them. This nascent fire between them was too precious to risk. If he wanted to nurture it, he’d have to go slowly, resisting his usual instincts to charge forward.
“Okay, I know when I’m beat.” He held up a hand in surrender. “I won’t bother you again.” Not yet, anyway.
Jacinta swallowed, lifted her chin higher, and he could’ve sworn there was a hint of disappointment in her eyes. “Goodbye, Lex.”
Chapter Eight
“So that’s it,” Kevin said to Jacinta. “I got off with a warning, but Leon caught it big time. He’ll have Mr. Dimarco breathing down his neck for a while.”
“Leon shouldn’t have palmed off his responsibilities,” Jacinta said.
She and her brother had me
t at the end of the day after he’d texted her that he’d been summoned to Lex Rochester’s office. One by one they all had—him, Leon, and Mr. Dimarco. No-one had been fired, and her brother was still surprised by the events.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the other night?” he asked, looking curious.
“I didn’t want to bother you. I thought it would all blow over.”
“Oh, well, it has now,” he said cheerfully, not having a clue of all the angst she’d gone through since that pager had beeped two nights ago.
She wasn’t going to enlighten him. That was part of being his big sister—she always tried to protect him from the ugly realities of life. Not that Lex was an ugly reality—the complete opposite really—but the mere mention of his name was enough to set her nerves frying. She couldn’t talk about him to anyone.
“You’d better be off now,” she said to her brother, “or you’ll be late for your lecture.”
They parted ways, and Jacinta made her way home. After last night’s activities and today’s events she was drained, and by the time she arrived at her condo she was exhausted. She tried to unwind by slipping into loose, comfortable clothing and pouring a glass of wine, but she couldn’t stop thinking about Lex.
Maybe she should call him and thank him for going easy on her brother. But why should she thank him for behaving like a normal, decent human being? On the other hand, it was the gracious thing to do, especially since he had a right to be angry at what had happened. Her thoughts zig-zagged back and forth, driving her mental, so she was almost pleased to be interrupted by the chime of her doorbell.
She opened the door to find Lex there. She managed not to gasp in shock, though she had to clutch the door for support.
“Hi, Jacinta.” He wore smart-casual trousers and a fitted navy blue shirt beneath a slim leather jacket. His hair was sleek, his jaw clean-shaven. In short, he looked like a dream.
“What...how did you get my address?” she managed to say.
“I asked your brother. Said I wanted to send you a thank-you bouquet.”
“I see.” She glanced at his empty hands. “So you’re not above a little deception yourself.”
“I’m not deceiving anyone.” His lips twitched. “The flowers are in my car. I’ll fetch them while you get ready.”
“Get ready for what?”
“Dinner.”
Her heart, which had been thumping loudly, gave an extra whump. She crossed her arms, faking nonchalance. “Dinner, hm?”
“Have you eaten yet?”
“I haven’t, but that’s beside the point. This morning you said you wouldn’t bother me again.”
“Until all this other mess was cleared up. Now it has. We can start over again. I thought we could go to that French bistro and eat dinner and talk about our favorite movies and bands and stuff like that. We haven’t had a chance to do that yet. We kind of got all the steps muddled up, and I want to set things straight.”
He looked so darn sure of himself, but even as she studied him she detected a muscle flexing in his jaw, indicating tension, as if he was afraid she’d shut the door on him. The knowledge suffused her with tender exhilaration. Oh Lex. Under all that oozing seductiveness and hot brashness was a vulnerability that made him even sexier to her.
She leaned against the doorframe, considering him. “Do you want me to thank you for going easy on my brother?”
“No.” He seemed surprised. “If there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that I don’t treat people differently because of their connections. Wanting you to have dinner with me had nothing to do with how I handled your brother.”
She nodded, convinced of his sincerity. “I believe you.”
“Great. Will it take you long to get changed?”
“You’re being presumptuous again.”
He stepped up to her, right into her personal space, and grinned down at her from his considerable height. “Yeah. That and other things, too.”
The whiff of his spicy cologne sent her senses spinning. Her hands itched to stroke his broad chest, to grip his shoulders as she stood on tiptoe and planted her mouth on his. Christ, she was so into him.
She stood up to him, to her craving, but she knew she was just pretending. “I’m no pushover, you know.”
He laughed, sending a shower of sparks down her spine. “You think I don’t know that after the torture you’ve put me through already? Why do you think I spent ages sprucing myself up before coming here? Why I’m shaking in my shoes waiting for you to say yes?”
“You’re not shaking in your shoes,” she scoffed, trembling herself.
“See for yourself.” Before she could blink, he reached for her hand and pressed it against his chest. The heat of his hand, the firmness of his chest, the unmistakable stammer of his heart, all rushed over her in a quick, breathless wave.
Without thinking, she placed her other hand on his chest, then slid both hands up to his shoulders and round his neck. She leaned in on tiptoe, lifting her face to him, and caught a flash of delight in his eyes before she coasted her mouth over his like a light summer breeze.
He made a sound, half pleasure half frustration, as his eyes flared with heat. “Is that a yes, then?” he said, sounding strangled as he gathered her closer.
“Yes.”
He grinned down at her. “This’ll be our third date.”
“Third date? How d’you figure that out?”
“First date, our drink at the ZanziBar. Second date, coffee this morning. So dinner tonight will be our third date.” He traced a finger tip over her moist bottom lip. “And we both know what happens on the third date.”
Longing shafted through her body. “You’re getting ahead of yourself,” she teased. “I only said yes to dinner.”
“I’ll ask you later, then.”
She glowed up at him, well aware that she was kidding herself. She nestled into him, sensing the tug of his body and her own capitulation. The call was too strong to resist. When a man like Lex sent out an alert, she had no option but to respond.
Also by Coleen Kwan
Unexpectedly Yours
Kissing Her Enemy
Real Men Don’t Break Hearts
Real Men Don’t Quit
One Real Man
White-Hot Holiday
Baiting the Boss
His Millionaire Maid
Courting the Cop
Love, Dogs, and Other Catastrophes
Short Soup
Fireworks at Midnight
All Work and No Play
When Harriet Came Home
Bittersweet Rescue
Asher’s Invention
Asher’s Dilemma
About the Author
Coleen Kwan has been a bookworm all her life. At school English was her favorite subject, but for some reason she decided on a career in IT. After many years of programming, she wondered what else there was in life — and discovered writing. She loves writing contemporary romance with heart-stopping heroes, spirited heroines, and swoon-worthy HEAs.
Coleen lives in Sydney, Australia with her partner and two children. When she isn’t writing she enjoys avoiding housework, eating chocolate, and watching Criminal Minds.
Coleen can be contacted at the following places:
Website: www.coleenkwan.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/coleenkwan.authorpage
Twitter: www.twitter.com/ColeenKwan
Sign up for her newsletter and receive a free ebook at www.coleenkwan.com/p/contact-me.html.
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