by Leanne Banks
Erika accepted a last-minute dinner invitation from Jessica and Paula. The three women met at a seafood restaurant. Paula mentioned Erika’s position at EPH and the host seated them immediately and their cock tails were served in record time.
“That was low,” Erika said, taking a sip of her martini and promising to limit herself to one tonight. “He probably thinks this will earn him a review in one of our magazines.”
“You never know. You may mention this place to the right person and ta-da,” Paula said, glancing at the menu. “Saturday night and none of us has a date. How sad is that?”
“Speak for yourself,” Jessica said. “My boyfriend is working.”
“Ah, the foot doctor,” Paula said. “How is our boy Bill?”
Jessica smiled. “Podiatrist. Wonderful. But more importantly, I have a prospective sperm donor for Erika.”
Erika choked. “You what?”
“I found a TDH who’s smart and has a sense of humor,” she said in a singsong voice.
Paula smiled at Jessica’s code word for a man who was tall, dark and handsome. “You can tell us all about him after we order,” she said as the waiter approached. “I’m starving.”
“Me, too. I think I burned a thousand calories playing volleyball today.” Erika wondered if she should tell her friends she might have found her own tall, dark and handsome candidate.
Paula made a face. “Sounds sweaty. Why?”
“It was a company thing. Sort of,” Erika said, thinking that turning down Gannon’s invitation to dinner had been tougher than she’d liked. She’d put herself in an odd situation by asking the most attractive man in the world to donate sperm for her child yet swearing off sex or emotional involvement with him. “Sometimes I wish I were more like a man,” she muttered.
“What?” Jessica asked.
“Nothing. I’ll take the shrimp special,” Erika said to the waiter and closed the menu. The other women placed their orders.
Jessica turned to Erika. “You wish you were more like a man?”
“Just able to detach myself emotionally,” Erika explained.
“Like me,” Paula said.
“Exactly.” Erika smiled.
“Well, you may not need to detach yourself with the guy I’ve found for you. He’s tall, dark, handsome, smart and he’s got a sense of humor.”
“How did you find him?”
“He’s a friend of Bill’s,” Jessica said. “So we can double after you get to know him.”
“Another foot doctor?” Paula said. “Bet he’s got a fetish.”
“That’s not nice,” Jessica said. “Bill doesn’t have a foot fetish.” She turned back to Erika. “This guy, Gerald, is very good-looking, and I’ve already told him about you.”
Erika felt a shot of alarm. “What exactly did you tell him?”
“That you’re gorgeous and smart and he should call you.”
“You gave him my number? Did you tell him I want his sperm?”
“No, because I think you could want Ger more than his sperm.”
Erika’s first inclination was to politely decline. This would just complicate her plans with Gannon. He was going to father her child. He’d agreed. They just needed to get the contract signed.
She thought about how much he still affected her and took another sip of her martini. Her problem was that she still let Gannon overwhelm her. What if another man had the potential to make her forget him? Or at least help her get over him? What if Jessica’s TDH could do the job? She shouldn’t turn down the possibility without checking him out.
“Hey, if all else fails,” Paula said, “you might get a decent pedicure out of the guy.”
Erika skipped lunch and moved into her new Pulse office on Monday afternoon. She struggled with mixed feelings about leaving the HomeStyle offices, where comfort and cozy were key.
Pulse was more of a man’s world, so if she took the books she’d read on climbing the corporate ladder seriously, she would need to hide her jar of M&M’s in her desk drawer along with her hot chocolate mix with mini marshmallows.
She refused, however, to give up her frog clock or her small Tiffany lamp. She deliberately left her lamp turned on while she left to meet one of the couples she was interviewing for her baby article.
By the time she returned to the office, she was starving, but she wanted to type notes from the interview. Submerged in work, she had to force herself to answer the knock at her door.
“Sorry, I’m busy,” she called. It didn’t matter who it was. She needed to get down these last thoughts.
“Free gourmet food,” Gannon called through the door.
Her stomach growled loudly. “Give me two minutes,” she said and hurriedly typed some key words and phrases to help jog her memory when she returned to writing the article. She could keep the two-foot rule and eat at the same time. Besides her plans for later in the evening should help keep her from giving in to temptation.
She glanced at her clock, surprised at the time. Seven o’clock. She pulled on her boots and stood, stretching.
“Two minutes are up,” Gannon said, opening the door and catching her midstretch. He carried two large boxes and a small box. His dark hair was slightly mussed, his tie discarded and the top of his shirt unbuttoned, giving her a glimpse of his muscular chest. His shirtsleeves were unfastened and pushed up his fore arms. She didn’t know which was more tempting, the man or the food. “Looks like you and I are the only ones left in the office.”
“Really?” she asked, surprised. “What do you have and how did you get it?”
“The food editor received these this afternoon. She told me she’s on Atkins and asked me to give them to someone else. It’s packed in dry ice and perishable, so we either eat it or toss it.”
“I hope it’s already cooked,” she said.
“I think it’s a lot of fresh fruit,” he said, opening one of the large cartons. “Help yourself.”
