“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 in 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 recomposed 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 perfect
ly 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
T he 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.
Callie stopped herself before she actually licked her lips, but, oh boy, he was delectable.
“Would you like to come in for a drink before we head out?” she asked.
There was something different about him tonight. An edge to his self-control she hadn’t sensed before. Concern plucked at the fringes of her mind. Had he discovered that she’d accessed more than the data he’d requested on his computer? She discounted the thought even as it occurred to her. Josh Tremont wasn’t the kind of man to let something like that slide. He’d have reamed her out about it if he knew—she was sure of it.
No, it had to be something else. Maybe, she wondered, he was just as tense with anticipation about tonight as she was. They were adults, after all. They’d acknowledged a strong attraction between each other and goodness knew they just about ignited when they kissed.
Callie felt an involuntary tug deep inside at the prospect of going further than just a kiss with Josh. Arousal spread with a flood of heat through her body, and her unfettered breasts tautened, abrading against the fine fabric of her halter with excruciating awareness. She felt his eyes coast over her from the tip of her shoes to the top of her head. Finally, he replied, his voice taut with restraint.
“I don’t think so. With the way you look right now, I doubt we’d make it to dinner.”
Callie’s breath caught on her response. What could she say in the face of that? She lifted her chin and summoned what she hoped was a casual smile. “Another time perhaps.”
She locked her front door and walked beside him to the waiting Maserati at the kerbside, not touching but painfully aware of his proximity, of his strength.
“Do we have far to go?” she asked as they started off down the street.
“To the waterfront.”
“Oh, anywhere I know?” she probed.
“You’ll have to wait and see,” came the enigmatic response.
Callie settled back against the soft leather of the car seat and tried to concentrate on the soft rock playing on the CD player, but all her senses remained attuned to the man beside her. She wondered why they were even going through the motions of dinner when it was clear where they would end up. Still, she supposed, going to dinner put a civilised veneer on what was a distinctly uncivilised need currently pumping through her body.
She was surprised when, rather than heading along the bays, Josh turned the car toward the helipad at Mechanics Bay. Once he’d parked the car, he took her by the hand and led her to a waiting helicopter.
The pilot made sure that they were both strapped in and had their headsets on before taking off. Callie’s stomach
lurched as they flew across the harbour.
“Where are we going?” she asked Josh.
“Are you always this impatient for details?” he replied through the headset.
“Curious, not impatient,” she corrected.
Josh merely smiled and nodded his head toward the window. “Satisfied?”
Callie looked past him to the massive white luxury launch floating on the harbour, a large H emblazoned on part of its deck.
“We’re eating on the boat?”
“I hope you don’t get seasick,” Josh teased.
“Are you planning to hit the high seas?” Callie answered in kind, even as her hands took a white-knuckled grip on her seat as the helicopter descended.
“Just a leisurely cruise around the harbour while we enjoy our meal, then back to Westhaven.”
“Westhaven Marina? But what about your car?”
“I won’t be driving. A car will meet us there and take us home later. Don’t worry. It’s all organised. You know, you’re not the only one with a knack for getting things done.”
They alighted from the chopper and Callie was relieved to set her feet firmly onto the boat’s upper deck. Only now did she get a full appreciation of just how large the vessel was. It had to be over a hundred feet long.
“This isn’t yours, is it?” she asked as they made their way down a gently curved staircase to the main deck.
“No, I just borrow it from time to time.”
For a moment Callie felt a pang of envy for the other women he might have brought here “from time to time,” but then she scolded herself for being so silly. He was a man of the world—a darn fine man of the world at that. There’d be women in his past, probably many of them. But she was the one with him now, and she’d take whatever she could get while it lasted because once he discovered the truth about her working for him—and she had no doubt that he eventually would—memories of nights like tonight would be all she’d have left.
The evening was perfect. With daylight savings time in effect, the early evening light dappled over the calm sea in a glittering caress. In the distance a flock of birds still worked the waters and dotted all over the harbour were pleasure craft under sail or motor. Muted strains of classical guitar danced on the air through a hidden sound system and Callie felt herself sink into the luxury of the setting with a completeness that felt, for once, totally right.
Defiant Mistress, Ruthless Millionaire Page 6
