by Shauna Hart
Color crept into Jill’s cheeks at the verbal reprimand. “Look, I’m sorry. It’s just that people are pretty worried about their jobs right now,” she replied defensively.
Melanie let out a heavy sigh.
She knew it was true.
The office had been buzzing since Connor took over. People were on high alert, and a lot of them were beginning to wonder if they would make it to their next anniversary.
“Well, I’m not one of them. I wasn’t going to say anything until it was formally announced, but I’m handing in my resignation today,” she confessed.
Jill’s eyes widened. “Why?” she exclaimed. “I mean, out of everyone, I thought your job was the most secure. Why would you want to leave?”
Unable to hold her gaze any longer, Melanie looked away. She couldn’t tell Jill the truth. If she did, it would confirm all of her worst thoughts.
“It’s just not going to work out. I tried, but it’s better this way.”
Jill shook her head. “Man, he must be a bear if you don’t want to work with him.”
She wanted to correct her, but she knew that she couldn’t without giving away more than she was ready to divulge.
Concern marred Jill’s features. “I can’t believe you’re not going to be here anymore,” she remarked aloud. “Hey, I’m really sorry about what I said. I should’ve known that you would never do something sleazy like sleeping with the boss. I guess all the gossip has finally led to paranoia,” she admitted.
Shame burned through her stomach at the realization that she had done just that. Just because the circumstance was different didn’t make it any less obscene.
“It’s okay,” she replied.
Jill pulled her coat over her shoulders. “Are you ready to go?”
Melanie shook her head. “I planned to turn this in tonight, but I think Co— Mr. Mason already left. I guess I’ll just slide this under his door. You go on without me.”
Jill smiled. “Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow,” she called out as she headed for the back door.
Turning, she walked down the hall toward Connor’s office. She couldn’t believe he’d left. Although she could imagine where he went. After the display he made with Miranda, she figured they’d decided to take their party to a more private place.
Good.
At least she wouldn’t have to see it that way.
All in all, the night had turned out to be a total disaster.
First, she had to watch Miranda paw all over Connor. Then she had to stomach Doug Taylor flirting with her through the entire party. The ink on his divorce papers was barely dry, and he was already inviting her to his condo in the Keys. As if all of that wasn’t enough, her best friend thought she was sleeping with the boss to get ahead.
Okay, so maybe that last part was kind of true, but not for the reasons she thought.
Jealousy raged when she thought of Miranda with Connor. The woman had practically thrown herself on top of him in the middle of the party. In all her life, she had never wanted to claw another woman’s eyes out as much as she had tonight. It wasn’t that she had never been jealous before.
She had.
But the depth of the emotion she felt was what scared her.
After everything that had happened, all she wanted to do was slide the letter under his door, go home and slip into a hot bath. When she got closer to his office, she noticed that the door was slightly ajar and the light was still on.
She took a deep breath. As much as she didn’t want to deal with things tonight, deep down, she just wanted it over.
Raising her hand, she lightly rapped her knuckles on the door.
“What?” she heard him call out.
She opened the door to find him slouched in the chair behind his desk, a glass of whiskey in his hand.
This was it.
It was time to face things and tell him she was leaving.
Chapter 10
“It’s just me,” she said, pushing the door open.
He drained the last of the whiskey in his glass before grabbing the decanter to refill it. When he didn’t say anything, she felt compelled to fill the silence.
“I wanted to talk to you.”
He lifted his chin, his eyes never meeting hers. “Finally tear yourself away from Taylor?” he challenged.
Pursing her lips, she answered. “I was only being nice to the clients like you asked us,” she reminded.
One eyebrow arched. “You were doing a little bit more than that.”
She let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t know how you could even notice with your girlfriend climbing all over you.”
She hadn’t meant to let it slip. But before she could stop herself, it was out there.
His eyes met hers. “Miranda is not my girlfriend.”
A sarcastic laugh escaped her lips. “That’s obviously not what she thinks.”
He got up to walk around the desk, coming to stand before her. “Whatever wrong assumptions Miranda might have had were cleared up tonight. That’s why she left early,” he explained.
Her heart began to beat faster at the implication.
Was it possible that he was telling the truth?
If the look in his eyes wasn’t enough to cure her of delusions, his next words were.
“I don’t want Miranda. I never did,” he confessed.
“You don’t?”
A wry grin touched his mouth as he shook his head. “You know what I want,” he asserted.
Nervously, she wet her lips, his eyes following the movement.
“Now, what about Taylor? Is he what you want?”
With a shy smile, she shook her head. “No,” she answered.
His grin widened. “Good, because account or no account, I’ve never been closer to hitting a man than I was tonight.”
Her eyebrows arched. “You were?” she prodded.
His nod answered her question.
“Why?”
He tilted his head to the side, silently mocking her question. “Why do you think?”
