“Don’t be. I’ve thought about it. But this does just as well.”
Josh pressed his index finger on a reader set in a panel on the wall beside enormous double doors. A green light flashed on the display of the reader and the doors swung open, revealing a massive office suite.
“You use biometric identification on this floor?”
“And in our IT section, yes. By the end of next year, we’ll use it through the whole building.”
Callie followed Josh inside, and tried to quell the sense of disquiet that threaded through her as the doors swung closed behind them—much like the solid gates of an olde worlde stronghold. It didn’t take too much imagination to connect the dots and cast her new employer in the role of lord of this particular manor.
Josh gestured toward a modern workstation. “This is where you’ll be working.” He pulled out the chair, inviting her to sit down. “You’ll see there’s another print reader associated with your computer. Drew, my head of IT, will be up shortly to log you in to the system.”
Callie sat upright in the chair, not daring to let her back brush against the top where she sensed Josh’s hand had settled. She nodded toward the closed office doors. “Are they always kept shut?”
“Absolutely. When someone comes, they’ll appear on your screen via the intranet CCTV system. If they’re already recorded in our database, a brief bio will pop up next to their picture. If they don’t have an appointment, they don’t come in. Mind you, they’d be hard pressed to get this far without security clearance anyway.”
The opening credits of old Get Smart episodes flitted through her mind.
“Is all the security really necessary?”
Josh barked a short laugh and leaned forward a little. “You worked at Palmer Enterprises. You tell me.”
Callie fought back the retort that sprang to her lips. She had to remind herself yet again that for all intents and purposes she was now working for Tremont Corporation. More specifically, for the man himself.
She looked up toward him and forced a smile. “I see your point.”
“I thought you might.”
Her breath suddenly stilled in her chest as he smiled at her in return. A genuine smile—one that lit his eyes and caused laugh lines to fan out at their corners. She felt her own lips curve more generously in response and saw his gaze drop to her mouth, saw the light in his eyes spark into something more, something that made her suddenly wish she wasn’t here under false pretences.
Callie turned her head. She couldn’t afford to let him see the truth in her eyes. She’d promised Irene she would do everything in her power to unearth the mole at Palmer Enterprises and she darn well would get the job done, no matter how charismatic Josh Tremont proved to be. She forced her attention back to the job.
“So I can’t log in to the system until Drew has been here?”
Josh hesitated before answering and she felt him shift away—ever so slightly, but it was enough to create the illusion of a little more breathing space between them.
“Correct, and as much as I admire your eagerness to get to work I thought you might like to have some lunch with me first.” He straightened and stepped toward another set of tall double doors. “Come. I had the restaurant send up a light buffet for us.”
“What about Drew?”
“I’ll get the alert in my office when he arrives.”
Callie rose and followed Josh through to his office. She gasped as they entered. The floor-to-ceiling windows offered a near seamless view of the central business district and then up the inner city harbour. She almost felt as if she could step off the carpet and straight into the air over the glistening waters. But there, smack in the centre of the CBD, stood the Palmer building. It was as if he could peer down through the tinted glass and see right inside from here.
A frisson of disquiet pricked at her senses. One that made her wonder if it was more than just business rivalry that had Tremont Corporation a step ahead of the Palmers at almost every turn. But that was ridiculous. Virtually everything about the Palmers’ world was public knowledge and there were no skeletons in their closets.
“Stunning, isn’t it? I never tire of the view. You almost feel as if you own it all.”
He’d moved in close behind her. So close she could feel his breath on the back of her neck. Rather than intimidate, it sent little sparks of flame licking along her skin. This was crazy, Callie thought, he isn’t even touching me and I…She jammed a lid on the notion before it could form fully in her mind, because if it did, she’d be admitting to an attraction she knew she should never act on nor reveal.
She wasn’t here to have a mutually satisfying fling—although Josh Tremont was very much the kind of man that spoke to her femininity. He was strong, and without a shadow of a doubt he was good looking, but above all that he had an aura of survival that appealed to her on a level that went beyond the instinctive. For that reason, if not her promise to Irene, she knew she couldn’t succumb to his charm.
She’d trained herself to make her choices based on rational thought, not on gut feeling. She would not change that now, not for anything or anyone.
Callie stepped sideways to put some space between them, and turned away from the window. She allowed herself a steadying breath before she could trust herself to speak.
“Yes, the view is quite spectacular. How on earth do you get any work done?”
“It’s my motivation to work.”
“How so?”
“I’ve seen worse things and I have no desire to see them again.”
Callie nodded. “I know what you mean.”
She risked a look at Josh, surprised to find him already staring at her, a considering look in his eyes. His wide, sensually shaped lips curved into a smile.
“Yes. Yes, you would.”
His voice reverberated in the space between them, stroking her barely controlled senses back into full flame. A flame that died out just as rapidly. He knew that much about her?
“Funny thing, don’t you think?” he continued. “The harder we work for what we have, the more determined we become to hold on to it.”
