One-Click Buy: December 2009 Silhouette Desire

by Susan Mallery

  Her inner muscles clenched tight as she thought of what he’d offered her tonight. Of the promise inherent in his kiss, the impression of his hard body against hers and of his statement that he wanted to “see” her again.

  Callie flopped down on a nearby chair, not even bothering to switch on a light. It was crazy. She’d gone to work for Josh Tremont bent on discovering where he had his inside track on the Palmers’ business plans and now she was doing what she never dreamed she’d allow herself to do. She was falling for him.

  Day by day a little harder, week by week a little deeper. What had started out as merely a physical attraction was rapidly turning into something more. Something she wanted to explore without the sense that their interaction was something that should be totally forbidden.

  She was there purely at Irene’s behest, she reminded herself, to do what she could to save Palmer Enterprises from further losses. Not to do anything as foolish as falling in love.

  Oh, no, surely not love. She didn’t even know what that was. Her upbringing, for want of a better word, had made up in abuse for what it had lacked in care and attention. For self-preservation she’d fled as soon as she’d turned fourteen, relying on her wits and a well-honed instinct to survive to keep her safe on the streets for two years until an error in judgement had seen social services and the police finally catch up with her.

  She’d initially fought placement in one of Irene Palmer’s foster homes, but after realising that no matter how many times she ran away they were always going to bring her back, she decided to accept what they offered.

  That chance to turn her life around and make better choices had been a rebirth in more ways than one. But Callie had always been careful not to trust too deeply and not to like anyone too much. Relationships with others were surface only, never deep. Her world had always been on ground that was too shaky for that.

  No, she couldn’t be falling in love with Josh. It was too crazy for words. But nobody said she couldn’t enjoy this for what it was worth. She was a normal, healthy woman with normal, healthy appetites. And maybe, just maybe, she could prove the Palmers’ fears wrong about Josh.

  Monday morning Callie was instantly aware of the deep sense of emptiness in the office when she arrived. Usually Josh was at his desk a good hour or more before she arrived, but today his absence was a physical thing.

  She’d no sooner reached her desk than her phone started to ring.

  “Callie, I’ll be working from home today and I need you to access my computer and e-mail some files to me.”

  Surprised that he didn’t have a link from his home computer to the office, Callie quickly jotted down the file names that Josh rattled off onto her notepad.

  “Is there anything else?” she asked, determined to keep the same level of professionalism as he obviously exhibited.

  “Yeah,” his voice dropped an octave. “I can’t wait to see you again, but it’ll have to wait until I get back from Sydney.”

  “Sydney?” Callie refused to acknowledge the surge of pleasure his words had sent through her.

  “Unexpected trip. I’ve already organised the jet and I’ll be leaving in a couple of hours for the airport.”

  “I’ll reschedule your appointments. When do you anticipate being back?”

  “All going well, tomorrow, maybe Wednesday afternoon at the latest.”

  Callie ran her eye over his electronic diary, mentally shifting his appointments to ensure the least disruption. “Okay, that should be fine.”

  “Good. Will you miss me?”

  Her breath caught on a soft gasp. Of course she’d miss him, but she couldn’t admit that.

  “It’ll give me a chance to catch up a bit,” she hedged.

  Josh laughed, the sound sending a tingle of longing from her ear to her core. “You can admit it, you know.”

  “Admit what?” Callie remained deliberately vague.

  “That you’re looking forward to seeing me again. How about dinner on Wednesday night? We’ll go somewhere private and intimate. Would you like that?”

  Callie hesitated before answering. Of course she’d like that. In fact, she couldn’t wait. The realisation that she’d be alone in the office for the next couple of days was tinged with disappointment already.

  “Yes, I would like that. Shall I make a reservation somewhere?” she replied, her voice uncharacteristically husky.

  “I’ll take care of it,” he answered, again in that low tone that made his statement all the more intimate. As if he was going to take care of a great deal more than a simple dinner booking.

  Desire simmered through her veins in gentle waves and she shifted on her ever-so-sensible office chair in a way that lacked prudence altogether.

  Wednesday. Two days, two nights. It was an eternity and yet so close. The anticipation of his return was going to have her at fever pitch and he knew it. That simple fact alone should have her changing her mind, refusing his invitation, but she wanted more. She wanted him.

  “I’ll get onto those files for you. Can I access them with my fingerprint and password?”

  “I’ve already spoken to Drew about your print ID on my station, but you’ll need my password,” Josh said, before rattling off the access letter and number combination she’d need.

  He trusted her enough to give her his private password. A swell of joy hit her. Hard on its heels, though, came the diminishing reality of what she could find out with that information and, more particularly, what Irene would expect her to find out.

  Callie pushed the thought from her head. She’d been entrusted with this key, she didn’t dare abuse that trust. Not when her every instinct told her that Josh Tremont was far more than what everyone else suspected. Not when her heart urged her to obey instinct over rationality for the first time in her life.