When she smiled, he pulled her against him. His lips met hers, his tongue demanding entrance. The letter slipped from her hand to the floor as she gave him what he wanted. Her heart beat wildly in her chest as her tongue mated with his in a sensual dance. He took his time exploring her, causing shivers of pleasure to dance up her spine. She felt his hands traveling down her back to grip her hips. He hauled her against him, letting her feel the hard ridge of his arousal. She gasped, the sound caught in the prison of his mouth.
Still, it wasn’t enough.
She wanted more.
Her hands slid inside his jacket to pull it over his broad shoulders. She had to touch him, to feel his skin against hers. When he eased her skirt up her thighs, she knew he felt the same overwhelming need.
A sound jolted them apart.
She turned to find Jill standing in the open door, her cheeks infused with color.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
Shame swept through her as she realized what a horrible mistake she had made. Connor’s arm still remained around her waist. She grabbed it to pull it away, ignoring his momentary resistance.
Jill walked into the office to place an envelope on the conference table. “I forgot to give you the bill for the caterer. They left it in the kitchen.”
Melanie’s throat went dry as she watched Jill scurry out of the office, obviously embarrassed by what she had seen.
How could she have been so careless?
So stupid?
After her talk with Jill, the other woman was bound to believe that she was nothing more than an accomplished liar. The worst part was that she couldn’t even blame her.
She had dug the hole herself.
And filled it in with a bunch of lies.
Lies to other people.
And lies to herself.
She spun around to face Connor, a frown marring her features.
His eyebrows rose. “What?”
Shaking
her head, she let out a heavy sigh. Her world was falling apart. The career she had struggled so hard to build was crumbling before her eyes, and she had no idea how to stop it.
Her gaze lowered to the forgotten letter of resignation. She bent to retrieve it, but she wasn’t fast enough. Connor snatched it before she could reach it. She tried to grab it, but he held it high.
Narrowing her eyes, she met his gaze. “Give it to me,” she ordered.
“Not until you tell me what’s wrong,” he prodded.
She looked away. “I don’t want to talk about it. I just want to go home.”
“Are you upset because Jill saw us together?” he guessed.
Rolling her eyes, she answered. “Why should I be upset? Tomorrow, the whole office will think that I’m trying to sleep my way to the top.”
He tilted his head to the side. “But you’re not,” he reminded.
She pursed her lips as she looked away. “They won’t know that.”
He lifted her chin with his finger. “Melanie, I don’t care what anyone else thinks. All I care about is what you think.”
Taking a deep breath, she gave him an honest answer. “And what if I don’t know what I think?” she admitted.
“Maybe I could help you figure it out,” he replied with a wry grin.
The corners of her mouth tilted up at his attempt to lighten the mood.
“Just give me the letter,” she said.
He turned the envelope over, still holding it high. “This is addressed to me,” he observed, his eyebrows cramming together in confusion. “Dare I hope that it’s a love letter?” he teased.
She reached for it, but he pulled it out of her grasp. Hoping he wouldn’t open it, she chewed the inside of her lip. “Not exactly,” she replied.
Turning away, he opened the envelope. Staring at his back, she waited for the harsh realization to set in. When he turned back to face her, the betrayal she saw made her knees feel weak.
“You’re leaving?”
With two words, he had conveyed a wealth of emotion.
Betrayal.
Confusion.
Pain.
Pulling her lower lip beneath her teeth, her eyes met his. “I…”
“Are you?” he challenged.
Unable to hold his gaze any longer, she looked away. “I think that it’s best,” she reasoned.
“Best for whom?”
Squaring her shoulders, she lifted her chin. “Best for both of us.”
Shaking his head, he turned to throw the letter on his desk. “Right,” he bit out.
She opened her mouth to speak, but the tense line of his shoulders warned that he didn’t want to hear what she had to say.
“I should go,” she said.
Without turning around, he answered. “Yeah.”
As she walked out of his office, she let out a heavy sigh.
This wasn’t what she wanted.
She didn’t want things to end like this.
But she wasn’t sure there was any other way.
Things with Connor were too brash, too passionate to end on a middle ground. It was either a raging flame or an arctic chill.
Reaching the back door, she pulled it open to step outside. She walked across the parking lot, stopping midway to her car. Looking over her shoulder, she realized that he wasn’t coming after her. And why should he? Hadn’t she just told him that she wanted to leave?
Still, it hurt.
More than she wanted to admit.
At the end of the lot, the rumbling of a car engine broke her concentration.
Her eyes narrowed as she realized the car didn’t have its headlights on.
She reached into her purse, her fingers searching for her keys. She tried to focus on the task, but her mind was still on the man inside. She didn’t want to leave. It was the last thing she wanted. But there wasn’t any other way. Couldn’t he see that? As it was, she was going to have to face a grueling rumor mill for the next two weeks before she left.
Suddenly, the lot was ablaze with light.
She turned to find the car’s headlights at the end of the lot flashing bright.
She blinked, her eyebrows crowding together in confusion.
