Penthouse Suite

by Sandra Chastain

  Kate couldn’t decide whether he was angry or just going through the motions because Jody was present. He would have to find her at her worst. If her face looked like Jody’s, they were both a charcoal color. No doubt she looked like a refugee from the garbage dump. Then she caught sight of a tiny quiver at the corner of his mouth, and she didn’t care. All she wanted to do was kiss Max senseless.

  Max hadn’t thought far enough ahead to know what he would do when he got back. He’d justified his abrupt departure from New York by saying he had to get back to check on the sale of the Showboat and he’d finish his work on the way. Yet, from the time he’d boarded the Florida-bound plane, he hadn’t even opened his briefcase.

  From the airport, he’d taken a taxi to the hotel and had cornered Helen Stevens at the front desk. He fabricated some ridiculous story about uniform sizes to ferret out Kate’s location. Now he’d found her, and she wasn’t alone. He gritted his teeth and tried to restrain himself from jerking her away from the pile of whatever that gray stuff was and stripping that uniform from her body so that he could touch her.

  “It’s my fault, sir,” Jody said stepping forward valiantly, his young voice wavering as he tried in vain to control its high pitch. “Mrs. Wilson asked me to clean her bird cage.”

  “I see. One small canary caused this mess?”

  “Oh, no, sir. The bird didn’t do this. I did. I mean, I thought I’d just remove the end and use the vacuum hose to clean the bottom of the cage. That way I wouldn’t spill seeds on the carpet.”

  “And?” Max prompted, focusing his frustration on Jody. What he wanted to do was seal off the room and never use it again. All he could do was glower at the boy who was gamely trying to explain the situation.

  “I’m sorry, sir. How was I to know that the suction was strong enough to yank the little bird up? There was a whoosh, and it was gone.”

  “Excuse me, Mr. Sorrenson,” Kate finally said quietly. “But we have a bird to take care of now. We can discuss this later. Jody, we need warm towels and a hair dryer. Let’s go to the laundry.”

  Kate brushed past Max into the hall. She was walking away from him.

  The thought that she was leaving shocked Max into action. Even with her face smeared a shade of mummy gray, she was beautiful.

  “No. This way,” Max interceded calmly. “My suite is closer. “There’s a portable dryer, towels, and an empty cage.”

  “But …” Kate started to protest, took one look at Max’s face, and swallowed her words. She’d considered their next meeting, dreaded it, anticipated it, fantasized about it. Now he’d returned at the worst possible time. The bird in her pocket was probably suffocating, and she wasn’t doing much better. The bird had to come first. She could wait. Kate followed Max. Jody was one step behind.

  Max held up his hand, bringing Jody to a stop. “You clean up this room. If there’s one speck of dust anywhere, you’ll be selling hot dogs at the Burger Doodle.” Max took Kate by the arm and closed the door firmly behind them, leaving Jody to repair the damage.

  The elevator door opened as soon as the button was pushed, and Kate realized after a moment that Max had programmed it to wait for him.

  “Kate, I—”

  “Max, I—”

  “You first—”

  “No, you.”

  Tension hung between them.

  “Ah, hell.” Max hit the button that brought the elevator to a lurching stop and leaned over. “I’ve thought about kissing you for the last few days, and I don’t care if you do look like a bag lady, I’m not going to wait another minute.”

  “Wait—your suit. You’ll get dirty.”

  “I always did like gray.”

  Kate couldn’t help herself. He had such kissable lips. She groaned silently and she felt as if her heart had lodged in her throat. Max had to hear it thudding. It was pounding so hard that guests could probably hear the sound vibrating down the elevator shaft like a drumbeat in a silent jungle. Closing her eyes, she let her mind whirl away as her thoughts lost definition, changing into pure sensation.

  Max put one hand behind her head to steady her and took her chin in his fingertips, holding her for the longest time before he lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers. His tongue invaded her mouth and sensation rocked him like a sudden burst of heat from a blast furnace. His hands held her immobile beneath the onslaught of his kiss. For a moment she allowed herself to respond, giving herself over to him freely with passion before stepping away.