She stiffened. He struck a little too close to her core. She summoned a noncommittal response and it must have sufficed because he gestured to the sideboard across the office where silver chafing dishes emitted a delicious aroma. Crockery and cutlery were stacked to one side.
Josh walked over and grabbed one of the white bone china plates and handed it to her.
“Here, would you like me to serve?”
Callie’s fingers brushed his as she took the proffered plate.
“No, thanks. I’ll serve myself.”
“Are you always this independent?” Josh asked, cocking his head slightly to one side as if he were still assessing her and hadn’t quite found the right-shaped hole for her particular peg.
Callie allowed herself a smile. “Yes, always.”
Josh gave her a small nod. “Duly noted.”
They were eating their lunch, a light Thai green curry with fluffy jasmine rice and salad, when an alert sounded on Josh’s computer.
“That’s Drew.”
He buzzed the other man in and walked through to the main office to greet him. Callie placed her plate down on the coffee table in front of her and stood as they came into Josh’s office.
“Callie, I’d like you to meet Drew Grant. He’s head of IT here at Tremont Corp and what he doesn’t know on the subject isn’t worth knowing.”
High praise indeed from a man who had a reputation for demanding excellence. Callie reached out to shake Drew’s hand.
“Pleased to meet you.” She smiled.
“Welcome to Tremont Corp,” he replied with a smile that transformed his long, thin face from intensity to a warm friendliness.
“Drew, have some lunch with us, then you can get Callie into the system and run her through the basics of our programmes.”
Josh settled onto the couch right next to where Callie was sitting. If
Callie hadn’t known better, she would have thought he was staking his claim against any potential interest from the other man. His knee brushed against the fabric of her pants and she surreptitiously inched away from the contact.
She was no man’s possession, no matter how powerful he thought he was or how much he’d agreed to pay her.
Once Drew had filled a plate and joined them, Josh asked him to explain the basics behind the systems the company used. Callie listened carefully, all the time hyperconscious of the man at her side. Josh said very little as Drew covered the practicalities of what she would be able to do on her computer. Despite their system being vastly different from that at Palmers, she knew she’d master it in no time and, in fact, she was eager to get started. An eagerness that was beginning to have more to do with her reaction to her proximity to her new boss, than a desire to work.
“We may as well get into it, then,” she said with what she hoped was sufficient professional eagerness, and she rose to take her plate over to the sideboard.
Instantly she felt the loss of his presence beside her. She pushed the sensation aside. He was a man, albeit a powerful one, but still just a man and she’d vowed long ago never to fall victim again to one man’s power over her.
“Good idea,” Josh agreed. “You all ready to go, Drew?”
“Ready as ever. Thanks for the lunch.”
As Callie and Drew left the inner sanctum of Josh’s office, she felt his eyes bore a hole in the back of her head. She clenched her hands into tight fists at her sides, determined not to reach up and scratch the itch left there. It was a relief to be out of his sight and settled at her desk.
By the time Drew left her, with a reassurance that he was only a phone call away, she felt more than able to tackle whatever Josh sent her way. How she would tackle her reaction to him was another matter entirely.
Three
F rom the door to his inner office Josh watched Callie at work. She was totally absorbed in her task, her eyes never straying from the flat-screen monitor, her fingers flying over her keyboard as if they had minds of their own.
She wore her hair up in a tight twist, exposing the long slender curve of her neck, the gentle sweep of her jaw. Something hot and tight clenched low in his gut. Having her here was playing with fire—he’d sworn that he’d never indulge in an office romance the way his mother and father had—but Josh hadn’t got where he was today by playing it safe.
Her first week at Tremont Corporation had flown by, and now that they were at the end of week two his attraction to her had only grown more intense. He wasn’t going to ignore it any longer and rationalised that the hit to Palmers would be twofold when he and Callie became a couple, and he had no doubt they would. Not only had they lost a pivotal staff member but seeing her on his arm in the society pages would just be rubbing salt into the wound.
Josh cleared his throat and allowed a small smile of satisfaction to curl his lips as she startled and stopped what she was doing.
“Callie, I need you to attend a gallery opening and silent auction with me tonight. I hope you’re free.”
Too bad if she wasn’t, she’d simply have to change her plans. Under his perusal he saw her eyes widen in surprise for the briefest moment before she appeared to gather her thoughts.
“Tonight?”
“Tremont Corp has sponsored a new gallery in conjunction with the Blackthorne School of Fine Arts.”
“That’s the school that offers scholarships to kids from underprivileged backgrounds, isn’t it?”
Kids like he’d been. “Yeah, that’s the one. I’ll pick you up around seven. Dress formal.”
Callie visibly bristled at his preemptory tone. “I haven’t said I’m free yet.”
He was beginning to enjoy seeing how he could unsettle her. Each day brought its own new challenge with Callie. He kept his face poker straight as he answered.
“If you’re not, you’ll have to change your plans. I need you there.”
Need being a relative word. He wanted her there with him.
“Why wasn’t this in the appointment schedule?”
Good question, he conceded silently. “I hadn’t made up my mind to attend until just now. Do you have any objection?”