“Nice of you to share. I didn’t get to eat.” She pulled out several containers. “Raw oysters, avocados, chocolate-covered bananas,” she said, reading the labels. “What is this?” she asked, pulling out a split of champagne and two glasses.
“Aphrodisiac foods.”
Erika pulled her hand away from the box as if it had burned her. She looked at Gannon suspiciously. “Why did the food editor give this to you?” And why was he sharing it with her?
“The food editor is Geraldine Kanode. She’s sixty-three and was embarrassed as hell but didn’t want to throw it away.” His lips twitched. “She also said she didn’t want to take this stuff home and give her husband any ideas. I can toss it…” He waved the container of chocolate-covered bananas.
Erika’s stomach growled again. Hunger won over suspicion. “No, no, no. Wouldn’t want it to go to waste.” She motioned him over to her desk. “What are you still doing here?”
“An editor’s work is never done,” he said. “You know that.”
She nodded and smiled, happy to put the desk between her and Gannon. “Can’t disagree. I’m not big on raw oysters. They’re all yours.”
“Working on my sperm count?” He shot her a half grin that made her heart clench.
“That wasn’t my first thought, but it’s not a bad idea, is it?” She pulled out two plastic spoons and some napkins.
Gannon pulled a leather chair closer to her desk and sat down. “Avocado with basil vinaigrette?” he said, offering the small tub to her.
“Sounds good,” she said and took a bite of one of the halves. “Delicious. I wonder what this has to do with aphro—”
“Symbolizes the male testicles,” he said and ate an oyster.
Erika swallowed a second bite along with a wave of self-consciousness. “Never thought of that,” she said and looked at the avocado. She finished her half and shrugged. “Who would have known?”
“Champagne?” he asked, opening the split of bubbly. At her nod he poured the liquid into each glass and read the attached note. “Says w
e’re supposed to drop a vanilla bean in here.”
“Why?”
“Something about a Mexican fertility goddess,” he said and took a swallow. “Not bad, but it can’t compete with Irish whiskey.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” She inhaled the aroma of the vanilla and took a sip of the champagne. “Delicious. What’s in the little box marked perishable?”
Gannon opened it and looked inside. “Fresh fig.”
“Fresh?” Fresh figs were rare.
“Yep, and it’s mine,” he said, picking up the fruit and gently prying it open. “You know how a fig relates to the theme, don’t you?” he asked, nibbling at the pink inner flesh of the fruit.
Feeling a rush of heat, she cleared her throat. Watching him savor the swollen, ripe layers, she couldn’t help but visualize…“I can imagine.”
“A fig resembles the female—”
“I see,” she interrupted before he could finish.
“Genitals,” he said and licked his lips.
The expression in his eyes was frankly sexual, making her burn from the inside out. She felt her blood rush to tender places and pool. Her nipples felt achy against her bra. She fought the urge to wiggle in her chair. Why was he taunting her? What was he trying to prove?
She should stop this right now and tell him to take his sex food away. The lure of one food was too great. The fruit of revenge. “I’ll take a chocolate-covered banana.”
“Phallic symbol,” he said, and she felt his gaze linger on her as she took a large, indelicate bite.
“Very good chocolate and the banana is just right. Not too mushy,” she said and took another bite. Encouraged by the expression of fascination in his green gaze, she drew her tongue along the length of the chocolate-covered banana.
Gannon’s swift intake of breath was music to her ears. Closing her eyes, she took the banana in her mouth. “Mmm. This chocolate is delicious.” She opened her eyes. “Wanna bite?”
He audibly swallowed and looked into the box. “I think I’ll take the berries,” he said. “Strawberry and raspberry.” He met her gaze. “Nipple fruit.” He lifted a raspberry to his lips and sucked it into his mouth.
A searing memory of his mouth tugging at her nipples while he pumped inside her burned through her mind, stealing her breath. She felt the restlessness between her legs grow. She bit her lip, thinking she was out of her league with Gannon. She always had been.
She needed to back down from the game of sexual chicken. After one more bite, she thought and took the last bite of chocolate-covered banana. She licked her finger and caught him watching her again.
A tempting shot of triumph sizzled through her. At least he was as turned on as she was. He held up two sticks of licorice.
She blinked in surprise. “Licorice. I always thought of it as a kid food,” she said and took a bite.
“Chinese use the licorice root for medicine,” he said, glancing at the label. “It’s supposed to cause love and lust. Especially effective for women.”
The bite stuck in her throat. Gannon didn’t need all these foods. He was a powerful stimulant all by him self. She swallowed hard and smiled despite the arousal that raged through her like a hungry beast. “Well, I’ll have to see if it works.” She pointed at her watch. “I’m meeting a TDH for drinks in a half hour.”
He frowned. “TDH?”
“Oh, sorry,” she said, grabbing her coat and standing. She tossed the remains of their aphrodisiac feast into the box. “TDH is code for tall, dark and handsome.”
He stood, staring at her. “You’re meeting a man for drinks?”
She nodded. “I am.”
His frown deepened. “I thought you wanted me to—” he narrowed his eyes “—give you my sperm.”
“I do, but that doesn’t mean I have to stop looking for Mr. Right. Thanks again for the snack,” she said. “You’re a lifesaver.”
