Her Secret Weapon

by Beverly Barton

  And like his stepfather, Burke preferred a woman with some flesh on her bones. Callie fit the description quite nicely. Although he had more sophisticated, more elegant ladies at his disposal, Burke fancied Callie and had since the first day she walked into his office. He couldn’t understand why he was so attracted to her, more so than to any woman he’d ever met.

  Knowing better than to mix business with pleasure, he had never become personally involved with any of his employees and usually listened to his common sense. Besides being too old for Callie—a good fifteen years too old—he was a man living a secret life as an agent for SPEAR, which existed in a shadow world of espionage and danger. He had spent most of his adult life in cloak-and-dagger activities, using his cover as an illegal arms dealer to the benefit of whatever the agency required at any given moment.

  He couldn’t deny that in many ways he lived the good life. A magnificent home in London. A flat in Paris. A villa in Italy. An apartment in New York. Lonigan’s Imports and Exports afforded him the lifestyle most men only dreamed of having. Expensive clothes purchased on Savile Row. A chauffeured Rolls and a Porsche. And beautiful ladies vying for his attention.

  But something was missing in his life. He felt that deep aloneness more and more with each passing year. Was that the reason he couldn’t get Callie Severin out of his mind? Why he found himself fantasizing about her frequently? Did he think one specific woman could fill that void and give meaning to his life on a personal level?

  “Mr. Lonigan, you aren’t listening to me,” Callie said. “Your mind seems to be a million miles away today. Are you sure there isn’t something bothering you?”

  Dragging his mind away from errant thoughts to concentrate on the present moment, Burke said, “No, no. Nothing’s wrong. Just mentally going over the guest list I have in mind. I’ll want you to handle the invitations. We’ll keep this rather intimate. No more than fifty guests. All business associates.”

  Smiling warmly, Callie nodded. “Would you like for us to make the list now?” But what she actually wanted to ask was, Which business associates? The import-export business or the illegal arms business?

  Really now, Callie, she cautioned herself. You have no proof that Burke is involved in the illegal arms trade. But you also have no proof that he isn’t, her nagging inner voice warned. Remember the old American adage, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” Why would so many persistent rumors abound about Burke’s notorious secret life if there was no truth to the rumors?

  “Why don’t you leave the list to me,” he said. “You attend to the caterer, the florists, the musicians and the printer and whatever else needs attending to. I’ll be sure you have the list ready later today, since this affair is to take place Saturday night.”

  “Saturday night!” He certainly wasn’t allowing them much time to coordinate an elegant party, even one for fifty. “Oh, all right. Now, I’ll need a few details, so we should get started on the plans immediately.”

  “That’s one of the things I like about you, Callie. You’re highly efficient.”

  “One of the things you like about me? Are there more?” Any fool could see that she was flirting with her boss. She’d been saying and doing things like that since the first day of her employment. And she couldn’t seem to stop herself. As much as she tried to deny her feelings, she was as drawn to Burke now as she’d been that night Seamus had been conceived.

  Burke scraped the underside of her chin with his curled index finger, tilting her head upward and aligning her gaze with his. “There are many, many more things I like about you, Callie. Too many to name. Everything from your sweet smile to your sharp mind.”

  When Burke grinned at her, she went weak in the knees. This must stop, she told herself. She couldn’t continue letting his sexy smiles and dreamy gazes make her heart flutter. And she couldn’t allow her feelings for this man to get out of control. She had to remember that she couldn’t do anything foolish because she had a child to think about. An affair with Burke, no matter how appealing, would affect not only her life, but Seamus’s life, too.

  She couldn’t allow Burke Lonigan to know that he had a son—not until she was certain that he was the type of man she wanted to introduce into Seamus’s life as his father.

  “Now who’s woolgathering, Ms. Severin?”

  Callie stepped backward, putting some distance between them. “We really should get to work, Mr. Lonigan.”