  “Max, stop. Please. There’s a bird that’s practically comatose in my pocket. I think we’d better take care of business, hadn’t we?”

  “What is there about you, Kate, that makes me forget about my responsibilities? You have me tied in knots, and I’ve never been this way before. It’s incredible.”

  Then the bird chirped and they both stared at each other in dismay. Kate pulled away and shook her head.

  “We have to clean the bird and warm it. It’s probably in shock. I have to wash it, and I know that that will drop its temperature even more. I did some plumbing work for a veterinarian.”

  “On-the-job training. I should have known,” he said warmly. He touched the elevator button, and the machine began to rise.

  As he opened the penthouse door, he was smiling. He couldn’t seem to help himself. Even the shadowy imprint on the front of his white linen jacket didn’t disturb him. He simply slid the jacket off and let it fall to the floor as they walked.

  In a few minutes, Kate was sitting on the edge of the tub in Max’s bathroom, cleaning the bird’s eyes and beak with a damp cloth. “I need warm towels, Max, and the hair dryer.”

  “Towels coming up. The dryer is on the counter behind you.” Max picked up two towels and headed for the kitchen. Kate heard the sound of the microwave and smiled. She wet a second cloth and completed the washing procedure. Once she was satisfied, she turned the hair dryer on low and began to fluff the bird’s feathers.

  Max brought the warm towels and laid them on the tub beside Kate. “Why is it so still?”

  “Shock does that to birds. Sometimes they die for no reason, other than fear.” By the time she’d finished drying the bird, it had already begun to chirp more loudly. Kate took one of the warm towels and carefully wrapped the tiny creature.

  Max watched Kate’s gentle ministrations with awe. She must have been a good nurse for her mother—compassionate, tender. At the same time, she had to be tough as nails to take on a man’s job. Some woman, this jack-of-all-trades who was prepared to be everything to everybody who needed her, as long as it wasn’t on a permanent basis.

  “Max, you said that you had a cage up here?”

  “Oh, yes. In here, in the bedroom. Once I had a cockatoo. Dorothea thought I might be lonely and want someone to talk to.”

  “Did you?” Kate followed him.

  “Maybe, but it wasn’t a bird I needed.”

  Kate placed the bird in the ornate cage in the corner and covered the cage with the second towel. “What happened to it?”

  “One day it just died. Probably from loneliness. I should have talked to it. I missed you, Kate. I missed talking to you. I missed kissing you. Kiss me, Kate.”

  “Max, I can’t. Not now, I’m on duty.”

  “You work for me, Kate. I’m taking you off duty. You’ve been on call for two days. Relieving you of duty for several hours is reasonable.”

  Kate studied Max. Reasonable, yes. Right? She wasn’t sure. But it was hard to think about right and wrong when she looked at him. In fact, it was almost impossible.

  The man didn’t simply wear clothes, he was the body they’d been created for. He was everything any woman could want, everything she could want. It made no sense. He’d seen her at her worst. Still, there he was, lips parted, eyes shooting darts of fire through her, and she knew that she was sunk.

  “Kate? Please. Stay with me. I’ll order something sent up, and …” He knew that he was being unreasonable, he even understood her insisting on
doing Joe’s job. But Max wasn’t a patient man. When he made a decision, he moved swiftly. And somewhere between New York and the hotel, he’d decided. He wanted Kate—at his side, in his arms, and in his bed. Yet she was standing there, holding him off, and he didn’t know how to get by the wall she’d erected between them.

  “You’ll have something sent up? No, I think not. I may not be able to stay out of your arms, but I won’t compromise myself by shirking my job. I made a commitment to fill in for Joe, to do Joe’s work for two weeks. And that’s what I’m going to do.”

  “So, I’ll break another pipe. You can rewire the refrigerator. But I’m not letting you go.”

  “Well, I’m scheduled for a fifteen-minute coffee break. Do you have any coffee, Max?”

  “Coffee? I’m dying from wanting to kiss you, and you want coffee?”