“I object to the lack of notice, but as it happens I am free this evening.”
Josh nodded. “Get used to things happening without notice. One of the duties I demand from my staff is flexibility and availability. I’ll be at your place at seven—I already know where you live. Be ready.”
Josh drew his Maserati to a halt outside the compact two-story town house Callie had listed as her residence. The brick-and-weatherboard building was well maintained, and the garden lining the front path was full of late spring colour with the kind of plants his mother had always adored. It was a far cry from the manicured perfection showcasing the palatial 1920s mansion he called home in St Heliers.
Still, considering her location here in Mt Eden, she was doing pretty well for herself. He wondered how much of her position she’d achieved on her own and how much had been assisted by the Palmer family. They tended to look after their own—when it suited them.
With long practice he quelled the habitual anger that flooded his mind. Things should have been so different for his mother and for him as he grew up. The reminder of what the Palmers were capable of never lay far from the periphery of his mind, even if they’d successfully hoodwinked the nation into believing they were squeaky-clean paragons of society.
Payback would be an absolute bitch. He would personally make certain of that.
His hand hovered at the wood-panelled front door to knock, but before his knuckles could rap against the varnished surface the door swung open.
Not a lot took Josh’s breath away these days, but the vision of elegant sophistication in front of him managed to succeed where many had failed.
At first he thought her halter-neck gown was black, but in the overhead lighting he realised it was a rich dark chocolate brown—the same colour as her eyes. The fabric skimmed over her body, in much the same way his fingers now itched to do, caressing each curve in a subtle yet sensuous sweep.
He let out a long low-pitched whistle.
“You look amazing.”
“Thank you. You did say formal. I hope this isn’t too much.”
Too much? He stepped back to appreciate the rear view of the dress as she came through the doorway and methodically locked her front door. The creamy skin of her back was exposed until just below her shoulder blades, and for some reason he found what the gown hid even more enticing than what it revealed.
“It’s perfect. Thank you.”
“For getting it right?” Callie looked up at him from sexy smoky-shadowed eyes.
“Yes.”
“Believe me, I’ve been well trained.”
There was a note to her voice he couldn’t put his finger on. Not quite strain, not quite cynicism, either.
Josh felt his lips curve into a smile. “I can well imagine.”
Callie stiffened at his side. “What do you mean by that?”
“The Palmers expect a certain, shall we say, level of behaviour in their consorts.”
“As do you,” she was quick to retort.
“As do I,” he conceded with a small nod of his head. He placed his hand on the small of her back. “Come, let’s get going.”
She didn’t move immediately and he wondered if she thought he was being too informal touching her as he did, but her lips firmed slightly, as if she’d come to some silent decision, and she allowed him to guide her back down her pathway toward his waiting car.
Beneath his hand the silky fabric of her gown shifted with each step she took, the movement barely detectable but enough to set up a hum of electricity tingling across his palm. It would be no hardship to ease the sensation by stroking his hand across the gentle curve of her hip, but he knew he wouldn’t give in to the elemental urge. Not this time.
At his car he swung open the passeng
er door and waited as she settled into the leather seat and scooped the skirt of her dress inside so it was clear of the doorframe.
Her slender feet were wrapped in a web of delicate bronze leather straps, her toenails painted vermilion. The tingle of electricity that had started on his hand gathered momentum and sent a jolt of something stronger straight to his groin. Man, she had sexy feet. He’d never thought of himself as a foot kind of guy, but when it came to the parade of footwear Callie wore he’d been easily swung over.
“Nice shoes,” he commented after he’d shut her door and settled into the driver’s seat beside her.
“Thank you.” A wry smile played around her glossy lips, lips he imagined would feel as soft and tender as they looked. “Shoes are a bit of a weakness of mine,” she admitted.
“I noticed,” Josh laughed, determined to put her at ease tonight.
“Ah, well, I suppose we all have our vices. What’s yours?”
Her question hung in the air between them. What would she do, he wondered, if he admitted his? Instead, he replied smoothly, “I have no vices.”
Her snort of disbelief was barely audible.
“What?” he asked. “You think I do?”
“I don’t know you well enough to comment.”
“But you’ve heard rumours,” he pressed.
“Some, however I’m not in the habit of forming opinions based on rumour.”
“An admirable quality,” Josh conceded.
“One of my many,” she replied in that tone she’d used at the front door.
He put that thought away to examine later. Callie Lee was proving to have intriguingly hidden depths he hadn’t anticipated. Much as he hadn’t anticipated the alluring draw of her sensuality. The fact that she was oblivious to it made her even more tempting, and she was a temptation he would succumb to—all in good time.
Callie watched as people swirled about the gallery. Most were more interested in being noticed among the Who’s Who of Auckland’s glitterati than in the quality of the art on display. She’d done the rounds as Josh’s assistant, ensuring that the right sponsors rubbed shoulders with the right beneficiaries, that those who were only there for a free ride got what they wanted before being carefully shunted away from the main rooms.
Defiant Mistress, Ruthless Millionaire Page 3