  “Why won’t you call me Burke?” he asked, walking toward her. “I’ve asked you several times to stop calling me Mr. Lonigan.”

  As he drew near, Callie eased back farther and farther until her hips encountered the paneled wall behind her. When Burke reached her, he spread his big hands, palms open, on either side of her. She sucked in her breath as he lowered his head. His warm breath mingled with hers. His lips hovered ever so close.

  “I want to hear you say my name,” he told her.

  She had refused to use his given name because when they’d made love that night, she had sighed his name, whispered his name and cried out his name. Referring to him aloud by his name seemed far too intimate. The name on her lips would conjure up anew the heated passion they had shared.

  “Come on,” he cajoled, his lips almost touching hers. “Say my name.”

  “I—I prefer to call you Mr. Lonigan.” She couldn’t allow him to kiss her. A kiss would take their relationship out of the strictly business area and into something far more personal. She wasn’t ready for that—not yet. Maybe not ever. She laughed nervously. “After all, as my employer, I owe you a certain amount of respect, don’t you think?”

  “I respect you, Callie.” His lips brushed hers ever so lightly. “And I’m beginning to think of you as much more than just my assistant.” Although only mere inches separated their bodies and he kept his hands in place on the wall, he lifted his head. “If I’m making unwanted advances, please, tell me now and I’ll back off.”

  Tell him! her mind screamed. Tell him that you aren’t interested. “I—I…well, you see…I am interested. Oh, dear. What I mean is that I think you’re terribly attractive and I find you…. But we shouldn’t. We really shouldn’t.”

  “Shouldn’t what?” Burke’s heated gaze forced her to confront him directly.

  “Shouldn’t become more than employer and employee,” she said.

  “Something tells me that we’ve already moved beyond that point, my darling.”

  She gasped. “Why did you call me that?”

  “Call you what?”

  “My darling. Why did you—”

  “Because you look like a darling to me.”

  “Is that your standard endearment for your lady friends, Mr. Lonigan?”

  “As a matter of fact, it isn’t.” Lifting one hand from the wall, he eased it behind her head and pulled her to him. “My favorite pet name for the ladies is love.”

  “You’ve never called anyone else my darling?” Callie held her breath, waiting for his reply.

  “Not that I recall.”

  “Oh, Burke…”

  Then he kissed her.

  Chapter 2

  Burke’s lips covered hers with a tender urgency. Soft, yet demanding. She closed her eyes and savored the feel of his mouth on hers. How many long, lonely nights had she dreamed of this moment? How often had she shuddered with desire at the memory of the hours she had spent in this man’s bed? The rational part of her mind warned her of danger. Burke Lonigan was a man of mystery, perhaps a man with a deadly secret life. She shouldn’t become involved in an affair with a man who might well be an international criminal.

  As Burke deepened the kiss, his tongue seeking entrance, he leaned forward until his body pressed hers against the wall. A shiver of recognition rippled along her nerve endings. This is the way she had felt the night she had given herself to a stranger and he had given her his child.

  Resist him, her mind screamed. Don’t do this! But her body refused to listen. She melted against him, loving the fee
l of his hard chest pressed into her breasts and his lips devouring her. Of their own volition, her arms lifted up and around his neck, drawing him even closer. When her mouth opened invitingly, Burke delved within to explore and pillage. A gentle humming rose in her throat and turned into a soft moan when it reached her lips. He captured that moan with his mouth, diffusing it into fragments of minuscule sounds.

  Callie’s nipples peaked. Her femininity clenched and unclenched. Heaven help her, she wanted Burke. Now. This very moment. Here. Up against the wall.

  Don’t do this! You’ll be sorry if you do! her conscience warned. Don’t forget you have more to consider than yourself—you have Seamus. Whatever happens between you and Burke will ultimately affect your child.