  As soon as Josh ended their call, Callie walked through to his office. Settling herself into his chair, she couldn’t stifle the strange sensation of warmth that permeated her skin. Everything about this room spoke of the man he was, his presence and personality indelibly stamped in its atmosphere.

  She gave herself a quick mental shake and logged in to his computer, using her print scan and the password he’d given her. She held her breath a moment as the system hesitated before opening fully, and then she was in. Free to peruse everything and anything that took her fancy.

  The message Irene had left on her phone on Saturday night replayed in her head. Callie had the opportunity, here and now, to put things right and settle the matter once and for all. First, though, she had to send those files through to Josh.

  Once that had been done, and she’d received the pingback read receipt she’d requested, Callie debated logging straight back out again. There’d be a record of how long she’d been active on Josh’s computer somewhere in the system if anyone bothered to look, but the question was Would they? Obviously, if she logged out and logged back in again it would send up a red flag, even if Josh’s password worked for her again. She knew his access codes were changed on a random basis. Perhaps even after giving her this password, it would be invalid for future use.

  This was her first and last opportunity. She had to do it, no matter how much it went against her grain. Callie’s first loyalty had always been to Irene and she was permitting that loyalty to be compromised by her unexpected emotional response to a man she barely knew.

  Taking a deep breath, Callie allowed her fingers to dash over the keyboard, executing a variety of searches using specific keywords. In no time at all she had a list of files and one by one she copied them onto a flash drive so she could study them at home. Silently she vowed to destroy the information as soon as she knew Josh was innocent of what the Palmers accused him of.

  For some reason, when she got home, she was reluctant to turn on her computer. Eventually, though, after she’d had a light bite to eat and had brewed a pot of herbal tea, she opened her laptop and powered it up.

  A sense of foreboding manifested in a burning sensation i
n the pit of her stomach as she slotted the memory stick into its spot. A burning sensation that grew stronger as she opened each file she’d copied and skimmed its contents. Josh Tremont seemed to have an awful lot of information about the corporate structure and current business plan at Palmer Enterprises for someone who didn’t work there.

  On top of that, he had a massive file on Bruce Palmer, detailing everything publicly known about the man, plus a great deal not generally known about him, either. The amassed information bordered on obsessive—certainly far more than one would expect from a business rival, no matter how competitive he was.

  Callie sat back in her chair, her hands clenched into fists in her lap. From his notes his intentions were quite clear. He wanted to destroy Palmer Enterprises. But it didn’t make sense. Sure, they competed in a healthy marketplace for similar work, and in business it was every man for himself, but why was he so hell-bent on bringing Palmer Enterprises to its corporate knees? This appeared to go much deeper than mere competitiveness. There was something almost chilling in Josh’s systematic approach. As if he’d declared war and was working to a strategy that, once implemented, would not stop until his goal was reached.

  Callie took a sip of her rapidly cooling tea, hoping the soothing brew would calm the anxiety that had now formed a tight knot in her chest.

  For all intents and purposes, the man she had grown so attracted to was not the person he appeared to be at all. Sure, the Josh she knew was focussed, hardworking and driven. But he was also warm and interesting and there was something she glimpsed deep inside him that drew her in ways she’d never encountered with another person before. There was a hurt hidden behind the urbane exterior he presented to the world. A hurt that spoke to something in her heart and urged her to help him heal in any way she could.

  Callie closed the windows she’d had open on her computer and was about to shut down when she noticed one file she hadn’t opened yet. Its title was innocuous—nothing to even indicate why she’d downloaded it—but she’d searched for files that had the word Palmer in them and this one had cropped up.

  She double-clicked on the document icon and waited for the file to open.

  Her eyes scanned across her screen double-time as she scrolled through the many pages of the Word file. A buzz of excitement thrilled through her veins. This was definitely something big. Something that Tremont Corporation had in place to pre-empt Palmers with an innovative new contract overseas. It would leave Palmers in the corporate dust.

  While it wasn’t what Irene had specifically asked her to look out for, Callie’s mind spun on the possibilities. If Palmers had this information, they would lead the world. And if Josh really was intent on bringing Palmers down, getting ahead of him in this work would stop him as effectively as a heart attack.

  The next morning Callie phoned Irene before she left for the office, arranging to meet with her at the older woman’s favourite café on the waterfront for lunch.

  “I investigated the original author of some of the documents. They didn’t try to hide their tracks very well.” Callie mentioned the name of one of Bruce’s up-and-coming business interns.

  “Bruce isn’t going to like that, but don’t worry. We’ll deal with him. He’ll be sorry he sold us out.”

  For a moment Irene looked furious, but then she re-composed herself.

  “Everything I found is on here,” Callie said, passing the memory stick over the table.

  A pang of guilt for what she was doing struck her square in the chest, but, she rationalised, it was no more than Josh had done to them. She’d allowed herself to begin to think he was a different breed from the man Irene had warned her about, which only served to show how cleverly persuasive he really was.

  “That’s everything?”

  “Yes, everything I could find. Seriously, I was shocked when I saw how much information he’d gathered on your family, particularly Bruce. Surely that’s not the norm when someone is trying to undermine another firm?”