Tires squealed as the car began speeding toward her. As she turned to run, she collided with a broad chest. Connor wrenched her out of the way mere seconds before the car sped past. Horrified, she watched it speed through the lot and escape onto the road.
She tried to catch her breath as her gaze met his. “What…” She couldn’t get the words out. She couldn’t even think.
His gaze was still focused on the street. “I heard the car when I came out. If I hadn’t gotten to you…” He trailed off, not wanting to voice the horrible conclusion.
She felt his arms tighten around her as she drew in shaky breaths.
“Are you okay?” he inquired, his voice laced with concern.
Biting her lower lip in an effort not to cry, she replied. “I think so.”
“Did you get a good look at the car?” he asked.
Worry clouded her features as she shook her head.
She tried to ease out of his grasp, but her knees wouldn’t hold her.
Immediately, she felt his arms enfold her, holding her against him.
“Why don’t you let me take you home? We can call the cops from there,” he suggested evenly.
At the dubious look she gave him, he fixed her with an intent stare. “Look, you’re in no condition to drive right now. And to be honest, I really don’t feel like hanging out in this parking lot to find out if that guy is coming back.”
When she hesitated, he tilted his head to the side. “Besides that, I am a witness, so I’m sure they will want to talk to both of us at the same time,” he reasoned.
“Did you get a good look at the car?” she inquired.
“I wasn’t focused as much on the car as I was on getting you out of its way,” he confessed sheepishly.
“That doesn’t make you much of a witness,” she replied.
“True, but I have an ulterior motive,” he admitted.
“What’s that?”
“I need time to convince you to stay here.”
She let out a heavy sigh. “You won’t be able to,” she explained.
One side of his mouth quirked up on a cocky grin. “We’ll see,” he observed.
Deep down, she knew she shouldn’t take him up on his offer, but the truth was that she didn’t want to be alone.
Not after what had happened.
Sliding into the car next to him, she tried her best to still her racing pulse. Tears clung to the corners of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She wanted to believe that what had happened was an accident. That it was not intentional.
But the sickening feeling she felt in the pit of her stomach warned her not to be so complacent.
Someone had tried to kill her tonight.
The big question was, who?
And…why?
Chapter 11
Connor cast a quick glance at Melanie. As much as he tried to reassure her, he didn’t like this.
From the tense line of her shoulders, she obviously felt as uncomfortable as he did. It was understandable. After all, she had nearly been killed in that parking lot. If he had been one second slower coming out of the office, things would have had a much more tragic ending. It didn’t even look like the person driving tried to slow down.
Which made things even worse.
Because if they hadn’t tried to stop, it meant that they’d intended to hit the woman sitting next to him.
His thoughts were inevitably drawn to Miranda. After her dire prediction earlier, it was conceivable that she had tried to take matters into her own hands. But he couldn’t believe that Miranda would do something so violent. It was true that she had been angry, but angry enough to kill?
Besides, she didn’t even know about his connection with Melanie.
But, if not Miranda, then whom?
He f
elt a chill of apprehension tease his spine.
None of it made sense.
Something was off.
He just wished he knew what it was.
“Turn left at the next light,” she directed.
He glanced over at her. Despite the fact that she had agreed to let him take her home, she had barely said two words to him. She might not admit it, but she was obviously still shaken. In truth, he couldn’t blame her. It wasn’t every day that a person nearly escaped death. When it happened, he supposed it required a certain amount of introspection.
Easing the car into the spot, he shut off the ignition. Before he could get around to help her, she had her door open and was getting out. Silently, she led him through a courtyard filled with lush foliage. The underwater lights in the pool on the right glowed. The small patio she led him to was decorated with colorful hanging plants.
When she opened the door, he followed her inside. A living area sat to the right with a plush blue couch. A glass coffee table sat in front of it with several photos in picture frames. The entertainment center in front of the couch was filled with cheerful knickknacks. A small dining table sat to the left with candlesticks in the center. A couple of steps before him led to what he could only assume was the bedroom. A black cat peeked curiously around the corner, desperate to get a glimpse.
“And who’s that?” he inquired, pointing to the cat.
A smile erased the worry from her face momentarily as she leaned down to absently stroke the cat’s head. “His name is Romeo,” she replied.
He tilted his head to the side, giving her a boyish grin. “So, I have competition,” he observed.
She let out a nervous giggle as she leaned against the wall. And just as quickly as the fog had lifted, he watched the worry cloud her face.
He walked across the room, coming to stand directly in front of her. His hands reached out to stroke her upper arms. “Why don’t I make us both a drink? After what happened, I think we can both use it.”
Letting out a heavy sigh, she nodded. “The glasses are in the cupboard over the sink. I think there’s an old bottle of rum in the cabinet on top of the refrigerator.”
Walking into the small kitchen, he grabbed the bottle of rum. When he was finished, he carried out two glasses of rum and coke. Sitting on the couch and leaning her head back, she looked so small, so fragile. He wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and hold her. Sliding the drink into her hands, he sat down next to her.
