Barry was currently calling her name as he hustled down the hall toward her.Ryan sighed. “What do you need, Barry? I’ve got a class starting in five minutes.”
“Your briefing charts, I just wanted to check over your briefing charts.”
“They’re identical to the ones you reviewed yesterday in the run-through.” Ryan looked at her watch uneasily. “Barry, I’ve got to get in there or I’ll be late to your meeting. Can we…”
Barry’s chubby fingers smoothed the strands of hair that trailed over his nearly bald pate. “I just want to be sure we’re all set. This deal could mean a lot to the company. It could completely change the way we do business.”
“I’m sure it will be fine,” Ryan said distractedly, fantasizing about the magic phone call from Helene. Anything to get her away from Barry’s endless fussing. One would think that after four years of success, he’d have a bit more faith in her.
“Let’s just review the schedule,” he said inexorably.
“Barry, it’s nine o’clock,” Ryan said a little desperately.
The morning went downhill from there.
FOUR HOURS LATER, Ryan hurried out of the classroom, looking at her watch. Barry would be furious that she wasn’t already in the conference room ready to deliver, but since he’d been responsible for getting her off schedule to begin with, she wasn’t feeling very sympathetic. Anyway, he was always working on something that was going to be the next great thing. It usually wasn’t and she doubted that this would be any different.
Ryan snatched up her viewgraphs from her office, then made a beeline for the conference room.“They’re already in there,” Mona whispered. “I brought in coffee just a little while ago and Doris was talking.”
Ryan stopped outside the conference room, listening to the muted buzz of voices inside. Smoothing her hair, she took a deep breath and opened the door.
About eight people sat at the long oval conference table, staring at the far end of the room where one of Ryan’s colleagues gestured at a vividly colored briefing chart displayed on a large screen. Ryan’s heart sank. Even in the dimmed lights, she could see Barry looking daggers at her. She gave a helpless shrug, crossing quietly to the open chair left for her.
With one ear on Neil’s presentation, she shuffled rapidly through her notes, doing a quick scan to ensure she remembered the salient points. She raised her head for a quick glance around the table.
And found herself eye to eye with Cade Douglas.
All the breath left her lungs in an instant. It couldn’t be, she told herself. She had to be dreaming. This was one of those stress nightmares, like the ones she’d had in school where she showed up for a crucial exam an hour late and without her shirt.
Last time she’d seen Cade, she’d been missing more than her shirt.
Of all the conference rooms in all the companies in all the world, Ryan thought, stifling a hysterical giggle. She slowed her breathing with conscious effort, trying to calm her racing heart. It was too ridiculous to believe—the star of the biggest personal fiasco of her life, showing up here of all places. It was just her luck. Any normal person would have met the gigolo and had their fun. She had to stumble up to some ringer and take him upstairs for, okay, for what was pretty amazing sex. But then afterward…well, okay, after the second bout of excellent and amazing sex, and after the part about the bathtub, to have him show up here? Here, of all places?
So much for her bold words at the Beacon Hill Hotel. He knew where to find her now. The question was what was he going to do about it? Embarrassment wasn’t the half of it. After all, this was her job, at least for the time being. What would this do to Barry’s deal? Would Cade actually say something or change his mind? Excuse me, Barry, the deal’s off. Last time I met your curriculum manager she tied me up, used me for sex and threw my clothes in the bathtub. Ryan felt another giggle rising up that felt dangerously close to screaming hysteria. Okay, stay calm, she told herself. She was probably safe on that count. He’d never go that far.
But how far would he go?
Neil wound up his presentation and flipped the lights on to take questions. She glanced up again and found Cade’s eyes on her, glinting with the lazy amusement of a cat about to toy with a mouse.
God, he was gorgeous.
Behind her, Barry cleared his throat. “Thank you, Neil. Gentlemen, I’d like to introduce our curriculum manager, Ryan Donnelly. Ryan, meet Patrick Wallace and Cade Douglas from eTrain.”