  “I always have something sweet with my coffee. Maybe we could just skip the coffee altogether. Are you sure you know what you’re doing here, bossman?” Her voice was low and hoarse.

  “Sure? No, I’m not sure at all. This could be a very bad idea. I suspect it is. But I made up my mind when I left New York that I was going to reach out for life and live every minute of it, and I’m reaching.”

  Kate took the tab of the zipper that fastened her coveralls and gave it a jerk. She hadn’t known she’d be so nervous about making love with Max again. But she was. On the island, it had been a fantasy. Being in the penthouse made her feel strange.

  The zipper wouldn’t budge. Raising her gaze, she shook her head wryly. “I’m stuck.”

  Her endearing little smile wiped away the tension, and Max felt his heart begin to sing.

  “Let me help.”

  At that moment, Kate looked past Max and caught sight of herself in the mirrored wall of the foyer.

  “Yuck!”

  Max stiffened and withdrew the hand he’d extended. “What’s wrong?”

  “Oh, Max. I look as if I’ve been in the vacuum bag. You have weird taste in women.” She pulled off her cap and ran her fingers through the dark tangles of her hair. “How on earth could you find me attractive?”

  “Beats me. I’ve been out of control from the moment you tried to drown me that first night. Kiss me, Kate.”

  “I’ll ruin your clothes if I get close to you.”

  “Hell, Kate.” He lost all patience and jerked her to him. “I’ll take ’em off.” He ripped off his tie and shirt, stepped out of his shoes, unzipped his pants, and let them drop to the floor.

  Shyly, Kate slid her arms up his chest and around his neck. She leaned back and let her eyes devour him. He was quite simply the most magnificent man she’d ever seen. And he was holding her against him, flexing his fingers across her lower back so tightly that she could hardly breathe. She stretched to reach his lips, feeling the distinct evidence of his desire pressing intimately against her midsection.

  She parted her lips for his kiss, tasting, sampling, accepting what he was offering and returning it with undisguised passion.

  The touch of his tongue kindled the ever-present flame smoldering inside her, turning her bones into hot wax. She moaned and swayed, allowing him to support her entirely. When his hand touched her breast, she shifted her position, arching herself into his palm.

  “Kate, I’ve just introduced a new policy. Coffee breaks have been extended to thirty minutes.”

  “Good idea, Max.”

  The coveralls fell to her ankles.

  Dimly, Kate heard the elevator door open.

  “Hot damn!” Dorothea Jarrett slapped her knees and clapped. “I don’t have to ask where the fire is. Poor Kate’s already been singed.”

  Kate leaned against the door of her room and cringed. She couldn’t believe what had happened. It was bad enough that she’d come on to Max like some kind of sex kitten. She’d gone even further than that. She’d lost all control and practically attacked the man.

  If Dorothea Jarrett hadn’t opened the elevator door and discovered Max and her kissing passionately, they’d have been making love right there in the foyer in another minute. Her heart was still pounding, and her pulse was playing hopscotch.

  Kate, unable to face the embarrassment of what had happened, had pulled up her coveralls, fled through the fire escape door, and descended all ten flights to the lobby on foot. Breathlessly, she’d passed a startled Helen Stevens in the lobby and had hurried down the walkway to her room.

  Both bouquets of flowers from Max were still on Joe’s dressing table, a reminder of the man from whom she’d just run.

  She was tearing off her clothes when the phone rang. Her inclination to ignore it was short-lived. If she didn’t answer it, he’d only be outside her door pounding to get in.

  “Hello.”

  “Kate, I’m sorry. I know how embarrassed you must be. You must think I’m some kind of maniac. I lost control, and that’s something I never do. I think we ought to talk.”

  “Talk? We don’t seem to be able to talk unless we make love. And I don’t know how to handle that. I never intended to let myself get involved with anybody, Max. I don’t seem to be able to stay out of your arms now that we’ve …”

  He groaned. “I know. We have to work it out. Will you have dinner with me? I promise that I won’t try to force you into anything. Just dinner in the hotel restaurant, a neutral zone.”