Six
G annon looked over Erika’s employment contract and glanced at his watch. After five. She would still be in her office. Deciding to deliver the agreement himself, he walked to her office and gave the door a quick rap before entering.
She glanced up from her desk, and he immediately felt a kick in his gut just from meeting her gaze. Closing the door behind him, he strolled toward her and gently tossed the contract onto her desk. “I told you we would have a quick turnaround on this.”
She picked up the agreement and scanned it, then met his gaze again. “That was fast.”
“We can discuss any questions you have about it over dinner,” he said.
Her gaze fell away. “Oh, I think I’ll look at it first and just ask my questions tomorrow. In the office.”
“Afraid to have dinner with me?” he asked. Some thing about her made him want to get under her skin, make her react to him.
She looked up at him again. “Not afraid. I just want to be careful.”
“If you’re concerned about gossip, we can—”
She lifted her hand. “We did a lot of hiding last time around.”
His chest squeezed at the sliver of hurt that came and went in her eyes. “Our feelings for each other were private. I was determined to keep it that way.” He remembered feeling protective almost to the point of selfishness about his time with Erika.
“That didn’t quite work out, though, did it,” she said more than asked with a wry smile.
“Neither of us was ready for a commitment,” he said.
“And that’s no different now.”
He couldn’t disagree. With the competition for the head of EPH at stake, Gannon would be more focused on work than ever. “But you can’t deny the chemistry between us.”
“Can’t deny it exists,” she said. “But I learned an important lesson last time. Just because a man’s hormones are involved doesn’t mean his heart is involved.”
“Ouch. You make me sound—” He paused. “Callous.”
“No. You’re just very practical. Even about your affairs.”
“Being practical and up front protects things in the end. If I hadn’t been honest with you from the beginning, you wouldn’t have wanted to speak to me, let alone come back to Pulse.”
“I’m not sure your theory is dead-on, particularly about women. But I adopted your practical approach about coming back to Pulse. I give you something you want in exchange for getting something I want.”
His sperm. Gannon was starting to feel like a prize bull. He knew this wasn’t the right time to start trying to persuade her that using his sperm for her baby was an insane idea. He’d given the idea repeated consideration, but he knew what he had to do—stall the sperm contract until Erika came to her senses.
None of this had comforted him last night after he’d done his best to arouse her only to hear she was meeting another man. “How was your TDH last night?”
She appeared to pull a deliberately neutral expression over her face. “He was nice. Very nice.”
“Did the aphrodisiacs work?”
“That’s not really any of your business,” she said.
“It can be. I don’t like lighting the fire of a woman to keep another man warm.”
She stared at him in silence, then laughed aloud. “That’s one of the most ridiculous things you’ve ever said.”
“How so?” he asked, not sure if he felt more irritated with himself or with her.
“I hate to feed your ego, but most of the women in this office fantasize about you. You’re too good-looking for the moral fortitude of pretty much the whole female race. Do you really think women don’t get worked up over you, then unleash their frustration and passion on some lucky, unsuspecting male?”
He looked at her in disbelief, words eluding him.
She folded her hands together. “So what I’m saying is if you dislike the idea that you’re heating a lot of pots when somebody else is getting the meal, you just need to get over it.”
He raked his hand through his hair. “No one has ever said anything like that to
me.”
“It’s just the truth.”
“You can damn well be sure it hadn’t occurred to me.”
“Of course it hasn’t. You’re too busy being your handsome, sexy, workaholic self to notice.”
“I’m trying to tell if you’re complimenting or insulting me.”
“Both and neither. I’m just being practical, like you. Telling you the truth.”
Gannon looked into her eyes for a long moment. She’d grown stronger during their time apart. Smarter. More practical. He felt the burn of challenge chafe at him. It was the same feeling he’d given in to last year. Only it seemed even stronger now. Erika had always managed to turn his head and harden his groin as no other woman could. Her combination of mental tough ness and hidden emotional softness drew him like a magnet.
Even though he knew getting involved with her could wreak havoc with his family’s reputation and hers, he had a tough time depriving himself of going after her. Nothing and no one but his career grabbed his attention as she did. He’d broken the rules with her be fore and damn if he didn’t want to again.
Gannon reined in the impulse to seduce her past her practicality until she was moaning with him inside her. He summoned a businesslike tone and said, “Let me know if you have any questions. I’d like to get the con tract signed tomorrow.”
“Okay, I’ll look it over tonight.”
“Good. And by the way, my father wants four representatives from Pulse at a cocktail party hosted by the United Nations ambassador from India. It’s tomorrow night. You want in or not?”
He saw immediately that she did. In her eyes he saw a dozen lights signifying a dozen feature ideas.
“Yes,” she said. “May I bring a guest?”
Gannon paused, feeling a quick, unwelcome spike of an unpleasant emotion he preferred not to examine. “Sure. As long as they can pass a security search. Give the name to my assistant.”
The following morning New York City was hit by a nor’easter that brought a foot of snow. EPH allowed employees to leave early as reports of electrical outages and traffic accidents increased throughout the day.