On your feet Ryan, she told herself. Make nice with the other kids. “Good afternoon. It’s a pleasure to meet you. My apologies for arriving late,” she said briskly, leaning over the table to hand her business card to the two men on the other side of the table: Patrick Wallace, who was slight and dark with a good-natured face that would have put her instantly at ease if her stomach hadn’t been tied up in knots.
And Cade Douglas. She braced herself as she extended her hand, but the snap of static electricity caught her by surprise.
Cade raised an eyebrow. “Sorry. Staticky rug, I guess. We haven’t met before, have we? You look so familiar.” He made a show of reading her business card.
Ryan narrowed her eyes at him fractionally. “Not to my knowledge, Mr. Douglas.”
Stepping up to the front of the room, she paused. Get it together, Ryan, she told herself grimly as she loaded up her presentation in the computer. Earlier in the week she’d been ready to murder Barry when he insisted that they run through the presentations a third time, but now she could have kissed him. Well, not quite kissed him, but it was a relief that she’d practiced the talk so many times she could go on autopilot, because she wasn’t going to be doing a lot of thinking on her feet this particular day.
Ryan took a deep breath before beginning her presentation, just as she taught that morning in her public speaking course. She couldn’t remember teaching anything about speaking to a group that included a former one-night stand, though. Or two-night stand, if you wanted to get picky. She began and her voice took on a smooth tone as she got into the flow and focused on the presentation. The only problem was that she saw him every time she looked up, and every time it sent her pulse thudding.
FATE WAS CERTAINLY having some fun with him these days, Cade thought, watching her. Her face was serious, her voice sober, her dark hair pinned back decorously, not flowing wildly over her shoulders as it had been the last time he’d seen her. Her boxy, wine-colored suit gave only the slightest indication of the luscious body hidden inside.
He wondered what kind of lingerie she wore underneath.A couple of weeks ago he’d been ready to wring her pretty neck. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find it to wring. Directory service hadn’t had a listing for her anywhere around the area. She’d used cash and a fake name at the Beacon Hill Hotel. At the Copley Plaza Hotel, he’d met a blank wall and not even bribes got him the information he’d sought. It appeared that it was, indeed, over, just as she’d said.
He couldn’t get her out of his mind, though. That was the worst of it. Despite the whole fiasco with the four-poster bed, he couldn’t stop thinking about the quick flash of her smile, her throaty laughter, the feel of her bare skin against him. Being with her had felt right from the first moment she’d sat down to talk with him in the bar. He hadn’t felt that quick snap of connection in years, maybe never, and despite everything, he couldn’t stop wanting her.
And now here she was, delivered to him on a platter. What he was going to do with her he wasn’t sure. His initial anger had faded in time with the soreness in his muscles. Clichés about playing with fire and getting burned kept dancing through his head as he sat in his health club sauna trying to work the kinks out. Still, he was a man who liked to be in control. As he’d told her in the room that night, he wasn’t done with her, not by half. He’d be the one to decide when they were through.
He looked at her in her prim little suit. The flush on her cheeks was probably only a small indication of the snit she was in, he’d have bet his first million on i
t—if he hadn’t already sunk it into eTrain. He watched her mouth move and remembered the feel of it on his skin, remembered having her naked and trembling against him. Oh yes, the game pieces had been reset, and if she thought it was ended as of the other night, she was very much mistaken.
First, he wanted to make her squirm a little, just in payback.
Then, he just wanted her, period. The fact that they’d be working together might complicate things, but it didn’t make it impossible.
When he set his mind on something, he usually got it.
As Ryan reached her summary slide, Cade glanced over at Patrick and raised an eyebrow. Patrick gave him a fractional nod. Beckman Markham had the content that they needed to make eTrain a success, and that was the most important part. Getting a chance to equalize things with the lovely Ms. Donnelly was going to be the icing on the cake.
