by Julie Cannon
EJ practically jumped out of her chair. “Absolutely.”
Emery had to admit that Dana was right. That was exactly what they agreed to that first night, and they had followed the script as if they had written it themselves. They’d said their good-byes on deck without either of them looking back.
Dana calmly folded her napkin and placed it on the table to her right. She gathered up her purse. “You need to decide what you’re going to do, Emery. I wanted this job before I ever met you, I still want it, and it has nothing to do with the time we spent together. You’re either going to hire me because I am the best person for the job, or you’re not. It’s your choice.”
Emery watched Dana as she walked away from the table. Why were decisions involving Dana always complicated and painful?
The corridors were nearly empty as they walked down the narrow hall to Dee’s cabin on the Promenade deck, three below hers. The difference was more than a little evident. Whereas EJ’s halls were carpeted with thick, plush, double-weave carpet, these were flat, industrial-strength, made to withstand thousands of trips by hundreds of people. Offset lighting cast a soft glow in her deck, though these halogen lights burned bright. There were at least twice as many cabins on this deck with very narrow doors. On her deck they could accommodate two people entering while standing side by side. Even the numbers identifying the cabin numbers were vastly different.
When Julia’s sister had called and told EJ that the Seafair had an unexpected last-minute cancellation in first class, she took it. She didn’t need to travel in such luxury, but the suite was the only thing available at such short notice and she had the money to pay for it, so why not? Plus, with the added benefits, a first-class cabin provided that she could rest more. It made perfect sense.
Dee stopped, held on to EJ’s arm, and, for the second time that night, took off her shoes. Still grasping EJ’s arm, she slipped her hand into the crook and they continued walking. Dee’s touch burned right through her suit jacket and sent a flash of heat coursing through her body. Her mouth was dry and she had trouble maintaining the conversation. As a matter of fact she had no idea what they talked about, but whatever it was it kept Dee smiling. EJ hadn’t enjoyed the simple act of walking a woman to her door in a very long time.
Rounding the corner they almost ran into a couple engaged in more than a good-night kiss just outside room 4002. The brunette had a tall blonde pinned to the door, her hands fumbling with the doorknob. The blonde had one arm wrapped around the neck of the brunette, and by the way the two were arching and rubbing, EJ surmised the other was in her pants. They needed to get inside the room fast.
Heart pounding at the erotic display, EJ risked a glance at Dee, who looked at her, raised both eyebrows, and said, “Lucky girl.”
“Which one?” EJ asked after passing the women. The sound of the door slamming told her they’d somehow made it inside.
“Does it matter?”
She didn’t think the question really needed an answer. The image of her and Dee replacing the two women they’d just passed flashed in her brain, and she felt the dormant stirring of desire kick up another notch.
“This is me,” Dee stated, stopping in front of the door marked 4015. She withdrew the plastic card key from her small purse and handed it to EJ. Without her shoes Dee was about five inches shorter than her. She took the card but Dee continued to hold it. She raised her eyebrows, questioning Dee’s action. The look on Dee’s face was more contemplative than teasing.
“What?”
“I’m trying to decide if I should violate my cardinal rule.”
“That sounds pretty serious. May I ask what it is?”
Dee answered easily. “I don’t sleep with a girl on the first date.”
EJ’s breath stopped in her throat. Dee had been thinking about having sex with her. “Never?”
“Never.” Dee replied firmly. “A girl has to have some standards.”
“Very prudent of you. “Do you kiss a girl on the first date?”
Dee answered evasively. “Depends.”
“On?”
“On whether I want to.”
“And if you don’t?”
“I simply thank her for the evening, say good night, and go inside.”
“And if you do? Want to kiss her, that is?” EJ asked, still holding on to the card. She leaned closer, anticipating her affirmative decision.
“Then I close the gap between us, reach up, pull her lips to mine, and kiss her.”
“Very smooth. No hesitation?” EJ kept her eyes glued to Dee’s full, red lips.
“None.”
“You’re pretty sure of yourself.”
“I’m usually right about these kinds of things,” Dee said, not sounding the least bit cocky.
“What if she doesn’t want to kiss you?”
“Do you?” Dee asked instead.
“Yes.” EJ replied instantly. She wanted to do much more than kiss her, but that wasn’t the question. “We can consider this our first date.”
“We can?”
“Yes, because then it’s one less time before I can touch you.” Emery let her eyes wander lazily over Dee’s body.
“I thought you were supposed to be resting on this cruise.”
“Well, since you don’t sleep with a girl on the first date, I’ll be able to rest tonight.” She watched Dee search her face, as if trying to make a decision.
Dee stepped closer. “Then I close the gap between us…reach up…and pull her lips to mine.” Dee’s last word was little more than a whisper against her lips as she did exactly that.
The kiss was light and tentative. Dee’s lips were soft, and EJ fought the need to crush her to her. She had been completely enthralled by Dee all evening and wanted more than polite small talk, more than verbally dancing around each other, more than this soft, simple kiss. She wanted to discover every inch of Dee. She wanted to learn where she was ticklish and what made her body sing. Wanted to hear her name come from her lips at the peak of her passion. Wanted to kiss her until it was hard to breathe. Dee’s tongue probed her lips and she opened her mouth for more. Dee’s tongue was confident and thorough as she explored. EJ gave as much as she got, and when she lifted her head to breathe, Dee stepped out of her reach.