  “Why?”

  “To set some terms for our relationship.” Max kept his voice light and unemotional.

  “You mean to work this out like a business negotiation?”

  “Dammit, Kate. Why do you keep doing this to me? How do I know what I mean? How do I talk to you? As a businessman or a lover? I’ve never been in love before. I never wanted to be. I don’t know the rules.”

  “Love? Oh, no! You can’t be falling in love with me, Max. I won’t allow it. This—whatever this is—is temporary. Temporary, you understand. I’ll finish up the job, and I’ll be gone. If you want to have any kind of relationship with me, those are my terms.”

  “Fine. But I ought to warn you, I think Dorothea is going for her shotgun.”

  “Shotgun?”

  “She has some kind of crazy idea that you’ve compromised her nephew’s virtue,” he said with all the seriousness of a deputy sheriff reading Kate her rights. “She says that she expects me to marry you.”

  “If this is an attempt at humor, I don’t think it’s very funny,” Kate said, close to tears of pure frustration.

  “You’re right. It isn’t funny. Oh, Kate, this is all my fault. I blew it.” His voice was hoarse. “All I know is that I want you. Dirty, dust-covered, or soaking wet, you’ve gotten to me, lady. And I think we should take the time to find out what we have.”

  “Time? You forget, I’m only going to be here for a little over a week.”

  “You can stay longer. I’ll find you another job. You can be my secretary.”

  “Max, I avoided the business courses in night school like the plague. I have no talent for business. If I tried to help you, you’d fire me in one day.”

  “Okay. We’ll find something. I don’t know what. Just give us a chance. Dorothea was right. I need to learn to have fun. If you won’t have dinner with me tonight, will you go with me tomorrow? I promise I’ll be on my best behavior. You won’t have to fight me off more than once or twice.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  “The Blessing of the Fleet, remember?”

  Kate didn’t know how to answer him. Did she want to go? Yes. Did she want to have to fight him off? No. She wanted to run right back up those stairs and finish what they’d started. Could she trust herself to spend an entire day with him?

  Probably not, but that didn’t matter. She wanted the day. She wanted to be with the man as long as they were away from the hotel. And she only had a short time left.

  “Yes,” she said softly. “I’ll go with you, Max.”

  “Fine. I’ll have the car out front at six o’clock.”

  “So early?”

 
“Yes, we’re going to watch the sun rise, remember? Though I’d rather it be from my terrace, after you’ve spent the night in my arms.”

  Kate gasped. “This conversation is becoming very suggestive, bossman. Are you standing in front of the mirrors?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “Because I am, and what I’m seeing is definitely X-rated. Good-bye, Max. I have some sooty fingerprints to wash off my body.”

  “You mean I left my brand on you?”

  “You left your fingerprints on me, Max.” And you’ve put your brand on me in ways I never counted on, she wanted to say. And she wasn’t certain that there was enough water in the world to wash those marks away.

  “I was never allowed to write on walls, but I like the idea of putting my brand on you. Getting to know you, Kate Weston, is one hell of an educational experience.”

  “How’s that?”

  “Well, let’s just say that I’ve been doing a little research into the world of movies and television. At this moment, I’d rather be Humphrey Bogart than either Cesar Romero or Lorenzo Lamas.”

  “Why is that?”

  “I think his line was, ‘Here’s looking at you kid.’ At least, that’s what the book said. And if I were there, or you were here, that’s what I’d be doing.”

  “Good-bye, Humphrey.”

  “Good-bye, Kate. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  As Kate replaced the receiver, it occurred to her that the word see had taken on an entirely different meaning, and that both she and Max had to open their eyes. Could they possibly have any kind of relationship?

  Max wasn’t falling in love with her. She was just different. She remembered what her mother had told her. Be careful. The first man you meet who’s different can break your heart.

  She and Max both had firsthand experience with the kind of pain that love brought. They’d both lost their mothers, and their lives had been shaped by love and the loss of it. No, it was better not to look on anything or anybody as permanent. Two weeks with pay and Max. That was all she’d let herself believe in.