  Callie forced herself to end the kiss. When she did, Burke groaned and rubbed himself against her in a doesn’t-this-feel-good way that elicited a whimper from her. In order to avoid him instigating another kiss, she turned her head, eased her arms from around his neck and gave him an insistent shove.

  Burke lifted his head and stared into her beguiling gray eyes. He couldn’t remember the last time he had ached so to make love to a woman. Since the first moment he’d seen Callie Severin, he’d been attracted to her, but he never mixed business with pleasure. A cardinal rule that he had just broken.

  Undoubtedly she had the same reservations as he and that’s why she’d ended their kiss. He knew damn well that she wanted him every bit as much as he wanted her. His instincts had been telling him for weeks now that Callie felt the same sexual tension that he did. But she was his employee, the best PA he’d ever had. An affair that might end on a sour note could wreck their perfect working relationship.

  Burke lifted his hands from the wall and stepped backward, placing a couple of feet between them, but he kept his gaze riveted to hers. She smiled weakly. Burke swallowed hard. Just the sight of her did crazy things to his libido. Callie possessed a fragile beauty, an old-fashioned loveliness that drew him to her. Her curly auburn hair couldn’t be confined within the neat bun at the base of her neck. Flyaway tendrils curled about her ears and forehead. Her flawless peaches-and-cream complexion complemented her dark fiery hair and her cool, storm-cloud gray eyes.

  His gaze traveled to her lips and lingered. Her mouth, devoid of lipstick, was full and slightly swollen from his kiss. He wanted to kiss her again. Wanted to pull her into his arms. Wanted to strip her naked and make mad, passionate love to her.

  Burke shut his eyes, hoping that by blotting out Callie’s pretty face and luscious body, he could control his desire for her. She’s just a lovely lady, like so many others, he told himself. There’s nothing special about her.

  Ah, but that wasn’t true. There was something special about Callie. He couldn’t explain what it was about her that made her unique, different from the other women he’d known.

  But there had been one other woman—a woman he could barely remember—who haunted his dreams. A faceless memory. A soft voice. A sweet body. And a scent of flowers. His mind alternated between wanting to remember and trying to forget.

  “Mr. Lonigan…Burke?”

  His eyelids opened to reveal his brilliant blue eyes. Callie sucked in a deep breath. How was it possible that one night with this man had spoiled her for any other man? She compared every male that entered her life with the indomitable Burke Lonigan, a man of strength and courage and an unconquerable spirit. An expert lover. Passionate. Considerate. Powerful.

  “If you keep looking at me that way, I’ll have no choice but to kiss you again,” he said.

  “Oh, I—I didn’t realize…I’m sorry that—” She averted her gaze.

  Tucking his fist under her chin, he lifted her face so that her gaze met his. “We have a problem, don’t we, Callie?”

  “Yes, sir, we do.”

  He caressed her cheek with his fingertips, then withdrew his hand. “I’ve never become involved with an employee. Keeping my business life and my personal life separate has been a cardinal rule. One that I’ve never broken. Until you.”

  Callie’s mouth rounded on a silent sigh. “I was engaged to my boss and the relationship turned out badly. I swore I wouldn’t become involved with my employer ever again. And I haven’t. Not until… What are we going to do about this?”

  Burke wondered if her former employer was the father of her child. Had her boss been a married man as his own father had been? Had he refused to acknowledge his son as Burke’s father had done?

  “I’m not sure how we proceed,” Burke admitted. “I’ve never been in this position before, so I have no frame of reference. But I do know one thing—I want us to become lovers.”

  Callie gasped audibly. “You do?”

  “Yes, I do. And unless I miss my guess, you want the same thing, don’t you?”

  Tell him that he’s wrong, that you do not want to have an affair, her inner voice cautioned. “I know your reputation with women, Mr.—er, Burke. You’ve had countless affairs. The women in your life are all very beautiful and rich and sophisticated. You’ve dated countesses and models and movie stars and—”

  “And not one of them was as tempting as you are.”