“You are this close,” she held her finger and thumb a half inch apart, “to making me say to hell with my rule.”
She debated whether to push the issue. If she did, she and Dee would definitely spend the night together. If she didn’t she’d go back to her empty cabin more aroused than she’d been in a long, long time. EJ slid the card into the slot and heard the click of the tumblers moving. She turned the knob and swung the door open. The decision was Dee’s.
EJ leaned against the doorjamb and crossed her feet at the ankles. She hoped she looked relaxed and casual as she held out the card key. Raising her eyebrows, she said, “It’s your call.”
Dee took the card key as she passed very close to her and replied, “I hope somebody gets some sleep tonight because I’m sure not going to. See you later.” Dee closed the door behind her.
Chapter Seven
“Holy crap, Dana, you actually gave her an ultimatum?” Lauren asked over her bowl of egg-drop soup. It was their twice-monthly dinner, which just so happened to be the evening after her lunch with Emery.
“Yes, I did. I was so mad. I’m the best person for this job, and she knows it. She’s hung up on this notion about mixing business with pleasure. We didn’t mix and I have no intention of mixing it. We had a fling and it’s never going to happen again.”
“Does she know that?”
“What do you mean?”
“Does Emery know you won’t try to rekindle what you two had? She has a lot to lose if you decide to threaten to out her, so to speak.”
“And I don’t? Do you think I want to have the reputation of sleeping with the boss to get a job? However far that is from the truth. We both know truth is sometimes the furthest thing from reality wh
en it comes to sex and scandal.”
Lauren did in fact know. She was an attorney in private practice specializing in children and family cases, and the truth was rarely as clear as it appeared.
“So what are you going to do?” Lauren asked hesitantly.
“I have no fucking clue.”
*
This time when Emery entered the conference room she knew what to expect. The board of Martin Engineering had requested to meet with the final candidate for the open strategy position, and Emery was surprised at how fast Jack and Adam had been able to put this together. She glanced at her Tag Heuer watch. Dana was due in fifteen minutes, but this time she was more than prepared.
Beginning with the chairman, Emery shook hands with each of the eight board members. Including Jack and herself, eight men and two women sat around the large cherrywood table. Sharon Plenner was the lone woman on the board, and from the first day they met, during Emery’s interview process, she always had an uncomfortable feeling around Sharon. During the quarterly board meetings, she often caught Sharon staring at her with an expression that looked like she had a bad taste in her mouth. Emery had had several one-on-one meetings and lunches with her to try to build a relationship, but she always walked away with the feeling that Sharon hated the fact that she was a lesbian.
Emery wasn’t in the closet by any means, but she also didn’t wear a rainbow flag pinned to the lapel of her suit every day. She didn’t have a steady girlfriend and, preferring to keep her personal life separate from her professional life, attended social events alone. However, when in turn-around mode, Emery stayed practically immersed in the job, and Martin was no exception. This was the most intense, difficult role she had ever accepted and as such allowed her no personal life. Other than on the cruise, she couldn’t remember the last time she had sex, let alone went out on a date.
“Sharon, good to see you again,” she said, extending her hand. Sharon always hesitated just a split second longer than was polite, a clear signal that she wasn’t thrilled to shake her hand. As if she would catch the I-desire-women germ.
“You look rested,” Sharon replied, looking at her critically. When she had informed each board member of her need to take some time off, Sharon had been the most vocal about her doubt that Emery should continue to lead Martin.
“Thank you, Sharon. I am. How is your daughter enjoying Stanford?” Emery quickly changed the subject. Sharon replied and they exchanged a few more brief pleasantries before Marcus Flowers, the chairman of the board, called the meeting to order and Emery stood.
“Thank you all for coming on such short notice. As you know, for the past several months we’ve been looking for an individual to lead our corporate strategy function. When I first approached the board with my proposal to create this position I said that Martin needed an experienced strategist who can help us identify and deliver on our long-term strategic goals. We engaged Hight & Fraser, a best-in-class search firm specializing in corporate leadership positions, and they found us four excellent candidates. Our own internal selection process slimmed that down to the two candidates I interviewed.
“The individual you will see today is Dana Worthington, our final candidate for the position. Ms. Worthington has a master’s degree in organizational management from Columbia University, and an MBA from the Sloan School of Business.” Emery recited the remainder of Dana’s credentials and work experience up to this point and answered a few clarifying questions.
“As you requested, Ms. Worthington is here to give you a short presentation of her work, her impressions of Martin up to this point, and with that caveat her ideas of where we should focus going forward. We are scheduled for ninety minutes. Any other questions before she joins us?” She looked around the room and, seeing none, nodded to Jack to bring Dana in.
Dana entered the room with complete confidence. Emery greeted her and Dana’s handshake was solid and strong. She looked Emery directly in the eyes. Emery’s pulse hiccupped and a flash of heat coursed through her. “Good morning, Ms. Worthington. Thank you for coming in.”