“THANK YOU FOR YOUR attention, gentlemen. Any questions?”
Cade gave her a lazy glance out of those startlingly blue eyes. “I assume you can e-mail us a copy of your course lists?”“As long as Barry gives the okay, you have free access to any information I can provide.”
“Anything you need from Ryan, just ask for it,” Barry put in.
“I’ll be sure to remember that,” Cade said, looking directly at Ryan. Then he slightly pushed back from the table. “Well, I’m very impressed with what I’ve seen here today, Barry. I think Patrick and I can count ourselves lucky to team up with Beckman Markham as the content provider for eTrain.”
A little chorus of happy noises went around the room, complete with backslapping and handshakes. The man was a master, Ryan thought sourly. He had them all sitting up and begging, as happy for his attention as a row of eager puppies. Well, she’d come through for Barry, which ought to have netted her some brownie points. Now if she could just stay away from this project, she’d be a happy woman.
“WE SHOULD PROBABLY put a few organizational steps into place,” Cade continued, ticking off a list of action items. He leaned back in his chair a bit and crossed his leg over his knee. He was going to enjoy this next bit. “Given the importance of this project, I’m going to be point man for content and content planning. Ryan, that means you and I will be working together closely. I want to be very hands-on here.” He wondered if anyone in the room but him had noticed her stiffen. “Let’s coordinate schedules before I leave here today so we can set up a planning meeting for sometime in the next couple of days. I’m looking forward to it.”
“I’m not entirely sure how soon we’ll be able to arrange a meeting, Cade. I’m pretty booked over the next two weeks with classes.”“We can get one of the other instructors to fill in for you if necessary,” Barry put in with a warning glance at her.
“Great,” she said without enthusiasm. “In that case, do you have an administrative assistant I can call to coordinate the meeting?” She flicked her gaze toward him. “I don’t want to tie you up at an inconvenient time.”
Cade’s jaw tightened at the crack.
“Why don’t I stop by your office before I leave so we can touch base, Ryan,” he said. “We’ve got a long way to go with this before we’re done.”
The meeting broke up, leaving only Barry and the eTrain contingent to finalize paperwork. Before they could start, though, Mona walked into the room. “Barry, you’ve got a call from Mr. Rickman.”
“Oh, excuse me a moment guys, this is a call I’ve got to take. Stay here and I’ll be right with you in a couple of minutes. Mona can get you coffee, if you want.” He hurried off.
As soon as they were alone, Patrick leaned over to Cade. “Want to tell me what that was all about?” he asked quietly.
Cade turned to look at him. “What?”
“Point man for content? Where’s that coming from? Every other time we’ve had this discussion you wanted no part of anything but the wheeling and dealing.”
“I’ve just been thinking, that’s all.”
“Thinking about the company or thinking about our little friend in the purple suit?” At Cade’s startled glance, Patrick nodded. “I thought so. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m happy you’re back to noticing the female of the species. I just don’t want you to confuse work with playtime, because we cannot afford to mess this up, buddy o’ mine.”
Cade pushed back a surge of irritation. Patrick had every right to voice his concern. The business was half his, as was the risk. “Business takes center stage with me, Patrick, you know that. I just think I need to take more of a hand in the product side of things. Business development is quiet for the time being. I need to find another place to contribute or else I’m just taking up space.” He closed the binder in front of him. “We’ve been looking for a content manager for three months without finding someone who suits us. If I can step in here and take care of some of the initial content negotiations until we hire someone, then great.” And if he could take care of some unfinished business at the same time, so much the better.
“Just as long as you’re sure of what you’re doing here.” Patrick eyed him warily.
“It’s going to be fine,” Cade assured him.
IT WAS GOING TO BE A nightmare, Ryan thought, walking through the door of her office to throw her files down on the desk. Too wired to sit, she paced the patch of carpet in front of the window, looking out over the Boston streets. That was all she needed, to work with a man who reminded her of her most ridiculous mistake every time she looked at him. Of course, the fact that it was her sexiest mistake and made her heart race every time she thought of it only added to her frustration.