  The heat of his stare warmed Callie to her bones. His desire was so strong that it vibrated with energy and curled about her like an invisible band.

  “If—and I’m saying if—we become lovers and the affair ends, what then?” she asked. “There’s no way I could continue working for you, seeing you every day and knowing you were dating other women.”

  “I realize an affair would be a complication in your life and in mine.” Burke shrugged. “I suppose we have to decide which is more important to us—continuing our working relationship or becoming lovers. I risk losing the best PA I’ve ever had.”

  “I need this job,” she told him. “I have a child to support, and positions like the one I have here at Lonigan’s Imports and Exports aren’t easy to come by, you know.”

  “If, when our affair ends, you choose not to remain with Lonigan’s, then I’ll make sure you find a job with equal pay and benefits.”

  “Mm.”

  “Callie, I never make promises that I can’t keep,” he said. “And who knows, by the time we grow tired of each other, we might find that we’re perfectly capable of being only friends.”

  “Is that how all your affairs end?” she asked. “You and the lady become only friends?”

  “Are you saying that you haven’t remained friends with your ex-lovers?” Burke grinned broadly.

  “I’m afraid my experience doesn’t equal yours. I’ve had two lovers. My former fiancé, who is definitely not a friend, and my son’s father.”

  “I don’t mean to pry into your personal life, but I’ve wondered about your child’s father. Does he take any responsibility for his son? Does he give you any type of financial support?”

  Okay, you asked for this, Callie thought. You deliberately put yourself in this position. So what are you going to do now? Lie?

  “No. He—he doesn’t. But I’ve never asked anything of him. I’m afraid it’s an awkward situation and I don’t know how to—”

  “Is he married?”

  “Mercy, no! I’d never become involved with a married man.”

  “Then if he isn’t married, why haven’t you demanded that he take responsibility for his son? No man should father a child and then abandon him.”

  Callie understood Burke’s vehement reaction because she knew his history with his biological father. Burke Lonigan was the type of man who would take responsibility. But she had never given him the opportunity. Dear God, how would he feel and what would he think of her when she told him. No, not when, if. If she told him.

  “I’m not sure that my son’s father is someone I want to be a part of his life. I’m uncertain about his ability to be a suitable father.”

  “You didn’t tell this man about his child?” Burke’s eyes narrowed into slits, his expression accusatory.

  “As I said before, it’s an awkwar
d situation and rather complicated. I’d prefer not to discuss it anymore.”

  Burke grasped her shoulder. “Is this man the reason you’re reluctant to have an affair with me? Did you love him? Did he hurt you terribly?”

  How could she answer his questions? she wondered. Not with the complete truth. With lies, perhaps. Or maybe with half-truths. She wasn’t ready to be totally honest with Burke Lonigan. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

  “I can’t talk about this with you.”

  Burke glared at her speculatively. “Are you still in love with your child’s father? Is that the problem? You’re sexually attracted to me, but you love another man?”

  Callie couldn’t restrain the bubble of laughter that formed in her throat and escaped from her lips. “I’m sorry.”

  “What’s so funny?” he asked. “I fail to find any humor in what I asked you.”

  “Do you always find it so difficult to accept a refusal from a woman? Do you always cross-examine her and try to find hidden motives for her rejection?”

  “A refusal?” His eyebrows lifted in mock surprise. “I don’t think I heard you refuse.”

  “Burke, I like you. I like working with you. And yes, I’m very attracted to you. But I can’t just have an affair with you. I’m not, as my father would say, footloose and fancy-free. I’m a mother and my first responsibility is to my child.”

  “Then you’re saying that you don’t want us to become lovers?”

  We’ve already been lovers, she wanted to shout. For one glorious, wildly passionate night, we were lovers. “I’m saying that I do not want to rush into a relationship that might end up hurting me and creating problems in my life.”

  “Fair enough,” he said. “You take all the time you need, but you won’t fault me if I do everything in my power to persuade you.”