She introduced Dana around the room, and Dana shook hands with everyone before sitting in the seat next to her. Dana opened her briefcase and pulled out a small notepad and a bright-yellow flash drive.
Dana spent the next twenty minutes giving an overview of several projects she had worked on and had the room’s full attention when she talked about her general impressions of Martin Engineering. She was very comfortable in front of these important people, Emery thought. She moved around the room and to and from the screen to emphasize a point. She made eye contact with everyone while she spoke, and every time she looked at her, Emery could swear she stopped breathing until she looked away.
Dana was dressed conservatively yet signs of her personality shone through. Her hair was pulled back in a French braid, the highlights that had reflected the sun a few weeks ago now slightly darker. Her blouse was a pale shade of purple that brought out the matching flecks in the jacket. She was wearing a straight black skirt that fell just above her knees. Diamonds sparkled in her ears and a clunky watch adorned her right wrist. Her fingers were ringless. Dark stockings and black patent-leather pumps made her legs look long and sexy. Emery dug her nails into her palms to keep her attention on what Dana was saying versus the images of those legs wrapped around her.
Dana had this group eating out of the palm of her hand and Emery tried to relax. She was fascinated with the differences between the woman in front of her today and the one she’d known only two weeks ago. They were similar yet nothing alike. Dana was polished, sophisticated, and impeccably put together. Dee was fun, exciting, and simply hot in a pair of ragged shorts and a tank top. Dana was poised, confident, and self-assured. Dee was spontaneous, giggly, and absolutely enchanting.
She could hardly believe this was the same woman. She watched Dana confidently glide around the room. I know what’s under those clothes. I know what’s beneath that professional veneer. I know where she’s ticklish, what makes her tremble, and how she sounds when she whispers in the dark. I know everything about her and absolutely nothing at all.
*
“Gotta minute?”
Emery’s back was to her office door and she swung her chair around to see Jack standing hesitantly in her doorway. She had avoided him for the past few days, knowing he was waiting for her answer about hiring Dana. She wasn’t any closer to that decision today than she was last week when Dana walked away from the table at lunch. “Sure, come in.” She didn’t ask her typical “what’s up?” because she knew what he would say.
He didn’t sit down as he usually did but shifted his weight back and forth on his long legs, a clear indication he was nervous. The other times he struck this pose were when he had bad news, usually in the form of a serious employee incident. Thankfully those were coming far less often.
“Sit down, Jack. You make me nervous when you fidget like that.” She indicated one of the chairs on the other side of the desk. Normally when she had visitors she preferred to sit with them on the less-formal furniture in the far corner of her office. She knew what this conversation was about and she wanted, no, needed as much formality as possible. She had to keep this professional and not personal.
“Sorry,” he said, almost sheepishly, taking the chair across from her on the left.
She waited for Jack to begin. Normally she was a cut-to-the-chase type of person, but she had been avoiding this decision since the instant she saw Dana in her conference room. God, was it just last week? It seemed like forever and just yesterday at the same time.
“Have you given any more thought to Dana Worthington?” Jack had cornered her the afternoon of her disastrous lunch with Dana and inquired how it went. She was still a little shell-shocked and said something about having to think about it a little more. A little more was now a week later and she needed to make a decision. Dana wouldn’t wait much longer.
“Does something about her trouble you, Emery?” Apparently Jack wasn
’t waiting any longer either. “With every other person you’ve hired you knew almost the minute you met them if you wanted them. It’s not like you to hesitate.”
“Has she said something?” Secretly Emery hoped Dana would withdraw her application for the position and take the decision conveniently out of her hands.
“No, nothing other than the requisite follow-up. Do you expect her to?” Jack seemed confused by her indecisiveness.
She glanced at the paperwork on her desk. No, she didn’t expect Dana to back down from anything. When they were together she hadn’t shied away from anything, no matter how new or physically challenging—one of the activities available in one of the ports, gambling in the ship’s casino, or making love in the privacy of her suite.
“Is there something I should know?” Jack asked when Emery still hadn’t answered.
Her head shot up at his question and she instantly knew she’d given herself away. Jack was the first person she’d hired when she came to Martin Engineering, bringing him with her from her previous company. They had met on a class project years ago when they were both studying for their MBA at Kellogg in Chicago. They had become instant friends; he was her most honest critic. He knew her well enough to know when to shut up.
The battle whether to confide in Jack waged inside her brain. She wanted to, wanted to have him help her think through this conflict and decision that she couldn’t seem to make. What was once crystal clear—do not hire anyone she had a personal relationship with—had become muddied with the introduction of Dana Worthington, aka Dee Walker into her life.
She had never met anyone like Dana and doubted she ever would again. She’d turned her world upside down, sideways, and any number of other geometrically challenging angles. She had, as the tired, yet applicable phrase implied, thrown caution to the wind when she’d met Dana for breakfast the second day on the cruise.
“You know, with one simple move you could have been inside my cabin last night,” Dee said after the waitress had taken their order and left.