  “Not unless he was looking for dirt to dig up.”

  “Well, he certainly didn’t find any in that lot,” Callie said staunchly.

  Irene slipped the memory stick into her handbag, a worried frown bisecting her brows.

  “There’s still something about the man that concerns me. He’s a constant threat to us and I want to know why.” Irene reached across the table, her perfectly manicured hand now curled like a manacle around Callie’s wrist. “You’re going to have to get closer to him. Really close. The information you need to get isn’t going to be something he keeps on a hard drive anywhere. It’ll be something he keeps inside him.”

  There was an iron command in Irene’s voice and Callie shot her a worried glance.

  “I mean it, Callie. You’ve come this far; you’re going to have to take it all the way. It’s the only chance we have to find out what on earth is behind it all.”

  All the way? While her mind rejected the idea of allowing herself to be used so clinically, her heart and her pulse rate both leaped at the idea.

  “I’ll do my best, Irene,” Callie said, laying her other hand over the older woman’s. “I promise.”

  Callie was on tenterhooks Wednesday as she waited for Josh’s call to announce his arrival back in the country. She’d worked hard all day, trying to distract her thoughts, and her rampant hormones, from the prospect of seeing him again.

  She’d just returned from the central library, where she’d delivered some archive material she’d finished with, when she became aware of a change in the air. A level of energy and intensity the office had been lacking while he’d been gone. Had he returned in the short time she’d been away from her desk?

  “Callie? Come through to my office, would you?”

  He was back. Callie smoothed the form-fitting sleeveless cream turtleneck dress she wore over her hips and walked through to Josh’s office. Looking at her, no one would guess how her blood thrummed through her veins or how her nerve endings had suddenly become infinitely attuned to his presence.

  She’d no sooner stepped through his door than strong arms wrapped around her body and drew her hard against him. She caught a glimpse of sapphire-blue glitter before his eyes closed and his mouth slanted across hers.

  Instantly she parted her lips, giving him free access, allowing him to plunder the soft recess with a hungry sweep of his tongue. Callie reached her hands up around his neck and laced her fingers together, relishing the feel of his hardness against her body, savouring the taste of him on her tongue.

  It had only been a matter of days since he’d last kissed her, but it felt like an eon.

  When Josh gently withdrew his lips from hers she wanted to protest, but she held back the sound of dismay that gathered in her throat. Men like Josh Tremont did the chasing. It was up to her to allow herself to be caught.

  “I didn’t imagine it,” he said, his voice deep and his breathing a little unsteady.

  “Imagine it?”

  “How it felt to hold you in my arms. How you respond to me.”

  Josh brushed the knuckles of one hand over the hardened tips of her breasts, now clearly defined through the stretch knit of her dress. Callie made a mental note to wear padded bras in the office in future.

  “And was it as good as you remember?” she teased, a smile curving her lips.

  “Better,” Josh replied with an answering smile that sent a bolt of electricity sizzling to her core. “You still okay for tonight?”

  “Definitely,” Callie answered. On more levels than just the one he anticipated, she reminded herself quietly.

  “Good. I’ll pick you up from your place at six. We’ll dine early.”

  “And then?” she asked, her eyes locked with his in a silent challenge.

  “That’s entirely up to you.”

  Six

  The balance of the day raced past as Josh worked to get up-to-date on the time he’d missed in the office. He fired commands at Callie like an army general and she earned every cent
of her high-priced salary before she finally gathered her things and headed for home.

  Heady anticipation saw her race through a shower and, once it was dry, twist her hair up in a loose knot on top of her head. Even as she reapplied her makeup, tendrils glided down to frame her face. She shivered a little at each tiny caress, wondering what it would be like to feel Josh’s lips, or the trace of his fingers, along her neck.

  She studied her reflection in the mirror. Already her cheeks carried the soft flush of desire and her eyes gleamed with a need she’d always been able to keep firmly under control before.

  A quick glance at her bedside clock reminded her to get her act together and stop daydreaming. She quickly slipped on a pair of black lace panties. The tiny diamantés, sprinkled on the lace, flashed in the overhead light, bringing a smile to her lips. Always a magpie, one way or another, she conceded. After so many years of deprivation Callie unashamedly loved pretty things.

  And when it came to pretty, she considered long and hard about the dress she was going to wear tonight. Unsure of where Josh was taking her for their meal, she chose a black halter-neck dress with a chiffon overlayer that floated to just above her knees. The deep V neckline made it impossible to wear a bra and as she gathered the ties into a knot at her nape, she wondered if she should have chosen something a little less obvious.

  The summons of her doorbell made that thought redundant. She had no time to change now. She slid her feet into black-and-silver Prada sandals and raced from her room.

  Callie’s heart hammered in her chest as she opened the door. Her hungry eyes consumed him as Josh filled the entrance. He was dressed all in black, from the handmade loafers on his feet to the open-necked shirt that clung to his broad shoulders like a lover’s caress.