Cade had her neatly cornered. There was no way Barry was going to let her off the project, not when the new clients wanted her in. She was completely under his thumb and he was reveling in it. “We’ve got a long way to go” indeed. How ever much she might have wanted out from under his control, remaining employed was unfortunately going to mean dealing with Cade. He’d get tired of that game sooner or later.She hoped.
In the meantime, they had to set some ground rules. There was a knock on the door. “Come in,” Ryan snapped. It was Mona, she saw, and felt immediately contrite.
“Jeez, Ryan, you having a bad day or something? I just wanted to give you your course feedback from this morning.”
“Probably sucked, considering all the problems we had.” Ryan took the proffered file and sank into her chair as she leafed through the sheets, looking without seeing.
“Not even. You walked on water, as usual.” Mona lingered to chat. “So, I guess the meeting with those eTrain guys went well, huh? Boy, the tall one sure is good looking.”
“Pretty is as pretty does, my mama always says,” Ryan muttered.
“Yeah, well, he can do me any time.”
Ryan was surprised at the bolt of possessiveness that went through her. “Down, girl.”
Mona blushed. “Sorry. I’ve gotta get a personal life. I know it’s bad when I start drooling over the clients.” She sighed. “He sure is fine to look at. I wouldn’t mind if he showed up for a few more meetings.” She glanced at her watch, then ducked out the door. Almost immediately there was a thump and a quick murmur of voices. Ryan craned around to catch the source of the commotion, just in time to see Cade Douglas step around the door, apologizing handsomely to Mona. Hard for him to do it any other way with that face, she reflected sourly. Mona, of course, was beet red and tongue-tied as she backed away down the hall.
Cade tapped lightly on the door. “Got a minute?”
“Would it matter?” It irritated her beyond belief that he affected her the way he did. “Come in, sit down.” She didn’t bother to get up, but sat at her desk and did her best to look like she had more important things to do. Hastily, she brought up her calendar on-screen and scrolled through it to check her schedule. It blinked at her, telling her there was an afternoon Word class she hadn’t remembered and wasn’t prepared for.
Cade closed the door and walked around her desk, glancing at her computer screen. “You’re looking
at your appointments for May of 2001,” he pointed out helpfully.
Ryan paused and looked at him, she hoped coolly. “Do you want something or did you just come in here to bother me?”
“That’s a fine way to welcome your new business partner,” he said mildly, dropping into the chair across from her.
“You’re not a partner, you’re the customer. That’s the only reason I’m being civil to you, in case you’re under any misconceptions.” Cool and classy, she thought, fighting off the urge to snarl as she saw the smirk flirting with the corners of his mouth. The man was so good looking that even his expressions flirted with him. “Of course, I’d fawn all over you if you’d back off and let me out of the project.”
“Oh no, I don’t believe I will.” He gave her an assessing look, watching the pulse beat at her throat. The high color that had come into her cheeks suited her, he decided, pulling out her business card and flipping it over in his fingers idly.
“You’re enjoying yourself,” she said flatly, watching him sprawl in the chair and glance out her window to admire the view.
“Immensely.”
His eyes came back to hers and despite herself she felt the jolt of heat. It made her snappish. “Great. So all right, you win, you’re king of the hill. Is that enough for you?”
“Not by half.” Anger flared in his eyes for an instant. “My shoulders were sore for a week after that stunt you pulled, you know. And you may very well have succeeded in ruining half of an Armani suit.”
“I left you money for the dry cleaning.” They were only trousers, after all.
“According to my dry cleaner Luigi, a very excitable man, such fine cashmere wool blend trousers should never be exposed to water and all of his considerable expertise may not be enough to right the insult to such exceptional fabric.”
My Sexiest Mistake Page 8
